Not S&H Green Stamps, The Other Ones

Many may be familiar with the green stamps that used to be collected, usually at the grocery store and gas station, which would be stuck into books, which were then traded for merchandise.  In Philadelphia, when I was young in the 1950's and 60's, my mother focused on Top Value Stamps, "yellow stamps", that we got from the Penn Fruit grocery store chain. 

The mechanics of the stamps were simple - the benefits amazing.  At the checkout counter you would get a stamp for every ten cents you spent.  One would take them home, and lick & stick them into a saver book, a 30 page book which held 50 stamps per page.          

                          

I'm sure many young boys and girls spent many hours dreaming about the contents of their catalog.  A catalog of free stuff!  All you needed to do is fill books of stamps, each lovingly licked and put into place, and you can go to a "redemption store" and get anything!

Now, the Sears catalog was much bigger than the Top Value Stamps "Family Gift Catalog", but the differences were substantial.  This was a book of dreams. 

My mother was always bringing home stamps, and I was always licking them for her, watching books get filled and kept in the dining room until that day when we could buy something.  I know my mother bought a toaster oven with Top Value stamps. 

I still have our catalog from 1968, and many pages are dog-eared because they contained things I wanted.  You could get a very respectable Schaefer Pen and Pencil Set for only 1 book!  You were officially an adult when you had a Schafer Pen and Pencil set!  As a growing boy, I was well aware that one could get ladies' underwear, since the catalog had the pictures (Lycra Spandex Bra, 1 book).  There were Swank cuff links for 2 1/5 books, that were actual "gold"!  Obviously for real men!

If you wanted to get serious household items, a Haviland "Fontenay" China 5 pc. Place Setting went for only 6 2/5 books.  Expecting parents could get a Wooden Crib for 12 3/5 books or a Whirlpool electric clothes dryer, full size, for 40 books.

I had my favorite set of items in the catalogue.  I could get a rifle - a Remington .22-caliber bolt action, single shot rifle for 7  1/5 books.  A rifle!  What I wanted even more, and actually got (thanks Mom) was a Harmony Classical guitar for 14 books.  Those took a while to save up for!  There were grills, and cameras, small Harleys, sofas, TV's, even mink coats!  I wanted to get a Delta 10" bandsaw  (40 4/5 books) for my father, and a 23" Magnavox Color TV (194 books) for my mother.  I spent hours staring at two pages in particular, reading the descriptions.  Which would I try to get first?  You could get a boat!  They showed a Chris Craft 30 ft Futura Boat for a whopping 2664 books, one of the most expensive things in the catalog.  While I loved boats, I would have been perfectly happy with, are you ready for this?  They listed three cars in the catalog I had.  You could get a 1968 Ford Mustaang Fastback for only 926 books!  It was like a free car!  You have to love a country where you get cars because you bought food at the supermarket!

© 2012 John Allison

the other guys

You Bought Him WHAT for Christmas?

I'm sure parents don't always think through the whining, the never ending begging of children for certain Christmas presents.  I, of course, was never one of those kids, but still I did get a bicycle the year we had a bad Christmas snowstorm.  My father shoveled a path out the door and past many row houses on our Collingdale street so I could ride it that day.  As parents, they worked hard for me. 

Yes, I did get a drum set one year!  They made a mistake.  They didn't think it through.

In 1961, people were very interested in Indians, as well as cowboys and Indians.  I always was sympathetic to the Indians myself, and thought Tonto seemed to be the smart one.  I was so excited to see, under the tree that year, a long, long wrapped package.  It had to be what I wanted!  My first bow and arrow set!

I remember the feel of the bow, the feel of the split end of the arrow around the wire, the excitement of pulling it back, the disappointment of not letting one fly through the house.  So, that Christmas day we packed up our black 1951 Chevrolet and drove to our favorite park, called at the time League Island Park.  It was a remnant of the 1926 Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, essentially a world's fair that was held in Philly.  It was a great little park, near the Philadelphia Naval Yard, that had lots of lakes, places to picnic, a museum (The American Swedish Historical Museum) and lots of fields to play in.  So, on that cold December day, my mother and father and I bundled up and went out to League Island, to make some arrows fly.  They kidded that it should have been a 4th of July gift, but the photographic data suggests that they may have had at least as much fun as I did.

© 2012 John Allison

My Indian Friend

As a child in the 50's and 60's I had no idea that there was both local programming and national shows on the television; we assumed that the people who were hosts on all of my favorite kids shows were being seen by kids everywhere.  Not so.  In Philadelphia we had a superb collection of characters who would host cartoon shows on daytime TV - Sally Starr (the beautiful blonde cowgirl/lady) Pixanne (who lived in a magic forest and flew), Bertie the Bunyip (who defies description), Captain Noah (who had an ark), and my favorite, Chief Halftown.  He was an amazing presence. He was gentle and warm and seemed to be able to calm kids down.  Traynor Ora Halftown was a real Seneca Indian, born in 1917.  He taught us all to speak Seneca! "Ees da sa sussaway" was how he started every show.  It probably meant, "let's get going!"

Chief Halftown was on Channel 6, WFIL-TV, later on WPVI, from 1950 until 1999, making his show the longest running local TV children's show in history, anywhere.

On his show, he always dressed in character, including a big feather headdress.  There was considerable interest in Indian cultures at the time, so he would often teach us, his "tribal members", a phrase or a chant or show us how to make something.  He always had a live studio audience of kids.

I wrote to him, probably with the help of my mother, in 1957 (I was 5), and included a picture of me in one of my Indian outfits I'd gotten for Christmas.  Of course, I got a prompt reply.  It was so great to see his face in the mail, and it was a post card to me!  It said, "Dear tribal member, I really enjoyed seeing your picture.  Thanks for sending it to me.  I sincerely hope you have a happy holiday and keep watching my shows - both week-days and also my new Sunday Pow-Wow.  Chief Halftown" 

So Nya-wey (thanks!), Chief Halftown.  Thanks for being my friend and letting me be part of your tribe.  His smile still makes me grin.  He was a true gentleman.

© 2012 John Allison

Echos you could see: Echo I and II

In my second decade, the 1960's, a great evening activity for several summers was satellite watching.  The satellites were called Echo I and II, and every day in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin there was a little box below the fold on page 2 that reported when they would be passing overhead.  My dad and I would check the paper after dinner, and you could always find us on the back porch watching it cross the sky.

NASA launched these satellites in 1960 and 1964.  They were aluminum-coated Mylar balloons, roughly 100 feet in diameter, which were placed into orbit about 1000 miles above the earth.  These were the first communication satellites.  They acted as reflectors from which radio signals could be bounced off.  Their size and coating allowed them to be seen from all over the earth.

Both reentered the atmosphere and burned up by 1969.

These were times when JFK had instilled in us all a healthy interest in science and space travel, so watching real satellites was a daily thrill.  I remember two particular occasions that kept my interest in Echo.

Since all boys (including me) seemed to have collected coins and stamps in the 1960's, I was thrilled when the U.S. Post Office issued a 4-cent stamp commemorating Project Echo, on December 15, 1960.  It was great timing; I got a whole sheet of them from my father for Christmas!  I was 9 years old.

The second surprise came the next summer with my family on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, NJ.  One of the things I enjoyed doing in one arcade (in addition to skee-ball) was to collect black and white post cards, which were distributed from a machine, for two pennies each.  When we were on vacation at the shore, I always came prepared with a can of pennies.  I had a big collection of these cards showing experimental cars, rockets, and the occasional celebrity, and was so excited to get a card showing Echo I, which I still have, as you can see!

© 2012 John Allison

The Things We Used To Sing!

I look back on my years in the public school system in the burbs in the 1950's and 60's as fairly conservative years.  I wonder if our parents knew what we used to sing in school, and whether they would have been pleased.  I'm sure there would be someone today who would have a problem with just about every song we enjoyed singing together.

Singing in Harmony (by L.B. Pitts, M. Glenn, and L.E. Waters; Ginn and Company, Boston 1951) seemed to be the book we used from the time we could read, through the end of elementary school (6th grade, 1962)).  There were old standards, like A Bicycle Built for Two, Home on the Range, and Kookaburra.  There were songs we needed to know, like Auld Lang Syne, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and America the Beautiful.  There were songs that my father knew and loved to sing - good songs to sing in the car - like O Sole Mio, Ay, Ay, Ay, Blow the Man Down, and My Old Kentucky Home.  There were (Christian) songs of worship and Christmas songs, such as Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones, The First Noel, and Joy to the World.  There were songs about people from other cultures such as Cielito Lindo, Dawn in Hawaii and Little Mohee.  We sang many "negro spirituals" although there was only one African-American girl in our entire class of 85 kids - Cotton Needs Picking, Short'nin'  Bread and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. 

For us, it was music class, and sometimes we sang what we were told, or learned something new, or begged for our favorites.  Looking back, the collection of songs had an agenda, and it was a good one.  The music did a lot to create well-rounded people, who perhaps learned something from the music, and learned to love the music of those different than us.  More than once, in my advanced years, someone will begin singing a song and I'll know it too!  I didn't think anyone else knew that one.  I hadn't heard it in years.  But then, we had probably all used Singing in Harmony.

Over the years I constantly enjoy returning to this book, especially when I started taking piano lessons, and when I would play piano in Sunday School.  I'd just rather not explain how I have it in my possession.   It was a gift.  Really!

© 2012 John Allison

The City of Brotherly and Sisterly Love

Philadelphia has always been thought of as a shabby town, and perhaps not a very safe place to be after dark.  I always found it to be a friendly area, and I have two favorite stories to convince you that the town has earned its title over and over.

While I grew up in Philadelphia and the burbs, and am currently living in New Jersey, I did spend 25 years teaching at Michigan State University - technically out of the area.  Both of these stories took place during that time - well more than a decade ago.

MOM

My mother happened to tell me, in a phone conversation one day, about having car problems.  She was probably pushing 80 and my father had already passed away, so she was on her own.  She trusted people - she had no reason not to.  When she would drive up MacDade Blvd. heading for the Acme, she would look for people.  Sometimes she would spot a woman from church walking home with her groceries, and give her a ride.  She often noticed an older black gentleman who would carry his groceries home as well, and pulled over one day to offer him a ride.  They became Acme friends.  I think she even gave him some furniture of ours because he needed it.  So, she casually told me about the car problem she had.  Her car died.  She was sitting at a red light and her car died.  Now that is not a surprise, but what happened next is.  A car full of teenage boys was behind her.  Realizing her car stalled they all jumped out of their car, ran up to her, pulled open her door and told her to get out.  Now perhaps for some people, in some places, this would be the beginning of something very bad.  But this never occurred to her.  One of the boys jumped behind the wheel and closed the door.  Again, not something that sounds very good.  The other boys pushed the car through the intersection to the gas station on the other side.  She talked to the mechanic about taking a look at the car.  The boys lurked nearby.  Why were they still hanging around?  Well to give her a ride home, of course!  She would have expected nothing less.  Such nice boys.  Brotherly love.

Carlos

A Chemistry graduate student at MSU by the name of Carlos was somewhat of a bicyclist, and decided that he was going to ride his bike from mid-Michigan to the Jersey Shore (which may have been where his parents lived) one summer.  When he finally returned, he told me this story.  He had planned the eastern leg of his trip around going over the relatively new Commodore Barry Bridge, close to Sunny Chester.  He arrived at the bridge very late at night, and was told that bicycles were not allowed to cross the bridge, so he had no choice but to turn back, dreading the thought of having to make his way up to the Walt Whitman.  This time it wasn't my mother's car of white boys, but a beat-up old van full of black-boys.  Chester boys.  As he stood at the side of the road with his bike, he watched the van make a U-turn and approach him.  A few of the boys jumped out, took his bike, and threw it in the van.  Not a surprise to get robbed in this part of town at this time of night.  They sat there with the door open, staring at him, and finally said, "Well, are you getting in or not?"  He took a chance and got in.  The van drove over the bridge up to the tollbooths, where it made an illegal U-turn to head back to the PA side.  They got Carlos and his bike out and ready to continue his trip, and with that, they were off.  Midnight Zorros.  Robin Hoods, every one of them.  Brotherly love.  Kinda makes you feel proud, doesn't it?

© 2012 John Allison

Television - What Were We Watching?

Television - What were we watching?

Let's pick a year, and a network.  What were we watching during the 1964-5 season on NBC?

Sundays

            7:30 Walt Disney's Wonderful world of Color

            8:30  The Bill Dana Show (better known as Jose Jimenez)

            9:00 Bonanza

            10:00  The Rogues (with David Niven, Charles Boyer, Gig Young)

Mondays

            7:30 Ninety Bristol Court

            9:00 Andy Williams Show

            10:00 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour  ("Good Eeevening")

Tuesday

            7:30 Mr. Novak (with James Franciscus)

            8:30 The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

            9:30  That was the Week That Was

            10:00  Bell Telephone Hour

Wednesday

            7:30 The Virginian

            9:00 Wednesday Night at the Movies

Thursday

            7:30 Daniel Boone

            8:30 Dr. Kildare.

            9:30 Hazel

            10:00 Kraft Suspense Theatre

Friday

            7:30 International Showtime (Don Ameche, host)

            8:30 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

            9:30 The Jack Benny Program

            10:00 The Jack Paar Program.

Saturday

            7:30 - Flipper

            8:00 The Adventures of Mr. Magoo (cartoon)

            8:30 Kentucky Jones (Dennis Weaver in the title role)

            9:00 Saturday Night at the Movies

Monday-Friday daytime

            10:00 Make Room For Daddy

            10:30 Word for Word

            11:00 Concentration

            11:30 Jeopardy!

            12:00  Say When!

            12:30 Truth or Consequences

            1:30  Lets Make a Deal

            2:00 The Loretta Young Theatre

            2:30 The Doctors

            3:00 Another World

            3:30 You Don't Say!

            4:00 The Match Game

© 2012 John Allison