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We have met the enemy, and he lives here. How about a little music to set the mood? As the sixties refused to go away and leave daddy in peace, his racism and intolerance grew focused and festered. The Chicago riots turned him into a chain-smoking maniac. And I had a front row seat. Initially,… Continue reading Strike Two, Daddy–1968 Chicago

Dippity Do or Brylcream? Women’s Hair Salon’s looked completely different in the sixties. There were no chains, so they were all run by individuals. A place where neighborhood ladies met and talked in between sets and perms. Row after row of huge iron hair dryers lined the walls–large, space-helmet hats that descended on their hair… Continue reading Hair Care

Privacy? Not! I just realized, you never heard about the awnings. Well……… All the houses either had metal or canvas awnings. It was a cool thing to have in the fifties, I suppose. As you’ve seen the psycho next door had the metal ones, which made for wonderful sound at Halloween. We had canvas dark… Continue reading The awnings

The true ‘Mansion on the Hill’ Gracefully hidden behind tall hedges and trees, the oldest house in my borough stood on the main drag atop the hill. It was a three story mansion in grey marble with a two story garage/servants’ quarters. On foggy nights, the twin lamps that straddled the oaken door resembled a… Continue reading THAT house

School is out from 5th grade. The playground is not finished. Tension is high. Our hero, little me, is out front in the shade of a tree, small transistor radio at my side. I was probably reading a comic book or My Weekly Reader (summer version). Across the street, Steve is under a car (soon… Continue reading The Music Begins

Splish Splash car was takin’ a bath I don’t know when car washes were invented, but one didn’t arrive in our corner of PA until the late 60’s. It was erected in a less fashionable part of the city….literally one block long. An amusement park ride for adult males. I’d say that it was maybe… Continue reading The thrill of…..the Car Wash (?!)

A Shooting Gallery This may seem off topic. but it isn’t…….In the sixties, there were no electric signs, except for neon. You either had neon, or you put up wooden signs. This left small shops like delis, hardware stores, pizza shops, etc out in the cold. Enter the major soda companies–Coke, Pepsi, Seven-UP, RC, etc.… Continue reading I Love the Sound of Gunshots in the Morning

Or, ‘I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass’ Starting in fifth grade, we changed from collecting candy to collecting candy and raiding. Raiding, suburb-style consisted of: throwing hard corn and/or cobs at windows and (especially) metal awnings, soaping cars (with or without profanities), and, if you were hard core, eggs. Corn was easily obtained ,… Continue reading Halloween, The Politics of Raiding

The Quiet Joys of Nature A minor 60’s fad was buying a picnic table and benches. All these post-WWII families in suburbia had to buy a set so they could dine outside. Well, as you’ve seen, battling the charcoal usually meant daddy lost. So, we hauled food outside when mom cooked it. This was doomed… Continue reading Bird Watching

A bitter Harvest…. His last hurrah was when we had our roof re-done. The nails flew. of course, and he must have gone out at night in his bare feet looking for nails. So how did I know? In the morning there would 1-6 roofing nails neatly piled on our back porch. Like some twisted… Continue reading Psycho Neighbor–the Epilogue