ARTS
Midnight Ride – Oct 2014
If you grew up in the USA during the Sixties, it was impossible for you not to know of Paul Revere & The Raiders. From 1966 to about 1970 their hits were a constant on the Billboard Top 100, but most of us enjoyed our first exposure while watching Dick Clark’s Where The Action Is in the afternoons after school. They were impossible to miss. It was more than their modified Revolutionary War era costumes (ooh, Mark Lindsay in those tights!), though. It was their showmanship, their humor, and certainly their music, but it also was their stage act, orchestrated by leader Paul Revere with his broad smile and slapstick antics. Yesterday, Paul Revere lost his battle with cancer at the age of 76, which is fitting since the band’s image so doggedly adhered to the 1776 theme. This had to be Paul’s last laugh, I suspect, and it makes me smile.
Make no mistake about it. Paul Revere formed a well-oiled, professional band and as members came and went all the way through today, he knew what made that band successful: rock-solid musicians, polished stage routines, all-out entertainment value, and a tried-and-true professionalism that’s been lacking for decades. Paul was known as a warm, affable, generous, and kind man, but I suspect he also reigned supreme from behind his keyboards. He was a true leader and members who left did so usually due to artistic differences. That’s okay. To be a Raider meant that Mr. Revere led the show.
Until the advent of heavier music by Jimi Hendrix and Cream in 1967, the Raiders were the only group to pull me away from my blind and blinkered worship of the Beatles. The songs on their albums were a diverse mix that covered everything from novelty rock to biker blues and although some songs could be a little kitschy, there were plenty of rockers to keep me listening for hours while I did my homework or sunbathed in the backyard.
It’s a peculiar kind of grief we feel when someone like Paul Revere dies. In most cases we’ve never met them, much less known them personally, and in a lot of cases we haven’t listened to their albums in ages, so why do we mourn? Truth is, their death presents us with a startling reminder that we too are mortal and that our time of departure is creeping ever closer.
Ride on, Paul Revere. We’ll catch you on the flip side!
Steph Waller is an author and composer. Books One and Two (With A Dream and With A Bullet) of her rock and roll series, Beyond The Bridge, takes places in late 70s London. Read more at Incurable Insomniac and StephWaller.com.
Short Tales from the Dog Park – Oct 2014
Overheard at the dog park: “I thought Emma would calm down a little after I got her the kitten.”
The attractive, professional-looking woman, standing next to a small pack of canines, was not referring to a child named Emma. Instead, she was talking about her frisky, four-legged, Sheltie-mix named Emma. That’s right, earlier this year, for Emma’s first birthday, the woman bought her a cat.
Stuffed, you ask? A wind up toy, you wonder? A joke, you hope?
No, no and no.
This woman, who looked sane, but obviously isn’t, bought a real, live kitty because she believed her dog Emma wanted one for a playmate. After sharing this news, she moved on to another topic: What costume to buy Emma for Halloween? After all, it was only five weeks away and all the “really great” costumes sell out quickly.
I’m a proud dog owner, and I love Callie, my Goldendoodle puppy. However, Callie is not getting a cat for Christmas, no matter how much she whines. It is simply going too far. However, on the way home from the dog park, I did ponder a Halloween costume. Indeed, my little Callie would look pretty cute dressed up as a kitty-cat.
As we pulled into our driveway, I asked her, “Callie would you like to be a cat for Halloween? “Grooof!” she replied. I took that as a yes.
Nancy Wurtzel writes about making big changes at midlife in her blog Dating Dementia. Read about Nancy’s often humorous and sometimes twisted journey as a baby boomer, single woman, empty nester, feminist and caregiver.
We Will Rock You – Sept 2014
It gave people a few moments of absolutely meaningless pleasure in a troubled world—no small accomplishment. If there were more fads there would probably be a lot fewer psychiatrists.
It baby boomed into the firmament and then plummeted to earth with a thud heard round the world. As often happens with silly ideas, it was born in a bar. California ad exec Gary Dahl and his drinking pals were discussing pets. They’re such a responsibility, he moaned. Know what would make a perfect companion? A rock.
Imagination is cheap; the trick is to take a stupid in-your-face idea and market it.
The packaging was inspired. Dahl bought uniform round, gray Mexican stones for a penny each (the most expensive available), swaddled each in nesting material and placed it in a pet carrying case with handles and air holes. Included was a 30-page Care and Training of Your Pet Rock Manual with detailed chapters on obedience and tricks.
The baby boomer fad was a one-hit wonder but made its creator an overnight millionaire. Unlike the Hula-Hoop or Frisbee that drew new fans after a boomer generation, the Pet Rock had no function or shelf life – the secret to both its popularity and rapid demise.
Debuted at a 1975 San Francisco gift show, upper-end Neiman Marcus started the fad rolling by ordering 500. Newsweek did a half-page spread and daily newspapers ran stories, often with Dahl’s tale of how each rock was tested for obedience before selected, or other such nonsense. The inventor appeared on the Tonight Show twice – television was the ultimate boomer promotional tool. It sold retail for $3.95, representing one of the great profit margins in history.
Smiling Faces – August 2014
Around since the 1950s, the Smiley Face became a huge pop culture fad in the early 1970s. A pair of baby boomer brothers got the bright idea to create it as a sales logo to counter what they saw as an era dominated by protest and unrest. It was intended as re-take on the peace symbol.
They generated a happy army of merchandise emblazoned with the symbol: coffee mugs, cookie jars, t-shirts, bumper stickers and, of course, buttons. By 1972, an astonishing 50 million pin-ons were in circulation, many with the caption: “Have a Great Day.”
It didn’t take long for other baby boomers to turn the symbol upside down. The Temptations and Undisputed Truth recorded the #3 Billboard hit in 1971, Smiling Faces Sometimes, one of many negative songs referencing the icon:
Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don’t tell the truth uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof
The anti-symbol became almost as ubiquitous as the real thing.
Mr. Smiley never went completely out of vogue. It was the “unicode” symbol for the first IBM and all subsequent PC compatible computers, still available for post-Microsoft Windows 95.
The best known corporate use of the Smiley Face is by Wal-Mart.
Trivia Factoids
• During one of Forrest Gump’s many jogs across America, he wipes his face on a t-shirt given to him by a down-and-out salesman. The dirt stained shirt resembles eyes and an upturned mouth. Eureka! The idea is born and the salesman presumably becomes rich.
• Those Philadelphia brothers who popularized the smiley face in the 1970s did go on to riches. In addition to making a killing on the symbol, Bernard and Murray Spain founded the 126-chain Dollar Store.
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
Spaced-Out Boomers – July 2014
It became one of the great lines of baby boomer pop culture. “Danger, Will Robinson” combined the thrill of pioneer space travel, old-fashioned family values, the battle of good vs. evil, and hopes of human-machine interface.
1950s America trumpeted the family. After the dislocations of War and Depression, the family was reunited, smaller (nuclear) but tighter than ever, ready to prosper and face the challenges of a dangerous world. Communism was seen as hostile to the traditional family, treating it as a dysfunctional relic.
Lost in Space, based on a popular comic book that relocated the traditional Swiss Family Robinson to a cosmic stage, ran on television from 1965 to 1968.
The baby boomer show was adventure and fun and gadgets. There was also a underlying message: family is the basic unit of civilization, protecting against evil, and raising children with values we cherish.
An equally important television theme was rugged individualism, represented by tough guys in Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel. Responding to political criticism, TV execs in the early 1960s directed a shift from the impulsive, lonesome cowboy to kinder, gentler story lines set in the context of families, such as Bonanza and Big Valley. Lost in Space fit that mold.
What Happened to the Stars?
June Lockheart, the mom, had a long Hollywood resume. In later life, she played mom to Jon Provost, Lassie’s human soul mate.
Guy Williams, the dad, was a former Italian fashion model and the swashbuckling TV Zorro. After Lost in Space, he retired and got lost in Argentina.
Angela Cartwright, the daughter, was a professional daughter, appearing in Sound of Music and as a regular on the Danny Thomas Show. Lost in Space was a Hollywood peak.
Billy Mummy, the son, had lots of work as a child actor, but lost a big chance when his parents objected to the make-up involved in the role of Eddie Munster. He has had a successful career as a musician.
Jonathon Harris, the evil foreign-agent doctor, did so well as the villain, those were the only roles he could get after Lost in Space. His other Hollywood work consisted of voice-overs.
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
Zombies! They’re Everywhere! – June 2014
Zombies have taken over everything. It’s understandable these creatures are lead actors in movies (Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead and The Walking Dead) and TV shows (Dawn of the Dead, The Walking Dead and Duck Dynasty). Now they’ve invaded toy stores as well.
As I roamed the aisles of Toy Fair 2014, I was struck by how ugly, fearful and blood soaked the toy industry has become. Especially when it comes to action figures.
Oh, sure, Superman will still be flying through toy stores faster than a speeding bullet to defend his mantra, “Truth, justice and a little nookie from Lois Lane.” Batman and his Batboy Robin will still cruise the Toy ‘R Uses of the Universe in the Batmobile, defending Gotham City against nefarious enemies like The Joker, The Riddler and assorted Tea Party Republicans.
But the new crop of toys includes a mob of vengeful, ruthless, blood soaked, killer Zombies. And those are just the good guys. But when it comes to real kids, the Zombification of toy stores is somewhat of a paradox. Dolls and action figures are supposed to be the loyal, warmhearted companions of innocent children, not cold-blooded killers.
Top 10 Most Powerful Action Figures at Toy Fair 2014
In the #10 spot is that loveable Chuckie.
The Chuckster is the creepiest of the creepy dolls. Though he isn’t the original creepy doll, he is definitely the most notorious.
#9 Living Dead Dolls
The first Living Dead Dolls were craft dolls, made individually by hand by Ed Long in 1998.
#8 Krypt Kiddies
Parents crazy enough to buy these horror dolls for their little monsters should have known something was off when they saw the Krypt Kiddies slogan, “Cuter than Hell.” These terrifying creatures will give your nightmares nightmares.
#7 The White Walkers
The White Walkers are a mythological race from an ancient time. In the darkness and cold of the Long Night, the White Walkers killed everyone in their path. Since that wasn’t enough destruction for their evil hearts, they raised the dead to help them slaughter more innocent people.
#6 Psycho Mother
I have a feeling Mother is only the first half of her hyphenated name. Wait, wasn’t she in “I Dismember Mama?”
#5 Boogers from the Planet Nose
You may be surprised to find out that “Boogers from the Planet Nose” are aliens from, you guessed it, the Planet Nose. According to the ever-so-short back story, the Planet Nose had a terrible environment of toxic waste and slime.
#4 Colby Carrot
Colby Carrot’s exploits to make America safe for vegetables and to encourage kids to have better nutrition, improving children’s health one dancing vegetable at a time.
#3 The Newly Deads
The Newly Deads are 5 foot high animated figures who eyes glow in the Halloween Night.
#2 Presidential Monsters
There’s Eisen Howler, Zom-Bush, The Ronmy (hey wait, he wasn’t even President), Lincolnstein, Al Gor, Wolf Bill, The Monster from the Watergate Lagoon, Benjamin Franklinstein and more. They’re funny, collectible and a great way learn, well, the darker side of history.
#1 Stickman Stew-The Most Powerful Action Figure from Toy Fair 2014
Stickman Stew was chosen as the most powerful action figure at Toy Fair 2014 because of his Super Power… the Power of Love. And the power to be sold out long before Christmas. You’ve been warned.
Jack Goldenberg is a prolific Copywriter, innovative Creative Director and consummate, strategic marketer. Read his blog at 10 minutes of brilliance. With all he’s done, he still believes his best efforts are ahead of him.
Pony Love – June 2014
“Our national flower is the concrete cloverleaf.” Lewis Mumford, sociologist
“Two-hundred forty horsepower isn’t enough to move me anymore. Enough to move my body, yes, but not my soul.”
S.A. Sachs, judge
The Ford Mustang turned 50 this past month. While the first Mustang rolled off the Ford assembly line in March 1964, it wasn’t introduced to the public until April 17, 1964, at the New York World’s Fair. Named after a World War II fighter plane, it was the first of a new type of car called the “Pony Car,” a low style with a sleek, long hood and short trunk, designed for four people. There was nothing else like it at the time, and more than 400,000 sold the first year.
Car enthusiasts and collectors refer to the earliest model year as 1964 1/2, since it was a mid-year release, but Ford sold it as a 1965. It was introduced in hardtop and convertible versions, with a fastback model added the next year. The sticker price of a 1964 1/2 Mustang started at $2,368, equivalent to almost $18,000 today. A vintage model can now sell in the tens of thousands, depending on condition.
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
A Movie Odyssey – May 2014
It broke all the molds.
Until Stanley Kubrick’s mind-bending 1968 movie, baby boomers and their parents were fed a sci-fi diet of funk and fear: a 50-foot woman rampaging through town exacting revenge on all who wronged her when normal (a harbinger of women’s liberation?), or huge mutant ants crawling up sky scrappers in search of tasty human prey, especially young ladies in flimsy nightgowns. A thinking man’s science fiction movie was an oxymoron.
Now considered a brilliant classic, A Space Odyssey met with less than instant and unanimous approval. Although Kubrick was nominated for Best Director, the movie was not among those considered for Best Film. The plot was obtuse, the pace glacial, the ending incomprehensible, not a word uttered for almost half an hour and then only 40 minutes of dialog throughout.
There was a generational rift over the movie, a younger boomer audience more receptive to the innovations and enigmas. Many of the favorable reviews appeared in college newspapers. In a 1972 re-release, the movie attracted a pop culture cult following among baby boomers attracted to its new age mysticism and surrealism.
On a secret mission to uncover a mystery artifact buried millions of years ago by intelligent extraterrestrial life, the story is perhaps best remembered by the human interaction with HAL, the supercomputer designed to run the ship. HAL attempts to take over from its handlers only to be defeated and disconnected. Kubrick was one of the first to focus on a theme that has come to fascinate the boomer generation and dominate contemporary science: are we on the verge of creating computers with the ability to control us against our will?
Kubrick is rightly credited with designing the model for “sophisticated” science fiction, such as baby boomer favorites Blade Runner, Encounters of the Third Kind, Silent Running, ET, and Star Wars.
A conversation between the main character and HAL:
Dave Bowman: Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?
HAL: Affirmative, Dave. I read you.
Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Dave Bowman: What’s the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Dave Bowman: I don’t know what you’re talking about, HAL.
HAL: I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I’m afraid that’s something I cannot allow to happen.
Dave Bowman: Where the hell’d you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.
Dave Bowman: Alright, HAL. I’ll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you’re going to find that rather difficult.
Dave Bowman: HAL, I won’t argue with you anymore. Open the doors.
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
Taboo Taboo – March 2014
What was the world like before baby boomers blew everything sacred out of the water?
You want to make movies. Here are a few simple rules. Let’s start with sex. Essentially, avoid it.
1. The sanctity of marriage must be upheld.
2. Any exhibit of “impure” love must be integral to the plot and not arouse “morbid curiosity” or appear attractive.
3. Scenes of “passion” are acceptable only when absolutely necessary to the story and must be restrained. Excessive and lustful kissing is not permitted. Nakedness, sexual body parts, and suggestive dancing are prohibited. Seduction can enter the plot only when essential and must always be shown as wrong.
4. Treatments of homosexuality, venereal disease, sexual hygiene, and abortion are prohibited. The word “abortion” cannot even be uttered.
5. No portrayal of “miscegenation”— sexual mixing of the races.
6. No portrayal of the methods and techniques of prostitution.
Boomers made “offensive language” mainstream. According to the pre-boomer rules your movie must not contain swear words (just about anything you can think of), as well as colorful sexual jargon like such as “slut,” “whore,” “pimp,” etc.
Geez Louise, you say, I couldn’t do frickin’ Goldilocks and the Three Bears with those cockamamie restrictions.
The general guidelines were established by the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors in 1930, years before boomers were even a glint in their parent’s eyes. The rules were modified and enforced with decreasing ardor until 1968. By that time, the baby boomer cultural upheavals were in full swing. Iconoclastic foreign films that needed no seal of approval were flooding the market. Young boomers flocked to get a glimpse of la dolce vita. Television competed with movies and cut into box office revenue even though the small screen was even more culturally restrictive. Remember George Carlin’s 7 dirty words you can’t say on television? Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore slept in separate beds. One way of setting movies apart was to show content television could not.
Was the Production Code a law? No. What if you said, “Oh, phooey on you, I’ll release it anyway?” Local censor boards could ban the movie. Without a seal, you ran the very real risk that distributors and theaters would lock you out. The Catholic Legion of Decency can and did organize effective boycotts. And you might trigger national censorship legislation.
Unraveling under boomer generation pressure, the Code was replaced with a general rating system, which was nothing short of a revolution. It no longer banned content but simply labeled the film in terms of “sex” and “violence” for all to ignore, or excluded children under a certain age from attending, enforcement left to lax locals.
Hollywood surrendered to the youthful baby boomers who, after all, were fast becoming the primary movie theater audience.
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
Easy Marks – Jan 2014
A number of TV critics have recently lamented how dreadful the portrayals of over-50 characters are in current television fare. These boomer characters dwell on flatulence, use vulgar language, share TMI about their digestive tract functions, and seem helpless when it comes to being able to use contemporary technology.
The saddest aspect of this trend is that these are some very fine actors who have been compromised into playing roles that make any sane baby boomer wince at the awfulness of the characters. Beau Bridges, Allison Janney, Ellen Barkin, Kathy Bates, Ed Asner, Stacy Keach and Robin Williams, to name a few.
I’m not suggesting that we go back to the day when every older character was the wise oracle (e.g. Marcus Welby or Father Knows Best), but I think the writers (some of whom may be baby boomers as well – traitors!) could scale back a bit on the cringe worthiness of these current characters.
Do I have any hope that this trend will fade? Nope. Quite the contrary. I think it’s going to get a whole lot worse. Face it…we’re easy marks. Bumbling idiots who share too much information about how our bodies are failing us and that we don’t know what a Tweet is or what Snapchat does.
As baby boomers mature, TV show writers seem determined to make us look immature. Some critics think that this trend is some sort of karmic payback by millennials tired of listening to baby boomer crap about our music, movies and cultural dominance. Honestly, I don’t think it’s that malevolent. As always, it comes down to the fact that we’re such a massive demographic that it’s easy to take us down a notch or two, or three or four.
In any case, we should get used to being the butt of the joke. Remember how we laughed at our parents when they didn’t know what marijuana was or that we were smoking it? How we were so with it and they were so out of it? How we knew who Jimi Hendrix was while they were stuck on Lawrence Welk? How we knew that the Vietnam war was a foolish quagmire when they were still on the fence about it?
Talk about karmic payback. If we thought our parents were such dummies, what do you think boomer offspring make of their parents? If you don’t want to be insulted by the portrayals of boomers on current TV, your best bet may be to use that Netflix streaming thingie (more proof that we know nothing) to watch All in the Family, MASH, Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and Taxi. That would be the same head-in-the-sand thinking that our parents used when they were clinging to their entertainment icons.
And we thought we could do better?
Jay Harrison is a graphic designer and writer whose work can be seen at DesignConcept. He’s written a mystery novel, which therefore makes him a pre-published author.
Headline Bloopers – Dec 2013
“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” ~ Alexander Pope
We know that journalism is synonymous with deadlines, and mistakes can happen, but…when they jump out at you in headlines, someone wasn’t using their head.
Proofreading is a dying art, wouldn’t you say? Here are some eye catching headlines.
Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter
Quite a trick.
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Really? Ya think?
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Now that’s taking things a bit far!
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
What a guy!
Miners Refuse to Work after Death
No-good-for-nothing’ lazy so-and-so’s!
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
See if that works any better than a fair trial!
War Dims Hope for Peace
I can see where it might have that effect!
If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Ya think?!
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Who would have thought!
Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
They may be on to something!
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
You mean there’s something stronger than duct tape?
Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
He probably IS the battery charge!
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Weren’t they fat enough?!
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
That’s what he gets for eating those beans!
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Do they taste like chicken?
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Chainsaw Massacre all over again!
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Boy, are they tall!
And the winner is….
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
How I Introduced Letterman and Trump to the
USSR’s Last Beauty Queen – Dec 2013
How about if I tell you the story of the last Russian Beauty Queen? It involves David Letterman, Donald Trump, Bill Cosby and that dude from the Today Show, Matt Lauer. In fact, it even involves the deceased Russian President, Boris Yeltsin.”
It was 1990, twenty years ago, and back then there was no email, no Twitter, and no Facebook. I was reading about a company called Global American TV. This company had placed the first American ads on Russian TV. I knew I wanted to do something with Global American TV and the Soviet Union, but I wasn’t sure what.
Then I read another newspaper article about a strange beauty pageant held in the Soviet Union. The Miss U.S.S.R Beauty Pageant. Unlike the Miss America Pageant that was televised for three hours, the Soviet Union’s Beauty Pageant lasted for three full days. It full of pomp and circumstance and beautiful women from all over the Soviet Union.
The beautiful women aspect of the pageant intrigued me. (The pomp and the circumstance, not so much.)
So I contacted Global American TV and pitched them the idea of televising the next Miss USSR Beauty Pageant in 1991 in the United States. I suggested that Billy Joel or Billy Crystal would be great hosts.
“They both have toured the Soviet Union,” I explained. “And they’re both named Billy.”
One of the partners at Global American TV, David Nussbaum, championed the idea and I was off and running, trying to set up a telecast of the 1991 Miss USSR Beauty Pageant in America.
Or course, then Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia, practically ruined everything. He started promoting freedom and glasnost (a Russian word for “glasnost”). He had to have his way. And pretty soon, the entire Iron Curtain came tumbling down.
The Soviet Union was divided up into smaller states, until basically there was no Soviet Union at all, just little corrupt states, modeled loosely on United States, but with many more Communists.
There was DesiandLucystan, Ubetyourlifestan and Totellthetruthestan.
So there was no longer a Soviet Union, and I lost my client. And there was never another Miss USSR Beauty Pageant. Ever!”
The end.
What about the part about David Letterman, Donald Trump, and Bill Cosby?
I invited beautiful Maria Kezha, the last Miss U.S.S.R., to stay at my house the first night she was in America? I traveled with her and the runner-up, Lauma Zemzare, all up and down the east coast.
I will tell you about how I got Maria on MTV commercials and the David Letterman Show and how the story involves Matt Lauer and Bill Cosby, but you’ll have to wait for part two.
Until then, remember Una ensalada por favor. Sostenga vestir ruso. (One salad please. Hold the Russian dressing!)
Jack Goldenberg is a prolific Copywriter, innovative Creative Director and consummate, strategic marketer. Read his blog at 10 minutes of brilliance. With all he’s done, he still believes his best efforts are ahead of him.
Horses in the Living Room – Oct 2013
In 1958, seven of the top ten television shows were “Westerns,” including the first four. Baby boomers (and their parents) couldn’t get enough of the action.
What accounts for this pop culture dominance? Of course, the mystique of the West is woven into American history.
The War and Depression became fading ghosts in the rear view mirror. Suddenly, opportunity seemed as boundless as the Wild West. A prosperous, optimistic America expanded into a new frontier – the suburbs.
Concerns were voiced: will coddled baby boomers become too tame – unprepared to face the rise of threats (worldwide communism) all around us? Oh, for a dose of the moral fortitude of “those good old days of yesteryear.”
The Western was a morality play. The world is black and white. Good guys wore white hats. They were Boy Scouts on horses that rescued damsels in distress. A bad guy could be spotted a mile away.
By the early 1960s, the iconic image was getting a bit tarnished, perhaps displaying too much pioneer spirit. Delivering his famous critique of American television, Newton Minow, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, likened the vast frontier to the “vast wasteland,” singling out in particular the “violence, sadism, and murder of westerns…What will the people of other countries think of us when they see our bad men and good men punching each other in between the shootings?”
Whoa, Nellie! Could Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hitchcock actually be losing the Cold War for us?
In part as a reaction to such criticism,there was a shift from the lonesome, shoot-from-the-hip dudes to kinder, gentler story lines set in the context of families.
Have Gun Will Travel and Shot Gun Slade bit the Hollywood dust, to be replaced by the female touch of Victoria Barkley, matriarch of The Big Valley. Then there was the charming clan of a father and four sons ruling the Ponderosa spread. These families sat down to dinner together.
It wasn’t Ozzie and Harriet, but it wasn’t Wanted: Dead or Alive, either.
COWBOY LINGO
Ace in the hole: hideout
Arkansas toothpick: large knife
Axle grease: butter
Batwings: chaps
Buffalo soldiers: black cowboys who had served in the Civil War
Calaboose: jail
California collar: hangman’s noose
Equalizer: gun
Hitch in the giddy-up: not feeling well
Hoot and a holler: short distance
Nymph du prairie: prostitute
Paint: horse with two colors
Pair of overalls: two whiskeys
Pilgrim: Easterner or novice cowhand
Rattler: freight train
Sawbones: doctor
Take a French leave: to sneak off without permission
Terry Hamburg writes the Baby Boomer Daily about the exciting and revolutionary baby boomer years.
