We held them in our hands, the smell of pulp and ink rising from their pages. Exciting adventures and the antics of little kids, friendly ghosts and funny animals. The wild west, World War II and the Korean War exploded right before our eyes. Caped crusaders flew through the sky, battling enemies with powers just as mighty as their own. There was horror, there was humor, and there was war. Our friends were teenagers and cowboys, super heroes and detectives, and we could have them all for a... Read Full Story
I don't care much for parades. I have never been fond of them. They seem so pointless unless you are fortunate enough to be where a band is playing and not just marching. One thing I will admit: a parade should be seen in person and not on a TV screen if you wish to get the "full effect" of it all. Yes, a parade should be experienced and not viewed. I've been in a few parades. It's more fun to be in the parade rather than standing on the curb watching it pass by, at least that's how I feel... Read Full Story
I was always fascinated by warfare. I learned a lot about war from life. Life Magazine to be exact. The American Civil War had become a passion of mine, and in January of 1961 Life Magazine began a six part series on that subject. Up until then my exposure to the conflict had been limited to what I could glean from Highlights For Children and My Weekly Reader, a few movies and the fanciful tales shown on Walt Disney. But here between the pages of our weekly Life Magazine was the Civil War... Read Full Story
We fought with more than toy soldiers. Children were provided with an endless array of weapons with which to play. Hubley, Mattel, Marx, Daisy and Nichols meant as much to us as Colt, Smith and Wesson and Remington did to adults. War was my favorite game. I led many a charge at Gettysburg, swept the plains as the cavalry and the Sioux. The woods around the lake were the jungles of Guadalcanal; the great woodlands of the French and Indian wars. World War I was fought in the field behind the... Read Full Story
As I went off to school in the fall of 1960, the country was caught in the grip of another presidential election. John F. Kennedy was creating a stir throughout the nation. Here was a young man, only in his forties, running for the highest office in the land, and he wasn't afraid to criticize our country and all its flaws. He was running against Richard M. Nixon, who had been our Vice-President, a man who stood for the way things were. What did we kids know about it? Presidents and elections... Read Full Story
