Halloween 1963

From 1975: Kim, In The Fourth Grade

Beautiful.

I wonder if Kim's mother made that dress for her.

From 1955: Sniffles and Sneezes

Hey everybody:

Thanks for the warm wishes that some of you sent to me, wondering if I was okay.  The truth is, I wasn't.  I had the flu for the better part of December, including over the Christmas holiday.  It morphed into Whooping Cough, which was scary and awful.  It also thoroughly kicked my ass.  I am only just now starting to feel human again.

Let's take this as a learning opportunity and watch an educational film about the spread of viruses from 1955, Sniffles and Sneezes.

"Medicine...but only those that your doctor prescribes.  No others."  Don't take any of those beatnik remedies!

Stay healthy, my sweets.

Love, Laura

p.s. If you only watch a few seconds of this clip, make it at the six-minute mark.  It's the 1950s: children were already terrorized by The Red Menace.  Why not fill their nightmares with visions of deadly diseases, too?

From 1987: When Pee Wee Herman Marries A Bowl Of Fruit Salad

November 21, 1987

I say with some sadness that I doubt a scene like this would air on television today, particularly in a children's program.  Adults are too uptight; hateful JesusFreaks would call it "a gay agenda."  This does a real disservice to kids everywhere, because kids have a natural sense of absurdist humor, like you saw on Herman's show.

Plaza Sesamo: Lucas Hice Un Sandwich

I've found that watching Plaza Sesamo (that is, Sesame Street in Spanish) is a great way for me to work on learning the language, which I have found really difficult.

And Cookie Monster is funny in any language.  Enjoy.

I love it when he calls the little girl "Muchachita."

Spectacular For Our 1975 Spectacular: A Hard-Workin' Dog

One of my favorite Sesame Street clips from when I was a child, this debuted in a 1975 episode.

There's an urban legend that the vocalist and guitarist here is Neil Young. That isn't true. It's a country singer and jazz musician named Fred Wardenburg. Sadly, Wardenburg died in 2006.

(although I am quite sure that Neil would have done this piece, had he been asked.)

From 1965: What In The Holy Hell?

I'm en route to getting ready for Date Night, but I was so appalled by this clip, I had an urge to blog about it immediately!

Karen J., you evil and tortuous soul, how can you claim to be "one of my biggest fans" and then release this piece of fresh Hades upon me, knowing full well that I would have to do a post about it here? Devil woman, you!

Words...fail me. I didn't think even The Sixties were capable of children's toys that could only be played successfully by feigning an epileptic fit. But here it is: Swing Wing.



(Thank you, Karen. XOXOXOXO)

Because It's Never Too Soon To Plan For My 41st

From 1979.

McDonalds birthday parties were the funnest birthday parties ever.

From 1971: Because We Could Always Use A Little Vintage Sesame Street

That's Ravi Shankar and his son, Shubhendra, on the sitars.

From 1975: New York Mining Disaster, 1941

At 9:15am, on Friday, October 21st, 1966, the small Welsh community of Aberfan changed forever when a waste tip slid down a mountainside into the mining village. Miners were trapped underneath the sludge; the mud and waste literally engulfed the local elementary school.

144 people died in the Aberfan disaster: 116 of them were school children.

The events inspired the Bee Gees to write their first American hit, which they based upon the tragedy.

"Have you seen my wife, Mr. Jones?
Do you know what it's like on the outside?
Don't go talking too loud, you'll cause a landslide
Mr. Jones."

More about the song.

The Touching Tale Of Makenzie And Ni Ni

It's rainy, cold, and miserable here, and I feel rainy, cold, and miserable. You all know the kind of headache I am talking about. Just...rainy, cold, and miserable.

So I wrapped myself in my new electric blanket (thank you, Santa Ken) and settled in for an afternoon of Toddlers and Tiaras on TLC.

It was there that I met four-year-old Makenzie.



I'm not certain if I find this child hilarious or appalling...or both.

From 1974: Team Heat Miser Versus Team Snow Miser

The greatest rivalry of all time, ladies and gentlemen...

Watch and decide for yourself: Team Heat Miser, or Team Snow Miser?



This program, The Year Without A Santa Claus, first aired on December 10, 1974. One of the most popular Rankin/Bass productions, it aired on ABC.

(p.s. I'm firmly on Team Heat Miser.)

From 1958: What Becomes A Legend Most? A Child Bride Who Also Happens To Be Your Distant Cousin

Jerry Lee Lewis with his third wife, Myra Gale, aged 13 years

From 1968: Salivating Over This Charlie Whiskey Tango

One of the coolest toys I have ever seen. I of course am dreaming about all of the now-defunct airlines that must have been included in this toy: Pan Am, Eastern, Piedmont, Allegheny, Braniff, National...this is a real must-have for a vintage aviation freak like me!

From 1982: A Clip Full Of Awesome From The Valley Of The Sun

Phoenix, Arizona. random super 8 movies shot by 15 yr old Timothy Ralston. Some starring 9 yr old Andrew Ralston. 5301 E. Fellars Drive, Scottsdale. Circa 1982. Contains: Driving to Phoenix airport from near Paradise Valley Mall. N. 52 St. Lots of Benny Hill type sped up Shenanigans. The song is "Twilight" from the album "Time" by Electric Light Orchestra.

Laura's Note: my favorite YouTube video of all time. Enjoy.

From 1958: The Kids Are All Right

A sign of changing times, two "Negro" children were included on this cover.

Quick question: were Little Ricky, Jerry Mathers, or Patty McCormack ever considered for a glamour-shot cover for this hot-button topic, instead of this motley all-American crew of younguns?

From 1977: When Parents Interfere With Halloween Fun

Highlights include Mom turning your bad-ass witch ensemble into a Ku Klux Klan outfit, and a little black boy being encouraged to put himself in whiteface. Also featured is a totally nasty-looking 70's porn dad during the voiceover about how "some adults like to hurt children," as well as a poor unfortunate little boy telling a real knee-slapper of a joke about wieners.

Enjoy.

Oh, Dad. I Miss You So Much.

Robert Edward Weiss

"Bob"

October 13, 1945 - September 28, 1999

The Sad, Short Life Of Judith Barsi

There are a lot of YouTube tributes to Miss Barsi. Some are much better than others. I chose this one, despite its insufferable music track, because it includes quite a lot of Miss Barsi's work, most notably in commercials. In her brief life, she appeared in over seventy commercials.

Tragically, Miss Barsi's breakthrough role was as Kimberly MacDonald, a little girl who was murdered by her father, in 1984's outstanding NBC miniseries Fatal Vision.

Her life would imitate her art.

In 1986, with actor Ray Buktenica

A memorable 1986 commercial with a close-up of her beautiful face

In 1987

My favorite commercial with Judith Barsi (embedding not allowed).

The Rejoinder: "Buzz Off, Kid! I Gots Twenty-Two More Of These Here Things To Install Before I Can Go Home To The Missus And Listen To Her Nag!"

I hate including vintage goodies without a date, but from the looks of it, my guess would be around 1950. Postwar prosperity, the child looks like Rhoda Penmark's slightly mentally handicapped older sister, the Tide packaging is in the Fifties' style (in 1960, the dot over the I was changed to bright orange).

It's a lousy double-clicker, too,

but I think you see all that you really need to see.