A college student at a recent Arizona football game challenged a senior citizen sitting next to him, saying it was impossible for their generation to understand his. "You grew up in a different world," the student said loud enough for the whole crowd to hear.  "Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, man has walked on the Moon, our spaceships have visited Mars, we even have nuclear energy, electric and hydrogen cars, computers with light-speed processing and, uh "

Taking advantage of a pause in the student's litany, the geezer said, "You're right. We didn't have those things when we were young; so we invented them, you little s**t! Now what the hell are you doing for the next generation??"

Memory Lane in black and white

(Under age 40? You won't understand)
  You could hardly see for all the snow, and static on the screen.
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.

Pull a chair up to the TV set,
"Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet."
Depending on the channel you tuned,
You got Rob and Laura or Ward and June.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys,
Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys,
Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,
Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane.
Father Knows Best, Patty Duke,
Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,
Donna Reed on Thursday night! --
Life looked better in black and white.

I wanna go back to black and white.
Everything always turned out right.
Simple people, simple lives...
Good guys always won the fights.
Now nothing is the way it seems,
In living color on the TV screen.
Too many murders, too many fights,
I wanna go back to black and white.

In God they trusted, alone in bed, they slept,
A promise made was a promise kept.
They never cussed or broke their vows.
They'd never make the network now.
But if I could, I'd rather be
In a TV town in '53.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.

I'd trade all the channels on the satellite,
If I could just turn back the clock tonight
To when everybody knew wrong from right.
Life was better in black and white!

Pass this to someone (over age 40, of course),
if you like. It may brighten their day to remember
that life's most simple pleasures are very often
the best!  


 
 

Yes, I remember the old b&w days, starting with the rabbit ears  and progressing to the 40' tower attached to the eaves with the U/VHF antenna.

Also remember the shows mentioned, I was young and life of a child was completely different than today.  We actually went outside and played baseball, football, whatever.  If you wanted to go somewhere, no mother or father would drive you, you rode your bike.  And each kid was an expert on his bike, could repair the chain, tire, whatever was wrong.  Yes, it's completely different.

Two of the greatest shows were left out, both on Sunday night.  One was Maverick with James Garner as Brett, good show until his brother Bart showed up.  Maverick also shared time with Sugerfoot, don't even remember the young guy who played him.  Remember the song:

   Sugarfoot, Sugarfoot,
   Easy ropin cattle pokin Sugarfoot,
   Ridin on to who knows where
   With a badge and a gun and a rifle and a bible of the law.

   You'll find him
   On the side of Law and Order,
   From the Mexicano border,
   To the rolling hills of Oregon.

Yeap, I remember.  But better than Maverick/Sugarfoot was the show the show that preceded it on Sunday night, Disney.  Fantasyland, Frontierland, what wonders.  My favorite on Fantasyland had to be:

   I'm Chip.  I'm Dale. We're just a couple of crazy chipmunks out to have some fun.
   When Chip and Dale get together you know their really bound to have some fun.

Poor Donald, trying to combat these two rodents, really great.

Better yet was Frontierland, and the best was Fess Parker.  Boy, we were glued to the black and white for that, disappointed that it was only an hour.  Remember the theme song?

   Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
   The greenest state in the land of the free.
   Raised in the woods so he knew every tree,
   And killed him a barr when he was only three.
   Davey, Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.

Well, we'd sacrifice anything to watch Davey, ball games, fixing bikes, you name it.  I think it debuted in '55 and not many people had TV's.  The kids who did always invited their friends to watch Davey, the floor would be littered with them.

There were others but these were my favorites.

Terri, Thanks for the Memories.

You know I just adore your jokes. LOL I must say those onry ole people just make me love life. Can you imagine being old and still lovin life enough to kick and scream?


PS- I can remember watching Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges- that was real comedy. Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, now they were the true Hollywood Stars. What ever happened to Ginger Rogers and Gretta Garbo? I adore old Hollywood too. Maybe I have a soft spot for old stuff. I do collect antiques, but just the modern looking ones. LOL

You know what they say "Oldies but Goodies"!