{"id":1655,"date":"2019-09-13T22:59:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T22:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2019-09-13T23:03:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T23:03:59","slug":"ftv-life-in-1953","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=1655","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Life in 1953"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ten years ago, my wife and son got me one of those birth year cards entitled, \u201c<\/span>1953 – Remember When . . . A Nostalgic Look Back in Time\u201d.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 I rediscovered it in the summer of 2018 while rifling through miscellaneous files of cards and things that had been waiting for me to sort out when I retired.\u00a0 Most of the pile got the once over look-see before getting tossed, but this card I had to save. It is always fascinating to look back at was going on in one\u2019s younger years, but especially at the events that were taking place when one was too young to notice let alone remember.\u00a0 What follows is a summary of things that the <\/span>Remember When . . .<\/span><\/i> card tells me about the year I was born.\u00a0 Some of the things discussed are still with us while some have disappeared into the dustbin of history, but as the subtitle of this little pamphlet so elegantly states, \u201cThe richness of life lies in the memories that we have forgotten.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Timeline of 1953 presented at the beginning tells us that \u201cVending machines have their best year in the U.S., grossing $1.25 billion.\u201d\u00a0 September touts, \u201cAT&T reports 41 new TV stations in 35 cities were added to the Bell system and December reports that, \u201c(the) F.C.C. rules that color TV can go on the air.\u201d\u00a0 JFK and Jackie announced their engagement in June and the ever popular school aid <\/span>Cliff\u2019s Notes<\/span><\/i> were first unleashed in May.\u00a0 In baseball news, the NY Yankees would collect their fifth World Series title in a row in September while October would see the \u201csacrifice fly\u201d rule reactivated in Major League Baseball (which, of course, I never knew had gone away to begin with).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The advertisements included remind me of many things that I do remember from my early days.\u00a0 The one for Betty Crocker cake mixes shows a lovely pink frosted two decker that makes me wonder if this is where I got the idea that I wanted a cherry chip cake for my birthday each year.\u00a0 The picture of a bright yellow McCulloch chainsaw (\u201c<\/span>Weighs only 20 pounds complete!\u00a0 Only $225 f.o.b. Los Angeles\u201d<\/span><\/i>)\u00a0 really hit home because it is the same model I remember my dad using.\u00a0 To me, 20 pounds felt like 20 tons when I tried to hoist it, but dad always assured me that it was a big improvement over cutting firewood with a crosscut saw.\u00a0 I only wish I could still lay hands on the 33 page <\/span>Woodcutting Manual<\/span><\/i> they advertised on the same page:\u00a0 \u201cUse handy coupon to order – please enclose 10 cents to cover postage and handling.\u201d\u00a0 Let\u2019s not forget the advertising pages for those other modern marvels from 1953: Westinghouse TVs, \u201cgood hot soup\u201d from Campbell\u2019s Soup, Kohler Plumbing Fixtures, and<\/span> Kodak Cameras.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From the world of entertainment, 1953 saw a variety of actors and actresses born including<\/span><\/p>\n

John Malkovich, Kim Basinger, Louie Anderson, Mary Steenburgen, Joanna Kerns, and Rick Moranis.\u00a0 As of this writing, all of them are still with us and from what I can tell, still working. From the world of motorsports, Indy-car driver Bobby Rahal made his appearance in January and another kind of \u2018actor\u2019 appeared in May;\u00a0 British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Let us not forget that \u201cLittle Ricky\u201d was also born on the <\/span>I Love Lucy<\/span><\/i> TV show in 1953.\u00a0 Miss America for that year was a Georgia Peach named Neva Langley and Papa Ernest Hemingway collected the Pulitzer Prize for <\/span>The Old Man and the Sea.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Reality TV star Duane \u201cDog\u201d Chapman (<\/span>Dog the Bounty Hunter<\/span><\/i> ran on A&E from 2004 to 2012 and recently returned to the air with a new program called <\/span>Dog\u2019s Most Wanted<\/span><\/i>) was born in February of 1953.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Politically speaking, Dwight Eisenhower (Ike to the masses) was sworn in as the 34th President\u00a0 of the United States, and his second in command was Richard Nixon. Later known as \u2018Tricky Dicky\u2019 to the 1960s generation, Nixon would later have a presidential career hat trick when he was defeated by JFK, elected over HHH, and finally resigned the office after the Watergate scandal.\u00a0 The speaker of the House of Representatives at the beginning of the year was Democrat Sam T. Rayburn before the title was passed to Republican Joseph W. Martin. Earl Warren was elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Uncle Sam created a new department called The Small Business Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Among the world and national headlines were some interesting tidbits.\u00a0 The state of New York adopted the three color light traffic signal in 1953 (presumably starting another New York trend that would spread across the country like wildfire).\u00a0 The television industry was reporting record breaking revenues, much of it generated by the sponsorship and advertising from the burgeoning post-war cigarette boom. <\/span>TV Guide<\/span><\/i> began in 1953, and if the previous sentence is any indication, it had more than a few tobacco related advertisements within its pages.\u00a0 Elizabeth II was crowned in England while her countryman Edmund Hillary (along with Tenzing Norgay) made the first successful summit of Mount Everest.\u00a0 Watson and Crick unraveled the mystery of DNA\u2019s double helix. Georgi Malenkov took over the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers after Josef Stalin died (both historical events included in Billy Joel\u2019s <\/span>We Didn\u2019t Start The Fire<\/span><\/i> and now clarified for me).\u00a0 Marshal Tito is named the president of Yugoslavia after they adopted their new constitution.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Scanning the calendar included with this 1953 summary, I noticed that New Years Day was a Thursday, the Fourth of July was a Saturday, my birthday fell on a Sunday (as did Halloween), and Christmas was observed on a Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Popular music selections for 1953 were definitely in the pre-rock genre.\u00a0 The ten titles presented include Patti Page\u2019s <\/span>The Doggie in the Window, <\/span><\/i>Perry Como\u2019s <\/span>Don\u2019t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>No Other Love<\/span><\/i>, Eddie Fisher\u2019s <\/span>I\u2019m Walking Behind You,\u00a0 Rags to Riches <\/span><\/i>(Tony Bennett), <\/span>St. George and the Dragonet <\/span><\/i>(Stan Freberg), <\/span>Where is Your Heart <\/span><\/i>(Percy Faith), <\/span>Till I Waltz With You Again <\/span><\/i>(Teresa Brewer), <\/span>May God Be With You<\/span><\/i> (Les Paul and Mary Ford), and The Ame\u2019s Brother\u2019s <\/span>You You You.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>The movie houses were abuzz with some titles that are still considered classics today.\u00a0 At the top of the list was the Academy Award winning <\/span>From Here to Eternity.\u00a0 Eternity’s<\/span><\/i> cast included Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed.\u00a0 There is no doubt that this stellar cast did not hurt the film\u2019s chances to pick up an Oscar. Other notable movies of the year included <\/span>Peter Pan, The War of the Worlds,\u00a0 Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, Shane, <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>How to Marry a Millionaire.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>The lavish, colorful poster for the last title made good use of the three main female leads (Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall).\u00a0 The poster heading called attention to the great improvement in cinematography that could be seen in the film by bragging, \u201cThe Most Glamourous Entertainment of your lifetime in CINEMASCOPE – You see it without glasses!\u201d\u00a0 It sounds to me like CINEMASCOPE was to movies in 1953 what 3-D is to film these days, the only difference being one does need the (3-D) glasses to see the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was one other 1953 birth that didn\u2019t make this booklet but he bears mentioning because we have a connection of sorts.\u00a0 His name is Howard Schultz. When Dick Frantti retired from the Ontonagon Area Schools, it was my pleasure to present him with one of his retirement gifts from the school staff.\u00a0 This duty traditionally included a short \u2018roast\u2019 of the person retiring. I announced Dick\u2019s retirement by mentioning that there were three important graduates from Northern Michigan University in 1975.\u00a0 They were Dick, Howard Schultz, and me (remember, a \u2018roast\u2019 is meant to be a bit of fun, so don\u2019t get the wrong idea about my inclusion on this list). As I told the assembled revelers, there were a lot of similarities in the career arcs of this \u2018Big Three\u2019:\u00a0 We all worked with countless numbers of young people, we all worked the majority of our careers with the same organization, and the places we worked sported cool logos. I concluded this little send up by saying, \u201cSpeaking from experience, I don\u2019t think that Howard could have gotten as much personal job satisfaction as the CEO of such a large company as Dick and I did working in a smaller arena.\u00a0 Of course, Howard also earned $27 million as the CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company this year,\u201d to which Dick chimed in, \u201cYou can buy a lot of job satisfaction for $27 million\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was not aware of Howard Schultz until Starbucks made plans to put one of their coffee shops on the Northern Michigan University campus.\u00a0 The announcement caused a brief uproar in Marquette when some protested that the presence of a Starbucks outlet on campus would put all the mom and pop coffee shops in town out of business.\u00a0 Following this conversation in the press was the first time I heard about Howard\u2019s connection to Northern. As a student, he worked as a bouncer at an establishment we used to frequent, so he may have checked my ID at some point, but there was no personal interaction with him.\u00a0 We probably sat in the same row during our May 1975 graduation ceremonies, but who knew that when he left NMU to work for a small coffee distribution company in Seattle that he would end up heading a vast empire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Schultz went to work for Starbucks, it was a small company that roasted and distributed whole coffee beans.\u00a0 While traveling in Italy, he was struck with the sense of community that existed around the small espresso shops he visited.\u00a0 The idea led to him form a small coffee shop company of his own called <\/span>Il Giornali.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>When the original owners of Starbucks decided to sell the business, Schultz put together an investment team, merged the companies, and laid the foundation of Starbucks with 11 stores.\u00a0 By the time Starbucks was planning to invade Marquette, Schultz had grown the company into a world-wide venture over more than 16,000 stores employing hundreds of thousands of \u2018partners\u2019 and \u2018shareholders\u2019.\u00a0 The Starbucks outlet at NMU was the first to appear on a college campus, something that has become quite common world-wide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Other than seeing outlets at various airports when traveling, I can\u2019t say that I was ever much of a Starbucks customer.\u00a0 Usually the lines were out the door and it was easier to find a cup of coffee at other establishments. My only thought at the time was, \u201cWhen a multi-millionaire business person wants to set up shop at their alma mater, does it make sense to say \u2018No!\u2019?\u00a0 Who knows what other ventures they may be willing to engage in once they have a foot in the door.\u201d I should note that at last count, Marquette has three different Starbucks outlets and all of the mom and pop operations are still doing brisk business as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During the process of summarizing the events of 1953, I happened to read a book about Schultz entitled <\/span>Onward <\/span><\/i>(Rodale Books, 2011, by Howard Schultz with Joanne Gordon).\u00a0 The book is Howard\u2019s accounting of his return as the companies CEO in 2007.\u00a0 Schultz had stepped down from leading the company and after seven years of serving only on the Board of Directors, he felt the company had lost its way.\u00a0 Profits were down and rapid expansion had diluted what he felt were the core values of the corporation. After he returned as CEO (sorry, \u2018ceo\u2019 as they do not capitalize titles at Starbucks), he began a two year plan to revitalize the company.\u00a0 The multi-tiered plan is too complex to present here, but suffice to say I now have a different view of what I call \u2018The Starbucks Mentality\u2019 that I used to shake my head at when observing those long lines of customers waiting for their Starbucks fix at the airport.\u00a0 Yes, Howard Schultz is the head of a very large and successful corporation, but the environmental, commercial, and personal ethics of Starbucks are something that other corporations would do well to emulate. Certainly, he has that certain \u2018kutzpa\u2019 needed to run a big corporation but I can\u2019t say that this would necessarily translate into being an effective president (something he has mused about more recently).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There you have it;\u00a0 1953 in a nutshell. If you are seeking a birthday gift that will tickle the fancy of just about anyone, look into the <\/span>Remember When…<\/span><\/i>booklet\/cards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Here are some Top songs from across the pond from 1953<\/p>\n