Alright all you hippies, yippies and beatniks. This Saturday nights the coffee house features "Oldies." You gotta come and sing along with us. 7:00 pm this Saturday night. Be there or be square.
This got me thinking, just what is an "Oldie?" Last month we did Beatles; wasn't that Oldies? No, that was Beatles. It kind of goes back to an argument I was making in a previous blog entry. The Beatles were too serious. The Turtles, now that's Oldies. All those animal names. In case you didn't know the Beatles decided to make a play on words from Buddy Hollly's "Crickets" so the came up with Beatles spelled with the BEAT.
So, we're going to do some Turtles, Monkees, Drifters, Hermits and maybe a little Elvis.
Here's some '50's lingo for all you beatniks: Wowsville, daddy-o, cool daddy, good time, voodoosville, big daddy, wow, dig, crazy, hep, string me, allie oop, like way out man, coffee pad, bug me, hep cat, square, squaresville, man, kookie, swingin' , itsy bitsy, crazy pop.
Can you think of any more? Don't make me embarass you, I wasn't born until 1959. Here's some more trivia for you:
In 1954 (50 years ago!!) a House cost $22,000, our average income was $3,960, a new Ford cost $1548-$2415, a gallon of milk cost $.92, gas was $.21 a gallon, a loaf of bread was $.17, a Postage stamp was $.03, Swiss Cheese was $ .69 lb., American Cheese was $.55 lb., a T-Bone steak was $.95 lb., Del Monte Catsup (2) 14.oz bottles cost $.25, Post Grape Nuts cereal - 10 .oz pkg cost $.19, Clorox Bleach - 1/2 gal. was $.19, 20 gallon gas water heater would cost you $75 and a Semi-automatic Kenmore washer would run you $154.95.
If you're cool enough: Rosemary Clooney had two hits in 1954 besides "Hey There." What were they?
Easter Sunday on the South Side
Oh, woe to those who don't live in our little town. Sunday morning the alarm clock rang at 5:30 am. I stumbled out of bed to get to church so I could get the coffe plugged in. The sunlight was just fading into the sky and I thought about the family and friends that were down at Bellerive Park for the Sunrise Service. This little park is a perfect place to watch the sun come up as the view to the east is introduced my the Mighty Mississippi River, then slowly told by the flat terrain of western Illinois. I've yet to make this service because I'm always back at church getting their breakfast ready. On this chilly morning I knew they wouldn't be long. I was right; they showed up ready to eat at ten after seven.
Tom Boyer and his wife, who live on the corner of Bellerive and Louisiana are always the first to arrive. Tom is a veteran of the Korean War and he will always approach me to say, "Do you need help with anything?"
"No, thanks, Tom, just have a ...