Other Pleasures

We did, of course, have a life outside of elementary school. Childhood in the 1960’s might not have had cell phones, texting, and video games, but we didn't seem to miss them. We did watch TV, although there was no cable TV. We had exactly three channels: ABC, NBC, and CBS. That was it. And there was very little children’s programming: Captain Kangaroo in the mornings, the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights, and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom on Saturday evenings. That was about it.

However, the local TV stations did have the freedom to put on the air their own programming in the mornings and the afternoons. On one of the local stations, “Cadet Don” was on every morning. Cadet Don sat at the command post of a space capsule. Think Buck Rogers. He had a big screen behind him, and that was where the cartoons appeared. Unlike Captain Kangaroo (which was a national broadcast), boys and girls could actually go to see Cadet Don at the local TV studio, and it was a big treat for their birthday. I think my cousin Neal got to go on his birthday one year.

It's funny the things your remember from those days. I can clearly recall Cadet Don "talking" to us one morning about how his mother-in-law could fry bacon in long, even strips. (God only knows what all that man expostulated on every morning in between showing cartoons; I'm sure he never had a "script" to follow.) I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but today I always fry my bacon in long even strips, instead of all curled up. Amazing, huh, the power of the media?

Then there was Mary Jane’s Magic Castle show in the afternoons. She, too, introduced cartoons and had some sort of little puppet sidekick, but I can’t remember who or what it was.

However, the biggest and the best “star” of the afternoon was Kitterick! Who or what, you ask, was a Kitterick? Kitterick was a lady cat. That is, she was a lady in a cat’s costume with painted on whiskers. Her name came from the call letters of the TV station, KTRK. Kitterick lived in a tree house high up in a very tall tree. Next to the tree house was a very large bird’s nest. Inside the nest was a magic egg. Birthday boys and girls got to sit in the nest in a large circle around the magic egg. When the time was right, the top of the egg lifted off, and revealed all sorts of brightly wrapped packages. Kitterick would talk to each boy and girl for a moment, pushing a microphone in front of their face to hear the answers. Every day she would ask them what their name was and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Little girls always said they wanted to be a nurse or a teacher. The boys always said they wanted to be a fireman or a policeman. Then Kitterick would give them a present from the egg and they would go sit back down.

Now, looking back, I realize that this seems a little far-fetched, even for us naive and gullible children of the early 1960's. What was a cat doing living in a tree in a bird’s nest? I don’t know, but at the time, it seemed like the most magical, wonderful thing in the world.

I remember I got to be on Kitterick’s show for one of my birthdays. I don’t remember how old I was. I do remember being sorely disillusioned in the TV studio. Kitterick’s wonderful tree house wasn’t high up in a giant tree. It was sitting right on the concrete floor of the studio. There were wooden bleachers off to one side for the guests, and they had a special TV monitor to watch. But TV cameras and crew surrounded the bird’s nest, and when we were placed inside it, we weren’t able to see the TV monitors or the cartoons! Besides that, we had to sit perfectly still and be very quiet. I don’t even remember what my present was. I think my guests had a very good time, but I sure didn't.

I had other birthday parties, though. Birthday parties were A Very Big Deal in the 1960’s. There were always dozens of guests, mostly cousins and neighborhood friends, and lots of presents and a big cake and loads of games, balloons, and party favors. A real 5-star production, with all the mothers vying to out-do each other.

Sometimes the moms took us places for the parties. I remember having a least a couple of parties at a place called “Peppermint Park,” where there were small amusement rides, sort of like a miniature fair grounds. I think there might have been a pony ride, too. I also remember going to “Tootsies,” who was a lady clown, and she put on puppet shows in her back yard.

Other parties were held in our own back yard. We had hats and noise makers and played “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” and our moms took pictures and got out the old 8 mm movie cameras to film the big event of blowing out the candles. There was always a big homemade birthday cake and homemade ice cream to go with it. The birthday boy or girl was always the star of the show, which really meant that there was a lot of pressure from Mom to BE POLITE and always SAY SOMETHING NICE to all your guests and be sure and say THANK YOU for your presents. Whew! Lots of pressure for an eight-year old.

To this day, my favorite cake of all is the birthday cake my mom used to make for me. It was double layer chocolate cake with white seven-minute frosting. She still will make it for me sometimes on my birthday, even though I’m well past the age of celebrating birthdays now.

So my childhood memories of the 1960's are very pleasant ones. We had lots of fun, even if we didn't have lots of things. We enjoyed our free time more, I think, because we didn't have so many toys and gadgets. TV was an occasional treat, not a constant companion. We had a few after school activities, but our days were not scheduled perforce around mom and dad's long work hours. There was time to dream, time to read, time to just be a kid. We went to school, played with our friends, ate supper every night with our family, and went to bed early. It was a great time.