I am a child of the 1950's. This was a time of limited media. The first media magazines were the teen magazines. The first sports specials on TV were Major League Baseball games. It was a time when we were constantly asked to make choices. You could not have it both ways. The limited media gave us limited choices.
You either liked:
Fords or Chevys
Elvis or Pat Boone (Really)
Fats Domino or Pat Boone (They recorded the same songs)
Coke or Pepsi
Hamburgers or Hot Dogs
New York Yankees or Brooklyn Dodgers
American League or National League
Rock or Country
Comedy Movies or Action Movies
Gunsmoke or Bonanza
As a boy in Oklahoma, the home of Mickey Mantle, you had to be a Yankee fan. Mickey was the center fielder for the Yankees of the American League and ALL my friends were Yankee fans.
My brother was a Dodger fan and influenced me. I became a Duke Snider fan. The Duke was the center fielder for the Dodgers of the National League. When I played little league, I was right handed but I bat left handed. (Because Duke Snider did!)
Both Mickey and the Duke battled each other in many World Series and both were Hall of Famers. I once got Mickey's autograph at an OSU Baseball Game, but I never got to meet the Duke.
Everyone in the 50's seemed to like Marilyn Monroe. The magazines kept comparing her to Jane Russell. Marilyn seemed to be the crowd favorite mainly because she was in public more. Howard Hughes controlled Jane Russell and kept her from making movies after the first few.
For some reason I, the small town, don't know nothing about girls, kid liked Jane Russell. Maybe it was because she reminded me of Tarzan's Jane. But if I knew what a "Crush" was, she was the first.
Monday, both Duke Snider and Jane Russell died.
I hurt a little because a bit of my youth "left the building".
No comments:
Post a Comment