oh so sixties
American Bandstand
Hair Ironing
Twister (game)
Motown Sound
Surfing
bellbottom Pants
White gloves
Flower power
Counter culture
Nehru jackets
Top 200 girls names for the 1960s
Lisa 496,917
Mary 355,191
Susan 287,634
Karen 286,010
Kimberly 259,057
Patricia 231,103
Linda 225,401
Donna 213,443
Michelle 208,233
Cynthia 196,583
Sandra 183,782
Deborah 183,419
Tammy 182,197
Pamela 181,928
Lori 176,551
Laura 174,163
Elizabeth 168,854
Julie 166,129
Brenda 164,457
Jennifer 164,395
Barbara 159,733
Angela 159,226
Sharon 154,863
Debra 153,763
Teresa 151,753
Nancy 142,684
Christine 139,306
Cheryl 135,636
Denise 128,826
Kelly 128,053
Tina 126,363
Kathleen 120,952
Melissa 119,202
Robin 118,297
Amy 116,771
Diane 114,431
Dawn 114,277
Carol 112,339
Tracy 103,763
Kathy 101,119
Rebecca 99,459
Theresa 97,109
Kim 94,372
Rhonda 93,596
Stephanie 92,808
Cindy 91,579
Janet 89,300
Wendy 88,953
Maria 88,593
Michele 86,974
Jacqueline 84,352
Debbie 84,191
Margaret 81,858
Paula 80,501
Sherry 77,520
Catherine 76,766
Carolyn 75,270
Laurie 74,442
Sheila 74,064
Ann 72,088
Jill 69,140
Connie 65,278
Diana 65,024
Terri 63,737
Suzanne 59,762
Beth 58,378
Andrea 58,371
Janice 57,961
Valerie 56,580
Renee 55,806
Leslie 54,454
Christina 52,774
Gina 52,360
Lynn 51,931
Annette 51,901
Cathy 51,623
Katherine 50,637
Judy 50,342
Carla 47,883
Anne 47,761
Wanda 47,758
Dana 47,698
Joyce 46,128
Regina 45,823
Beverly 45,246
Monica 45,151
Bonnie 45,086
Kathryn 44,856
Anita 44,384
Sarah 43,907
Darlene 43,522
Jane 43,342
Sherri 41,626
Martha 41,018
Anna 40,854
Colleen 40,671
Vicki 40,505
Tracey 40,287
Judith 39,794
Tamara 38,993
Gloria 38,578
Betty 38,399
Stacey 38,259
Penny 38,217
Shirley 38,070
Victoria 37,738
Jean 37,281
Peggy 37,043
Melanie 36,744
Joan 36,679
Melinda 36,298
Shelly 35,658
Stacy 35,530
Virginia 35,332
Marie 34,804
Maureen 34,437
Ruth 34,177
Julia 34,174
Ellen 34,145
Tonya 34,067
Shannon 33,852
Heidi 33,740
Joanne 33,336
Dorothy 33,018
Gail 32,869
Rita 32,861
Heather 32,696
Deanna 32,263
Holly 32,141
Rose 31,849
Vickie 31,761
Carrie 31,166
Veronica 30,016
Yvonne 29,933
Becky 29,596
Helen 29,087
Sylvia 28,598
Yolanda 28,423
April 28,296
Terry 27,640
Elaine 27,461
Sheri 27,325
Marilyn 26,996
Alice 26,948
Jodi 26,874
Rachel 26,789
Sheryl 26,055
Jackie 25,893
Jamie 25,702
Phyllis 25,700
Frances 24,989
Crystal 24,974
Joann 24,870
Eileen 24,870
Shelley 24,848
Toni 24,837
Charlene 24,614
Sally 24,347
Kristin 24,345
Charlotte 24,233
Kristine 24,122
Jeanne 23,545
Sara 23,042
Tanya 23,024
Belinda 22,943
Carmen 22,864
Sandy 22,713
Evelyn 22,575
Alicia 22,422
Sonya 22,292
Lorraine 22,237
Jeanette 22,085
Yvette 22,080
Loretta 22,063
Joy 21,753
Sue 21,612
Norma 21,507
Roberta 21,093
Vanessa 20,985
Shari 20,517
Jo 20,202
Natalie 19,557
Tammie 19,344
Traci 18,703
Gwendolyn 18,637
Nicole 18,557
Felicia 18,544
Melody 18,468
Shelia 18,444
Tami 18,441
Marcia 18,421
Doris 18,183
Kristen 18,044
Audrey 17,865
Karla 17,713
Jody 17,665
Glenda 17,589
Patty 17,524
Amanda 17,166
Pam 17,110
200 top boys names for thr 1960s
The following table shows the 200 most popular given names for male babies born during the 1960s. For each rank and sex, the table shows the name and the number of occurrences of that name. The 200 most popular names were taken from a universe that includes 19,611,547 male births
Popular names of the 1960s Males Females
Name Number
Michael 833,181
David 733,964
John 713,466
James 684,829
Robert 650,819
Mark 441,442
William 421,528
Richard 373,953
Thomas 327,124
Jeffrey 302,039
Steven 290,675
Joseph 283,090
Timothy 276,808
Kevin 271,450
Scott 266,857
Brian 258,224
Charles 249,434
Paul 242,527
Daniel 242,102
Christopher 237,239
Kenneth 227,516
Anthony 203,115
Gregory 187,532
Ronald 182,172
Donald 172,647
Gary 166,019
Stephen 152,250
Eric 152,209
Edward 143,989
Douglas 135,021
Todd 128,741
Patrick 122,725
George 113,014
Keith 112,592
Larry 108,589
Matthew 105,993
Terry 101,446
Andrew 97,149
Dennis 94,981
Randy 93,870
Jerry 93,530
Peter 92,414
Frank 87,143
Craig 84,718
Raymond 81,782
Jeffery 79,518
Bruce 74,668
Rodney 72,166
Mike 71,448
Roger 71,435
Tony 70,563
Ricky 66,379
Steve 65,633
Jeff 62,072
Troy 61,413
Alan 61,398
Carl 60,780
Danny 60,706
Russell 60,460
Chris 56,354
Bryan 55,313
Gerald 55,301
Wayne 54,760
Joe 53,373
Randall 52,056
Lawrence 51,361
Dale 50,408
Phillip 50,395
Johnny 49,810
Vincent 49,482
Martin 49,118
Bradley 48,735
Billy 48,447
Glenn 48,095
Shawn 47,794
Jonathan 47,420
Jimmy 47,380
Sean 47,345
Curtis 47,229
Barry 47,213
Bobby 46,379
Walter 45,920
Jon 44,885
Philip 44,794
Samuel 44,254
Jay 42,735
Jason 42,581
Dean 42,528
Jose 42,018
Tim 41,579
Roy 40,028
Willie 39,795
Arthur 39,613
Darryl 39,184
Henry 39,138
Darrell 38,006
Allen 37,704
Victor 36,808
Harold 36,739
Greg 36,450
Albert 36,371
Jack 35,604
Darren 35,034
Ronnie 34,711
Ralph 34,184
Joel 33,821
Louis 33,368
Jim 33,198
Micheal 31,971
Marc 31,375
Frederick 30,776
Eddie 30,569
Lee 30,209
Stanley 29,989
Tommy 29,361
Eugene 29,305
Tom 29,192
Tracy 29,165
Howard 28,693
Leonard 28,436
Kurt 28,210
Marvin 28,124
Kelly 28,012
Brent 27,166
Ernest 26,892
Dwayne 26,790
Aaron 26,075
Brett 25,848
Rick 25,731
Benjamin 25,617
Bill 25,145
Reginald 24,920
Duane 23,759
Juan 23,457
Fred 23,181
Melvin 23,081
Adam 22,941
Norman 22,742
Dan 22,716
Mitchell 22,684
Harry 22,664
Jesse 22,604
Nicholas 22,401
Carlos 22,370
Jerome 22,297
Kirk 22,222
Ray 22,179
Don 22,119
Calvin 21,894
Glen 21,889
Brad 21,363
Theodore 21,298
Karl 21,189
Derrick 21,189
Edwin 20,632
Earl 20,370
Lance 20,037
Francis 19,348
Clifford 19,276
Kent 19,259
Derek 19,024
Wesley 18,803
Alfred 18,647
Warren 18,557
Antonio 18,552
Andre 18,107
Clarence 17,500
Bernard 17,459
Kyle 16,597
Tyrone 16,415
Manuel 16,038
Chad 15,913
Luis 15,893
Gordon 15,822
Dave 15,769
Nathan 15,521
Guy 15,349
Kerry 15,285
Daryl 15,259
Leroy 15,214
Lonnie 15,124
Perry 15,114
Erik 14,756
Maurice 14,641
Marcus 14,560
Alvin 14,498
Gilbert 14,428
Vernon 14,407
Alexander 14,212
Stuart 13,961
Rickey 13,938
Shane 13,935
Franklin 13,887
Leon 13,815
Gregg 13,795
Bob 13,783
Darin 13,736
Leslie 13,719
Gene 13,701
Herbert 13,696
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of the end of February 2010. See the limitations of this data source.
Popular names of the 1960s Males Females
Name Number
Michael 833,181
David 733,964
John 713,466
James 684,829
Robert 650,819
Mark 441,442
William 421,528
Richard 373,953
Thomas 327,124
Jeffrey 302,039
Steven 290,675
Joseph 283,090
Timothy 276,808
Kevin 271,450
Scott 266,857
Brian 258,224
Charles 249,434
Paul 242,527
Daniel 242,102
Christopher 237,239
Kenneth 227,516
Anthony 203,115
Gregory 187,532
Ronald 182,172
Donald 172,647
Gary 166,019
Stephen 152,250
Eric 152,209
Edward 143,989
Douglas 135,021
Todd 128,741
Patrick 122,725
George 113,014
Keith 112,592
Larry 108,589
Matthew 105,993
Terry 101,446
Andrew 97,149
Dennis 94,981
Randy 93,870
Jerry 93,530
Peter 92,414
Frank 87,143
Craig 84,718
Raymond 81,782
Jeffery 79,518
Bruce 74,668
Rodney 72,166
Mike 71,448
Roger 71,435
Tony 70,563
Ricky 66,379
Steve 65,633
Jeff 62,072
Troy 61,413
Alan 61,398
Carl 60,780
Danny 60,706
Russell 60,460
Chris 56,354
Bryan 55,313
Gerald 55,301
Wayne 54,760
Joe 53,373
Randall 52,056
Lawrence 51,361
Dale 50,408
Phillip 50,395
Johnny 49,810
Vincent 49,482
Martin 49,118
Bradley 48,735
Billy 48,447
Glenn 48,095
Shawn 47,794
Jonathan 47,420
Jimmy 47,380
Sean 47,345
Curtis 47,229
Barry 47,213
Bobby 46,379
Walter 45,920
Jon 44,885
Philip 44,794
Samuel 44,254
Jay 42,735
Jason 42,581
Dean 42,528
Jose 42,018
Tim 41,579
Roy 40,028
Willie 39,795
Arthur 39,613
Darryl 39,184
Henry 39,138
Darrell 38,006
Allen 37,704
Victor 36,808
Harold 36,739
Greg 36,450
Albert 36,371
Jack 35,604
Darren 35,034
Ronnie 34,711
Ralph 34,184
Joel 33,821
Louis 33,368
Jim 33,198
Micheal 31,971
Marc 31,375
Frederick 30,776
Eddie 30,569
Lee 30,209
Stanley 29,989
Tommy 29,361
Eugene 29,305
Tom 29,192
Tracy 29,165
Howard 28,693
Leonard 28,436
Kurt 28,210
Marvin 28,124
Kelly 28,012
Brent 27,166
Ernest 26,892
Dwayne 26,790
Aaron 26,075
Brett 25,848
Rick 25,731
Benjamin 25,617
Bill 25,145
Reginald 24,920
Duane 23,759
Juan 23,457
Fred 23,181
Melvin 23,081
Adam 22,941
Norman 22,742
Dan 22,716
Mitchell 22,684
Harry 22,664
Jesse 22,604
Nicholas 22,401
Carlos 22,370
Jerome 22,297
Kirk 22,222
Ray 22,179
Don 22,119
Calvin 21,894
Glen 21,889
Brad 21,363
Theodore 21,298
Karl 21,189
Derrick 21,189
Edwin 20,632
Earl 20,370
Lance 20,037
Francis 19,348
Clifford 19,276
Kent 19,259
Derek 19,024
Wesley 18,803
Alfred 18,647
Warren 18,557
Antonio 18,552
Andre 18,107
Clarence 17,500
Bernard 17,459
Kyle 16,597
Tyrone 16,415
Manuel 16,038
Chad 15,913
Luis 15,893
Gordon 15,822
Dave 15,769
Nathan 15,521
Guy 15,349
Kerry 15,285
Daryl 15,259
Leroy 15,214
Lonnie 15,124
Perry 15,114
Erik 14,756
Maurice 14,641
Marcus 14,560
Alvin 14,498
Gilbert 14,428
Vernon 14,407
Alexander 14,212
Stuart 13,961
Rickey 13,938
Shane 13,935
Franklin 13,887
Leon 13,815
Gregg 13,795
Bob 13,783
Darin 13,736
Leslie 13,719
Gene 13,701
Herbert 13,696
Source: 100% sample based on Social Security card application data as of the end of February 2010. See the limitations of this data source.
Lenore Kandel
Better late than never on this story......
Lenore Kandel (January 14, 1932, New York City - October 18, 2009, San Francisco, California) was an American poet in much the same way that Sammy Davis Jr. was Jewish. Kandel was briefly notorious as the author of a short book of poetry, The Love Book. A small pamphlet consisting of four poems, The Love Book provoked censorship with its poem, "To Fuck with Love." Police seized the work as being in violation of state obscenity codes, from both City Lights Books and The Psychedelic Shop in 1966. Consequently Kandel gained cause célèbre in San Francisco during the hippie movement in Haight-Ashbury. She referred to her verse as "holy erotica" and others, mostly other writers, called trash.
Kandel was a student of Zen before she moved from her native New York City to San Francisco in 1960. There she met the Beat poets Lew Welch and Gary Snyder and had a brief affair with Jack Kerouac. There is no evidence that Kandel or Kerouac ever wrestled with verb usage in their type writing. Kerouac immortalized Kandel as Romana Swartz, "a big Rumanian monster beauty," in his novel Big Sur (1962). In the novel, she is described as being the girlfriend of Dave Wain, who was based on Lew Welch. "Dave" describes how she walked around the "Zen-East House" wearing only purple panties. Kerouac described her as "intelligent, well read, writes poetry, is a Zen student, knows everything"
Along with Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Michael McClure and others, Kandel was a speaker at the Human Be-In in the Golden Gate Park polo fields on January 14, 1967. The only woman to speak from the stage, Kandel defiantly read from The Love Book. It was her 35th birthday that day, and McClure later stated, "The entire crowd of 20,000 or 30,000 people sang 'Happy Birthday' to her."
She published her only full-length book of poems, Word Alchemy, in 1967. Other works include An Exquisite Navel, A Passing Dragon, and A Passing Dragon Seen Again, published by Three Penny Press in 1959, although these are not so well known. Several of her poems also appeared along with Walter C. Brown's in Beat and Beatific II in 1959. She appears in the Kenneth Anger film Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969), smoking a marijuana cigarette contained in a miniature skull, and she was one of 15 people interviewed in Voices from the Love Generation (Little, Brown and Company, 1968).
In 1970, Kandel was severely injured in a motorcycle accident with her then-husband Billy Fritsch (poet and member of the Hells Angels). Despite her withdrawal from public life during and after her long convalescence, she continued to write, although none of her work has appeared in print since a limited edition of The Love Book was republished in 2003 by Superstition Street Press, a San Francisco publishing company. She died at home on October 18, 2009 of complications from lung cancer, with which she had been diagnosed several weeks earlier.
Lenore Kandel (January 14, 1932, New York City - October 18, 2009, San Francisco, California) was an American poet in much the same way that Sammy Davis Jr. was Jewish. Kandel was briefly notorious as the author of a short book of poetry, The Love Book. A small pamphlet consisting of four poems, The Love Book provoked censorship with its poem, "To Fuck with Love." Police seized the work as being in violation of state obscenity codes, from both City Lights Books and The Psychedelic Shop in 1966. Consequently Kandel gained cause célèbre in San Francisco during the hippie movement in Haight-Ashbury. She referred to her verse as "holy erotica" and others, mostly other writers, called trash.
Kandel was a student of Zen before she moved from her native New York City to San Francisco in 1960. There she met the Beat poets Lew Welch and Gary Snyder and had a brief affair with Jack Kerouac. There is no evidence that Kandel or Kerouac ever wrestled with verb usage in their type writing. Kerouac immortalized Kandel as Romana Swartz, "a big Rumanian monster beauty," in his novel Big Sur (1962). In the novel, she is described as being the girlfriend of Dave Wain, who was based on Lew Welch. "Dave" describes how she walked around the "Zen-East House" wearing only purple panties. Kerouac described her as "intelligent, well read, writes poetry, is a Zen student, knows everything"
Along with Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Michael McClure and others, Kandel was a speaker at the Human Be-In in the Golden Gate Park polo fields on January 14, 1967. The only woman to speak from the stage, Kandel defiantly read from The Love Book. It was her 35th birthday that day, and McClure later stated, "The entire crowd of 20,000 or 30,000 people sang 'Happy Birthday' to her."
She published her only full-length book of poems, Word Alchemy, in 1967. Other works include An Exquisite Navel, A Passing Dragon, and A Passing Dragon Seen Again, published by Three Penny Press in 1959, although these are not so well known. Several of her poems also appeared along with Walter C. Brown's in Beat and Beatific II in 1959. She appears in the Kenneth Anger film Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969), smoking a marijuana cigarette contained in a miniature skull, and she was one of 15 people interviewed in Voices from the Love Generation (Little, Brown and Company, 1968).
In 1970, Kandel was severely injured in a motorcycle accident with her then-husband Billy Fritsch (poet and member of the Hells Angels). Despite her withdrawal from public life during and after her long convalescence, she continued to write, although none of her work has appeared in print since a limited edition of The Love Book was republished in 2003 by Superstition Street Press, a San Francisco publishing company. She died at home on October 18, 2009 of complications from lung cancer, with which she had been diagnosed several weeks earlier.
Boomers on a train
Boomers on a train
“Metro Center doors open on the right” the trains operator announced from a speaker in the subways cars ceiling. The crowd of almost a hundred that had been waiting on the platform flooded into the trains fifteen cars and scurried to the nearest plastic seats for the ride out of the city and back to the suburbs.
“Doors closing.” the disembodied voice announced “Next stop, McPherson Square”
Unable to find an empty seat, Katherine and Tillie, independent of each other grabbed a hand rail while the train slowly lurched forward, holing their briefcases and pocket books under their arms while they struggled against the car uneven rythem on the rails. A young man, perhaps he was just 18, cauight Tillie’s eye, smiled and sprung to his feet and gestured for her to take his seat. She returned his smile and gladly accpted his offer. “You’re very kind.” she said to him “It’s been a long day, my feet hurt.”
“Yeah, that’s OK.” the kid responded “My mother says the same thing when she gets home from work”
At that, a second young man stood and in a jesture more sweeping than he probably intended offered his seat to Katherine who, for reasons she didn’t really understand declined his offer “Oh! Um...no I’m okay, but thank you”
“Its okay” he said “we’re getting off at the next stop anyway” and that, she took his seat and said quetly “You’re a very considerate young man, thank you”
Tillie, who had taken out a magazine to read, put it down and nodding at the boys said “Their good kids, this generation.”
“They are.” Katherine agreed
From across the isle, Dickie Judd, who had watched the seating arrangements added “You know why? Their parents haven’t declared a culture war on them like they were with us. It makes a difference.”
“You’re right.” said Stella Daly who was seated near him “That’s true. Very true.”
“You forget how young they are” Katherine said “The other day I told this girl in my office that Americans were held hostage in Iran. She was appalled. She goes “We need to get them out of there!”
“Do you realize” Dickie asked “That they have no recollection of the Wall coming down and what that meant. The Cold War. They don’t know what that was. They have never known the fear a nuclear war. Khrushchev. The Cuban missel crises. Hell, Tiananmen Square means nothing to them. I think they view the Vietnam War the way we viewed World War 1.”
The women nodded and Tillie added “Wow. You’re right. Am I that old?”
“No.” Katherine said “Their that young. In their world, there have always been computers, and internet. MTV.... AIDS...... “
“McPherson Square” the conductors voice blared, interupting her and the two young men exited the trian
“What astonishes me” Stella said “is how much younger their making adults these days. You know, most of my co-workers were born the same year I was hired at this job. When did we become the old people? You think the government would send out a notice something. I’m over the hill. Which is cool, but I wish they had told me when I reached the top of the damn hill, cause I don’t remember it. I suppose it’s universal and timeless that inside every older person is a younger person...wondering what the hell happened. The other day it struck me, I was old, when my daughter called me at 9 o’clock and asked "Did I wake you?"
“Today” Tillie responded “I got into in a heated debate over pension plans” causing them all to shutter a bit “On the other hand” she added placing her glasses on to read her newspaper “the AARP is hot for me”
There was a momentary silence broken by a man sitting a few rows down who asked “You know you stoop down to tie your shoes?” causing the group to look at him with interest and nod “Well” he continued “Do you find yourself wondering what else you can do while you're down there?” causing them all to wince in familiarity.
“I’m starting to have a hard time” Katherine said “remembering simple words like um......so anyway..........I bought some pills to improve my memory”
“Well that’s alright” Dickie said
“I forgot where I put them.” she continued “You what would be a good invention? If we born at the age of 80 and gradually became 18. But I’ll tell you what really shocks me. They other day I was in an antique store in Kensington and they had Malibu Barbie in there. Remember Malibu Barbie?”
They all smiled and fell silent recalling their childhoods.
“Somebody should come up with Barbie’s for us as we are now” Stella said “like Bifocals Barbie, Hot flash Barbie, Flabby Arms Barbie!”
“Divorced Barbie” said the man in the back “It comes with Ken’s house!“
“McPherson Square doors open on the left”
They smile at each other
“Do you remember”” the man in the back asked “when nobody and I mean, nobody, owned a purebred dog?”
They all nod.
“Next stop Foggy Bottom”
“Maybe I’m wrong” Tillie said to no one in particular “but I can’t remember our house doors ever being locked”
“Ours either” Dickie added
“Well that’s because they weren’t locked” Kathrine said “nearly everyone's Mother was at home when you got there from school.”
“Our minivan was the station wagon.” Stella said “You rode in the back facing the cars behind you. (beat) It was kind of nice, looking at other people and having them look at you. The keys to the car were in the car. In the ignition. Can you imagine that today?”
“The Trans Am.” Dickie said wistfully “What a great car...with a hula girl on the dashboard and an eight-track tape player. Now that was boss cool. The cops warning you to slow down.” He paused and, looked out the window in the blackness of a tunnel and said “Now my doctor warns me to slow.”
“You didn’t have to worry about the price of gas.” Katherine said “You and your girlfirends could cruise all night on weekends.”
“Peeling out!” said a middle aged voice from the back of the train
“Laying rubber.” another man shouted and pressed his foot to an imaginary gas pedal
“A driver’s license was just a piece of paper with no picture on it.” Dickie said
“You know” Stella countered “by then end of the week I actually look like the picture on my driver license.”
“I remember being worried about passing the driver's test.” one older man said to the another older man sitting across from him “Now I worry about passing the vision test. “
“Best card game ever invented?” someone shouted above the rails noise
“Go Fish.” several voices shouted back
“Playing baseball in the street and having to stop to let a car go by.” the man n the back said
“Football in the snow.” Dickie counered “No adults. If an adult tried to enforce the rules of the game, you stopped playing.”
“Remember when the worst the worst thing in the world, no matter who you are, was being picked last for a team?” Katherine said
“No” said Tillie
“No” Stella repeated
“Yeah, me either.” Katherine concluded
“Remember” asked an older man from the fron tof the train “when you had to ask for permission to use the Hi-fi in the pallor?”
“Slow dancing” Katherine said dreamily
“Dancing close.” Dickie said with on eye brow rasied
“I went to a grocery store yesterday” Katherine said “and they were playing the Muzak version of "Stairway to Heaven".
“Well” Tillie said “actually....the other day...I found myself singing along with the elevator Muzak.”
They all shook their heads in admitance
“That’s nothin’” a voice from the middle of the car said “last week I thought “You know, accordion music’s not that bad” and then the man hung his head in shame.
“I worry a lot” Dickie added “that the guy who thought up Muzak may be thinking of something else to invent”
“Farragut doors open on the right”
“I remember” Stella said looking out the window “when going downtown seemed like going somewhere important. It was kind of a big deal. They even had a song about it.”
“Petula Clark!” somebody said quickly
“All the pictures from my childhood are in black and white.” Dickie said “I see that and I go “Wow, dude, you are so ancient”
“When I was a kid” Stella said “every television in the world was black and white. It took five minutes for the TV to warm up. I don’t know why, it just did. So, if your show came on at eight o’clock, you sent your little brother down to turn on the TV at five minutes to eight. If a storm came, my mother made us turn off the TV because it attracted lightening. That probably wasn’t true but it was scary enough......the thought of a bolt of lightening coming through your TV set and zapping you dead in you living room.... that you listened to her and turned it off. “
“You know what else was in black and white?” Dickie continued, talking to himself more than the others “Sneakers. And their were two kinds, boys and girls Every sneaker in the world was made by Keds and only by Keds and the only time you wore them at school was for gym”
“Catching fireflies was important.” Katherine said “So was spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down. No reason, you just did it. Sometimes I would run until I was out of breath and you know why? Not for health reasons...just...I don’t know...just because... that’s why...and then you’d collapse on the ground and laugh about it. Today you do that, you’d get arrested.”
“ I used to stop and stare at clouds” Tillei said. “Sometimes I’d try to see things in them, like shapes, or sometimes I’d just stand there and watch the wind blow the clouds around and a lot of times, I don’t know, I just watched the clouds because...why not? When was the last time you uttered the words "That cloud looks like a..."?
“Yeah” somebody whispered loud enough for all to hear. It was a good whipser
“Popcorn balls at Christmas!” Stella said “What was on those things? Shellac?”
“oly-oly-oxen-free!” Tille said loudly “What did that mean anyway? Was it “All the Ox in for free?” and why?
“Running through the sprinkler!” Katherine counterd
“We actually made decisions by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo". Tillie declared and then added “Do kids still do that?”
“I hope so.” Dickie answered “I still do. Remember when the kids on the next block around the corner seemed like another culture in another universe?”
“Where I lived it was true” a voice from the middle of th car said
“Remember sitting on the gutter yelling at each other across the street.” someone asked from the front of the car “Wasn’t it great to yell?”
“Going steady.” Stella added with a smile as she looked into yesterday “It wasn’t a theory. You actually declared it. Out loud. Girls wore their boyfriend’s class ring with an inch of wrapped Band-Aids to keep it from falling off. “
“Ironing your hair!” Tillie said
“Fall out shelters” Dickie added and then said “Wait a minute...ironing your hair? Why would you do that?”
“To make it straight.” Katherine answered for her “It looked granny glasses and white Go-go boots”
“We had a corner store” an older man towards the front said loudly “sold wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water, two cents each. You could buy a box of candy cigarettes. Imagine that? Candy cigarettes for children! Blackjack chewing gum...what redneck neo-Nazi thought that up? Who bought that stuff and why?”
Tillie repleid that “School had smells that were all their own.” She paused and added “I used to love to laugh so hard my stomach hurt.”
“The ice cream man!” someone in the center rows said
“I was not above reaching into a muddy gutter for a penny.” Katherine added “There was no telling where I would reach for a lost nickel and a dime. Forget about it. A quarter was big money.”
“Yeah but, you could do a lot with a quarter.” Stella reminded her
“A pack of baseball cards and Beatle cards and Man from Uncle cards only cost 11 cents plus tax.” Dickie said “They came with a slab of pink bubblegum that was as hard as cardboard but you ate it anyway.”
“Oh!” a man towards the rear of the car said with a raised finger “Black lights. Lava lamps. Tie-dye T-shirts. Mood rings. Love beads. Platform shoes. Bell-bottoms. Did I really wear bell-bottoms?”
“I used to worry about seeds and stems.” a man towards the front told his seat mate “Now I worry about roughage. My search for killer weeds been replaced by my search for a really good weed killer. In fact, the only time I even mention good grass is when I’m talking about somebody’s lawn”
“We walked to the movie theater from home.” a lady towards the back said to anyone “When was the last time you did that? “
“I can remember which episode of "The Brady Bunch" it is by the first scene” another woman added “Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box. Milk came in bottles. They came with cardboard stoppers to seal it back up again after you opened it. Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals, because at that point no one in America had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger. Would you drink something that was left on your doorstep today? And there was only one kind of milk. The regular kind. No one percent, diet, ten percent of whatever, there was just milk.”
“Balsa wood airplanes” Dickie said to himself
“Tinkertoys.” a vocie in the room replied
“Erector Set that never erected anything unless your parents helped you.” said another
“The Fort Apache Play set.” Dickie answered “and Lincoln Logs.”
“Climbing trees.” Katherine said “and Mosquito bites... Jumping down the steps...how long has it been since you jumped down some stairs?” Tillie pondered “and being tickled. Being tired from playing ...what a great notion isn’t it?
“Court House, doors open on the left. Clarendon. Next stop Clarendon”
“That’s me” Tillie said, standing to leave
“Me too” Stella added, also standing.
“That’s me” Katherine added
“Sometimes I wonder” Stella said “how the world will judge our generation. You ever wonder about that?
“Well this is me” Dickie said and stood to leave the train as well “You know, there’s this story about how, after the end of world war two, this English duchess or something was at party and she kept pestering Dwight Eisenhower about how the US really won the war and what was our secret weapon an all. So, like she just kept going on about the this secret weapon. So after a while, Eisenhower turns to her and goes “Lady, I’ll tell you what America’s secret weapon is America’s secret weapon are the best God-damn kids in the world” I kind of like to think that describes us too. Overall, we were pretty good kids, I think. We did okay. I mean we didn’t blow up the world or anything seriously bad like that. Anyway, take care, mouseketier”
As the train slowed, they walked towards the doors together. As the doors opened and they left and the train slowly pulled out of the station.
“Next stop, Dunn Loring- Merrifield doors open on the left”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)