Archie Comics

What baby boomer didn't read comics growing up? One of the most popuar was Archie comics.

In December 1941, in issue #22 of MLJ Magazine’s Pep Comics, Archie made his debut – and has been relating to fans worldwide ever since.

Whether he’s begging Veronica for a date or sitting in detention, Archie Andrews is the undisputed all-American teenager. For over 60 years, Archie has chased Veronica, been chased after by Betty and been hounded by Jughead for burgers. Betty, the ‘girl next door, appeared together with Archie in the first panel of the first Archie story – and it was love at first sight. Ever since, Betty’s number one goal has been Archie Andrews. But Archie never really notices, instead his sights are constantly set on Veronica Lodge, Riverdale’s teen socialite. With a million dollar smile – and a million dollar daddy – Veronica divides her time between making dates, breaking dates, breaking hearts and shopping – not necessarily in that order.

Then there’s Jughead Jones – too many burgers, too little time. Since 1941, Jughead has been Riverdale's chief girl-hater, chow hound, and abnormal fashion statement. His beanie is unique, unlike any beanie ever seen before by mankind. In fact, in the old series "Jughead's Time Police," the beanie is a time traveling device. Whether he's playing with his sister, Forsynthia "Jellybean" Jones, or consuming Pop Tate's hamburgers by the dozen, Jughead is always the odd one out. He and Archie are best friends – but only next to Hot Dog, his all time favorite companion is his hammock, which has been with him since the beginning. Even as Riverdale's all time moocher, Jughead is always calm, and has always seemed to be the most sensible member of Riverdale's teen community

The Remote Control

Remember when you actually had to go to the television and turn it on and off? Well, some of the baby boomers remember.

Then along came the remote in 1956. Remote control technology was developed for military use (the Germans used remote control motorboats during W.W.I.) and in the late 1940's the first non-military uses for remote controls appeared (i.e. automatic garage door openers.)

Zenith Radio Corporation, the company behind the development of the remote control, created the very first television remote control in 1950, called "Lazy Bone." Lazy Bone could turn a television on and off and change channels, however, it was not a wireless remote control. The Lazy Bone remote control was attached to the television by a bulky cable, which the consumer did not like (the cable caused tripping).

Zenith engineer, Eugene Polley created the "Flash-matic," the first wireless TV remote invented in 1955. The Flash-matic operated by means of four photocells, one in each corner of the TV screen. The viewer used a directional flashlight to activate the four control functions, which turned the picture and sound on and off and turned the channel tuner dial clockwise and counter-clockwise. However, the Flash-matic had problems working well on sunny days, when the sunlight could change channels randomly.
The improved "Zenith Space Command," remote control went into commercial production in 1956. Zenith engineer, Dr. Robert Adler who based his invention on ultrasonics, designed the Space Command. Ultrasonic remote controls remained the dominant design for the next twenty-five years, and as the name suggests they worked using ultrasound waves. The Space Command transmitter used no batteries; inside the transmitter were four lightweight aluminum rods that emitted high-frequency sounds when struck at one end. Each rod was a different length to create a different sound that controlled a receiver unit built into the television.

In 1956 Robert Adler developed "Zenith Space Command", a wireless remote. It was mechanical and used ultrasound to change the channel and volume. When the user pushed a button on the remote control it clicked and struck a bar, hence the term "clicker". Each bar emitted a different frequency and circuits in the television detected this noise. The invention of the transistor made possible cheaper electronic remotes that contained a piezoelectric crystal that was fed by an oscillating electric current at a frequency near or above the upper threshold of human hearing, though still audible to dogs. The receiver contained a microphone attached to a circuit that was tuned to the same frequency. Some problems with this method were that the receiver could be triggered accidentally by naturally occurring noises, and some people, especially young women, could hear the piercing ultrasonic signals. There was even a noted incident in which a toy xylophone changed the channels on these types of TVs since some of the overtones from the xylophone matched the remote's ultrasonic frequency.

John Glenn Space Flight

Many baby boomers grew up fascinated by the space program and the astronauts. I was one of those kids who loved watching the rocket launches and sending away for pictures from NASA.

In April 1959 Glenn was assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as one of the original group of Mercury astronauts for the Mercury Project. During this time, he remained an officer in the Marine Corps. He piloted the first American manned orbital mission aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962.

After completing three orbits, the "Mercury Atlas 6" mission, lasting 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds. During the mission there was concern that his heat shield had failed and that his craft would burn up on re-entry but he did return safely. Glenn was celebrated as a national hero, and received a ticker-tape parade reminiscent of Lindbergh.

Baseball Player Trading Cards

In 1950, the creative minds at Topps decided that they could sell even more bubble gum by inserting trading cards. The first trading cards were Hopalong Cassidy, the TV and film cowboy; "Frank Buck "Bring 'em Back Alive" cards (featuring big game hunts in Africa), and All-American football cards. The following year, the first baseball cards were created – game cards, actually, and not very handsome at that. But in 1952, Sy Berger, a war veteran with a creative mind and a keen knowledge of baseball, developed the first "modern baseball card," complete with player image, team logo, vital statistics, and full playing record.

After World War II, Topps Gum evolved into Bazooka Bubble Gum, named after a musical instrument of all things. Nobody found the "Atom Bubble Boy," the symbol of the product, to be especially interesting; and so Bazooka Joe (complete with his eye patch) was created and comics were wrapped around the chunks of gum. Through the collecting of the comics, kids could redeem their fortunes for such things as a "super spy telescope." Great stuff!

It wasn't long before the idea of cards helping to sell more gum went quite the other way – the cards were what people longed for. And Topps was leading the way, developing baseball, football, basketball and hockey products, and serving as the "gateway to the games" for millions of young fans, who first discovered the players through the cards, even before attending their first games. Many baby boomers today, who now buy cards for their children – and grandchildren – picture players of the past based on their Topps images.

The first card in that set, Andy Pafko (Dodgers), is a collector's gem today, because so many people sorted their cards by number and wrapped rubber bands around their stacks. Poor Andy. Not many Pafkos survived the rubber band wars!

What Me Worry?

What kid who grew up in the 50s or 60s did not read Mad Magazine?

Mad magazine founded by publisher William Gaines and editor Harvey Kurtzman was begun in 1952. Offering satire on all aspects of American life and pop culture, the monthly publication deflated stuffed shirts and poked fun at common frailties.

Duck And Cover

The Baby Boomers were the first generation to grow up with the threat of nuclear war. This video was created in 1951 to teach kids on how to take cover if ever under attack by other countries, or how to take cover if there was an atomic bomb to ever go off. An entire generation of American school children were shown this post-WWII Civil Defense film based on limited information from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Movie Serials

Serials were a film genre that told their story in an episodic format. Each week, audience members would go to the theater to watch the latest episode in a film ranging from twelve to fifteen chapters. Each chapter ended with the hero facing certain death, so that you had to back the following week to see what happened. Serials began in 1912, where they helped to establish the fledgling motion picture business, and ended in 1956, when TV became the dominant vehicle for weekly doses of adventure.

These were great fun and my brother and I would regularly go to the movies on Saturday and enjoy these serials.

Top Five Songs of 1947

1. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Various

2. Peg O My Heart, Buddy Clark

3. Managua, Nicaragua, Guy Lombardo

4. One O'Clock Jump, Count Basie

5. Mam'selle, Frank Sinatra

Skates With A Key

I can remember spending long hours skating as a kid. You just slipped your shoes into the skates and tightened them onto your shoe with a skate key.

RC Cola And A Moon Pie

By the late 1950's, the MoonPie® had grown in popularity, so much that the bakery did not have the resources available to produce anything else. The phrase "RC Cola and a MoonPie®" became well known around the South, as many people enjoyed this delicious, bargain-priced combination. If you grew up in the South as I did, this combination was definitely a treat as a kid.

The Lone Ranger

As a kid growing up, I loved the Lone Ranger. There was something about the mask and his character that was captivating.

The Lone Ranger was the (1949-1957) television series starring Clayton Moore (though with John Hart as the Lone Ranger from 1952-1954) and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. The live-action TV series featured Gerald Mohr as the episode narrator. He was also narrator for seven episodes of the radio series in 1949, 1950 and 1952. Fred Foy served as announcer of both the radio and TV series from 1948 to 1954. The series was popular enough to spawn two feature films, The Lone Ranger (1956), and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958).

The first 78 episodes were produced and broadcast for 78 consecutive weeks without any breaks or reruns. Then the entire 78 episodes were shown again, before any new episodes were produced.

When it came time to produce another batch of 52 episodes, there was a wage dispute with Clayton Moore, and John Hart was hired to play the role of the Lone Ranger. Once again, the 52 new episodes were aired in sequence, followed by 52 weeks rerunning them.

At the end of the fifth year of the television series, Trendle sold the Lone Ranger rights to Jack Wrather (Aug 3, 1954). Wrather immediately rehired Clayton Moore to play the Lone Ranger and another 52 episodes were produced. Once again, they were broadcast as a full year of new episodes followed by a full year of reruns.

The final series of 39 episodes saw a number of changes, the most obvious being the change to color. The last new episode of the color series was broadcast June 6, 1957 and the series ended September 12, 1957.

The Lone Ranger Creed:
I believe.....
That to have a friend, a man must be one.
That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.
In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
That 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.
That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.
That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."

Captain Kangaroo

Before there was Sesame Street, there was the Captain. Captain Kangaroo played by Bob Keeshan was the longest running network children's show of all time - from 1955 until 1984.It has since been surpassed by Sesame Street. The good Captain could be seen mornings on CBS.

Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum played sidekick Mr. Green Jeans, joining Cosmo Allegretti's hand-puppets Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit in the Captain's Treasure House.

Before Keeshan was a captain he was a clown - probably the most famous clown of the 1950s - Clarabell from the 'Howdy Doody Show' starring Buffalo Bob Smith.

Bob Keeshan was only 28 years old in 1955 when he and producer Jack Miller created 'Captain Kangaroo.' Television was a relatively new addition to most American homes - there had never been a generation of kids exposed to home-video entertainment before, so the series was designed to give kids a gentle alternative to the frenetic nature of most children's shows of the day. Watching an episode of Captain Kangaroo show from the early-sixties, one is struck by the achingly slow pace and overall gentle nature of the show.

Captain Kangaroo definitely was one of the fond memories that I have as a child.

Weejuns

Bass Weejuns were the shoes that all the "in" teenagers wanted to wear to school in the 1960s.

Top Five Songs of 1946

1. PRISONER OF LOVE- Perry Como

2. TO EACH HIS OWN- Eddy Howard

3. THE GYPSY- Ink Spots

4. FIVE MINUTES MORE -Frank Sinatra

5. RUMORS ARE FLYING -Frankie Carle

Drive-Ins

What baby boomer doesn't remember drive-ins with fondness?

The drive-in's peak popularity came in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly in rural areas, with some 4000 drive-ins spreading across the United States. Among its advantages was the fact that a family with a baby could take care of their child while watching a movie, while teenagers with access to autos found drive-ins ideal for dates. Revenue was more limited than regular theatres since showings can only start at twilight. There were abortive attempts to create suitable conditions for daylight viewing, such as large tent structures, but nothing viable was developed.

In the 1950s, the greater privacy afforded to patrons gave drive-ins a reputation as immoral, and they were labeled "passion pits" in the media. During the 1970s, some drive-ins changed from family fare to sexploitation movies. In addition, the economics of real estate made the large property areas increasingly expensive for drive-ins to successfully operate. These changes and the advent of VCRs led to a sharp decline in the popularity of drive-ins. They eventually lapsed into a quasi-novelty status with the remaining handful catering to a generally nostalgic audience.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Who's the leader of the club
That's made for you and me?
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

Hey, there! Hi, there! Ho, there!
You're as welcome as can be!
M--I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Mickey Mouse! Donald Duck!
Mickey Mouse! Donald Duck!
Forever let us hold our banners high!
High! High! High!

Come along and sing a song
And join the jamboree
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

And, the ending...

(Softly)
Now's the time to say goodbye
To all our company
Through the years we'll all be friends
Wherever we may be
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse
Forever let us hold our banner high
M-I-C - See ya real soon!
K-E-Y - Why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E!!

Although the Mickey Mouse Club TV series premiered on October 3, 1955, the Mouseketeers made their first television appearance on July 17, 1955 - on the ABC broadcast special celebrating the opening of Disneyland. What red bloodied adolescent boy did not drool over Annette?

Sadly, the show only ran for 3 years and 360 episodes. ABC wanted to run more ads and Walt Disney refused. His contract forbid him from shopping the show to another network.

Sky King

Sky King was a former military pilot who used his airplane to patrol the skies of his Flying Crown ranch and neighboring areas. He was frequently called upon to rescue someone in distress.

Sky King was mainly a kid's show from the early Fifties, but Sky King was shown in reruns for many years.One thing is certain. We all watched Sky King and we all wanted to be pilots.

Penny was Sky King's niece, but yes, in earlier episodes he also had a nephew, Clipper. In the earlier episodes, Sky King's plane was a Cessna T-50 twin-engine "Bamboo Bomber." The more familiar plane was Songbird, a Cessna 310B.

The show was filmed in black-and-white during three periods as sponsors changed: 1951-52, 1955-56 and 1957-62. It continued in syndication for years afterward. There were 72 episodes in all.

3D Movies

Movie studio executives worried that the new medium, television, would steal away their audiences. What was required was a hook to bring people back into the movie theatre. As the strippers sang in "Gypsy," you gotta have a gimmick.

Even though 3-D movies had been around as far back as 1922 and had lost favor, it was decided to try again. Arch Oboler's "Bwana Devil" started the 3-D craze of the 1950's. It premiered on Nov. 26, 1952 and starred Robert Stack, Barbara Britton and Nigel Bruce.

People were issued glasses, which facilitated the 3-D effect. Previously, 3-D used the anaglyphic process and those glasses were the red and green ones. This distorted the whole film by discoloration. Enter Polaroid and a newer system called Natural Vision. Polaroid glasses were nearly clear and so did not detract from the viewing experience.

At first industry experts predicted that 3-D would do for movies what the "talkies" had done. Some surprising titles were filmed in 3-D, such as Hondo, Kiss Me Kate and Dial M for Murder. But often their 2-D versions outsold the 3-D, and the industry got the big hint.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Faster than a speeding bullet.
More powerful than a locomotive.
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Look! Up in the sky!
It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!

Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights the never ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way.

Nearly every kid who grew up in the 50s can remember almost verbatim the opening intro to one of the most popular television shows of that time, Superman.

When The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves debuted in late 1952, it was a big hit, by far the most imaginative and exciting adventure series the medium had ever seen.

Even though there were no color televisions available to the public, in 1954 The Adventures of Superman became only the second TV series to be filmed in color (Cisco Kid was the first). This was a prescient move undertaken to make the show more commercially viable in the future. The series ceased production after six successful seasons.

The Hula Hoop

As kids, we would while away the hours with this simple toy, the hula hoop. A fad that was very popular in the late 1950's was the Hula Hoop. It is still around today, but has nowhere near the amount of popularity as it did when first invented. It started in 1957, when a visiting Australian mentioned to two young Californians that in Australia, bamboo hoops were used for exercises in gym class. These Californians were Richard Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, founders of the Wham-O Manufacturing Company of San Gabriel.

At the time, their business of slingshots, boomerangs, and the like was running smoothly. As soon as they heard of this new "toy", they began working on making a perfect hula hoop that would be easy to play with. Once they had the first prototype, they tested it on local playgrounds and found that it had the longest "play value" of any toy they had ever produced.

Soon though, they realized what an international success the hula hoop was, and were unable to patent it. This meant that many other versions, such as "Spin-a-hoop" and "Hoop-d-do", were being made and sold by other companies. So in 1958, these companies began competing for their share of international sales of between 60 to 100 million hoops. It is reported that in only five months, this new toy raked in twice the sum disbursed by the State Department for cultural educational exchange programs during the entire year.

Finally, in November, The Wall Street Journal announced that "Hoops have had it." But toy manufacturers who had become 45 million dollars richer, had no reason to complain. The inventors of this crazy new fad, Wham-O, were convinced that the future of toys was in fads, and set out to look for another.

The 45

How many of the current generation have actually seen a 45 rpm vinyl record? This was the format for release of new music to radio before 1970. It's simply called the "45." CDs and iPods have long since replaced the records that we used to listen to for hours on record players.

After the fall of the phonograph cylinder, the record was the uncontested sound medium for decades. The number of available recordings mushroomed and the number of companies pressing records skyrocketed. These were 78 r.p.m., double-sided, ten-inch shellac discs, with about 4 minutes of recording time on each side.

Growth in the recorded sound industries was stunted by the Great Depression and World War II, when the country was hamstrung by a dearth of raw materials. By the time World War II ended, the economy began to grow again. Classical music (which was a large portion of 78 releases) was slowly edgesd into a minority status by the influx of popular and new music.

The introduction of both the 33 1/3 r.p.m. 12-inch LP record and the 7-inch 45 rpm record, coming into the market around 1949/1950 provided advances in both storage and quality. These also featured vinyl replacing the previous shellac materials. Further groups of small labels came into existence with the dawning of the rock and roll era in the early to middle 1950s, and the market among post-war teenagers with disposable income to spend on 45 rpm singles. Some of these labels, such as Atlantic Records, actually turned into mainstream major record labels later on in the 1960s.

The pop music scene changed forever in January 1964 with the arrival of The Beatles in the United States. In their wake, thousands of musical bands inspired by their fresh, lively take on rock music with a sharp British sensibility, picked up guitars, and many released records. Many of these acolytes released 45 records in small batches to sell at local concerts and to their friends and families. Due to their relatively small pressings, these obscure local records became highly prized and valuable.

With the introduction of the compact disc in the middle 1980s, the vinyl records disappearedvery quickly.

It's Howdy Doody Time

Who can forget the irresistible Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody that first aired on television on December 27th,1947.

The NBC produced show's host was Bob Smith (1917-1998), who was dubbed "Buffalo Bob" early in the show's run. Smith wore cowboy garb, and the name of the puppet "star" was derived from the western U.S. expression "howdy do," a familiar form of the greeting "How Do You Do?"

There also were several human characters, most notably the mute Clarabell the Clown, who communicated by honking horns on his belt and squirting seltzer, and Chief Thunderthud, head of the Ooragnak tribe of Native Americans, who originated the cry "Kowabonga!". Princess Summerfall Winterspring, originally a puppet, was later played by the actress Judy Tyler. The characters inhabited the fictional town of "Doodyville".

Clarabell was first played by Bob Keeshan, who continued in that role until 1952. Keeshan later became Captain Kangaroo. At the end of the final episode, Clarabell (then played by Lew Anderson) broke his series-long silence to say with a sad expression, "Goodbye, kids". Lew Anderson followed Bobby Nicholson, who later played Doodyville's J. Cornelius Cobb to Anderson’s Clarabell.