Tuesday, March 25, 2014

DAY 139 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

GOOD MORNING, CLASS OF '64
NORMAN ROCKWELL - SATURDAY EVENING POST - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISS JONES


The Old Schoolhouse

Richard Netherland Cook

There it stands, its lonely form,
Beside the red dirt road,
Where grows the wild berry thorn,
From seed some farmer sowed.

The old school bell of long ago,
Does not echo in the hall,
No more desk lined in a row,
No one heeds the master's call.

How quiet is the schoolyard now,
Where children once laughed and played,
Fallen victim to the farmers plow,
Its' purpose now betrayed.

And around the schoolhouse door,
Where once the children scurried through,
Vines grow fast and reach for more,
Of the schoolhouse I once knew.

The wooden floor, how sad it looks,
The window panes are shattered,
The pages of an old school book,
Around the room are scattered.

The girl's and boy's, where are they now?
Those scholars and the wanna-be's,
Some would stay, some lost their way,
Others scattered like the seven seas.

My heart goes back to another day,
Of the schoolhouse I once knew,
And memories stay with us old and gray,
Of a time when young life was new.

 The Library of Congress
The old schoolhouse and 
other poems and conceits in verse (1902)
https://archive.org/details/oldschoolhouseot00deni 

In the fall of 1955 members of the class of 1964 sat in fourth grade classrooms up and down the valley. Are those fourth grade years remembered well or a blur in memory?

Were notes written in cursive being passed to a friend sitting to the front or the back or in another row? Were they properly punctuated with periods, question marks or exclamation points?  Or were they scribbled willy-nilly?

Were paper airplanes taking flight across the classroom? Had the art of rubber band flipping been learned? Were pieces of paper molded into spit wads and given a toss, ceiling bound?

Were purple lined Halloween witches, cats and Jack-o'-lanterns colored within the lines? Was there talk of dressing up for a night of trick or treating and treaters who filled bags with the finest treats?

Was Christmas white with snow? Was there a bike? A doll? Christmas plays? A brightly lit tree?

Were there valentines to be passed out from a cardboard box decorated with red, white and pink construction paper? A party with Kool-ade and cookies?

Was there relief when that last day of the school year finally came and the report card taken home clearly read "promoted to fifth grade". Congratulations, only eight more to go!     

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EVENTS

 

 
 
  

 

Historical Events for Year 1955
http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1955
Jan 2nd - Panamanian president Jose Antonio Remon is assassinated. Jan 3rd - Jose Ramon Guizado becomes president of Panama
Jan 7th - Marian Anderson becomes 1st black singer to perform at Met (NYC)
Jan 17th - Submarine Nautilus begins 1st nuclear-powered test voyage
Jan 25th - US & Panama sign canal treaty

Feb 2nd - 1st presidential news conference on network TV-Eisenhower on ABC
Feb 9th - US federations of trade unions merge into AFL/CIO
Feb 12th - Pres Eisenhower sends 1st US advisors to S Vietnam
Feb 26th - 1st aviator to bail out at supersonic speed-GF Smith

Mar 1st - Israeli assault on Gaza, kills 48
Mar 5th - Elvis Presley's 1st TV appearance on "Louisiana Hayride" show
Mar 15th - US Air Force unveils self-guided missile
Mar 24th - 1st seagoing oil drill rig placed in service
Mar 24th - British Army patrols withdraw from Belfast after 20 years
Mar 25th - United States Customs seizes copies of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl" as obscene.

Apr 3rd - The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
Apr 5th - Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, Anthony Eden succeeds him
Apr 9th - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Apr 10th - Dr Jonas Salk successfully tests Polio vaccine
Apr 22nd - Congress orders all US coins bear motto "In God We Trust"

May 31st - Construction begins on Soviet cosmodrome launch facilities
May 31st - Supreme Court orders school integration "with all deliberate speed"


Jun 7th - "$64,000 Question" premieres on CBS TV
Jun 7th - 1st President to appear on color TV (Eisenhower)

Jun 10th - 1st separation of virus into component parts reported
Jun 27th - 1st automobile seat belt legislation enacted (Illinois)
Jun 30th - "Johnny Carson Show," debuts on CBS-TV

Jul 2nd - "Lawrence Welk Show" premieres on ABC
Jul 11th - New USAF Academy dedicated at Lowry AFB in Colo with 300 cadets
Jul 17th - Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California.
Jul 21st - 1st sub powered by liquid metal cooled reactor launched-Seawolf
Jul 22nd - 1st VP to preside over cabinet meeting-R Nixon

Jul 29th - USSR performs nuclear Test

Aug 4th - Eisenhower authorizes $46 million for construction of CIA headquarters
Aug 8th - Geneva conference held to discuss peaceful uses of atomic energy

Aug 12th - Pres Eisenhower raises minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour
Aug 25th - Last Soviet forces leave Austria
Aug 27th - "Guinness Book of World Records" 1st published

Aug 31st - 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago, Ill

Sept 9th - Elvis Presley's 1st appearance on Ed Sullivan's Show
Sept 19th - Argentine president Juan Peron, resigns & flees
Sept 24th - Pres Eisenhower suffers a heart attack on vacation in Denver

Oct 1st - "Honeymooners" premieres
Oct 3rd - "Captain Kangaroo" premieres on CBS-TV, Good Morning, Captain!
Oct 3rd - "Mickey Mouse Club" premieres

Oct 25th - Tappan sells 1st microwave oven
Oct 26th - British troops occupy Saudi-Arabic oil field at Boeraimi
Oct 26th - Ngo Dinh Diem proclaims Vietnam a republic with himself as pres


Nov 1st - Time bomb aboard United DC-6 kills 44 above Longmont Colorado
Nov 4th - The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio after it was totally destroyed in World War II.
Nov 19th - National Review publishes its first issue.
Nov 22nd - RCA Victor's best investment paying $25,000 to Sun Records & Sam Philips for rights to Elvis Presley, a truck driver from Tupelo Miss
Nov 25th - Race segregation forbidden on trains & buses between US states

Dec 1st - Rosa Parks (black) arrested for refusing to move to the back of bus
Dec 5th - AFL & CIO merge, with George Meany as president
Dec 6th - NY psychologist Joyce Brothers won "$64,000 Question" on boxing
Dec 14th - Tappan Zee Bridge in NY opens to traffic

Time Man of the Year
Harlow Curtice
 Curtice was President of General Motors (GM) 
from 1953–1958. 
In 1955, GM sold five million vehicles 
and became the first corporation 
to earn US$1 billion in a single year. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year 
 
TRIVIA

 Sept 18th - Actress-singer Debbie Reynolds (23) weds singer Eddie Fisher (27)
Sep 30th - James Dean, actor (Rebel Without a Cause), dies in a car crash at age 24

TOYS
  http://popculturemadness.com/PCM/1955/1955-fun-facts-history-and-trivia/
Tonka Trucks
Play-Doh (off-white)

Cost of Living 1955
http://www.tvhistory.tv/1955%20QF.htm 
 Yearly Inflation Rate USA 0.28%
Average Cost of new house $10.950.00  
Average Monthly Rent $87.00  
Average Yearly Wages $4.130.00  
  Average Cost of a new car $1,900.00 
  Cost of a gallon of Gas 23 cents 
  Ladies Swim Suits $12.95  
Black and White TV $99.95
Bread: 18 cents/loaf
Milk: 92 cents/gal
Postage Stamp: 3 cents
 Minimum Wage: 75 cents per hour

BIRTHS 
January 27 – John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2005.
February 24 – Steve Jobs, entrepreneur and inventor (d. 2011)
Feb 19th - Jeff Daniels, GA, actor (Something Wild, Dumb & Dumber, Speed)
Feb 20th - Kelsey Grammer, Virgin Islands, actor (Fraiser Crane-Cheers/Fraiser)

July 22 – Willem Dafoe, actor
November 23 – Mary Landrieu, United States Senator from Louisiana since 1997.
November 30 – Kevin Conroy, stage, screen, and voice actor

FASHION


 

MAGAZINES


MOVIES
 http://www.historycentral.com/20th/1955.html
Academy Awards
Best Picture: "Marty"
Best Director: Delbert Mann - "Marty"
Best Actor: Ernest Borgnine - "Marty"
Best Actress: Anna Magnani - "The Rose Tattoo"

SPORTS
http://www.infoplease.com/year/1955.html
World Series Brooklyn Dodgers d. NY Yankees (4-3)
NBA Championship Syracuse d. Ft. Wayne Pistons (4-3)
Stanley Cup Detroit d. Montreal (4-3)
Wimbledon Women: Louise Brough d. B. Fleitz (7-5 8-6)
Men: Tony Trabert d. K. Nielsen (6-3 7-5 6-1)
Kentucky Derby Champion Swaps
NCAA Basketball Championship San Francisco d. La Salle (77-63)
NCAA Football Champions Oklahoma (11-0-0)

BOOKS
http://www.historycentral.com/20th/1955.html 
Most Popular Books
Fiction 1." Marjorie Morningstar"... Herman Wouk. Doubleday
2."Auntie Marne"... Patrick Dennis. Vanguard Pres
3."Andersonville"... MacKinlay Kantor. World Publishing Co.
4."Bonjour Tristesse"... Francoise Sagan. Dutton
5."The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit... Sloan Wilson. Simon & Schuster
6."Something of Value"... Robert Ruark. Doubleday
7."Not As a Stranger"... Morton Thompson. Scribner
8."No Time for Sergeants"...Mac Hyman. Random House
9."The Tontine"... Thomas B. Costain. Doubleday
10. "Ten North Frederick"... John O'Hara. Random House
Nonfiction
1." Gift from the Sea"... Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Pantheon Books
2."The Power of Positive Thinking"... Norman Vincent Peale.
Prentice-Hall
3."The Family of Man" ... Edward Steichen. Simon & Schuster and
Maco Magazine Corp.
4."A Man Called Peter"... Catherine Marshall. McGraw-Hill
5."How to Live 365 Days a Year"... John A. Schindler. PrenticeHall
6."Better Homes and Gardens Diet Book". ...Meredith
7."The Secret of Happiness"... Billy Graham. Doubleday
8."Why Johnny Can't Read"... Rudolf Flesch. Harper
9."Inside Africa"... John Gunther. Harper
10. "Year of Decisions"... Harry S. Truman. Doubleday

 
A Selection From
Gifts from the Sea
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

MUSIC
http://www.pop-culture.us/Annual/1955.html 
December 4, 1954 - January 21, 1955: Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes
January 22 - February 4: Let Me Go, Lover - Joan Weber
February 5 - February 11: Hearts of Stone - Fontane Sisters
February 12 - March 25: Sincerely - McGuire Sisters
March 26 - April 29: The Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
April 30 - July 8: Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
July 9 - September 2:  Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley & his Comets
September 3 - October 7: Yellow Rose Of Texas - Mitch Miller
October 8 - October 14: Love Is a Many Splendored Thing - The Four Aces
October 15 - October 21: Yellow Rose Of Texas - Mitch Miller
October 22 - October 28: Love Is a Many Splendored Thing - The Four Aces
October 29 - November 4: Autumn Leaves - Roger Williams
November 5 - November 25: Love Is a Many Splendored Thing - The Four Aces
November 26, 1955 - January 13, 1956: Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford 

SINCERELY
Entering the charts in 1954 and reaching number one the next year
Sincerely - The McGuire Sisters - 1955
  
COUNTRY MUSIC
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_in_country_music
Webb Pierce:                   I Don’t Care
                                        Love Love Love
Eddy Arnold:                    The Cattle Call
                                        That Do Make It Nice
Hank Snow:                      Let Me Go, Lover
Faron Young:                   Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young
Porter Wagoner:              A Satisfied Mind
Tennessee Ernie Ford:     Sixteen Tons
Carl Smith:                       Loose Talk

 
Cattle Call
Spent 26 weeks on the country chart, 2 of the 26 at #1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cattle_Call 
Cattle Call - Eddie Arnold - 1955

TELEVISION
http://www.historycentral.com/20th/1955.html 
Most Popular Television Shows
1. The $64,000 Question (CBS)
2. I Love Lucy (CBS)
3. The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS)
4. Disneyland (ABC)
5. The Jack Benny Show (CBS)
6. December Bride (CBS)
7. You Bet Your Life (NBC)
8. Dragnet (NBC)
9. The Millionaire (CBS)
10. I've Got a Secret (CBS)

 

 I Love Lucy
Harpo Marx on I Love Lucy 
(May 9, 1955)
 
Recipe
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cake/moms-original-hershey-cake-recipe-1955.html 
Mom's Original Hershey Cake Recipe (1955)
 
Cook time: 1 Hr 10 Min  Prep time: 20 Min.  Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
2 stick butter
8 Hershey 5 cent candy bars (12 1/2 ozs.)
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 c buttermilk
2 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp soda
1 c pecans, chopped
2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
1. Melt butter in Mircrowave for 2 minutes. Soften Hershey Candy Bars by adding to hot butter.
2. Add sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add dry ingredients with buttermilk.
3. Add vanilla and Pecans. Bake in greased and floured tube pan or bundt pan. Bake 70 - 80 minutes at 325°.
4. No Icing needed!
 

  No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore


  

Time does not pass, it continues.
 Marty Rubi








 “Ah, how quickly the hands on the clock circle toward the future we thought was far away! And how soon we become our mothers.”
Peggy Toney Horton

  Somewhere in Heaven My Mother Is Smiling

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