Patio Era Merchandise & Collectibles

• Barbeque Grills and Recipes.com. Your place for Grills, recipes and accessories!
• Popina Swimwear. Retro swimwear, one piece bathing suits, two piece bathing suit styles, and tankini swimsuits!
• Lead Pipe Posters. Selling over 2,500 unique original posters from the 60’s and 70’s!
• Vintage Swank. Vintage Clothing, Mid Century – Housewares, Furniture, and Lighting.
• Flounder. Tiki art by Scott Scheidly. Abstract, mixed media, containers, classic tiki burlap and more!
• Buckaroo’s Mercantile. A modern variety store!
• The Big Red Toybox. Buy, sell or trade your vintage toys here.

Food & Drink

• Dr. Bamboo. Classic Mixologist and graphic illustrator extraordinaire dedicated to the advancement of cocktail culture!
• The Institute of Official Cheer. From Lileks.com, this incredible collection of retro mini sites includes The Gallery of Regrettable Food, The Dayalets (characters crafted from meat), the 1977 Frederick’s Catalog, and The East is Red, the Butt is Numb…just to name a few!
• Command of the Grill A Salute to Steak. A collection of recipes to benefit charities that support the Marines. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to charities that support wounded or killed U.S. Marines and their families.
• Roadfood.com. The ultimate message board for enthusiasts of the Mom and Pop restaurant. Speak of chain restaurants at your own risk!
• Barbequein’ On The Internet. Full of Barbeque related information.

Patio Life

• Bachelor Pad Magazine. The new digest of Atomic Age culture!
• About.com Pool and Patio. The latest articles, news, and information about the backyard outdoor lifestyle!
• Girlwerks Media. Thoroughly modern talent management, photography, graphic and web design!
• Cosmicool.com. Features various mid-century subjects such as modern architecture, drive-in theaters, coffee shops, and neon!
• Retro Radar | Keepin you hip to the blips!
• Wes Clark’s Avocado Memories. An excellent resource for sixties nostalgia!
• Oldieslist.com. Find Oldies & Retro Related Sites from the 50’s 60’s 70’s and 80’s!
• AV Geeks. Revisit mental hygeine classic films such as Lunchroom Manners, The Trouble with Women, and Soapy the Germ Fighter. You can buy various collections or download selections from their Internet Archive links!
• Box of Apples.com Vintage fruit crate art.
• Monster Kid Online Magazine. If you liked vintage 60’s comic book monsters, this site’s for you! Check out Monster Kid’s tribute to Bill Camfield as Nightmare’s Gorgon.
• Lileks.com. If you liked The Gallery of Regrettable Food, you’ll love this online retro magazine!
• Your Illustrator.Com. Groovy retro site with plenty of animation!
• DriveinMovie.com. Nationwide listings and lore about these vanishing national treasures.
• World Wide Retro’s Home Page! Retro Kulture, hot rods, and more!
• Pinball Rebel. Pinball machines, jukeboxes, and drive-ins are just a few of the goodies at this site!
• Miss Abigail’s Time Warp Advice. Love problems? Here’s some modern advice taken from vintage dating manuals.
• Drive In Theaters. Movie-schmovie, they’ve got playgrounds!

Route 66

• Motosport.com’s Famous Routes.. Famous American highway routes with descriptions of what you’ll find along the way!
• Oklahoma Route 66 Museum. A definite must see for any Route 66 enthusiast! 2229 Gary Blvd., Clinton, OK.
• Historic Route 66. Dedicated to provide free information for those who want to learn more about Route 66!
• Big Texan Steak House, Amarillo, Texas. Home of the free 72 oz. steak…if you eat it in one hour!
• Stuckeys. Yes, they’re still around. Curios, food, and PECAN LOG ROLLS!
• El Rancho Hotel and Motel, Gallup, New Mexico. Historic inn where the movie stars slept. Their salsa and chile dishes are hot!

Exotica/Lounge Links

• Big Bands and Big Names. From big band jazz to the Rat Pack, this site has it all!
• Mr. Suave’s Swinging Cocktail Lounge. Smooth, urbane, diplomatic, politic, Mr. Suave embodies it all!
• The Martini Kings. Check out this swinging cocktail/lounge band out of L.A.
• The Dead Lounge. A very well designed site that’s an eclectic mix of Lounge and Goth Cocktail culture.
• The Roots of Lounge. From the PBS radio show of the same name. Great lounge links!

TV

• Icky Twerp.Net. Paul Camfield’s tribute to his father, Bill (Icky Twerp) Camfield. This official site has lots of info on Icky Twerp and vintage KTVT-TV (KFJZ) programming! Icky Twerp videos and T-shirts for sale as well!
• The Irwin Allen News Network. Information site about one of TV’s most prolific producers, Irwin Allen. Tons of information about The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Land of the Giants!
• Astroboy. Complete archive of the 60’s anime series Astroboy. Great vinyl record cover gallery too!
• The Unofficial Davy & Goliah Homepage. Sunday morning claymation.
• The Mighty Hercules. The original cartoon, NOT the Disney feature.

Toys

• Time Warp Toys. Extensive collection of vintage 1950s, 1960s, 1970s toys and collectibles for sale.
• Fire Chief Products. Commemorative/decorative fire helmets made from the ORIGINAL molds of the Texaco Fire Chief helmet! Custom colors and shield designs allow you to honor any firefighter.
• Jim Walker’s American Junior Classics. Vintage balsa wood model airplanes. View pictures, historical information, and videos. You can even order modern versions of these classic model airplanes here!
• Robot 1968. This cool site from Greece is home base to a worldwide toy robot collector community.
• The Original WAHOO Home Page. The nostalgic board game from the Traditional Game and Toy Co.
• Gobler Toys. A hilarious parody of a 60’s toy company!
• Keith Meyer’s The Space Station. The official site for Major Matt Mason!
• The Unofficial 8 Ball Page. Digging deep into the mysteries of the 8 Ball.
• Old Roads.com. They’ve got some banana seat beauties!

Cold War

• American Cold War Veterans. Committed to honoring the sacrifices made by millions of American men and women during the Cold War.
• Indiana Military Museum. Dedicated to fostering the memory, understanding, and appreciation of U.S. military history by maintaining, preserving, and displaying artifacts which represent the strength and freedom of our American heritage.
• Cold War Civil Defense Museum. Virtural tours, vintage CD equipment, art gallery, audio/video…if it has to do with Civil Defense, they’ve got it!
• National WWII Memorial. Honor America’s Greatest Generation.
• CONELRAD. Inspired by the old emergency warning system of the same name, CONELRAD is all things atomic. Worth a look!
• Perrin Air Force Base Historical Society. Vintage pictures and historical information on Perrin Air Force Base (1941-1971), Sherman-Denison, Texas.
• The Perrin Air Force Base Research Foundation. Additional information on this historic air base.
• World Power Systems. Who else makes nuclear holocaust so much darn fun!

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the Cold War as thus:

cold war or Cold War n.

1. A state of political tension and military rivalry between nations that stops short of full-scale war.
2. A state of rivalry and tension between two factions, groups, or individuals that stops short of open, violent confrontation.

A kid growing up in the suburban Patio Culture would consider the Cold War as a heck of a lot of fun! It’s not that the nuclear holocaust is a light-hearted subject, it’s just that when you’re seven years old it doesn’t seem to be high on your worry list. By the mid-1960s the “duck and cover” drills had been abandoned in my school district. I never saw it. Maybe by then, the government figured out that it was pretty much a useless gesture. Instead, if you were a kid (especially a boy) what you saw were the sleek fighter jets that inhabited the local airbases which were plentiful in Texas. Clear blue skies were laced with numerous contrails and the suburban buzz was often punctuated with sonic booms. Here are a few icons of the Cold War as I saw it.

Perrin Air Force Base

Perrin was built as an Army Air Corps base just before the start of World War II in 1941. During the war, the base was primarily a training facility utilizing the two-seat AT-6 Texan trainer. A brief deactivation ensued after the war, but the demands of the Cold War created a need for trained jet pilots. In this new incarnation, Perrin consisted of air defense and jet flight training. It supported T-37s, F86Ls, and the venerable F-102 Delta Dagger. Once a year on Armed Forces Day, the base would open up to the public and you could tour the base and view various static aircraft displays. The vast Flightline was covered with aircraft all lined up in rows for as far a kid’s eyes could see. They must have been lined up all the way to Lubbock! Cool jets are one thing, but the most vivid memory of the event was all of the chocolate ice creams! Delicious, cold, and running all down my white shirt! Family friends who were based at Perrin could also get us into the O-Club to swim in the pool.
Perrin was finally deactivated in 1972 and its property and facilities were deeded over to the county to become Grayson County Airport. While most of the facilities were derelict for many years, some industrial development has taken place. Not too many of the original structures remain today, but efforts are underway to expand the civilian commercial potential of the airport. Grayson County (Texas) commissioners recently renamed the facility to North Texas Regional Airport/Perrin Field to reflect the growing economic importance of the area, AND to recognize the historical contribution of Perrin Field.

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger

This was the type of interceptor flown by the 4780th Air Defense Wing (ADC), Perrin AFB, Texas in the mid-1960’s. The distinctive “double delta” insignia was emblazoned on the aircraft’s tail. The primary mission of the F-102 was to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft. It was the world’s first supersonic all-weather jet interceptor and the USAF’s first operational delta-wing aircraft. The F-102 made its initial flight on Oct. 24, 1953, and became operational with the Air Defense Command in 1956. At the peak of deployment in the late 1950’s, F-102s equipped more than 25 ADC squadrons

T-33 “T-Bird” Trainer

Modified from the F-80 Shooting Star, the Lockheed T-33 “T-Bird” trainer seated an instructor and a student pilot. Stats: Empty Weight: 8,804 lbs., Max Weight: 14,442 lbs., Powerplant: Allison J-33-35 turbojet, Thrust (each): 5,200 lbs., Performance- Max Speed: 543 mph, Ceiling: 47,500 ft., Range: 1,343 miles, Armament (none)

Cessna T-37 “Tweety Bird” Trainer

The T-37 Tweety Bird trainer seated the instructor and student pilot in a side-by-side configuration. I can remember being told to look for the Tweety Birds, fully expecting the little cartoon character to appear. The T-37 was later muscled out with armament and designated the A-37 which saw service in Vietnam. This aircraft is still serving as an intermediate trainer with the U.S. Air Force.

North American F-86L Sabre Jet

Another Perrin veteran, the F-86L, was a radar equipped variant of the Korean War vintage F-86A. Specifications-Length: 40′ 3.25″, Height: 15′ 0″, Wingspan: 39′ 1.5″, Wing area: 313.37 Sq Ft., Empty Weight: 13822.0 lbs., Gross Weight: 18484.0 lbs., Propulsion – No. of Engines: 1, Powerplant: General Electric J47-GE-33, Thrust (each): 5550, Performance – Range: 750 miles, Max Speed: 693.00 mph.

F-100 Super Sabre

Seen here in its Vietnam era camouflage, the F-100 was the first supersonic fighter to enter service with the U.S. Air Force.

C-130 Hercules

Still in service to this day, the Hercules remains an integral part of the Air Force’s airlift capability.

HH-43B Huskie

The “Huskie” was used primarily for crash rescue and aircraft fire-fighting. It was in use with the U.S. Navy when delivery of the H-43As to the USAF Tactical Air Command began in November 1958. Delivery of the -B series began in June 1959. In mid-1962, the USAF changed the H-43 designation to HH-43 to reflect the aircraft’s rescue role. The final USAF version was the HH-43F with engine modifications for improved performance.

Aircraft marked with a (*) are from my air show static display memories and may have not been permanently attached to Perrin AFB.

Abject Cruelty To Insects

For the most part, Suburbia was a happy place. Kids safely roamed the streets and the sound of laughter filled the air. But then…there was the dark side! Kids could compensate for being on the low end of the human social ladder by imposing power onto even lower orders of creatures. Oh no…not anything that could lick your face and cause joy, not to anything that belonged to the class Mammalia. No, the poor hapless creatures of choice for suburban children (and children worldwide) were insects and other assorted creepy crawlies!

The Methodology of Kid Insect Torture

Bug Wars

During the 1960’s, a kid’s view of war was shaped by television. Not the vivid combat footage coming back from Vietnam…more like Hogans Heroes and John Wayne movies. Hence kids had no qualms of “playing war” and we had no qualms in using live creatures and our “soldiers”. As young aspiring Panzer commanders, my friend Danny and I would make hollow capsules made of thick modeling clay (the kid torturer’s secret weapon). The clay capsule would then be fitted with long sewing needles with the sharp points facing outward and the whole thing would be stuck onto a short strip of wooden shingle so that it could be pushed forward on a tabletop. Our gallant “tank” crews consisted of some poor doodlebugs (sow bugs) that had the misfortune to be crawling by at the time. Once our crew was placed inside the clay capsule, we buttoned them in with a piece of clay and the battle would begin! Danny and I (the cunning generals) faced off on the patio picnic table. We would slide our “tanks” back and forth in jabbing motions until sufficient damage was done to our clay fighting machines or until someone’s hand got stabbed with the needles. After hostilities ceased, we would open the clay capsule, and the general with the surviving doodlebug was declared the winner. Usually, the battle was a draw since both bugs were dead. I guess we pre-dated the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).

The Space Program

President John F. Kennedy set a goal that the United States was to send a man to the moon and return him safely to the Earth by the end of the 1960’s. We patio children went one further…we were going to send a bug 30 feet into the atmosphere and return him, well, to the Earth and do it all in one afternoon!

Once the kid space command determined that bugs would fly, whether they had wings or not, work began on clay “rockets”. From a ball of modeling clay (again), we would roll conical shapes then hollow them out to accommodate the doodlebug “astronauts” (again). Once again our hapless victims were buttoned into their spacecraft as we all anxiously awaited the countdown. FIVE…FOUR…THREE…TWO…ONE…BLASTOFF echoed down the suburban streets. With that, the launch officer (the kid with the best throw) flung the craft into the far regions of space careful not to hit any tree limbs or telephone wires. At apogee, the bonds of Earth would once again pull the craft homewards, and it would fall back into the hands of the launch officer. More often than not the launch officer would miss the “splash down” point (especially when it was a kid that was not particularly adept at fielding pop flies like me). A resounding SPLAT usually marked the end of the mission. After the late astronaut received a state funeral, we came to believe that such sacrifices were required if we were to beat the Soviets to the moon.

Massacre At Calvary

A good dose of Protestantism was necessary for the Patio Culture, especially after Saturday night poker parties! For the kids that meant getting scrubbed, dressed, and packed off to Sunday school to learn the fear of God. It is only natural that the impressions the Biblical stories made on the kids would make their way to the sandbox. Once we made three tiny crosses and placed them atop a little hill in the middle of the sandpile. To them we would lash dazed red wasps and the occasional, appropriately enough, praying mantis. True Romans that we were, we would leave the tiny crucifixion victims in the sandbox for the remainder of the afternoon while we went off to play. Upon our return, we would sometimes discover an insect that had survived the pseudo-Golgothan sun. We would then hasten matters by exposing the survivor’s heads to each other and he who had the most powerful mandibles would win the contest. I once saw a praying mantis eat the head of a red wasp in this manner. If guilt ever overcame us in this masochistic activity (and I don’t remember it ever doing so) we could always return to Sunday school the following week and repent!

Gimmie A Body Count!

One time the steps that led from our kitchen to the patio got infested with ants and became quite a nuisance. As the defender of my patio, I wasn’t about to permit this invasion on my watch! As their nest was somewhere under the threshold of the backdoor a direct assault was out of the question. Instead, I was forced to wage a war of attrition as the crafty little buggers stepped out of their stronghold and went about their daily business. Sitting on the back steps I would hold my “fire” until a good number of the enemy were in sight of my big guns (my thumbs) and then I would let them have it. The firepower of a 12mm thumb can be an awesome thing to witness. The carnage of the squishing was supplemented by an audible type of “bang” sound that I won’t attempt to spell. After about 30-50 of the ants lay dead and dying on the battlefield, the guns would have to be “cooled off” since my thumbs were getting pretty tired by then. A curious lemony smell followed the destruction which is interesting since I later learned that ants reportedly have a lemony taste. One day I felt particularly prone to the thrills of brinkmanship and got a can of Raid from under the kitchen sink. Not being too skilled in the use of weapons of mass destruction, I hosed the entire back step with the deadly substance. After the half-life of the insecticide was reduced to a semi-safe level, I surveyed ground zero. Not an ant in sight! In an instance, my brief career as an exterminator had ended. No more lazy afternoons in the ant-killing fields. Such is the price of war.

Note: Don’t try these activities at home kids! The webmaster does not condone cruelty to other life forms without the approval of the President and consent of Congress pursuant to the War Powers Act of 1973.

Once I actually got to BE on TV! As a birthday treat some other kids and I got to appear on Miss Carol’s Clubhouse, a local black and white kid’s show at KXII-TV, Sherman, Texas. Like most kid shows, we were seated on risers and were asked questions as the camera zoomed in for the response.

Since it was an afternoon show cartoons were played between the live segments. Recollection of our on-air comments is hazy, but by judging from Miss Carol’s off-camera brusque manner, the noise and bustle of managing a set full of kids were getting to her.

Years later I can finally sympathize! During the off-air breaks, all of the kids on the show were treated to huge bottles of Pepsi Cola that were too big to finish but kept the kids running to the restroom.

Back then most local TV stations had some sort of live kid’s show. Dallas-Ft. Worth was no exception. Each city produced a markedly different style of kid’s show. From Dallas came WFAA-TVs Mr. Peppermint.

This was a happy Capt. Kangaroo type of show where Mr. Peppermint (played by Jerry Haynes) dressed in a red and white striped suit with a matching hat and cane.

His companions in mirth and music were Muffin (a rodent of some sort who spoke like he had permanent nasal congestion) and Mr. Wiggly Worm (a latexed finger who would emerge from his wormhole to check his little mailbox and otherwise interact with Mr. Peppermint).

Worth came KTVT-TVs Slam Bang Theater which starred Icky Twerp (Bill Camfield).

It was the virtual opposite of Mr. Peppermint both in style and content. Icky along with his ape-faced pals Ajax & Delphinum, brought a Vaudvillian style of slapstick comedy to our morning TV sets.

Live-action comedy sketches, cartoons, and the Three Stooges made up most of Slam Bang Theatres’s format.

The Three Stooges

The gold standard of comedy. Period. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, the original trio of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard elevated the art of Vaudvillian slapstick to its zenith. After the ailing Curly left the team, brother Shemp Howard and later Joe DeRita took his place. Although still very entertaining, the magic seemed to wane with each successive replacement. Originally intended as theater shorts, The Three Stooges adapted perfectly to the new medium of television. My Stoogian indoctrination occurred as their films were aired as part of DFW’s Slam Bang Theatre with Icky Twerp (see section). Every morning and afternoon, we would pick up some new form of comedic mayhem to get us through the day. The Three Stooges in some form lasted well into the 1960’s through full-length feature films, and cartoons.

The Rat Patrol

The Rat PatrolThe Rat Patrol was a fictional action series based on the real WWII Long Range Desert Group which operated in North Africa against the German Afrika Korps. Armed with little more than Jeeps with .50 caliber machine guns, the Rats would successfully engage armored columns many times their own strength and be back in time for chow. Kids enjoyed the impressive dune jumping performed by the Jeeps as they would swoop down upon their enemy. As we grew into driving-age teens, this type of thrill would be re-created using our beat-up Volkswagens. I’m sure that The Rat Patrol’s TV exploits worked their way into the dirt-clod battles that took place at the sand piles found in the construction sites that patchworked our neighborhood. As it was in North Africa, raise your head above the sand pile at the wrong time and pow…a shot to the head! The show aired from 1966-1968. The cast included: Christopher George; Sergeant Sam Troy. Gary Raymond; Sergeant Jack Moffitt. Justin Tarr; Private Tully Pettigrew. Lawrence P. Casey; Private Mark Hitchcock. Eric Braeden; Hauptmann Hans Dietrich.

Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In

You can bet your bippie that Laugh In was the sign of changing times! The fast pace and just plain silliness of this ground-breaking sketch comedy show appealed to many kids as well as adults. Laugh In had an almost Pythonesque style of comedy and was not afraid to poke fun at the political figures of the day. For me, Laugh In marked the beginning of Mainstream America’s gradual acceptance of at least some of the 1960’s counterculture. Go-go dancers with psychedelic body paint invaded suburban living rooms every week, as their pre-teen children began agitating for faux leather fringe jackets from J.C. Penney. This is also the time that this very group began turning against the Vietnam War in ever larger numbers. Even President Richard Nixon departed from his rigid demeanor and got groovy with his on-air quip “Sock it to ME?”. The show aired from 1968 to 1973. Regular cast: Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Gary Owens, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson, Alan Sues, Jo Anne Worley, Judy Carne, Goldie Hawn. Many celebrities and guest performers also appeared on the show.

The Time Tunnel

Hogan’s Heroes

Hogan’s HerosBased on the more serious movie Stalag 17, Hogan’s Heros made being a prisoner of war look like summer camp! Although they were in a Luftstalag deep inside Nazi Germany, Col. Hogan and the gang managed to conduct an elaborate sabotage operation while having a great time to boot. Many kids, myself included, tried to dangerously recreate the show’s cool underground tunnel system only to give up after they had dug down only about a foot or so. Real 1960’s events eventually encroached on the show when I saw Robert Crane do a relief PSA (onset) for real prisoners of war held in North Vietnam. The show aired from 1965 to 1971. Cast: Bob Crane, Col. Robert Hogan; Werner Klempere, Col. Wilhelm Klink; John Banner, Sgt. Hans Schultz; Robert Clary, Cpl. Louis LeBeau; Larry Hovis, Sgt. Andrew Carter; Richard Dawson, Cpl. Peter Newkirk. Ivan Dixon, Sgt. James ‘Kinch’ Kinchloe.

Popeye the Sailor

Simply put, Popeye was the man! Not only was he able to survive life visually impaired, but he was able to dominate the forces of evil given the infusion of a few Vitiamans! While his debut in the comics was in 1929, Popeye first appeared on the big screen in 1933 with the help of Max and Dave Fleischer. The series reached its technical zenith by the 1950’s, and by the 1960’s production was taken over by a new producer, Al Brodax. The simpler, and cheaper animation may not have the same technical appeal, but it created a memorable and unassuming “Patio” style cartoon remembered by many.

Our Gang/Little Rascals

The Monkees

Television’s answer to the Beatles. The “Pre-Fab Four” cruised around in the customized jalopy looking for adventure and hijinks. The rather light plot lines would be interspersed with live music concert footage. As goofy as this show seems today, I can remember when KDSX-AM radio (Sherman-Denison, Texas) was inundated with calls from eager pre-teen Monkees fans to play their latest hit. On a Saturday it wouldn’t be uncommon for the old kitchen wall radio to play “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone” and “I’m a Believer” several times each hour! With Davy Jones’ recent passing there has been a renewed interest in the Monkees from fans both old and new.

Felix The Cat

I can hear it still…

Felix the Cat, The wonderful, wonderful cat. You’ll laugh so much your sides will ache, Your heart’ll go piddy-pat, All for Felix, the wonderful cat.

Felix was a pretty laid back kind of cat, that is until his neighbors the Professor and Rock Bottom started scheming. Sometimes the Master Cylinder (who lived on Mars) would get into the action as well. No problem for Felix. He would just reach into his yellow bag of tricks and viola–whatever was needed to take care of the bad guys was there! He also had help from the Eskimo named Vavoom who could harness tremendous power through the use of his loud voice.

Get Smart

Get Smart is proof that not all spy shows of the time were drama. Maxwell Smart, Agent 89, could be successful against the evil forces of C.H.A.O.S. (an analogy for Communism) while being totally inept. With the help of the lovely Agent 99, Smart actually pulled off a bumbling kind of cool, not to be seen again until Austin Powers. Kid interest was always aroused by the cool secret spy gadgets. Smart had access to such things as the Cone of Silence, shoe phones, a multi-door security labyrinth for a headquarters, and of course, a Karman Ghia. In a way, Get Smart allowed Americans to continue with their tradition of poking fun at the government while reaffirming their certainty that America would prevail in the Cold War. How? Because despite his bungling, Smart always managed to get his man! Aired from 1965 to 1970. Cast: Don Adams, Maxwell Smart – Agent 86; Barbara Feldon, Agent 99; Edward Platt, Chief; Robert Karvelas, Larabee.

Lancelot Link Secret Chimp

Star Trek

Enhanced computer graphics clip from “The Doomsday Machine” the way we WISHED it had looked like! The one that started it all. James T. Kirk didn’t worry much about political correctness…he had a job to do. Actually, I didn’t get to see much of the original Star Trek during its prime-time network run (remember dads controlled the TV so it was usually Bonanza for us). I picked it up later during syndication like most people. There were two distinct popular culture genres for boys in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The 50’s tended to focus on the past (cowboys and Indians, Davy Crockett, etc.), and the 60’s focused more on the future with science fiction. I’m sure the space program and various technological advances were a major inspiration for that. With five major TV series, numerous movies, and a recent cinematic reboot, Star Trek is one of the most successful franchises in history. There are plenty more Star Trek incarnations to watch…ahead of warp factor two.

Clutch Cargo

The beating of the jungle drums was the signal for kids to get in front of the TV for another Clutch Cargo adventure! Clutch, and his pals Spinner and Paddlefoot, were always traveling to the edges of human understanding to deal with some trivial matter. They always had access to the coolest “Space Age” equipment and vehicles leading me to believe they must have had a DoD size budget! The most memorable feature of this cartoon was the mouths of the characters. Human-like lips were strangely superimposed onto the cartoon to create mouth movements, which ironically, we still see on current late-night comedy sketches.

Direct from the Knight family cookbook!

Patio Fare:

Sausage & Cheese Strata

• 1 1/2 lbs. sausage, cooked & drained
• 12 slices bread, cubed
• 3 cups milk
• 9 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients. Pour into greased 11″x14″ pan. Cover & refrigerate overnight. Uncover & bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes a great brunch entree.

---

Swiss Steak

• 1 1/2 lbs. round steak
• 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3 Tbs. oil
• 1 16 oz. can tomatoes
• 1 lg. onion, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced

Trim excess fat from meat & cut it into serving pieces. Combine flour, salt & pepper. Pound flour into both sides of meat with the edge of saucer or mallet. Heat oil in skillet. Add meat & brown slowly on both sides. Add all remaining ingredients. Heat until liquid is boiling, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover & simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Serve with rice or noodles if desired. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

---

Mock Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

No doubt a suburban take on the “ethnic” food trends that became popular in the 60’s.

• 2 cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1/2 cup green chilies, sliced or chopped
• 1/2 lg. cheddar cheese, grated
• 1-8 oz. carton sour cream
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 lg. onion, chopped
• 2 Tbs. cooking oil

Optional:

• 1-16 oz. can solid pack chicken, or 1 cup diced cooked chicken

Heat soup, sour cream & chiles together in a saucepan. Do not boil. Reserve 1 cup for later use. Heat cooking oil & fry each tortilla briefly until soft. Spread 3 Tbs. of soup mixture on the bottom of greased 9″x13″ baking dish. Spoon one Tbs. of the soup mixture into the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle onion & cheese over the mixture. Fold tortilla into a roll & place seam side down in dish. Continue until all tortillas are used. Spoon reserved soup mixture over top. Add remaining onions & cheese to the top. Heat in a 350-degree oven until heated through & cheese is melted. Diced chicken may be added to soup & cheese mixture if desired.

---

Fanciful Fruit Pizza

Adds color to any patio setting!

• 1 roll refrigerated sugar Slice ‘n Bake cookies
• 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbs. water
• Strawberry slices
• Banana slices (dipped in lemon juice to prevent browning)
• Green grapes, halved
• 1/4 cup apricot jam
• Fresh or canned sliced peaches, drained
• Fresh or canned apricots, drained & halved

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease pizza pan or 15″x10″ jelly-roll pan. Slice well-chilled cookie dough into 1/8″ slices, slightly overlapping, at bottom of prepared pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Combine cream cheese, sugar & vanilla until smooth. Spread cheese mixture evenly over cookie crust. Arrange fruit in colorful circles over cream cheese. Combine jam & water & heat slightly too thin. Cool. Dribble over top of the fruit. Chill. Cut into wedges to serve. Refrigerate leftovers. Note: any variety of fruit & jam may be used. This is a colorful, fanciful dessert, but it is very easy & quick to make. Serves 10 to 12.

---

3 Day Barbeque Brisket

• 5 lb. brisket
• 1 bottle Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bottle of liquid smoke
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce (homemade is best)

I’m a proponent of old-style slow smoking using hardwood, but I can only remember this type of brisket growing up. If you grew up in the Patio Culture (unless maybe you’re from the deep South or central Texas), you probably remember this too. Trim excess fat from brisket.
Day 1: place brisket in heavy-duty foil. Pour 1 bottle of Worcestershire sauce & 1 bottle of liquid smoke over the brisket. Wrap tightly & refrigerate.
Day 2: pour over excess Worcestershire sauce & liquid smoke. Remove to cutting board & slice thickly. Place back in foil & pour BBQ sauce over the meat. Wrap tightly & refrigerate.
Day 3: Bake at low heat (250 degrees) for several hours or until meat is done.

---

Meat Loaf

• 2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. sage

Sauce:

• 3 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. dry mustard

Mix all ingredients except the sauce together & form into a log. Top with the sauce mixture and bake at 350 degrees for approx. 45 minutes.

---

9 Day Cole Slaw

I have no idea why it’s called that. Maybe it had great shelf life in case the Ruskies dropped the Big One. The oil & vinegar nature of this recipe is also a mystery since I grew up in the Southwest where, like in the South, Mayonaise-based coleslaws are king. I’m sure it keeps better in the heat!

• 1 small cabbage, shredded
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tbs. celery seed
• 1/3 cup salad oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

Combine vinegar, sugar & oil, mix thoroughly. Toss with cabbage, celery seed, onion & bell pepper. Refrigerate for several hours before serving for better taste. The recipe may be kept for several days if refrigerated. Makes 1 qt. or more.

---

Caesar Salad

• 2 very large heads romaine lettuce
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-3 cloves garlic (crushed, reserving 1/2 whole clove)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 heaping Tbs. Dijon mustard
• Juice from 1/2 large lemon
• 1/8 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Homemade croutons (below)

Wash & dry romaine, tear into pieces & chill. In a large salad bowl, rub with reserved 1/2 whole garlic clove. At bottom of the bowl, beat egg yolk. Add oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, crushed garlic & lots of salt & pepper. Beat well. Add Romaine lettuce pieces, parmesan cheese & homemade croutons. Toss & serve with warm, crusty bread.

Homemade Croutons

• 1 loaf of day old french bread
• Oregano
• Basil
• Garlic powder
• Pepper
• Paprika
• Butter

Cut loaf lengthwise into 3 or 4 layers so that each layer is approx. 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Butter both sides, one side if the crust is on the other. Top with oregano, basil, garlic powder, pepper & paprika. Cut into 1″ cubes. Bake at 350 degrees tossing often in the oven until golden brown. Cool. Keep leftover in Ziploc bag.

---

Salmon Patties

• 1 can salmon
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Drain liquid from salmon & reserve 1/4 cup. Stir egg & flour into drained salmon. Put baking powder into salmon liquid & let foam. Pour over salmon & stir. Fry immediately by dropping spoonfuls into the hot oil.

---

Hobo Supper

Also known as Scout Supper, this recipe was a Troop 6/Camp Grayson tradition. Prepare the following ingredients:

• Potatoes, peeled and sliced
• Onions, peeled and sliced
• Carrots, peeled and sliced
• Ground beef, enough to make one thick patty
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place the ground beef patty on one end of a large sheet of strong aluminum foil (about 2 ft. long). Layer the vegetables on top of the patty. Salt & pepper to taste. Fold the other end of the foil over the food and seal the whole thing up around the edges by folding. Place this pouch of food over hot coals for about 5 minutes, then turn and cook 5 more (use some common sense here, if you smell the thing burning pull it out). Pull the pouch out of the coals when done and slit open the top. Eat it right out of the foil!

---

Mamaw’s Macaroni & Cheese

• One lg. bag of macaroni, cooked
• 1 1/2 lbs. shredded cheese
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter

My grandmother was a school cafeteria worker and this is the recipe they used. School cafeteria food back then was prepared on-site, was fresh, and for the most part, good. There was nothing like the smell of freshly baked rolls wafting throughout the hallways of Crutchfield Elementary all morning to get a kid eager to go to lunch! This early acclimation to institutional food served me well through later grades, and also during my military service. Heat milk, add cheese & melt. Pour over cooked macaroni. Cook in the oven until the top begins to turn brown. Hmmm, cheesy!

---

Vegetable Medley Casserole

This is actually a modern casserole but it captures the spirit of suburban cuisine.

• 1 16 oz. bag frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) thawed and drained
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup shredded swiss cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 jar chopped pimento
• 1 can french fried onion rings

Mix all ingredients together except half the cheese and onion rings. Use them on top of the vegetable mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

---

Baked Beans

• 2 cans of pork and beans
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. mustard
• 2 strips bacon
• 1/4 cup molasses, optional
• 1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce, optional

Mix beans with ketchup, sugar, onion, and mustard. Top with strips of bacon. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

---

Jello Vegetable Salad

• 1 pkg. lemon Jello
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• Dash of pepper
• 2 Tbs. vinegar
• 2 Tsp. grated onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 1/2 cups cooked vegetable (your choice)

Prepare Jello as directed & add salt, pepper, vinegar, and onion. When slightly thickened, fold in celery and cooked vegetables (cabbage and carrots recommended). Chill until set.

---

Orange Salad

• 1 sm. can Mandarin oranges
• 1 sm. can crushed pineapple
• 1 8 oz. pkg. sour cream
• 1 sm. pkg. orange Jello
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 sm. container of Cool Whip

Stir dry orange Jello into sour cream, then add drained oranges. Stir in pineapple and add marshmallows and Cool Whip.

---

Cheese Dip

This patio appetizer was called “Cheese Dip” before it became fashionable to be called “Chile Con Queso”. My first vivid recollection of eating this way was at the Log Cabin Restaurant in Colbert, Oklahoma.

• 1 lb. (about 1/2 box) of Velveeta cheese
• 1 can Ro-tel tomatoes (or other brands such as Hunt’s tomatoes with chilies if you live up north)
• 1/4 cup milk

Cube the cheese and put it in a large mixing bowl. Add the Ro-tel tomatoes and milk. Microwave a few minutes (how’d we do it in the sixties?) until the mixture becomes fluid stirring a few times. When well mixed serve hot with plenty of tortilla chips or Fritos.

---

“Ai-nies” Fudge

Simple yet delicious! A kid couldn’t wait for it to cool and harden and often many fingers dredged through the fudge while it was soft. Named after my aunt Lellie known as “Ai-nie”

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup pecans (optional)

Mix the first 3 ingredients. Boil on the stove until soft ball forms after testing in some cold water. Remove from heat and add vanilla and pecans if desired. Beat until creamy. Pour out on a buttered platter. Cool and slice into squares.

Since the beginning of time, the fire has been the center of family life. From the Cro-Magnon clans to the (post) nuclear family, the hearth (indoors or outdoors) has been the center of food preparation, warmth, and general entertainment. The Patio Culture was no different. The grill was the center of an exciting and fun evening full of friends, games, toys, and fun. Even in the winter or when the weather was bad, steaks were prepared and salads were mixed indoors as the electric stainless steel stove with the pull-out burner shelf became a surrogate fire nourishing both body and spirit.

This piece of equipment is the epicenter of it all!

Just how long does it take to cook a steak?

Thickness Rare	Rare Brown on the outside, reddish-pink inside with lots of clear red juice.	Medium Light pink on the inside, with less juice, of a lighter color than that of rare beef.	Well Done Brown throughout; the juice is slightly darkened.
1″	5 min.	6 min.	7-8 min.
1 1/2″	7-9 min.	10 min.	12 min.
2″	16 min.	18 min.	20 min.
Meat Thermometer Temperature	140 degrees	160 degrees	70 degrees

Note: These times are approximate and vary with the heat of your fire. Nothing beats keeping an eye on the whole process to ensure perfection!

These family recipes are representative of suburban cuisine:

With just a little time and effort, you can recreate that retro goodness!

Tips for the modern outdoor chef!

Know the right time to start cooking:

• Don’t start cooking until the coals have turned gray. This promotes an even cooking temperature.

Control flare-ups:

• You can control flare-ups with the lid of the grill. Pull the lid down to suppress flare-ups or use a water sprayer when the lid is up. No one likes a charred piece of meat.

Smoking meat. Remember: slower is better! Smoking a large cut of meat is perhaps the most mystic of all grill activities and the easiest to learn:

• Begin with a good bed of coals. Let the charcoal turn gray as mentioned above or start with a good pile of wood coals burned down from a large log. You can later add a log soaked in water to produce lower heat and smoke.
• Keep the meat away from the coals. Direct heat will ruin the meat. If your smoker doesn’t have a firebox, here’s some tips. If using a barrel smoker place the coals at one end and the meat rack on the other.
• If using a Brinkman or other water bowl type smoker, be sure to keep the water bowl filled to ensure that it will be an effective baffle against the heat.
• After the meat has smoked for a couple of hours, loosely wrap the cut in foil to keep in moisture. You don’t want to dry the thing out! You can allow a small opening at the top to let in more smoke if you wish.

• Keep the lid shut! Constantly opening the smoker lid will only prolong the process. Keeping the lid shut will keep the cooking temperature uniform and inside the smoker where it belongs. An occasional peek to mop (baste) the meat is OK but not too much! You can also apply a dry rub to the meat before cooking if you don’t want to baste (that’s the Texas way).
• When it’s all said and done, don’t put a crappy commerical BBQ sauce on your meat. Make your own or if you have to use a commercial bottled sauce use a good one. There are some good bottled sauces out there, I prefer Mr. Stubbs (mild and/or spicy).
• Real smoke is best, but when broiling indoors don’t be afraid to use Liquid Smoke. Nothing is like it for giving meat that retro flavor!

The cook walked off and the burgers are torched! Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to go to

Griff’s Burger Bar!

These hamburgers are probably the only reason why many people today are alive! At a dime a pop, they could feed an entire family with change left over to buy fries and a shake. Griff’s Burger Bar, and other regional chains like it, thrived before the age of the behemoth fast food restaurant corporations that we see today. Griff’s back then was housed in an A-frame type structure with a boxed-in dining room at the front. As a small child, I tried and tried to scale the sides of the A-frame but 2-3 feet was all I could manage before sliding down. The good news is that Griff’s is still around! While not any serious threat to the McDonald’s of the world, Griff’s still puts out burgers and fries that taste like the real deal instead of the product of zealous corporate consistency.

If an occasion warranted a really special fast food treat, we would go to Ozark Fried Chicken. Long gone, this small chain sported green and white striped rooftops on their restaurants which predated the familiar red and white pattern used by Kentucky Fried Chicken. The branding for this place was probably not too successful since it incorporated a logo of a woman wearing an old-style bonnet…not too groovy for the swinging 60’s!

Another old standby was K and N Root Beer! This modest little chain produced what seemed like the perfect cure for a sweltering hot Texas summer…ice-cold K and N root beer served in a real frosted glass mug! Root beer mugs came in several sizes but the tiny kid’s mug stands in my memory. Once a kid’s raging thirst was quenched, the smell of burgers and fries wafting through the air started to garner some attention. All you had to do was order what you want off the big menu board in the middle of the building and someone would bring it to you on a bright orange tray! Now, almost all people where I live prefer a heavy dose of mustard and fresh onion on their burger. I probably picked up this preference at the local mom-and-pop burger stands and at the K and N. As the teenage years came upon us, we found ourselves pulling into the K and N in our own cars having long since graduated from the tiny mug to the adult size. Pretty soon we were complicit in the demise of these places as we were swept up by corporate eats like Jack-in-the-Box and Sonic. Much like Griff’s, this regional chain is practically gone. A Google search produced only and a handful of K and N drive-ins in Texas, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In the decades following World War II, the population of the United States underwent a massive migration to the suburbs. The society which became the “Patio Culture” of the 1950’s and 1960’s has been the subject of much criticism from intellectuals and social scientists both then and now. Much of the criticism can be attributed to the mind set of the critics themselves, which could be considered apathetic to the conditions of the middle class. While many of the social problems that the critics so poignantly singled out did, in fact, exist, they often did not manifest themselves to the extent that was claimed, and they were also simultaneously taking place outside of suburbia as well.

When undergoing an examination of the charges against suburban culture, one must take into account the mind set of the intellectual elite of the 1950’s. It must be understood that the conclusions they reached were usually based on a cosmopolitan world view; a view which included such urban facilities as museums and ethnic districts, most of which were lacking in suburbia. What they perceived as blandness and conformity were really only the home-centeredness that is characteristic of the lower middle class culture. Suburbanites were viewed by critics as outsiders who saw their community from a “tourist perspective”. The tourist mind set required excitement and a sense of the exotic, and this conflicted with the mind set of the homeowner which required a comfortable and secure place to live. This discrepancy in views created an intellectual disappointment by critics since their expectations were not met.¹

The Patio Culture was portrayed in books of the time as “a strange netherworld of rathskellers and dens, of cheese dips and cocktails (the required icebreakers in a highly mobile society), or kaffeeklatsches and card parties, and of outer-directed husbands and neurotic corporate wives.” ²

To better understand the post-World War II suburban phenomenon let us look at one of the more famous incarnations of it–Levittown, New Jersey. Built in 1955 on land bought from the Willingboro Township, New Jersey, Levittown was the third such development built by Levitt and Sons, Inc.³ The firm gained experience during World War II building housing for the Navy, and from that, they developed a system of mass production building which was perfected in the two earlier Levittowns; Long Island, New York in 1947 and in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1951.⁴

Innovations in the planning of Levittown included the building of elementary schools from the onset of development, the cost of which would be incorporated into the houses. The single house pattern of the previous Levittowns was replaced with three styles: a four-bedroom “Cape Cod” selling for $11,500; a three-bedroom one-story “Rancher” selling for $13,000 and a two-story “Colonial” selling for $14,000 and $14,500 for three and four bedrooms respectively. The Levitt executives were divided on how to approach the planning of Levittown. Two factions emerged: one was composed of “idealists” who wanted to build the best community possible, and the other consisted of “realists” who were more concerned with keeping costs down to improve sales. The latter group were mainly concentrated in the comptroller’s office and resisted innovations which would increase cost.⁵ Federal financing, low interest rates, and mortgage guarantees permitted many veterans to purchase their first new home. Their eagerness to make a fresh start was reflected in a 1945 poll conducted by the Saturday Evening Post in which only nineteen percent of those polled said that they would be willing to live in a used house or apartment. The new suburban developments offered them the chance to afford something new on land of their own. “With the kitchen spilling directly into the dining room, the glass doors opening from the living room into the outdoor barbecue and play area, the picture window bringing the lawn right up to the wall-to-wall carpet, the ideal suburban home was an intertwining of nature and civilization; it was as if the suburban family had realized Karl Marx’s vision of a blending of countryside and city”.⁶ Almost as soon as the first bulldozer blade of earth had been moved, social critics began to condemn the new developments. “These cardboard-box housing developments are much in evidence. They may be said to represent the most painful form of the disease of civic disintegration, but this is certainly not the fault of the suburban idea in itself, any more than big city slums may be attributed to the idea of urbanity”.⁷

True, the architectural styles available to homeowners were quite limited. The conformity of the houses was broken up only by their exterior colors, the choices of which were limited as well. In the Long Island development, for example, the public schools (15 of them) were built of the same red brick and glass as were the hospitals and civic centers. The appearance of these buildings was also diminished by the fact that they were situated on large barren lots. The same open spaces that were planned to give ex-city dwellers a sense of space gave them a sense of desolation instead.⁸

Conformity of architecture did not mean the Levittown, Long Island, residents did not desire a more colorful and varied environment. Their plight can be linked to the fact that the development was a private venture and zoning was controlled by the builder from the onset of construction to provide strictly residential neighborhoods. Changing the look of public buildings was beyond the control of the inhabitants. So great was the need for the quick creation of school spaces that in an attempt to block their construction, say for aesthetic reasons, the residents would have most certainly met with failure. It can be said that the Levittowners were prisoners of their environment similar to that of city apartment dwellers who undertook renovations; they could not afford to do the work themselves and there was no public channel to force the landlord to the work either.⁹

One of the most poignant criticisms of suburbia was that of racial segregation. Racial segregation was the rule in the Long Island development as it was elsewhere. The ethnic makeup of this community reflected the social advances of American society as of 1945. Religious bias was virtually non-existent and Catholics, Jews, and Protestants mingled freely. In 1947 and in 1949, African-American veterans were turned away when they attempted to buy housing, and Puerto Ricans also experienced the same treatment later on. Although housing discrimination became illegal, homeowners and realtors found ways to discourage minority buyers. Ironically, it was the reputation of the town itself as being unreceptive to minorities that became the major roadblock to minority settlement.¹⁰ It must be stressed that although this disturbing practice did, in fact, occur throughout suburbia, it was also a problem of the 1950’s society at large and continues to be addressed to this day.

The concept of the monolithic suburban middle class during the 1950’s and 1960’s is a misleading one. It assumed that Levittown, Long Island, suburbanites clustered together in ghettos of uniform economic and social groupings. True, the average income of $9,000 per year was rarely deviated from but differences in social class were well documented.

The Working Class consisted of blue collar and lower level white collar workers who were not high school graduates. They were usually Catholic Irish, Italian or European peasant descent. This group of people tended to be sexually segregated with separate roles for the husband and the wife. The husband was the breadwinner and disciplinarian while the wife tended to the children and the housework. Entertaining was rare, and more time was spent with the extended family or childhood friends. The Veterans of Foreign Wars was the first organization founded in Levittown, and it had a mostly working class membership. Thus the VFW became the suburban substitute for the local neighborhood tavern in the city. Families were adult-centered and children were expected to follow adult rules or face harsh punishment (by the standards to other classes). Child rearing was to ensure that the child stayed out of trouble with the school and the police. Strict control often led children to leave the home earlier in favor of the peer group. After some tension, the adults would usually resign themselves to this and relinquish responsibility to the child. Working class families who were more socially mobile stressed more education even though they were often unable to help the child succeed in school. Socially non mobile families expected the child to obtain a high school education and get a good job. Some attempts were made for the academically able to go to college, but peer group pressures often kept them from doing this. Government and institutions often were seen as promoting the goals of the business class over those of the “working people” and mistrust of them was widespread. Thus, the suburban home was seen as a haven against them.¹¹

About three-fourths of the Levittowners were predisposed to the lower middle class culture. It was comprised of blue and white collar workers who had completed high school with a few earning some college credit. They were less sexually segregated than the working class and home and family were the center of attention for them. The lower middle class family was child-centered and, with a few exceptions, the children were given strict upbringings in order not to spoil them. School and church were seen as institutions that would control children and not alienate them from the home. They were seen as a support structure for the home. Children were educated as individuals, but not as unique, and social adjustment was seen as an important factor in being able to success academically and proceed on to college. College was seen as a requirement for getting a good job and having a successful marriage. The nuclear family, so often portrayed by Ozzie and Harriet, was the rule for the lower middle class. The family was centered around the parents and the children and did not share the clan like tendencies of the working class. Many were active in the church and volunteer organizations since the church reinforced their idea of a moral world composed of kindness, goodness and honesty vs. evil as the result of unchecked impulses. Church fellowship also permitted socialization with others of the same class and world view even though this was not the stated intention.¹² “Parents support such organizations as the PTA and the Scouts, which uphold the cultural values of orderliness, self-reliance, and constructive leisure, and above all, the primacy of the home and its moral strictures”.¹³

The lower middle class could be divided into two subgroups: restrictive and expansive. The restrictive subgroup held belief handed down from the Calvinist-Puritan traditions of pre-twentieth century America. They generally led calm and sober lives with little frivolous entertainment and held suspect the “unrestrained” working class and the ways of the cosmopolitan upper class. The expansive subgroup included Catholics, Jews and Protestants who were not bound by the Calvinist-Puritan tradition. Truly the definition of the Patio Culture, they enjoyed a social life that could include drink, gambling, and other forms of popular culture. Pretension, or “keeping up appearances”, was more often practiced by the restrictive subgroup than the expansive, since it is they who felt more compelled to uphold pre-twentieth century traditions within the confines of modern suburbia. There was more conflict between the real and the ideal in the lower middle class than in the working class due to this, and the defense of this moral code could often lead to hypocrisy.¹⁴

The upper class in Levittown consisted of a small number of up and coming professional/managerial people. They tended to be college educated and more cosmopolitan than their lower middle class neighbors. Domestic life was somewhat less important to them and sexual segregation was not evident. Outside interests occupied husbands and wives, and some wives had domestic help or were aided by the husband with the rearing of children. Education of children and unique individuals with the emphasis on success in a professional career was the goal of the upper class. Children were pressured to do well in school, and while family life was child centered, it was adult-directed in order to achieve this. Relationships with the extended family were even more stretched compared to the lower middle class because their success was usually the result of their independent efforts. The upper class was good at making friends, and they chose them based on common interests. There was a large amount of social activity, and the voluntary work often affected the entire community and not just local organizations. Their cosmopolitan beliefs fueled their desire to shape the community by national values which sometimes were at odds with local ones. They favored a high level of public expenditure so that community institutions (education and government) could make available services that were more cosmopolitan in nature. The upper class consisted of two subgroups: conservative-managerial and liberal-professional. The conservative-managerial was similar to the restrictive subgroup of the lower middle class and was politically and socially conservative. They often favored issues like lowering taxes and opposed liberal politics. The liberal-professional subgroup (which had a large Jewish influx) was politically and socially liberal and was usually employed in education, social work and other community centered professions. They favored causes like the emerging civil rights movement, the United Nations and community planning. This subgroup was also the main audience of the arts in suburbia.¹⁵ From this examination of suburban class structure, it becomes apparent that although the Levittowners shared similar economic situations, there was more variance in their social standing.

The suburb would not have come into being if it were not for the automobile and the modern highway. During the 1950’s, cars were being built with many automatic features and were becoming festooned with chrome and tail fins. Almost overnight, shopping centers, and drive-in theaters became manifestations of an increasingly mobile culture.¹⁶ Between 1948 and 1958, there were 4000 drive-in theaters with facilities ranging from playgrounds to laundromats. Automobile registrations rose as fast as the birth rate with 26 million in 1945 to forty million by 1950.¹⁷

Improvements in America’s roads were giving people a sense of freedom and allowed them to get away to the country or go on vacations. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 authorized 41,000 miles of interstate highways which were designed for high speed and smooth access, and they put the country within easy reach of those with a car. For most, the symbolic “freedom of the road” meant adventure and joyrides before it represented the monotonous commute. This freedom and the car which granted it, came to represent power, sex, leisure, efficiency, access and convenience all rolled into one. The car would liberate people from social restraints and would increase their sense of personal empowerment.¹⁸ The car culture created a dilemma throughout suburbia. In the one income family the husband would go off to work stranding the wife in the home. If she too wished to be liberated with wheels, she would have to work to support it. Women who could not afford a second car were thus relegated to the social activities within the homogeneous suburb. When not in contact with other women, television increasingly became a surrogate companion. Indeed, the idea of having children and dealing with the related issues was seen as an effort by some women to create companionship. Children also became captives of the suburb until they were able to get a car of their own. Until they reached driving age, they were driven to activities by their mothers, activities that were previously reached by public transportation in the city.¹⁹ Cities were influenced by the suburban attachment to the automobile. The increase of private affluence of the suburban middle class tended to deprive the city institutions and services of funds.²⁰ Even when there was good public transportation, suburbanites would often choose to drive downtown bringing their style of dress and habits with them.²¹ Interestingly, Levittowners, when surveyed said that they did not share the suburban critics distaste for commuting and any trip up to forty minutes would be considered acceptable. Many said that it wasn’t the length of the commute rather than the mode of travel that bothered them the most. Two-thirds of bus riders, thirty-seven percent of car drivers and twenty percent of car poll members said that their commute was tiresome. Some even reported that the commute was one of the only times they had total privacy from job and family and found it relaxing. Car pooling became a male social experience similar to the tavern of old. Women seemed to be more affected by their husband’s commute as they would not be home before dinner and would sometimes take the frustration of a long commute out on their wives.²²

Suburban social problems weren’t confined to automobile ownership. Elizabeth O’Malley, Director of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Social Service League observed different social problems within the various strata of the developments. In cheaper developments populated with younger people, money problems tended to be the source of friction within the household. Pressured by unscrupulous firms to buy even more consumer items on time only increased their debt. In middle-priced developments, there were parent-child relationship problems as well as problems with extramarital affairs. In the upper levels the families tended to be more separated by individual activities. The man would often tend a business and the woman would be involved with charity work. Problematic children were able to be sent off to boarding school while the adults could visit the psychiatrist. O’Malley also believed that the concept of suburbia was woman-dominated and that males tended to arrive in suburbia weak. A cycle emerged whereupon the wife would desire to aggressively build a home, and that would push the man to buy things they couldn’t afford. Once in debt she would then nag the man for buying things that they couldn’t afford. “Women are almost entirely influential. The suburbs are, however, also largely populated by dependent, childish husbands”.²³ However popular, the myth of suburban matriarchy cannot be substantiated by any empirical evidence. Surveys in Levittown, which showed the lack of negative effects of commuting, and the lack of change in family happiness, cast doubt on the idea of suburban matriarchy. Social changes of the fifties began to stress (at least in the middle class) a sharing of household duties though many men still had traditional roles (especially in the working class). Domineering wives and henpecked husbands were considered deviant, and most of the criticism of matriarchy reflected a concern among men about losing power, and this usually worked its way into the social criticism of the time. According to surveys, living in Levittown had no effect on marital happiness. Twenty percent reported an improvement in their relationship, and most reported that their relationship stayed the same. At first, the happiest couples reported that the house and it’s additional space provided them with personal space. Home ownership also promoted maturity and reduced petty bickering and produced more contentment. Later interviews reinforced the idea that after the novelty of home ownership wore off, the marriage returned to normal. Overall, there was little change in family life of the suburbs and changes were usually improvements.²⁴

Perhaps the most common source of problems in suburbia concerned itself with the role of women in 1950’s society. Defined by the “Baby Boom”, this generation of women seemed to devote themselves fully to giving birth. In 1951 there were 3,845,000 babies born which exceeded the Census Bureau’s prediction by 450,000. In 1952 the birth rate reached 3,889,000, and by 1954, it reached over 4 million. This rise continued to increase until, by the end of the 1950’s, the overall number of babies born exceeded 40 million.²⁵

Modern conveniences like ready made clothing, nursery school and prepackaged food provided a great deal of labor savings for women, yet, more time was spent shopping, doing family accounting and driving children to and from activities. Women now had more choice in how they conducted family chores and their roles became more complex compared to their ancestors. The need for increased planning for child care, meals and purchases arose during this time. Most of the women employed in 1964 were engaged in clerical occupations, which comprised thirty percent of all employed women at this time. Service and private household workers made up the next two largest categories with a total of 5,907,000 employed, and women in professional and technical work only numbered 3,193,000. In March 1963, there were 15,362,000 married women in the work force. 14,061,000 of these women were actually living with their husbands. This would indicate that during this time women began to play two roles; that of homemaker and that of wage earner. The contribution to family incomes of these women was about one-fourth that of their husbands with the average income of these wives being $1,260 per year compared to their husbands $4,920 per year. Women’s earnings were still important to the family standard of living and the number full-time working wives from higher income families was nearly double that of lower income families. The dominant role of married women was that of housewife and seventy percent (about 30,000,000) wives made domestic work their primary activity. However, there was more discontentment of women as their higher aspirations didn’t always fit into their traditional roles as housewives. The improvements in household technology, which reduced the time spent doing housework, also created “boredom, dissatisfactions and rebellion against the implications of their domestic role”.²⁶

By 1960, the image of the happy suburban housewife began to come under media scrutiny. Newspapers and magazines like the New York Times and Newsweek, as well as CBS Television, all reported the phenomenon of female unhappiness but usually found reasons to dismiss it. The New York Times (June 29, 1960) speculated that better educated women often felt trapped in their roles as housewives and mothers. It was said that “the road from Freud to Frigidaire, from Sophocles to Spock, has turned out to be a bumpy one.”²⁷ Many suggestions were put forth as a solution to the suburban womans malaise. Some educators favored barring women from four-year universities since they wouldn’t need that to become housewives and thus freeing up space for men who were to meet the demands of the Atomic Age. One woman writer proposed in Harper’s that women be drafted as nurse’s aides and baby sitters believing that the exercise of love would cure their mental ills.²⁸ Another alleged reason for female malaise was given by doctors who cited evidence that some problems could be attributed to sex. They believed that women had been made into sex creatures who didn’t know themselves in any other way except as a wife and mother. The women would wait at home all day for their husbands to return home and make them feel alive again. Too often husbands were not interested in sex after a long day at the office thus further frustration ensued for wives.²⁹ A typical issue of McCalls (July 1960) gave the image of a frivolous, feminine, and passive woman content in the world of the home. The articles suggested that the only pursuit that women were allowed to take part in was the pursuit of a man. They gave readers information on domestic things such as food, clothing, and cosmetics, and portrayed women as housewives that were consumed with looking good in order to get or keep a man.³⁰

The “problem with no name”, the feeling that there should be “something more” was summed up by this perception: if women are seen as equals to men with a potential of their own, everything that stands in the way of that potential becomes a problem, i.e. discrimination, prejudice, political participation, etc. But since women were seen in terms of their sexual role these barriers to potential were not seen as problems. The only real problems women would have were those which prevented them from being housewives. Women’s magazines usually offered meaningless solutions to this perception such as having another baby or dyeing one’s hair blonde.³¹ The image of the happy housewife that was created by male editors of women’s magazines had negative implications. In order to live out this image, women were forced to deny their intellect. A woman’s world in the nineteenth century was defined by caring for a husband and family and those who went west could share in a sense of pioneering purpose on the frontier. In the 1950’s, the only remaining frontier was that of the mind and spirit, and the modern woman wasn’t permitted to move into that frontier with her husband as she did a century earlier.³² As women moved into the domestic world to gain fulfillment, they discovered the housework expanded into a full-time job. The sense of family responsibility, took the place of societal responsibility and each new appliance elaborated housework. Housework increased to fill the available time until it could barely be done at all in the time allotted. The housewives were spending more time on housework than thirty years earlier despite the easier to care for small suburban homes.³³

Ironically, a sociological study of Levittown, New Jersey, indicated that women experienced less boredom, depression and loneliness after they moved there from the city with about one-third reporting the opposite. Sometimes these reported feelings of unhappiness were from suburban isolation, but they most usually reflected the problems of working and lower middle class women at the time. “If there is malaise in Levittown, it is female but not suburban”.³⁴ Thus, the problems that suburban women experienced during the 1950’s can be seen as a result general societal changes and not necessarily a direct result of suburbanization.

According to the Levittown survey, suburban boredom in general did not appear to be a problem. Younger people reported more boredom than their elders and former city dwellers reported the same amount as before. The common misconception that suburbanites experienced more boredom was inaccurate, and moving to Levittown seemed to actually reduce the incidence of boredom among respondents. In the New Jersey sample fifty-one percent said boredom decreased or disappeared, thirty-three percent reported no change in boredom, and it increased, or appeared for the first time, for only sixteen percent. In the Philadelphia sample fifty-one percent reported no change, twenty-seven percent (one-third of them women) reported an increase and twenty-two percent reported a reduction in boredom. Reductions in boredom were attributed to house and yard work and an increased social life. Work on the house did not impact boredom even after the novelty of new home ownership wore off after about three years. Those residents reporting an increase of boredom were usually lower class and below age twenty-five or over age forty-five.³⁵

When considering the effect suburbanization had in creating the Patio Culture, one must take into account the social, cultural, and technological changes of post-World War II America. To view the problems experienced by its’ residents as somehow detached from these forces of change would be folly. Critics have often expounded views that would lead one to think that the causes of societal problems are endemic only to suburbia and not a result of greater forces. Indeed, history may judge that the greatest crime the Patio Culture committed was differing from the tastes and world view of the cultural elite. For all of its shortcomings, suburban America did, in fact, allow many people an opportunity to own a piece of the American dream. It also allowed a generation of Baby Boomers to grow up reasonably well adjusted and with the capacity to change the negative aspects of their birthright in the voting booth and on the streets of America during the 1960’s. This is the Patio Culture’s greatest legacy.

The 1960’s Patio Culture coincided with one of the most prosperous times in American history. Despite the expenditures involved in running a Cold War globally, and a hot one in Vietnam, the U.S. provided ample opportunity for a prosperous middle class to thrive. Couples could build families on blue-collar wages, and as often the case, spoil them. Kids reared during the Patio Culture Era were often showered with materialistic goods usually in the form of toys. However, this newfound materialism was often tempered with the traditional childhood imagination exhibited by their parents from the Depression Era. A shiny new toy was often supplemented by a homemade one, and plain old sticks were always perennial favorites. The play was still a creative endeavor and the mind-numbing sedentariness that Xbox and other modern video games would produce had not been realized. Just like their parents, kids embarked on exciting, and sometimes dangerous, outdoor adventures in and around the neighborhood…only they were better equipped!

Patio children love a birthday party!

There is no other suburban childhood icon like the birthday party. For one day you were the center of attention in an otherwise busy world. Gifts were given, party favors exchanged, a good time was had by all! Best of all was the food. On your birthday, you were allowed to eat all the junk that you could hold without throwing up. The only real equivalent to this in adulthood is at sporting events where you are expected to consume hot dogs and stadium nachos, washed down with overpriced beer! What do they make that cheese out of anyway?

Left: I’m being overwhelmed by the ritual gift exchange…open mine, open mine! Note the “pin the tail on the donkey game. I wonder who invented a game where the object is the affixing of hair to a pack animal’s posterior?

Right: Myself and my cousins, Calvin & Rod, preparing to dig into some serious birthday cake.

Wahoo Board Game

It’s amazing how something that looks so benign can incite such cut-throat competition! The Wahoo Game was very popular in Texas and the Southwest and was simply a board with holes that were decorated in a Native American motif. The object was simple…move your colored marbles from their home or “tribal” area around the board to the goal or “teepee” area. The first player to get all of their marbles to the goal would win. Sounds easy until you consider that the other players can land on your marble and send it back home. There was a shortcut hole in the center of the board that allowed players to skip to the opposite side if the right number was rolled. Some families even made their own Wahoo boards with custom decorations. The game eventually went nationwide when Parker Brothers produced a version of it called Aggravation. Despite some minor controversy over some past depictions of Native American life, Wahoo has since made a comeback and is being produced in both traditional and Mayan “Mexicas” formats. (See Wahoo Games on our Hot Links Page to order).

Spudsie the Hot Potato

Spudsie the Hot Potato game was the toy industries’ way of selling Suburbia something that they could create on their own. The object of Spudsie, quite simply, was to wind up the internal timer then pass the potato around until the timer went off…DING! At that point, the person left holding Spudsie was IT and subject to whatever scorn and ridicule the players chose to dish out.

Of course, this could be accomplished with real potato and a kitchen timer, but hey, the pre-packaged convenience that Spudsie possessed and that wacky face looking back at you did have a certain appeal.

Every now and then, a player would get a little over-excited and would throw the toy like a football causing considerable damage to unprotected bric-a-brac.

The Visible Man/Woman

One of the “smart toys” I received during Christmas 1966. I’m sure my mother had hopes that these toys might help me develop into a brilliant brain surgeon, but by high school, my science grades soon ended this fantasy! The Artificial Man/Woman was just that…a see-through version of human anatomy that snapped together within a clear body.

Mind you, it had to be purchased in either male or female form…it wasn’t sold together. I suspect lingering Victorian values in many parents prompted them to provide only the male version for their curious developing boys.

After all, nobody wants plastic uteri strewn about around the place! It’s a safe bet that this toy generated more ghoulish appeal than scientific curiosity. This guy was the PERFECT villain for GI Joe to combat! “Take that you translucent fiend!” would be shouted before Joe dispatched the creature sending his guts flying everywhere!

Artificial Pumping Heart

This gift was paired with the Visible Man and produced just about the same amount of scientific prowess.

Quite interesting from a plumbing perspective, the Artificial Heart could be connected together with plastic tubing and red fluid (blood) could be pumped throughout the system with a rubber bulb.

If the child connected the device properly it simulated the actual way in which blood flows through the various chambers of the human heart. If connected incorrectly, or by using the wrong type of glue like I did, it created a tremendous mess!

My grandmother tried to help me, but her selection of Scotch tape didn’t make the process any more successful.

Needless to say, the patient died a horribly bloody death, and the cold shell of a once (almost) beating heart was soon abandoned.

Texaco Fire Chief Fire Helmet

Just one of the many toys that extended Texaco’s branding to future drivers. The Fire Chief helmet, like many toys of the era, had a substantial weight to it to the point of feeling almost real. I’m sure the diminutive size of a child had something to do with it, but I just recall it being heavy.

Not only did the helmet protect you from blazing infernos and falling debris, but you could also bark out orders through the handy speaker mounted in the front!

Powered by batteries in the top of the helmet, the speaker could literally annoy hundreds of adults before the daily rigors of childhood activity eventually silenced it. Even when inoperative, the Fire Chief helmet created a dashing look for the child who sported it all over the neighborhood. Large tanker trucks and metal vehicles rounded out the Texaco toy line.

Charlie Weaver Battery Powered Bartender

The toy: Perhaps one of the strangest toys ever to hit the Patio! The Charlie Weaver Bartender was a battery-operated mechanical toy based on the TV character of the same name. Once you flipped the switch, he would move around in a robotic fashion and make a simulated martini for you. That’s it. Kids weren’t bothered by the shameless promotion of alcohol consumption that amuses us as adults. No…to a kid it soon became boring because it just didn’t do anything. I’m sure many of these became hapless taped-down test pilots for horrendous skateboard tricks.

The man: “Charlie Weaver” (Cliff Arquette) was a character on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar and the later version of the show with Johnny Carson. Always telling corny jokes, Charlie Weaver would lace homespun humor with his fondness for alcohol. Arquette played other characters including pancake syrup maven Mrs. Butterworth, and later became a regular on Hollywood Squares.

V-rroom Engine by Mattel

Sleek, powerful, LOUD! The V-rroom Engine by Mattel provided all the raw horsepower a kid on a tricycle could handle! This battery-operated toy motorcycle engine could be mounted to any tricycle or bicycle and had a variable sound control mounted to the handlebars much like the throttle cable on the real thing.

If a kid wanted to simulate powerful acceleration, he would only have to gun the throttle and a mind-boggling cacophony of engine sounds would be available to annoy the neighbors. I myself was “asked” to reduce the volume of this mighty piece of engineering in this way. Trike-mounted horsepower was great, but once a kid graduated to two wheels, the engine could be remounted. Soon, real motorcycles consumed our attention leaving the Mighty Mattel V-rroom engine a fond memory.

Show ‘n Tell Picturesound Program

The Show ‘n Tell slide viewer/record player was the closest most kids got to get their own TV. Sure, old black & white sets migrated into our rooms by the end of the 60’s, but at least you could control what was on this one. The viewer came with story sets that consisted of a film slide that could be loaded from the top and a 45 rpm record that told the story. The machine would advance automatically as the story progressed, sort of like those automatic film projectors you saw in school…dink-click! Most of the story sets were pretty lame if you were above the age of six, so most of the time it served as a personal record player. I spent the Christmas holiday of 1966 getting razzed by my older cousin and his friends for playing Winchester Cathedral (I WAS SEVEN) but was later accepted when I played the Beatles instead. Ah, we couldn’t wait to get a real stereo!

Star Trek Tracer Gun

You couldn’t face the “Final Frontier” without the Star Trek tracer gun! Forget phasers, this little beauty could fire (and I mean FIRE) plastic discs at tremendous velocity rendering powerless alien attackers and small animals. The spring-fed magazine of the tracer gun could be loaded with 15-20 plastic multi-colored discs and could be fired as fast as a kid could pull the trigger. Many “missions” would have to be taken outside as parents (and family pets) objected to the numerous plastic discs ricocheting throughout the house. Disc recovery was always a chore as no telling where they would end up when fired outside and a good percentage of my indoor shots would end up in my mom’s vacuum cleaner bag. This toy, like BB guns and clackers, posed a tremendous threat of eye injury and was eventually discontinued much to the dismay of firepower enthusiasts everywhere.

Fireball XL5 Spaceship

If you followed the Supermarionation series Fireball XL5, then you had to have the toy.

The capsule detached to “land” on planetary surfaces while the body of the ship remained in “orbit”.

It even has jet cycles inside in case Steve Zodiac or Venus wanted to go for a spin!

Major Matt Mason

Major Matt Mason…just the name sounds macho! He was America’s man in space! Standing just over 5” tall, the Major was a rubber-bodied fellow with an internal bendable steel skeleton. He had a snap-on space helmet attached to his permanent spacesuit. He and several other action figures that were a part of his team lived in a three-story moon station complete with a lunar walker. The moon station was comprised of a top story (the command module where the action is) with removable tinted plastic windows; a second story which was open to the moon environment (kind of like a garage for space junk), and the lower level touched the “lunar surface” and provided a place to wipe your boots. The “turbine powered-front wheel drive” lunar walker had two big multi-spoke “wheels” and the chassis dragged the ground at the rear. No wonder the Soviets never made it to the moon!

GI Joe

Fightin’ man from head to toe! A guy with a crew cut and a scar on his face had to be the very embodiment of suburban testosterone! All boys worth their mettle wanted to be just like Joe and many imaginary adventures allowed them to do just that.

Joe did many important things…defending the free world from the Godless Communists, taking care of those pesky Third World insurgents, and exploring the reaches of outer space in his sliding plastic door Mercury capsule, just to name a few.

Alas with the passing of time, GI Joe was reduced in size from the original 12” to 5 1/2” but the same kick-ass spirit that made him great is still evident. Recently the 12” action figure has made a comeback as soldiers of various elite units.

Joe may now wear an Aussie bush hat, among other things, but he’s still an all-American hero!

Magic 8 Ball

It knows all & speaks in riddles! The Magic 8 Ball never quite said what you’d want it to.

Often when the mystic response to a question wasn’t what you wanted, you could simply shake the ball and turn it up again.

Eventually, it would say what you wanted it to. People are kind of like that too, huh?

Sometimes a kid could abuse the toy so much that it would hemorrhage the blue liquid and its answers would be silenced forever.

Banana Seat Chopper Bicycle!

Just the thing to “peel out” on or do “wheelies”. Modern mountain-style bikes just don’t have the wheelie potential that the banana seaters did. Probably for safety reasons.

Today, the rider’s center of gravity is forward between the wheels. The banana seaters center of gravity was over the rear wheel. This also allowed for “walking”, the ability to ride a bike on the rear wheel with the front wheel off the ground for a distance.

My friend Dan made a 1′-2′ chopper fork extension. One day after a particularly mean wheelie, the bike came down and the chopper fork cracked in half sending him flying forward. Other accessories included the “sissy bar” which extended up from the rear of the seat, and “lemon peelers”, slick tires that aided in your skid mark-making abilities.

GI Joe Mercury Capsule

One of the coolest GI Joe toys ever. Maybe one of the coolest toys period!

This Mercury capsule fit Joe to a tee and had a sliding plastic hatch so Joe could check out the happenings in outer space.

If you owned one did you splash it down in a swimming pool?

Most kids did which I’m sure speeded up their demise. Recently on the Antique Road Show, one brought around $200. Let’s hit the attic!

Crosman M1 replica BB gun

A mighty piece of firepower indeed! Boys got their 2nd Amendment primer with this one. Made by Crosman Arms Co., the original M1 carbine BB gun had a stock that was crafted from real wood and had a lathed metal barrel. No plastic and stamped metal here. It looked and felt pretty darn close to a military issue. I would carry mine wearing the rigid type OD green GI kepi. Many a mock assault would take place in the woods behind our subdivision…not without the occasional casualties. I don’t recommend doing this today kids, we were lucky we still have our eyesight!

School Fad: Clackers

Perhaps the biggest school fad toy of the 1960’s, clackers separated the Joes from the pros. Basically, this testicular-looking device consisted of two colored acrylic cast balls connected with a cord with the object being the ability to hit (clack) them back and forth. The timeless simplicity of the design harkened back to the time when similar devices, bolos, were used by early humans for hunting. If used improperly, both could be equally devastating. Once a kid gained sufficient skill to “clack” his clackers for a sustained amount of time, he would instantly gain status in the kid world. The trouble is clackers could be manufactured in various qualities and sometimes they were known to shatter sending acrylic shards all over the place. Case in point is the clackers I can remember being sold locally at Wacker’s Dime Store. They were not labeled with safety warnings…they were not even packaged. They were sold from a big pile that the kids would rummage through to find just the right color, often creating massive tangles in the cords. I’m sure entrepreneurs used Clear Cast (acrylic kit responsible for tacky homemade paperweights) to cash in on the fad. The tendency to shatter and their more obvious use as a weapon also sent this toy to the graveyard of memorable 1960’s toys.

School Fad: Duncan Butterfly Yo-Yo

Another fad toy that most kids ended up taking to school. Just don’t get caught doing tricks like “walk the dog” or “around the world” or the teacher would take them up! Duncan Yo-Yo, a major player in the yo-yo world, held national competitions to see who could do the best tricks. They produced just about every kind of yo-yo you could possibly want and even made one that lit up in the dark that ran off a centrifugal battery device. Much like Frisbees would be during later college years, possession of a really neat yo-yo and having the skills to go with it conferred upon a kid an unmistakably cool mystique.

The Slam Bang Theatre Orchestra featuring Icky Twerp (with umbrella)

Listen to the Slam Bang Theatre theme music!

Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Peppermint, Icky Twerp…screech!!! Icky Twerp? Icky was different. Slam Bang Theatre was different. Not better, not worse just…different! Gone was the candy sweetness which typified the live kid shows of the era. Instead, SBT portrayed an almost Vaudvillian brand of slapstick reminiscent of the Three Stooges.

Icky Twerp (a.k.a. Bill Camfield) wore a rumpled black suit, had black horn-rim glasses, and a small cowboy hat that was curled up on the sides with his wild black hair protruding from beneath it. We knew this was the guy who embodied real childhood values and would take on pervasive suburban conformity!

Slam Bang Theatre aired mornings & afternoons in all of its live black & white glory on KTVT-TV Channel 11 (“Live-ly 11” from Ft. Worth, Texas) from the late 50’s until the early 70’s. The name and theme music lived on until much later but there was no live-action “drama”, just cartoons.

With him in his run-down television abode were his ape-faced pals Ajax, Delphinium, and Arkadelphia who were always fighting over some trivial matter or getting into some kind of trouble. Fortunately Icky would always straighten them out in time for the next cartoon.

Sometimes he and his pals would be civil enough to play together in the Slam Bang Theatre Orchestra which was usually organized mayhem with “Nairobi Trio” undertones. As sidekicks go, these guys were more readily identified with than the “cutesy” sidekicks of other kid shows. They were, after all, the collective Id of suburban boys.

Cartoon favorites on SBT included Felix the Cat, the original Hercules, and Popeye The Sailor (the original high-quality 50’s version and the cheaper, but patio, Al Brodax version).

Slam Bang Theatre also introduced my generation to the Three Stooges which luckily has been preserved via the small screen. Produced during the 30’s and 40’s as theater short, the Three Stooges was revived by television and are still going strong today. Politically incorrect as the stooges were, they seemed to fit in with the overall SBT theme. One writer fondly remembered that at an early age he thought the Three Stooges were actually Icky Twerp’s home movies! I would take that as a compliment.

If morning mirth wasn’t your bag then you could tune in late Saturday night to see Bill Camfield star as “Gorgon” in the dark and mysterious Nightmare, a Dark Shadows type of horror show. It would open with a shot of a journey down a long dark hall with creepy music, thunder, and lightning flashing through transom windows. Then a voice would say NIGHT-MARE! At that point, a creepy wicked laugh HA HA HA HA would erupt and the camera would cut to Bill dressed similar to Dracula. After the first few seconds of this, kids usually had the covers over their heads…but they didn’t turn the channel. After all, this beat televised pro wrestling at the Dallas Sportatorium any Saturday night! The featured attraction would be an old black & white classic horror movie, which had the desired chilling effect on young viewers!

Another incarnation of the Twerpesque character appeared in the form of Captain Swabbie, a nautical cartoon show host. According to Paul Camfield, son of the late Bill Camfield, the character developed when the resident cartoon show host decided to take some vacation time, and asked Bill to fill in for him since live acting was the nature of kid show programming in those days. Mr. Camfield developed a silly ship crew member named “Ickamore Twerpwhistle” as a substitute, much to the delight of station management. Mr. Camfield was told to create a show around the new character with a cartoon-driven format, and the rest was nautical history!

Mr. Camfield also starred in various local commercials, and a bank commercial featured one of his characters: “Mortimer Moneybags”. Sadly, Mr. Camfield passed away several years ago, but his legacy of bringing laughter to television lives on in his numerous fans.

Icky Twerp Memorial Message Board | Bio from the Internet Movie Database

Exotica! Just the name invokes thoughts of mystical tropical islands with lush rain forests! This musical genre was popular during the late 1950s to mid-1960s typically with the middle-aged suburban set who came of age during World War II.

Exotica offered its listeners a safe and acceptable release from the rigid mores of the time. Recording artists such as Martin Denny, Les Baxter, and Yma Sumac, just to name a few, created rich aural imagery of jungle paradises populated with colorful birds, tranquil lagoons, and happy natives. Beautiful women like “The Exotica Girl” (Sandy Warner) would languorously bekon from lush album covers for the listening public to experience the call of the wild.

For me, the most visible icon of this period is Martin Denny with his dreamy Hawaiian rhythms complete with exotic birdcalls. The new technology of stereo recording gave the music, and the oriental ethnic instruments in it, an almost surreal effect. After forming his band in 1955, Denny produced his first album Exotica featuring himself on the piano, Arthur Lyman on vibes, Augie Colon on percussion and birdcalls, and John Kramer on string bass. In 1957, Denny and composer Lex Baxter produced Quiet Village which soon topped the charts and defined what Polynesian music was all about. After a string of successful albums, Denny’s commercial appeal faded, and by the mid 60’s Rock and Roll supplanted Exotica in the American musical mainstream. Interestingly enough, Exotica and its parent genre Lounge, have resurfaced and have gained in popularity in recent years.

Popular Selections in Hi-Fi

Sit back and relax to the melodic strains of hip music from far away in time and place! The best music from Martin Denny, Esquivel, Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, Arthur Lyman, Tak Shindo, and more!

My personal experience with the world of exotica came at a very tender age. The Polynesian craze which was popular in the late 50’s and early 60’s touched even my small city. The Tiki Club at the Tradewinds Motel provided adults with an escape from the pressures of everyday suburban life. The Tiki Club was part of the motel restaurant and had a very foreboding and dark entrance. As a young child, I wondered exactly what kind of mysterious and wonderful club the adults had devised “in there”. I knew it had to be really cool because they were given little plastic animals to put on the sides of their drinks. Well, I just had to have a plastic monkey or giraffe so I decided to venture into this forbidden zone. Much like a spelunker, I marched into the dark cavernous entranceway into the Tiki Club. After just a few feet inside I came face to face with a huge carved tiki god with ruby eyes that reflected the dim light. Needless to say, I froze in terror! This club wasn’t in any danger of being invaded by kids on this day! After a brief staredown with this wooden sentinel, I decided to beat a hasty retreat back into the restaurant only to hear the roar of laughter by the adults seated there. The tiki totem had done its duty, the gods were appeased and life went on.