American Living:

1940: 1st nylon stockings sold in US

1949: 1st Polaroid camera sold $89.95 (NYC)

1960: Taxes took 25% of earnings in US

1975: 80,000 turned out in New York City’s Central Park to celebrate the end of the Vietnam War.

Technology & Inventions:

1952: The Westinghouse Frost-Free Refrigerator was introduced

1954: The Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. unveils a device that dials automatically. It is the forerunner of equipment that will soon permit a telephone user to dial direct, skipping the step of the operator.

Movies & TV:

1952: “Singin in the Rain” was in theaters starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds

1959: “Some Like It Hot” was in theaters starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon

1959: Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle, last airs on NBC-TV

1960: Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra special

1963: Bob Dylan walks off Ed Sullivan Show

1970: Beatles movie “Let it Be” premieres

1986: “Top Gun,” premieres

Music & Radio:

1963: Peter, Paul & Mary win their 1st Grammy (If I Had a Hammer)

1966: The Pet Sounds “masterpiece” by The Beach Boys was released. It contained “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Sloop John B.,” “God Only Knows,” “Here Today,” “Caroline No” and other songs.

1977: 1st quadrophonic concert (Pink Floyd in London)

1977: Howard Stern begins broadcasting at WRNW, Briarcliff Manor NY

1981: “Bette Davis Eyes” by Kim Carnes hits #1 for next 9 weeks

1985: Madonna’s “Crazy For You,” single goes #1

Hollywood Headlines:

1967: Paul McCartney meets his future wife Linda Eastman

1971: Mick Jagger married Bianca Macias at St Tropez Town Hall

1976: Keith Relf, rock vocalist (Yardbirds), electrocuted at 33 while at home tuning his guitar

1980: Brian May of rock group Queen collapses on stage with hepatitis

1987: Rita Hayworth, actress (Gilda), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 68

The Arts:

1946: Musical “Annie Get Your Gun,” starring Ethel Merman premieres in NYC

1969: Monty Python comedy troupe forms

1981: Andrew Lloyd Webber/TS Eliot’s musical “Cats,” premieres in London

Sports:

1967: Mickey Mantle’s 500th HR off Oriole’s Stu Miller

1975: Muhammad Ali TKOs Ron Lyle in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

1983: Reggie Jackson is 1st major leaguer to strike out 2,000 times

1985: Michael Jordan named NBA Rookie of Year

1986: Reggie Jackson hit his 537th HR passing Mickey Mantle into 6th place

Automobile News:

1947: BF Goodrich announced the development of the tubeless tire (Akron Ohio)

1969: Last Chevrolet Corsair built

As a child growing up in Connecticut, nothing compared to trips with my mother to the department store, G. Fox & Company at 960 Main St. in Hartford. This grand institution was a family-owned, first-class department store, established in 1847. It was a cornerstone of the Connecticut economy when we shopped there in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I was unaware at the time that this store, which had once been the largest in New England, was soon to begin its decline. The original Fox family had sold the store to the May Department Stores Co. in 1965.

But in its heyday, before the invasion of malls, G. Fox was THE store to shop in. Within its 11 floors (plus a basement, sub-basement and mezzanine), you could find whatever you needed. And the service was exceptional. There were clothing departments for men, women and children, books, music, makeup, jewelry, art supplies, housewares, a fur salon and a stamp department for collector stamps.

A highlight of any shopping trip with my mother was stopping for lunch at the 1950’s lunch counter, which I believe was on the 6th floor. The restaurant was done in a classic diner style and had been preserved through renovations mostly in tact. There were booths to sit at, but I liked to sit on the chrome and leather stools that were fastened to the floor. I remember getting the best egg salad sandwiches there. It’s funny. I don’t remember the dessert, but I do remember the egg salad sandwiches.

My mother and I would make all of our usual stops at all of our favorite departments. The store was so beautiful to shop in, with its Art Deco design. The main floor was especially beautiful, with its high ceilings and marble floor. There were 8 passenger elevators. I remember taking one from the main lobby that was driven by a male uniformed elevator operator. There were also female attendants in the immaculate, black and white tiled ladies’ room.

You were so pampered at G. Fox that you didn’t even have to carry your purchases. You could have them delivered to your home the next day on the G. Fox truck, free of charge. I also remember my mother calling the store and having things delivered on approval. If it didn’t fit, or she just didn’t like the item, the truck would come out and pick it up, again, free of charge. We lived in a suburb of Hartford approximately 11 miles from the store.

The most spectacular time to visit G. Fox was during the Christmas season. The main floor was filled with poinsettias and there were old fashioned (yes—religious!) Christmas carols playing. The excitement and joy of the season made the air electric, as display cases brimmed with stylish and quality merchandise. But the real excitement began when Santa took up residence on the 11th floor. Every year, while we were young enough to appreciate it, my 3 brothers and me were taken up to the 11th floor where the Toy Department was. We would admire all of the unique toys and compile our Christmas wish lists. (As I recall, we would be allowed one expensive item from G. Fox to complement the stack of more standard games and toys selected from some place like Sears or later, ToysRUs.) I generally picked out a beautiful doll, but one year it was a stuffed white angora cat. I don’t ever remember being disappointed by not receiving this special item on Christmas morning.

Once we perused the toys, we got on the line to enter Toyland with its winter scenery, to wind our way up to where Santa was seated. Once there, we met Santa and asked him for something special and got our picture taken with him. Things usually went quite well, except for the year my youngest brother, about 4 years old, decided to tell Santa he had bad breath. My poor mother!

The day after Christmas, we returned to G. Fox. It had become a tradition to take advantage of the half price sale on Christmas wrapping paper and cards. The whole family spent a couple of hours among the crowds, selecting cards, paper and bows at 50% off for the following year. All of the shopping loot would be packed into a large box to be delivered to our home. When the box arrived, my mother and father packed it away for next Christmas.

So many of my memories of the time are tied in to that wonderful store. Going with my father to help him pick out diamond studs to surprise my mother on their 25th wedding anniversary. Buying my first real lipstick (not the cheaper version from the drugstore or 5 and dime). My older brother being old enough to drive me to purchase leather gloves for my mother, with money I had saved up. But the family sold the store in 1965, and there were so many changes made that the store lost touch with the core values it was founded on. The store closed for good in 1993.

The building at 960 Main St. in Hartford now houses both retail and professional tenants. I understand the Main St. lobby has been restored to its former Art Deco glory. But the store is gone, and I miss it and all the times we enjoyed there. I especially miss the days when a salesperson actually thanked you for spending money in their establishment.

Front Page News:

1937: Dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, NJ (36 die)

1944: Gandhi freed from prison

1946: 5 die in a 2 day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco bay

1960: President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960

1961: Alan Shepard becomes 1st American in Space (aboard Freedom 7)

1970: Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on anti-war protesters
at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others,
one permanently disabled.

1977: 1414 arrested in ongoing protests at proposed nuclear power plant site in Seabrook, New Hampshire.

1980: World Health Organization announced smallpox had been eradicated

1982: IBM releases PC-DOS version 1.1

1984: American veterans of the Vietnam War reached a $180-million out-of-court settlement with seven chemical companies in their class-action suit relating to the use of herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam.

American Living:

1961: President John F. Kennedy officially proclaims Sunday, May 13 as Mother’s Day. “The American Mother, as the heart of the American Home, by her labor and love instills in our homes and nurtures in our children the spirit of our country.”

1970: Now available at Texaco Stations - lead free gasoline.

Movies & TV:

1957: Last broadcast of “I Love Lucy” on CBS-TV

1983: “Laverne & Shirley,” last airs on ABC-TV

Music:

1959: 1st Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win

1962: West Side Story soundtrack album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album

1966: Mamas & Papas “Monday Monday” hits #1

1970: The Let It Be album was released in 1970.

1970: The soundtrack to the first Woodstock festival was released

1976: Kiss performs their 1st concert

1977: The Eagles’ masterpiece, “Hotel California,” was at number 1 on the singles chart in the U.S. for its only week

1981: Bob Marley died of lung cancer and a brain tumour

Hollywood Headlines:

1960: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz divorce

1977: Joan Crawford, actress, dies at 69

1987: Actor Tom Cruise (27) & actress Mimi Rogers (33), marry

The Arts:

1940: Pulitzer prize awarded to John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath)

1953: Pulitzer prize awarded to E Hemingway (Old Man & The Sea)

1955: “Damn Yankees” opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 1022 performances

Sports:

1965: Willie Mays 512th HR breaks Mel Ott’s 511th NL record

1971: Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden

May 5, 1978: Pete Rose reaches 3,000 career hits.

Front Page News:

1942: Japanese Americans in San Francisco were ordered to leave their homes and report to internment camps for the duration of World War II.

1963: Hundreds of children ranging in age from six to eighteen were arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, as they marched from Kelly Ingram Park, across from 16th Street Baptist Church, to downtown singing, “We Shall Overcome.”

1969: U.S. troop levels in Vietnam peak at 543,400. There have been 33,641 Americans killed by now, a total greater than the Korean War.

1975: The war in Vietnam ended as the government in Saigon (then the southern capital, now Ho Chi Minh City) announced its unconditional surrender to the North Vietnamese Army (NVA).

American Living:

1952: Checking accounts become the new way to pay bills with Manufacturers Trust Company Bank leading the cause

1958: The government reports that the average family income last year was $6130 - 50% higher than a decade ago.

Movies & TV:

1953: I Love Lucy (CBS) - #1 Show

1954: Roman Holiday is in the theatres – starring Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn

1953: The FCC gives New Hampshire its first TV channel allocation, leaving neighbor Vermont as the only state without an allocated TV channel

Music:

1956: Heartbreak Hotel is #1 on the billboard pop charts and #6 on the R&B
RCA Victor says that Presley records are selling at the rate of 50,000 a day, accounting for about 50% of the label’s business.

1960: The Everly Brothers had their first hit for Warner Brothers Records with “Cathy’s Clown.”

1964: “The Beatles’ Second Album” reaches #1 on the Billboard LP chart in just its second week of release. It was the first album ever to make it to the top that quickly.

1967: Aretha Franklin releases “Respect”, a song that will become her signature tune.

1971: The Rolling Stones’ “Brown Sugar” is released. It would reach number one in the US and number two in the UK.

1979: Blondie brought a touch of New Wave music to the Hot 100 when “Heart Of Glass” reached #1. They would score three more chart toppers over the next two years.

1983: After leading the Billboard chart for seven weeks with “Billie Jean”, Michael Jackson was back on top with “Beat It”.

Hollywood Headlines:

1967: On May 1st, 32 year old Elvis Presley married 21 year old Priscilla Beaulieu

The Arts

1968: The Hair musical opened on Broadway in New York. It would last for 1750 performances, and featured songs like “Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In,” “Good Morning Starshine,” “Easy to Be Hard” and the title track, a hit for The Cowsills.

Sports:

First career home runs for Ted Williams (1939) and Hank Aaron (1954).

1952: In Chicago – Sugar Ray Robinson knocks-out Rocky Graziano in the third round and retains the middleweight boxing championship title

1956: Rocky Marciano (31) retires as undefeated world heavyweight boxing champ

1967: Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title for refusing induction into the U.S. Army.

July 29, 1980 was a dark day for Salem, NH. Early that morning a devastating fire tore through the Rockingham Park grandstands. It would be 4 years before “The Track” would open again, and some would say it was never the same. From age 10 on, I lived very close to Rockingham Park and have lots of memories of it from before and after the fire.When we were kids we used to sell sandwiches and lemonade outside the main gate during the busy summer thoroughbred meet. In the winter (the trotters season) we would climb through the mountains of snow that were created from plowing the enormous parking lots. Years later and after the fire, we would occasionally sneak out of work to place a few bets on a friend’s horse, Maguru, (later nicknamed Maglueru ). I also had a friend who was married at the park. I didn’t know it at the time, but when we were selling lemonade, my future father-in-law was out front with his taxi. When guys had a good day betting, they would ride home in style in his Crown Victoria, rather then take the bus.

My mother worked in the clubhouse and it’s also where a lot of my friends had their first jobs. At least in my world, there were endless connections to Rockingham Park, so when I heard there was a fire at the track I grabbed my camera and ran over and captured these pictures. But this blog is really about all my memories from before and after the fire, not the fire itself. Looking through my pictures just got me thinking about all my connections and memories from Rockingham Park.

Here are a couple of interesting items that I hope will remind you of some of your Rockingham Park memories that you can blog about.

The track kitchen was a dining hall down in the stables where trainers, jockeys, owners and gamblers looking for an edge would go for breakfast and lunch. It really was an interesting place with great food and lots of character and characters. The gamblers were called clockers, always looking for some inside info or hoping to overhear something that would help them out at the betting windows.

Fight night was a unique Rockingham Park event. One night a week, during the summer meet, a boxing ring was set up over by the stables for a night of boxing. I don’t remember how they matched up people—maybe some stable grudges were settled there—but it was entertaining with an almost carnival-like atmosphere.

These days the trotters are still around but the live thoroughbred racing is gone, except for simulcasts from other tracks. I would guess that unless they get some sort of slot machines or other gambling, Rockingham Park might not be long for this world, given the size of the property. If I were a betting man (and I am), I would say that unless things change we will probably see something like an Ikea in its place someday. I like Ikea, but that would be a shame.

Piggies In a Blanket

You haven’t lived until you’ve had Piggies in a blanket. The flip side of that is if you have Piggies in a blanket too much you may not live too long. Way before everyone was aware of the perils of fat, salt, cholesterol and nitrates, “Piggies” were in the regular rotation in my Mother’s supper arsenal.

To make Piggies you would start with a hot dog. Being in Lawrence, MA they where probably Essem franks. An excellent local brand with a natural crunchy casing. You slice the dog lengthwise about three quarters of the way through the dog. Now take a slice of Land O’ Lakes white American Cheese. Cut the slice in to quarter strips and stuff it in the length of the hot dog. Finish it off by wrapping a slice of bacon around the entire hot dog. Hold the bacon in place with tooth picks. Bake in the oven at 350 or so for about 20 minutes until it is all crispy and golden. Don’t worry about the melted crispy cheese all over the pan, that is just a bonus.

For a perfect side dish try Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese. After you prepare it almost to the directions, ( make sure the macaroni is very firm ) place in a casserole dish, sprinkle with a little bread crumbs and put in the oven along with the piggies. A big glass of milk and you are in heaven.

Piggies in a blanket are not something you want to eat to often but give them a try before they are banned by the food police.

Let us know how you like them.

My sons, a few friends and I went to see Ray Davies of the Kinks the other night in Boston. I think I became a Kinks fan with the release of Sleepwalker in 1976. I have probably seen Ray or The Kinks 15 times since then. If you have never listened to much Kinks stuff I highly recommend checking them out in depth. I would put any of their 60’s British invasion songs up against any band of the time ( excluding the Beatles of course ). And as far as a song writer Ray is one of the best.

Pete Townshend said “The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Poet Laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning.”

After a few hits in the early 60’s, You Really Got Me, Tired of Waiting , All Day and All of the Night the group was banned from The US. The American Federation of Musicians refused permits for the group to appear in concerts in the states after their 1965 tour. Although neither the Kinks nor the Union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage antics. It would be four years before they played live again in the US. No touring meant no radio play so they were pretty much silent during the height of the British invasion. But they pressed on releasing a slew of great songs and albums in the 70’s. The 80’s and 90’s weren’t as productive but they still put out some great tunes.

Had it not been for that four year ban I think today The Kinks would be talked about in the same circle with The Beatles, Stones and The Who as one of the top five British groups.
By the way, the show in Boston was excellent, the old Orpheum Theater was rocking, paint chips were falling from the ceiling. Ray’s new songs are very good and he cranked out lots of Kinks classics.

Here is a list of what I think are some great Kinks songs. Some hits, some not, but all great songs. Also a couple of pictures I took of The Kinks many years ago.

No More Looking Back - Schoolboys in Disgrace
Moving Pictures - Low Budget
Set Me Free - Kinda Kinks
I Gotta Move - On an EP with All Day and All of the Night
Where Have All The Good Times Gone - The Kink Kontroversy
Get Up -Misfit
Sitting in the Midday Sun - Preservation Act One
Life Goes on - Sleepwalker
You Cant Stop The Music - A Soap Opera
One Of The Survivors - Preservation Act One
Victoria - Arthur
Waterloo Sunset - Something Else By The Kinks
Better Things - Give The people What They Want
Shangri-La - Arthur
God’s Children - Percy ( Soundtrack )
Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy - Kinda Kinks
Who’ll Be The Next In Line - Kinkdom
Im Not Like Everybody Else - Face to Face
Sittin’ On My Sofa - The Kink Kontroversy
She’s Got Everything - Days 7” Single or The Ultimate Collection
Star-struck - Village Green Preservation Society
Do It Again - Word of Mouth
Living On A Thin Line - Word of Mouth
20TH Century Man _ Muswell Hillbillies

And of course there is You Really Got Me, Apeman, Till The End Of The Day, Lola and the list goes on and on. A lot of these songs can be found on Compilations and you can sample most on iTunes, but some of the earlier stuff is not there.

Let me know what you think.

Earth Shoes 1970’s

Does anyone remember Earth Shoes? Somehow these things came up in a conversation the other night. Man they were the ugliest shoes ever made and I owned a pair. Introduced in the 70’s and unlike other shoes the front of the soles were thick and the heels were thin. “Negative heel technology” as they were called. I wonder if they were inspired by the keep on trucking guy of the 60’s. He looked like he was trucking uphill.

I did a little research and the company that made them is still in existence and has recently reintroduced “negative heel technology” shoes again. It is to be hoped that this time around they are much better looking.

TV Dinners

The phrase TV dinner was coined by Swanson’s in 1952. The first TV dinner consisted of a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, peas and sweet potatoes packaged in a segmented aluminum tray which could be heated directly from the box. It could then be served in the same tray without any extra dishes and it also fit nicely on a TV tray so you wouldn’t have to miss any of your favorite TV shows. Modern living at it’s best to say the least.

The concept was an instant hit and Swanson’s sold 10 million TV dinners the first year in production.Now if you want to put together your own version of a TV dinner check out our ceramic TV dinner trays. Great plate for serving all kinds of meals and just like the originals you can prepare ahead and freeze.

Now every hardcore Stooges fan has gotten into a conversation with someone who claims to be a big stooges fan. Sure they can recite “nyuk, nyuk, nyuk” and “why soitenly”, but when you throw a line at them like “did he say jail ? No Yale, I got a brother there, has two heads, they have him in a bottle” well that is when they look at you like you have two heads.

This blog is about all those great Stooges lines that rarely get quoted. The kinds of lines you recite to a friend who is as big a fan as you are and not only knows it but throws one back at you. Now these don’t have to be all one liners. They can be exchanges between Moe, Larry, Curly and Shemp or between one of the Stooges and another character. I’ll start it off with a few.

Curly singing - “She was bred in old Kentucky but she is just a crumb up here”.

Moe selling Bright-O - “If you have a knicknack with a nick in it, we’ll knock the nick outta the knicknack with Brighto!”.

Curly shaving ice - “Were you wearing a pink bow tie ? No, well here is your lip”.

Curly “Oh, see the deer. Has the deer a little doe?”
Moe - “Ya, two bucks”. ( smack )

Prospective employer - “What would you do if you held the Queen alone ?”
Larry - “That all depends on when the King was expected home ?
Prospective employer - “Oh a bridge expert” !

Lady with a pie stuck on the ceiling above her - “Young man, you act as tho the sword of Damocles is hanging over your head”.
Moe - “Lady you must be physic”.

Curly - “I grow on people” !
Moe - “So do warts”.

Bailiff - “Drop the vernacular”
Curly - “Thats not a vernacular, thats a derby”

And they go on and on. Please blog in with your favorites.