If you grew up in the Sixties, you’ll remember this
Being an inveterate YouTube user, their algorithms have gotten pretty good at selecting videos they know I’d like. It’s downright uncanny at times. Particularly so when they produce nostalgia and “Recollection Road” videos. Today, one them took me back to the Good Old Days of the early through mid-Sixties.
Here are some Sixties memories, mostly good, but one not-so-good, that the video below brought to mind:
I remember when Chubby Checker and “The Peppermint Twist” were no longer cool. The reason: The Beatles, who stormed America in 1964. I had brought Chubby Checker records to a 7th grade dance while everyone else brought Beatles records. I slunk into a corner as the kids danced to “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” So embarrassing.
I recall endlessly listening to these hit songs on 45 rpm records that you could buy at the dime store:
Little Old Lady from Pasadena by Jan and Dean
Surf City by the Beach Boys
I’m a Believer — The Monkees
Green Grass — Gary Lewis and the Playboys
Conquistador by Procol Harem
Little Green Bag — The George Baker Selection
My family officially joined Suburbia Americana in 1961.
I had a lawn-mowing business.
We belonged to the local country club, which had lots of tennis courts, but no golf course, which was fine by me. Their snack bar had the best French fries I’ve ever tasted, before or after, crinkle-cut and greasy.
I loved to ride my bike to the shopping center on General Meyers Avenue to get a bag of bite-sized hamburgers with chopped onions and a pickle right off the grill. Each hamburger was 15 cents. This was at a place called Royal Castle, similar to White Castles up north. I grew up in New Orleans.
I went to a junior high that looked exactly like a big high school, not a middle school.
I infinitely preferred a Burger King Whopper with extra mayo to anything at McDonald’s or Burger Chef.
We watched movies downtown in theaters that seated a thousand or more people, munching on buckets of popcorn drenched in buttery grease.
In the early Sixties we still played outside a lot, but by the mid to late-Sixties I was 15 and older, and hung around at the neighbor’s basketball hoop, played touch football in a vacant lot, went bowling, and swam at the country club pool in summer.
In New Orleans we looked forward to Mardi Gras, and went to lots of parades and scooped up junky beads and trinkets from the floats manned by masked riders. Such fun.
Mom fixed a good home-cooked meal every night for supper. My favorites were meat loaf or fried chicken with mashed potatoes.
We went to backyard barbecues. Hamburgers and baked beans never tasted so good!
The price of a Hershey Bar was still 5 cents in the Sixties, increasing to 10 cents in 1969. A bottle of Coke was 10 cents, having remained at 5 cents for 70 years until the Sixties.
We piled in the Olds Delta 88 and Dad drove us all to my grandparents’ and aunt’s house, and from there we would head to the beach for a week in the sun and waves.
As I get old, I like to remember the good times and golden years, before the chaos of the late Sixties led to a changed and much less innocent America.
Me at the end of the decade, 1969
The Sixties
This was a great entry! I loved reading about your childhood memories. To me, it sounds as if you had a fantastic childhood. Lots of fun!
@thebestisyettocome Thank you! I had a fun childhood, teenage years not so much.
@oswego Same here! I had a fun childhood too but not so much during my teenage years. My Mom died just before my 10th birthday and with her death I lost my childhood.
@thebestisyettocome I’m so sorry to hear that.
Warning Comment
I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. But I love the Beach Boys. I was lulled to to sleep with “Surfer Girl”.
@juliebear “Good Vibrations” is probably their best song, but “God Only Knows” is great, too.
@oswego Brian was a genius. 🙂
@juliebear Agreed!
Warning Comment
Cute boy!
My sister had the ’45’s. Rhythm of the Falling Rain – by the Cascades. I Will Follow Him – by Little Peggy March. It’s My Party – by Leslie Gore.
Good memories!
@onlysujema Those are all great songs!
Warning Comment
Since we’re the same age, I remember all these songs. I bought the “Meet the Beatles” album from a friend for $3 because she decided she hated them that week. I don’t have it any more. I must’ve played it a thousand times over the years. It was the only album I owned until after I left home. My parents didn’t have any money for such luxuries. I think I bought it with babysitting money. I loved the music of the times, but I don’t associate very many memories with any of them. I just loved the words and the tunes. (“easy to dance to” — American Bandstand, remember that?)
@startingover_1 why did The Beatles appeal to you so much?
@oswego Well, duh! Teen girl + hormones + cute boys! LOL I always was a little boy-crazy, even though I never did much about it. I was shy and awkward, and my dad was pretty controlling. I probably would have thought the Beach Boys and all the others were “dreamy,” but The Beatles album was the only one I had, so I could look at Paul and George forever. Sigh! LOL I remember watching them on Ed Sullivan and trying not to be obviously star-struck in front of my family, and my dad sitting there, griping about their long hair (which wasn’t so long in the early days), and generally making the experience miserable for me.
@startingover_1 I somehow think you weren’t alone regarding that Beatles album. Probably the most famous record cover ever!
Warning Comment
Just had the time to watch the video. Things that I most resonated with-1. the family station wagon (our family took a 7 week trip across the country and back in a black station wagon with a red interior with NO AIR CONDITIONING – pulling an Apache pop-up trailer tent in 1964) 2. The Beatles – that trip we took across the country was apparently really similar to the first American tour of the Beatles. In many towns we went through people told us that the Beatles had just been there. We never caught up with them. 3. JELLO! I had a recipe book called “The Joys of Jello” and I subjected my family to almost every one of those recipes! 4. TROLLS! OMG – my best friend and I had quite a collection we would play with for hours and hours.
@onlysujema That was quite a trip your family took. Lucky you except for no AC. 🥺 We didn’t have that until our 1965 Oldsmobile, and what a difference it made.
Warning Comment
What a good looking young man you were!!
@happyathome ☺️
Warning Comment
I enjoyed watching this video. I wasn’t born until 1968 but still remember several of the things they talked about. We drank tang, loved to roller skate and had an Easy Bake Oven…among other things. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
@happyathome I thought the video definitely covered the ground, exploring some of the highlights of the decade.
Warning Comment
Weren’t we all gorgeous when we were young? I certainly was (cough …) and you were too!
& I certainly remember all those songs — (I had the radio on constantly when I was that age) and all those other memories — especially Mom cooking dinner every night & you’d better be home to sit around the table & eat with the family. Boy, has that one ever disappeared! Evil ExDIL didn’t cook at all, so everybody pieced for dinner & nobody ever qte a square meal. Except when the went out for a real dinner. And mostly going out to eat meant McDonald’s.🙄
Warning Comment