1

                       

                     

 

Two Backseat Barbarians

by Eva Pasco

Author of "Underlying Notes"

Before lap belts and harness seat belts were standard auto features, my father would draw an imaginary Maginot Line along the backseat to keep my sister and I at our respective windows.  The gesture did little to quel our arguements on family trips, prompting my dad to pull over along the highway to discipline both of us and inflict shame by calling us barbarians ...
 I shake my head and marvel how any of us children of the Sixties could have turned out fine as I mind travel down my own memory lane...
* My sister and I often sprawled out in the back of our family station wagon with nothing to safeguard us against potential injuries sustained by bumps or abrupt stops.  We'd egg our father to drive over the jersey bounds on Cobble Hill Road as though our vehicle was part of a roller coaster train.
 * My sister and I loved those smoking guns--cap guns, of course. We also took perverse pleasure in pounding a strip of caps to see who could produce the loudest explosion.
* Remember those candy cigarettes?  My sister and I must have smoked a pack a day as we strutted in our mom's vintage clothing, fake fur stoles, wide-brimmed hats, and high heels like two Madison Ave. society matrons.
* My sister and I could never quench our thirst slurping down syrup from wax molded in the shape of mini Vodka bottles.
* Like all children of the Sixties, we had our fair share of skinned and scraped knees our mom  benevolently painted with Mercurochrome.  We even had our temperatures taken with a mercurial thermometer.  Now, we've all been scared silly about breaking one of those new energy saving lightbulbs for fear of emiting Mercury into the environment.  Ha! 
* Unmasked, my sister and I inhaled plenty of toxic fumes from spray paint and modeling glue working on our science projects.
* In elementary school, we toted our lunch to school in metal lunchboxes without the benefit of ice packs to chill mayonnaise.  We drank milk from slippery glass bottles despite the high incidence of drop and splatter.  Every kid we knew who carried their own thermos had it filled with milk, the only beverage acceptable for growing children.
* Swamped with homework, we carried our schoolbooks like a layered cake bound by a rubber strap, throwing off our gait at the hip.  Although, today's backpacks cause our youth to slump forward.
*My sister and I watched our quota of violent cartoons such as "Popeye" and reruns of "The Three Stooges." Though our friends may have nyuck nyucked,  all of us knew better than to smash a plate over someone's head or poke our fingers in each other's eyes.
I'm just one of many Baby Boomers who survived such childhood ordeals, seemingly unscathed.  Even though consumer advocates and politically correct stumpers may have made inroads in the name of safety, the restrictive straight jacket of the harness seatbelt couldn't prevent two backseat barbarians from brawling and invading each other's territory.
 

CQ Hams - Still Crusin' in the 60s

 

 Don't Miss an Update: Subscribe for email alerts.



 

Soundtrack of the 60s

"A Delicious Decade of Music" Blog

Take an excursion thru the 60s by video. Watch Vibration of a Nation


Take the time to shop at The 60s Official Site's Amazon Store



CD Universe - Buy Music CDs, TV on DVD, DVDs, Video Games for XBox, PlayStation 2 and Much More 

 

 Sign the Guestbook

Franchise Trees

 

My Blog 

The 60s - Carl - 1968 - Vietnam 

 

Webmaster - 1968

The 60s - Webmaster - 2006

Webmaster - Today

 

The Guestbook

Jukeboxes 

Go to The 60s Official Site Jukebox

40th Anniversary of Woodstock

 Home
 Cruisin'
 My Jade East Adventure
 The 60s Tradition of Eating Together as a Family
 The Blown Perfect Game
 The Great Pumpkin Caper
 The Haunted Bridge Near Yellowbud
 Union Street Beat
 Union Street Peeping Toms
 Road Trip
 Road Trip Music of the Summer of 1965
 What Ever Happened to The Cool Jocks?
 Ice Cream Ice Cream
 Updates
 It's A Fool's World
 Daylight Savings Time - Chaos in the 60s
 The Teen Idol Music Box
 Vibration of a Nation
 60s Songs That Peaked on the Charts in 1970
 Grammy Award Winners
 Our Music, Our Times, Remember When?
 The 60s Craziest Songs
 The Top 100 Recording Artists of the 50s and 60s Era
 Webmaster's Pick of the Top 100 Songs of the Decade
 60s Rock 'N Roll Headline News
 Elvis Presley's Top Recordings
 Stories About Elvis Presley
 Automobiles of the 60s Decade
 Baseball Card Collecting of the 1960s
 Baseball Pics from the 1960s
 British Music Invasion
 British Top Hits of the 1960s
 Chickenman
 Chickenman Has Been Identified
 The Adventures of Chickenman
 Class Reunion Tips
 Once Considered Hip
 Comic Genius
 Winter Break
 Sweet on Valentine's Day
 In My Shoes
 The Early Sixties Moments
 Saturday Morning Jammies Session
 Talkin bout My Generation
 Eddie, Keesa me Goo' Night
 Sixties Reminiscing the Missing
 The Ghost of Christmas Past - Sixties Past
 March of the Retro Toys
 Hi Yo Silver
 Cry Fowl-Foul
 The Contaminated Canned Cranberry Caper
 Light My Fire
 Taxidermy Twist
 Dancing Squarely
 The Western
 Roll Over Beethoven
 A Buck and A Quarter
 The Melt-Down
 Big Wheel
 Bazooka
 Nickel and Dimin' It
 You Might Just Be A "Picnik"...
 A Dazzling Fourth
 The French Connection
 Red White and Blueberries
 Dances with Quahogs
 Crescent Park
 At The Ranch
 The Wringer
 Towing The Line
 The End of the Line
 Tisket-a-Tasket Tiki Tacky
 SPIN IT and WIN IT
 DIVISION 10
 Those Oldies But Goodies
 Requiem for Mom & Pop Stores
 A Few of My Favorite Things
 A Graveyard Smash
 A Senior Moment
 A Sixties Summer
 Fra-Gee-Lay
 Home Ick
 Lickin' 'o the Green
 M-m-m, Burgers
 The Bubble Flip
 A Riveting Revolution
 A Tribute to Twiggy
 Auld Lang Syne 1969
 Day Trippin'
 Fallout from the Sixties
 How I Spent My Sweet Sixteenth Summer Vacation
 Judy, Judy, Judy...
 Love Love Love
 My Scoop on Alley Oop
 On The Cusp
 The Christmas Conspiracy
 The Fantastic Umbrella Factory
 The Hippie Movement's Drift on Fragrance
 The Locomotion of Lava Lamps
 Two Backseat Barbarians
 Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
 Zapruder Effect
 The Economy and Prices
 Medal of Honor Soldiers
 Music Favorites from 'Nam
 My Tour Pics of Vietnam
 Pictures From The Vietnam War
 Tet Offensive - An Explanation
 Vietnam War Myths
 Vietnam War Time Line
 Today in Baby Boomer History
 Woodstock Photos
 Spotlight Artist
 Johnny Cash
 Site Map