Right now, my friend Brian is working on a graphic design project, re-branding Rite Aid. He's asking my dad about what it was like to grow up in the 1950's, and it's all very interesting because Dad never really tells us anything. I almost want to cry because of how golden this all sounds.
Dad is explaining about how everything depended on what you could afford. Some people were lucky to have simply ice cream. My dad said that, while in elementary school, he was sad watching other kids eat ice cream because his family could not afford it. Later on, he worked at a newspaper stand making a dollar a night, and he would occasionally buy ice cream after school. Now he has mentioned a stand that used to sell buttered tortillas for a nickel. [That's still his favorite thing next to ice cream.] He explained that when he had parties, if people bought ice cream, they had to eat it right away because the family's ice box would not have room to keep it. Although, some lucky families nearby had freezers and they could eat the ice cream as they pleased. [Brian is realizing that this is the schmoozy stereotype of the Golden 50's.]
Just hearing the mention of rolling up to a drive through movie theater, his 1959 Ford, learning to drive in manual with a 1949 Plymouth... it's just a huge realization of how different times were. Parties weren't about drinking or doing drugs. They were about dancing and having a good time and trying out Bubble Up when it had just come out. Parties were about listening to 45's with friends. He had a flat-top hairstyle that he later changed to a pompadour. He loved the Everly Brothers. This is all news to me, and it's so awesome.
There is something very organic about the fun he used to have -- marbles and jacks in the street, jump-roping, hiking, biking, driving from one city to the next just to take a joy ride. Having very little money in their pockets, they'd just go the whole day without food or drink but still had a good time. Dad said that everything you could have wanted was on Whittier Boulevard. Woolworth's was the big store, just like Target is today. Comic books from the drug stores were all the rage. He said that you could sit in the shop and read the comics and put them back if you could not buy it, and the store clerk wouldn't mind. That is so amazing... Today, stores WANT you to buy the book!
Dad grew up in a predominantly White suburb near the city of Commerce. McDonald's wasn't extremely close by, but diners were prevalent. It's so cool hearing about how the jukebox works and how Dad and his friends would enjoy a song or two while they spent their hard-earned change on a burger. So amazing. Times were so much simpler and straightforward.
Oh. He is getting into his junior high years as a saxophonist in the orchestra during the SCSBOA Festival. [How funny, I went through the exact same thing! :D Some things never change.] Apparently, there were tons of buses filled with students from all over that wanted to compete. SCSBOA even made records back then of the music the bands played so that they could hear their playback. That's pretty cool. While they make CD's and tapes now, the fact that they played records is so much cooler. Dad said they had special jackets for their band.
Growing up, Dad watched the live action Superman TV show. That's so rad! He said he had an RCA black and white TV. "We had black and white for the longest time!" Apparently you could take out the little tube inside if it ever stopped working and go to the store to get a new one. Also, TV stations didn't run 24hrs, but they would have some kind of design to take the place of shows for the rest of the night, "like a little Indian or something there." Hehe. Dad said he would watch TV while being home alone, and back then, you could be home alone and no one would care. You could leave your doors open and no one would steal from you. How amazing!
Fun was driving to Tin Can Beach or to Crystal Lake along highway 39 [azusa]. Ice cream was a luxury. My dad was human!
Sometimes I just want to go back and enjoy this. The world seems so whack today.
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