This motor court was built before the fifties, but it was in prime use during that special decade that I'm celebrating!  Our stay felt pretty authentic, although it would have been a lot move fun had we been traveling in a '57 Chevy!  Then we could have parked it in our own little carport, which came with our room!  ​

I'm not sure how common TVs were in motels in the 1950's, but we didn't have one. Instead we enjoyed the evening listening to some tunes on a vintage radio.  We didn't even mess with our cell phones or IPads. Instead we chatted and read and wondered about Clark Gable. Our host Donna claimed the movie star had stayed in our very room when he was in the service!

A Halloween Excuse

​I don't really need an excuse for any of my silliness,  but a Halloween party gave me extra motivation to pull out the old dress up box.  And in this year of my BYB Celebration, why not dress up for the fifties!  I'm not really sure who I thought I was, although my sister claimed I was channelling our grandmother who often was seen holding a cigarette and scotch and water.  I was probably a mixture of many relatives since everything I wore belonged to family.  ​​

The black gloves were my mother's.  The glasses belonged to Aunt Ruth.  The stole, belt and skirt (with petticoat) belonged to my mother in law.  The jewelry came from my other grandmother, "Daw".   The hat? I can't remember, but it was family.  The martini glass was from my cupboard... and the cigarette?  I bought a pack of "Lucky Cigarettes" from the candy store!

A Penny Hike With Marsha

​If Marsha and I had been little kids together in the fifties, we might have gone on a Penny Hike.  We aren't kids and I don't think kids do Penny Hikes anymore...  but Marsha and I both have childhood memories of wandering with friends, using the toss of a coin on every corner to determine the route.  I was thrilled that Marsha was up for trying the old activity. ​​

Our penny took us into neighborhoods we've  never explored and it even wound us in circles a couple times.  We were jabbering so much we hardly noticed. Then I tossed the penny right into the grass and lost it.  (We had to create new rules with a stick toss.)  Our hike lasted nearly 90 minutes.  Thanks, Marsha!  What a great way to enjoy the beautiful weather, some exercise and good conversation! ​

When Don & I planned a stop in St. Louis with a stay at the iconic Chase Park Plaza Hotel, I ordered this fine cap on Ebay. The dreamy & stretchy cap with chin strap, too me back to my childhood. 

Sadly, it did not arrive in time. I couldn't celebrate the fifties in the Chase pool, by doing some fine strokes in my pink cap. After all, the Chase's swimming pool was where they did the live broadcast of the 1956 Miss America Pageant! What a hoot it would have been to have taken a swim, in my cap... in the very pool where all those lovely babes strutted, years ago.

This photo with my cap, was taken at home later. I'm smiling, but it was freezing. I'm smiling, like I love swim caps. Actually, I hate them, after years of mandatory ones in the 1960's. This will be my last pose in the swim cap.

 In the fifties, teens came to share yummy treats like the "Lovers Delight". (See writing in mirror) But I am not a teen, so I went for something June Clever might have gone for if she and Ward had stopped in for a bite.  The best part of the whole outing, was thinking about my mom and knowing she used to come here in her youth.  Since there are only about 10 booths, there's a chance she once sat in my very spot!

That seemed like a perfect way to celebrate the simpler times of the 1950's!  By time we reached Springfield, the weather turned chilly and damp, but that didn't stop me.  I had a cup of pink lemonade and thought about that house.  We didn't realize it when initially researching B&Bs in Springfield, but found out that my Great Great Uncle Harry Jewell once lived in this house!

Now, I didn't actually know I would be getting to do that, but I packed my farm wife apron, as I call it...  just in case I happened to have use for it on the farm!   It was easy to feel like I was back in the fifties when chickens roamed freely and cows came back to the barn at night!  I wish I could have celebrated more than one night!
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Merrill Park in Grinnell, Iowa
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​It's hard to find the kind of playground equipment that filled parks in the 1950's.  Some of it is considered too dangerous now. But this mid-century-merry-go-round, is still open for play! Don and  I made a stop here, while on a road trip. I moved to Grinnell as a baby in 1957, I have fond memories of this park.

Below is a photo of me playing on a bigger merry-go-round in Grinnell, when I was 9. I was glad to have a few siblings, because a merry-go-round is not so fun, by yourself.

On the day that Don and I stopped at the Merrill Park, I must admit I felt a little sad. Some of my favorite pieces of playground equipment were long gone. No elephant slide. No horsey gliders. And no kids from my childhood. The park seemed oddly quiet and somewhat distorted, like a dream.

I didn't ride the merry-go-round, because a mom was watching her children play on it. It would have been hard to explain why I felt the urge to ride. 

​So I settled for celebrating the park and the merry-go-round, by snapping  a few photos and remembering!

To protect the students from mobs of angry protesters, Eisenhower eventually called out the US Army's 101st Airborne Division to escort the students into school.  

With my often silly focus on the fifties, it was nice to celebrate something really meaningful for a change... to celebrate the amazing young people who made a big impact on the desegregation of American schools.
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 We stood in front of her powder room mirror, gasping with laughter at our incompetent attempts at beautification.  The wine we'd enjoyed on the patio a bit earlier helped us find the whole thing more amusing than it should have been.  Our hair-dos after the curlers?  Not worth recording!
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It had a 10-cent tag on it from when I bought it at a St. Louis thrift shop in the 1970's.  (Why? Because I was talking an African dance class in college and I thought I could practice. ) So here I am in a black turtleneck, beret and bare feet, drumming on the floor.  Could I fool anyone with this photo? No.  I don't look serious enough.
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Don made retro Whiskey Sours to enjoy with my fine appetizer dip (Cream cheese, Roquefort, Worcestershire, olives and paprika) It had no flavor, nor did the celery and saltines.  Then we sat down to our colorful Orange Snowflake Salad made with Jello, cottage cheese, onion, ginger, celery and pineapple. (Not a keeper) Then a dull tuna casserole with chip crumbles and no special seasonings. Finally some tea with our Fruit Icebox Cake, which made good use of more pineapple bits, marshmallows and graham crackers.  
We enjoyed the retro fun of it all. But sadly the leftovers never got eaten!

They were very excited when I pulled out the chalk. They went right to work drawing a few hopscotch boards... Is that even what you call it?  We were all mixed up about the rules and my feet were a little too big for some of their squares.  But we had a good time and I got a little exercise!

I don't have memories of eating candy in the fifties, since I barely had teeth back then. But I do recall loving some of these candies when I was a little older and could walk to the candy store in Grinnell, Iowa.  Candy necklaces, wax lips, candy cigarettes (I can't believe they still make them!) wax bottles with watery sweet liquid, Fizzies...!

But today I chose to embrace the fun side of hankies.  For some reason I have a small collection of these vintage dainties and I shared them with the kids on one of my volunteer outings at a local Women's Shelter.  I had the kids guess what they were and a few said "Kleenex".  None knew the word "hanky" or the game, "Drop the Hanky".   I used a non-vintage hanky and the game was a big hit. 

I didn't blow my nose on a hanky today, but I made good use. These kids will grow up with a better memory of hankies than me!

I put on my cowboy boots and joined quite a crowd of locals at the Lantex for an Opry Evening that included 81 year old Stonewall Jackson.  He sang some of the hits that put him on the charts back in the fifties in Nashville.  I nibbled my popcorn in the old theatre seats that were mostly occupied by the very folks who sat in them as teens in the 50's.  What a hoot!

Wonder Bread  was first sold in 1921 and Lays was introduced in 1932. So I guess this qualifies for a 1950's experience.  However, living in 2014, made me feel so guilty about white bread... I only had half!
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With little else to do for the evening, we sampled numerous fifties era tunes from Harry Belfonte's Calypso to Don Ho's Hawaiian crooning. We have no film footage of our comical attempts at dancing to these albums, so you'll have to take my word for it.  We were good.  Lawrence Welk would have hired us!

Lounging Time

​We don't get the newspaper anymore, so today I had to go buy the Sunday paper.  It's been a long time since I read the funnies, so I had to make sure I gave it my all. I grabbed a Stewart's root beer (around since 1924) and a couple straws and headed for the hammock. ​

As I opened up the funny papers I started to wonder which of the featured comics were actually around in the '50's.  I was relieved to find six!  Blondie is the oldest, from 193o with Prince Valiant following in 1937.  Beetle Bailey and Peanuts got on board in 1950 with Dennis the Menace and Hi and Lois following in '51 and '54!

​Don and I recently had a little fun shopping for vinyl at The Goodwill Store.  I was pretty excited to find 2 Harry Belafonte albums, which are both from the 1950's. ​

We grabbed up some bonus albums with campfire music and jazz. The Lawrence Welk album title "Galveston", was purchased in honor of my grandma. She was was a big fan.

We had a hoot of a good time playing our tunes on the turntable!
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