WO R LD WAR I I E N DS • FR AN K SI NATR A I N CO N CE RT • VI NTAG E SO U P ADS

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CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2020

JOE NATALE, front row, far right, served in the South Pacific from 1942-’46. He’s pictured
with crewmates on the USS Charrette on Sept. 27, 1944. Read about Natale and other stories
of the end of the war beginning on page 26.

CO VE R
ST ORY

26 VICTORY AT LAST
It was a moment troops fought for and civilians prayed for—the end
of the war. Readers share their memories of elation, relief and small
JEWELS OF THE
PLAYGROUND
Kids have been
flipping over jungle
moments of generosity in the hours and days after conflict was over. gyms for 100 years.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 3

 8 SPOTLIGHT
10 TIME CAPSULE 1943: jarhead, Styrofoam,
Frank Sinatra and the bobby-soxers
11 TRIVIAL PURSUITS Name these catchy
tunes from Oklahoma!
12 CLOSE ENCOUNTER On the trail of ’60s
spy David McCallum
14 LOOK WHAT WE FOUND DIY spa

18 16 FRONT & CENTER Paulette Goddard,

nobody’s fool

18 OUR LIVES
20 GROWING UP Childhood outfits can
make or break us
22 AT WORK This doctor made house calls
23 TRUE LOVE Two-timing boyfriend

COVER: H. ARMSTRONG ROBERTS/GETTY IMAGE; COLORIZATION BY SANNA DULLAWAY; BACK COVER: COURTESY OF MISSOURI STATE ARCHIVES
24 FAMILY TREE Small-time criminal

41 RETRO REPLAY
42 POP CULTURE Shorts, jeans and other
off-limits outfits

46 44 VINTAGE ADS Soup’s on!

46 KEEPSAKES Toolbox for the classroom

49 BACK IN TIME
50 PICTURES FROM THE PAST Harvest time
52 LAST LAUGH Custom entertainment system
54 NAME THAT CAR A model he couldn’t forget
58 LASTING IMPRESSION Reader for life

IN EVERY ISSUE ON THE

COVER
6 Editor’s Note Hanging around
7 Tell Us Your Story! on this 1970s

50 53
56
Crossword Puzzle
Contributor guidelines,
answers, find Hattie’s hatpins
jungle gym
gives kids a new
perspective.

REMINISCE EXTRA (ISSN 1069-8957) (USPS 010-065), Vol. 28, No. 5, September 2020 © RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC, 2020. Published bimonthly by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC, 1610 N. 2nd St., Suite 102, Milwaukee, WI
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EDITOR’S NOTE

MY SON, Evan,
showing that kids
love to test their
limits. This was taken
in Windsor, Ontario,
in 2005.

Monkey Business

W
hen I was 6, Tara Tunstall was my best
friend. Tara was expert at being a kid:
She could swing standing up on the
swing seat, spot poison ivy faster than
a botanist and tell you where there were
wild blueberries down by the lake. I was raised with two
older brothers and was pretty fearless, but Tara’s streak
of daring made me look as timid as a rabbit.
One day there was something new in Tara’s yard—a set
of monkey bars. It was narrower than the one at school,
but tall, perhaps 8 feet. I watched in awe as Tara scaled it,
perched for a moment at the top, then flung herself off like
a parachutist, landing on all fours.
“Your turn!” she announced, standing up and brushing
off her palms on her jeans. When I balked, she invoked
the law of the playground: “I dare ya!”
OK, yes, I sprained my arm. Mom was appalled, mostly
at my stupidity, but my brothers were secretly proud;
Terry, ever practical, even offered a tip for my next leap
(“lean back a bit”).
Still, apart from an arm sling and greater admiration for
Tara’s agility, I picked up a valuable lesson about assessing
risk and what my body could tolerate with my launch from
the jungle gym. It was that sort of lesson, among others,
that prompted a progressive school in Winnetka, Illinois, to MARY-LIZ SHAW
build the first jungle gym 100 years ago. Staff editor Natalie DEPUTY EDITOR, REMINISCE
Wysong uncovered many more interesting facts about these Share your stories and photos:
classic structures that were once in every schoolyard for REMINISCE.COM/
“Jewels of the Playground” (page 34). SUBMIT-A-STORY
Also this month, we remember the exuberant days
immediately after World War II ended in “Victory at Last” IN THE NEXT ISSUE
(page 26), and we look back on those periods in history
when fashion was too forward for the classroom and
elsewhere in “You’re Wearing That?” (page 42).
Here’s to lessons learned. And remember, for your next • Orson Welles’ War
•
leap of faith, lean back a bit. • Harlem Renaissance
• Halloween costumes

6  REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 Tell Us Your Story!
EDITORIAL Your true tales are the heart of this
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kirsten Schrader magazine, so dust off that photo album,
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Christina Spalatin
DEPUTY EDITOR Mary-Liz Shaw
high school yearbook or vacation diary.
EDITOR Natalie Wysong
LAYOUT DESIGNER Payton Grote
FRIENDS ROAD TRIP
DEPUTY EDITOR, COPY DESK Dulcie Shoener
COPY EDITORS Amy Rabideau Silvers,
At Reminisce, we love stories
Sara Strauss, Ann Walter; about young adventurers
Deb Warlaumont Mulvey (contributing)
SENIOR EDITOR, DIGITAL Lori Vanover getting behind the wheel to
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Russ Maki see where the road takes
DIRECTOR, EDITORIAL SERVICES
Kelly Madison-Liebe
them. If you ever did this with
SENIOR RIGHTS ASSOCIATE Jill Godsey a bunch of friends, we want to
EDITORIAL BUSINESS ASSISTANT Megan Smith hear all the secret details.
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jon Syverson
Label your story and photos
SENIOR MANAGER, PUBLISHING TECHNOLOGIES
Dena Ahlers “Friends Road Trip.”
BUSINESS ANALYSTS
John Piccirillo, Shannon Stroud;
Jill Banks (junior) AMUSEMENT PARKS
Next year, two iconic parks,
BUSINESS
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SALES Lora Gier
Six Flags (founded 1961) and
EASTERN ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Pete Holfelder Jr.
(founded 1971), celebrate
MIDWEST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Kim Krubeck Hinrichs milestones. Did you visit these
DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING parks in the early years? Tell
Warren Berger, wberger@mediapeople.com
ART DIRECTOR Michael Castellano us about your experiences.
DIRECTOR, SALES SERVICES Gisele Myer Label your story and photos
PRODUCTION MANAGER Aracely Lopez
“Amusement Parks.”
TRUSTED MEDIA BRANDS, INC.
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER KOREAN WAR
Bonnie Kintzer
CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Beth Tomkiw
With the approaching 70th
PHOTO TIPS anniversary of the start of the
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Dean Durbin
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER John Boland Please identify the people, Korean War, we are gathering
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER C. Alec Casey
city, state and year the stories for a series of features.
CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER Vince Errico
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Nick Contardo
photo was taken. Label your story and photos
CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER Jennifer Tyrrell For photos sent by mail: “Korean War.”
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING
Ronak Patel
• Be sure your photo or
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL reprint is in focus. Do not OLYMPICS
Mark Sirota send photocopies; we Do you have a story about
VICE PRESIDENT, BENEFITS & COMPENSATION
Heather Schwartz cannot print from them. seeing the Olympics, either
Michael Garzone
VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS For photos sent digitally: in person or in front of the
VICE PRESIDENT, CONSUMER ACQUISITION
Heather Plant • Scan your photo as TV as a family? Did Peggy
VICE PRESIDENT, CONSUMER MARKETING PLANNING a JPEG file at 1200x1800 Fleming, Mark Spitz or Jackie
Jim Woods
pixels, 300 dpi and 1MB. Joyner-Kersee inspire you to
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VICE PRESIDENT, PROGRAMMATIC &
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DATA PRODUCT OPERATIONS Office offer this service. and photos “Olympics.”
Scott Mulqueen
VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL SALES
Cory Roktel
VICE PRESIDENT, RETENTION Linda Alexander
Share your stories and digital photos:
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DIRECTOR, CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT
REMINISCE.COM/SUBMIT-A-STORY
Mikal Gilliat Please include your full name, address, phone number and email
with every submission. See page 56 for submission guidelines.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 7

SPOTLIGHT

Logging In
A model lifts a log of
Styrofoam to show how
light it is in this promotional
image. Dow Chemical Co.
COURTESY OF SCIENCE HISTORY INSTITUTE

introduced its brand of

polystyrene foam to the
market in 1943—and gave
the world a new word.

» MORE 1943 HIGHLIGHTS

on page 10

8
SEPTEMBER 2020
NOTABLE PEOPLE, PLACES AND EVENTS

10 TIME CAPSULE
11 TRIVIAL PURSUITS
12 CLOSE ENCOUNTER
14 LOOK WHAT WE FOUND
16 FRONT & CENTER

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 9

SPOTLIGHT
Time
Capsule

BOFFO, SAD SACK AND WAC

A
llied forces invade Sicily, and America mobilizes for PHILLUMENY:
war. By year’s end, two-thirds of the U.S. economy Collector Marjorie Evans
supports the war, with women picking up the wanted an “enlightening”
word for her hobby of
manufacturing slack—more than 310,000 in the collecting match-related
aircraft industry. Meat, cheese, canned milk and fish paraphernalia, above.
are added to the ration list. Film companies release twice-weekly She became president
newsreels on the war, and radio broadcasts carry frontline reports. of the British Matchbox
The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Label & Booklet Society.
PLASTIC FOAM:
Series, but baseball’s superstars are off serving their country. Dow Chemical’s new
These words are in common use, according to Merriam-Webster. lightweight insulation
hits the market. Its brand
BAZOOKA: Officially HOAGIE: A large name—Styrofoam—
a rocket launcher, this sandwich with as many becomes a household
portable antitank names as fixings, right, word (see page 8).
weapon resembles this is the name for the SAD SACK: Introduced
the harmless novelty specialty in Philadelphia. the year before in the
instrument. HOT ROD: Souped-up Army weekly Yank,
BOBBY-SOXER: Frank engines give drivers a the cartoon about the
Sinatra’s young female thrill, middle right; within misadventures of a
fans wear rolled-down a few years, these cool PHILLY SPECIAL put-upon soldier, gains
white socks with their customized cars are so a wide following.
saddle shoes. popular, they get their SEMISWEET: An inn
BOFFO: Variety own magazine. owner in Massachusetts,
magazine’s term for a big JARHEAD: When the Ruth Graves Wakefield,
box-office success, such Navy’s WWI nickname invented the chocolate
CAR: SCHLOL/GETTY IMAGES; KRYPTONITE: DEVRIMB/GETTY IMAGES

as the popular musical for Marines, “gyrenes,” chip cookie in 1938.

comedy This is the Army.
COMBAT FATIGUE:
Medical experts try to
classify the psychological
strain that brings one
out of four soldiers to
a breaking point.
EAGER BEAVER: A
soldier who looks for
opportunities to impress
his superior officers. Stan
Kenton’s song by that
name this year adds to
the term’s popularity.
lacked sting, sailors in
WWII mocked the jarlike
appearance the collars
on dress blues gave
Marine heads. The
jarheads embrace it.
KRYPTONITE:
Introduced during
The Adventures of
Superman radio
program, this radioactive
green substance, right,
is hazardous to the
superhero’s health.
When soldiers get the
treats in packages from
DRAGSTER home, it sets off a craze
for the not-too-sweet
key ingredient.
WAC: Members of the
Women’s Army Corps
(originally, an extra “A”
stood for Auxiliary) were
the first women other
than nurses to serve in
the U.S. Army.
HIS ONE WEAKNESS BY DEBRA STEILEN

10 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 FRANKIE WOWS THE PARAMOUNT
B
enny Goodman was to close
1942 as the headliner at
the prestigious Paramount
Theatre in New York City. At the
last minute, Paramount manager
Bob Weitman signed a young,
little-known male vocalist as an
added attraction.
Weitman was intrigued that,
one week before at a New Jersey
venue, the scrawny 27-year-old
with a floppy bow tie had
caused young women to
screech their throats
raw when he crooned. the stage for the
Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Beatles
pursuing a solo screamfests
career after leaving
the Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra three months
earlier, closed Goodman’s
show on Dec. 30, 1942. After
Goodman’s straightforward
introduction—”And now, Frank
Sinatra”—a tidal wave of screams
from the packed house caught
SINATRA: GENE LESTER/GETTY IMAGES; PLAYBILL: BILLY ROSE THEATRE DIVISION, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
the bandleader off guard.
SINATRA STANDS on a stepladder to sign autographs amid a
sea of fans in Los Angeles in 1943.
RANDAL C. HILL writes about music from his home in Bandon, OR.
Trivial
Pursuits
Sinatra stepped to the
microphone to offer up
“For Me and My Gal.”
Veteran press agent George
Evans was hired to spread the
word about the rising star. The
crafty Evans auditioned young
women to select those with the
loudest shrieks and placed them
strategically throughout the
audience, coaching them to
scream when Sinatra
launched into a dreamy
Sinatra set ballad. They were paid
$5—a tidy sum at a
time when the federal
minimum wage was
to come. 30 cents an hour.
The ploy proved
to be unnecessary:
Hundreds of his fans, who became
known as bobby-soxers (page 10),
screamed and swooned for free.
Sinatra’s engagement at the
Paramount was extended, and
in 1943, The Voice became a
superstar.
SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM
COUNTRY COMES
TO THE CITY
F
olks couldn’t get enough
of Oklahoma!, a classic love
triangle set in farm country.
Test your recall of the songs from
the 1943 Broadway sensation that
ran for a then-unprecedented
2,212 performances.
1 Richard Rodgers composed
the songs; his new partner,
___________, wrote the lyrics.
2 This female choreographer
gets credit for the show’s
innovative dance numbers.
3 “All the sounds of the earth
are like music,” according to
this jubilant song.
4 Curly McLain boasts, “Ain’t
no finer rig I’m a-thinkin’” in
this catchy tune.
5 Ado Annie laments, “But
when I’m with a feller, I
fergit!” as part of this ditty.
6 An ensemble emphasizes
“territory folks should stick
together” in this rousing number.
7 Laurey Williams tells Curly,
“Your eyes mustn’t glow like
mine” in this love ballad.
8 Curly claims that a brutish
farmhand “had a heart of
gold” in this dirge.
Check your answers on page 56.
BY DEBRA STEILEN
11
SPOTLIGHT
Close
Encounter
MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED
Fan didn’t miss second opportunity to meet
David McCallum. BY LINDA GOMEZ • OMAHA, NE
L
ike many young girls,
I was infatuated with
a television star. My
schoolgirl crush was
on the character played
by David McCallum on The Man
From U.N.C.L.E.
Many years later, I was on a
business trip to London when
I went to a delightful comedy
starring McCallum called Run
for Your Wife at the Criterion
Theatre. Since I was alone and
not very comfortable being out
in the evening, I high-tailed it
back to my hotel after the play
ended, but I kept the playbill
from this 1987 production.
Fast forward to 2013, when
McCallum agreed to attend the
50th anniversary showing in
Omaha, Nebraska, of The Great
Escape, a movie in which he had
a small part alongside stars Steve
McQueen and Charles Bronson.
McCallum graciously accepted
12 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
BRITISH ACTOR
David McCallum
signs a playbill
for fans Linda
and Larry.
DAVID the invitation to host the
McCALLUM showing of the movie at our
local art museum.
Born David Keith He addressed the audience
McCallum Jr., attending the production and
Sept. 19, 1933, in later spent considerable time
Glasgow, Scotland. greeting people who wanted
to thank him for coming, get
Best known for his role autographs and just say hello.
as Russian agent Illya When it was my turn to greet
Kuryakin in TV’s 1964-’68 him, I placed the Run for Your Wife
spy comedy hit The Man
from U.N.C.L.E.
playbill on the table and said,
“I’ve waited a long time for this.”
Kuryakin was a minor At first he looked a bit taken
character next to star aback, but when he noticed the
Robert Vaughn. But playbill from the ’80s, he was
McCallum’s unexpected surprised and delighted. We
sex appeal contributed to struck up a conversation, and
a bigger role—fans sent he signed the playbill, as well as
the actors up to 70,000 The Great Escape brochure my
letters a month.
husband, Larry, was holding, and
offered to take a picture with us.
Since 2003, McCallum
has portrayed chief We still enjoy watching him
medical examiner Dr. play Dr. Mallard on NCIS. And
Donald “Ducky” Mallard we continue to feel that David is a
on the crime show NCIS. real charmer, and quite “ducky!” •
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A caddy is the bathtub version of a
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RETRO
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Talk about a throwback:
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14 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
Life in a Tube
WHEN I WAS 21, IN
1958, I lived in a pipe—
actually a Quonset
hut—with my husband,
Glen, in the Vetsville
area at the University
of Colorado. Quonsets
didn’t look like much,
but they had charm.
Our first purchase
was a wool carpet
that appeared to
date to the Buchanan
administration. I ended
up hiding most bare
spots with furniture;
the rest I stood on
when we had company.
Next was the $5
sofa. I used ordinary
gingham to cover the
old mohair base. It
was itchy seating, but
better than nothing.
I hung curtains by
stringing them on rods
at both top and bottom
so they would lie flush
against the windows on
the curved walls.
My decorating skills
must have been better
than I thought, because
COURTESY OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, HI0197
the university’s housing
office used our hut
as a model for future
Vetsville students.
PEGGY KEENER
AUSTIN, MN
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 SPOTLIGHT

Front &
Center

Paulette
Goddard
1905–1990
Spritely, athletic and dark-haired,
Paulette Goddard was far from the
lithe blond temptresses popular
in Hollywood’s Golden Age—but no
less irresistible. Her good friend and
writer Anita Loos once said of her:
“Gentlemen prefer blondes, until they
get a load of Paulette.” On screen,
Goddard was best playing resilient,
smart women such as Lt. Joan O’Doul
in the 1943 war film So Proudly We
Hail, the only role of her career that
earned her an Oscar nomination.

~ Paulette Goddard ~
She broke into Edgar James, a
showbiz as a lumber tycoon, in “Any woman who would tell her age
Ziegfeld girl on 1927, and moved
Broadway. with him to North
would tell anything.”
Accounts of her Carolina. They
early life, including separated two years They starred in withdrew his offer Her last marriage
her birth year, later and she moved his last silent film, when Goddard was to writer Erich
vary—Goddard to Hollywood Modern Times couldn’t or wouldn’t Maria Remarque
was famously to pursue a film (1936), and his first produce proof she in 1958, and they
secretive about career—aided by talkie, The Great was Chaplin’s wife. lived in a villa in
it—but there is no a large divorce Dictator (1940). There is a record of Switzerland. Always
doubt that her first settlement in 1932. They were said to Goddard divorcing financially savvy,
stage appearance She married marry in 1936. Chaplin—in 1942 Goddard amassed
in New York was in Charlie Chaplin She was almost in Mexico. She later a fortune in art
No Foolin’ (1926), (probably). Scarlett O’Hara. married Burgess and jewels. On
produced by After acting in Gone With the Meredith, but they her death, she left
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Laurel and Hardy Wind producer divorced in 1949. her estate, valued
She married a comedies, Goddard David O. Selznick New York at $20 million, to
millionaire. met Chaplin in thought Goddard University named NYU’s Tisch School
Goddard married the early ’30s. was perfect, but he a hall after her. •
of the Arts.

BY MARY-LIZ SHAW » ILLUSTRATION by MICHAEL WITTE

16 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

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OUR LIVES

18 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 THOSE WERE THE DAYS
20 GROWING UP
22 AT WORK
23 TRUE LOVE
24 FAMILY TREE

model students
The perfect kindergartner in
Lakehurst, NJ, in 1955, I’m at the
table on the left, with folded hands.
My friend Barbara, legs crossed,
is holding her artwork like a book.
KAREN CHARNEY VITELLI
TALKING ROCK, GA

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 19

OUR LIVES
Growing Up
THE CLOTHES MAKE THE NERD
Mom’s practical fashion choice was uncomfortable
during the awkward years. BY BOB KELSOE • CORONA, CA
T
he salesman bragged
to my mom,
Phoebe, “These
jeans are almost
indestructible.”
Mom and I were shopping
for pants, and she was trying
to tug the fabric into place
around my waist. “They
also come in husky sizes,”
the salesman added. My
face turned red.
At 10, I was beginning to
notice girls and wanted a
cool pair of Levi’s. Mom was
partial to Toughskins, Sears’
brand of jeans that combined
three fabrics for durability and
stretch, and were an icon of
20 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
uncoolness in the 1970s.
I was lucky: Toughskins
came in a rainbow of colors,
and Mom chose navy. My
pants could almost pass
for denim. My friend Steve
wore Toughskins, too—his
were bright red and green,
and he even had a plaid pair
for special occasions. We
both accessorized with fresh
sneakers from Kmart.
A growing fifth grader,
I had a midsection that
bloomed over my belt: The
space-age fabric blend and
industrial construction did
not accommodate my growing
body. I complained, so Mom
BOB WORE HIS
Toughskins with a
belt to Disneyland
in 1976.
stitched thick white elastic
into the waistline, forming
a contrasting “V” on my
backside. There was nothing
she could do about the pants
being a little too short.
As my body finally began to
stretch out, Mom gave in and
took me to the mall for my
first pair of Levi’s 501 jeans.
They say that whatever
doesn’t kill you makes
you stronger. My years in
Toughskins certainly made
me tougher.
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 Nana Kept Everyone
in Stitches

M
y nana, Margaret Kreidinger, was an expert
seamstress. She made clothes for her children,
and then for her grandchildren. I was the first
grandchild, and she sewed outfits for me and my favorite
doll, using scraps and old material to create new things.
In 1956, when I was 7, I loved to watch Roy Rogers and
Dale Evans on TV. Nana made me a cowgirl outfit with
a faux red leather skirt, a fringed vest and even boot
covers. The only thing she couldn’t make was a horse.
One of her specialties was adding little designs and
decorations to improve plain patterns. I was petite, and
all my store-bought clothes needed her touch. As she
measured and hemmed, we talked about what was
happening in our lives.
In 1967 she made my prom dress, a pink brocade
gown. It was perfect.
NANCY J. SCHAAF • ERIE, PA

NANCY’S NANA made the

pale green satin flower-girl
gown she wore to her Uncle
Jack’s wedding, above, and
the coat and bonnet she’s
wearing with her dad,
Robert Robison, left. Nana
then used leftover green
tweed from the coat to
make a matching outfit for
one of Nancy’s dolls.

SPINNING OUT
My sister Susan and I, 6 and
4, ride the saucer at a park
in Beaver Falls in 1965. Later,
these were declared unsafe,
but they were a thrill while
they lasted. Our father,
Frank, took the picture.
PAUL LYONS
•
MONACA, PA

21
OUR LIVES
At Work
THE DOCTOR IS
IN THE HOUSE
In-person visits saved
time and money.
BY ROGER WIDMEYER • BRYAN, TX
W
earing a suit and fedora,
carrying the black bag with
his instruments and medicines,
my father, Chester Widmeyer,
was obviously a doctor.
Doctors in the 1950s were given respect second
only to ministers—depending on the minister.
Dad came from a family of tough West
Virginia miners who moved to Akron, Ohio,
to work in the tire factories after his father
got black lung disease. One of 11 children,
Dad was the only one to go to college, first
becoming a pharmacist, then going to medical
school at Ohio State University. He was the
oldest student in his class.
Dad’s office was above the pharmacy where
he had first dispensed medicines. He made
hospital rounds early in the morning, then
held office hours, followed by house calls,
22 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
IN HIS SON’S EYES, Dr. Widmeyer,
here an Army captain in 1942, was as
big a hero as Cleveland’s star athletes
Jim Brown and Herb Score.
which my mother scheduled for him during
the day from our home telephone. Occasionally
in the evening, we’d get a frantic phone call.
I’d retrieve his bag from the side table, and
we’d set off in his Roadmaster. Dad believed
that most of the time, the house call was
effective for cases that weren’t life-threatening,
and it saved his patient—and him—a trip to
the emergency room.
Typically I waited at the kitchen table
while he treated the patient. Dad’s deep
voice reassured the patient, and he had family
members help by bringing towels or applying
gauze. Once I watched as he removed the
longest splinter I’d ever seen, driven under a
man’s fingernail. Another time, he straightened
a dislocated shoulder—“simple, really,” he told
me on the drive home. One Christmas Eve,
he delivered a baby. The young mother had
hidden her pregnancy from her parents, and
I will never forget the sounds of the delivery.
Dad came to the kitchen to tell me not to
be frightened, apologized for bringing me—
though of course he hadn’t known—and then
went back to his patient.
He charged $10 for a house call. Sometimes
patients who lived outside Akron gave him
bags of root vegetables or a cleaned chicken or
two, or even traded carpentry at our home or
his office. Dad was the least rich of his doctor
friends, the only general practitioner of the lot.
Later, in the early ’60s, he alienated these
friends by his support of Jack Kennedy. Sadly
for me, that meant the end of poker nights—
wild evenings of card playing and whiskey, the
air foggy with cigarette smoke, and oh, the
language! When Dad hosted, I would sit in
pajamas at the top of our stairs, enthralled
at the mayhem.
He died the final day of December 1965,
when he was just 59. A few months earlier, he’d
recognized the significance of the Medicare bill
signed by President Johnson. “This is almost as
important as penicillin,” he said to me. •
Share your tales of working:
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True Love
BEASTLY ROMANTIC TRIANGLE
That’s not how they roll in Altoona.
BY SUSAN SPRANKLE WALLS • TYRONE, PA
M
arian, an
auburn-haired
beauty from
the metropolis
of Altoona,
Pennsylvania, was a single,
20-year-old career woman
in 1946. Marian loved her
job designing storefront
window displays at a popular
downtown department
store, and she dreamed of
a career decorating the
windows at Macy’s in New
York City someday.
She sat with her friend,
Anna, sipping sodas and
watching couples at the local
roller rink. Anna’s newlywed
sister, Janet, and her husband
skated past.
“Janet’s husband is very
handsome,” Marian said.
“Well, guess what?” Anna
said. “He has an identical twin.
I heard he’s seeing someone
named Fanny, but if it isn’t
serious, would you like Janet
to introduce you?”
“No. I’ve heard a lot of
stories about those rowdy boys
from Hicksville. I think he
would be too wild for me.”
Two weeks later, the friends
were back at the roller rink
with Perry Como crooning on
the loudspeaker. A familiar-
looking fellow skated over
and spun to a stop.
“Where’s your wife?”
Marian asked.
“I don’t have a wife, but
my brother does,” he said.
“I’m Bobby. Would you like
to skate?” Marian hesitantly
accepted his hand.
A few days later, that rowdy
guy from Hicksville showed
up at Marian’s door. Her heart
pounded: Was he the love
’em and leave ’em type she’d
heard about? He sure was cute,
SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM
MARIAN AGREED
to date Bobby, left,
but she wasn’t
taking a backseat
to Fanny, below.
soft-spoken and a gentleman,
and he smelled of Old Spice.
He offered to take her for a
creamy whip ice cream in his
DeSoto coupe.
“What about Fanny?”
Marian asked.
“Fanny? She’s with me.
Come and meet her.”
Marian stopped in her
tracks. What sort of idiot
brings his girlfriend on a date
with another girl?
Bobby opened his car door,
and out climbed a monkey
with the biggest brown
eyes Marian had ever seen.
The monkey sat on Bobby’s
shoulder and put her arm
around his neck.
How rowdy can a fellow
be if he has a sweet pet
monkey? Marian’s dream of
becoming Macy’s window
designer faded, and my
parents’ romance began. •
23
OUR LIVES
CARL’S WIFE,
Helen, raised
their daughter
Elsie alone.

Lives of Our
Ancestors
Constructing a timeline
to research each ancestor
is important. Try to locate
birth, marriage and death
information; census localities;
and military records. Then
each person can be viewed
in the context of events
happening in their region, their
Family Tree country and around the world.
Carl August Neddermyer
grew up in highly ethnic
Chicago neighborhoods,
surrounded by others from
CHICAGO OPERATION Germany, Italy and several
other countries. In the 1910
Small-time bootlegger comes census, his mother states she
to bad end during Prohibition. is married, yet she and Carl,
15, live alone. Two years later,
BY LOIS PRITZLAFF • WEST ALLIS, WI Carl married Helen, just three
months before he registered
for the WWI draft.

D
o you know much about your ancestors? Were they
honorable, righteous, law-abiding folks? Undoubtedly, Prohibition was in full swing
some were, but those who weren’t are certainly from 1920-’33, and during that
time Carl ran an underground
more interesting. trade. The 1920 census lists
My grandfather Carl August Neddermyer just him as a tool-and-die maker.
might be my most interesting ancestor. He was born in 1894 In 1930 he is listed as an
and lived in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Charles, was born in engineer in street construction.
Germany. His mother, Frederika Johanna Christina Kukuk, Four months after that entry,
he died of a gunshot wound,
called Frieda, was born in Woodstock, Illinois, and later moved an event noted in a small
to Chicago. Carl had many aunts and uncles. column in the newspaper.
When Prohibition in this country started in 1920, the illegal Articles like this concerning
business continued and the process of distilling alcohol went your ancestors and the news
underground. My Grandfather Carl was one of those who of their towns can often be
was part of the black market. My mother, Elsie, remembered found at newspapers.com.
helping her father by putting the caps on bottles.
Some bootleggers, like Al Capone, made it big. But Carl, PEGGY CLEMENS LAURITZEN,
described as a small-time, lovable hoodlum, did not. In a an accredited genealogist,
picture I once saw of him, he was blond and good-looking. writes and lectures about
In 1930, Carl was at an illegal establishment when he was family history. Visit:
misspeggy55.weebly.com
shot. Mother remembered getting to see him in the hospital.
As the story went when it was told to me in 1951, he lived 10 Share your family history:
days before he succumbed to his wounds. He was 36. REMINISCE.COM/
Carl’s death left his wife, Helen, my grandma, a widow with a SUBMIT-A-STORY
12-year-old daughter to raise. Grandma Helen later remarried. •
24 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
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 OUR HEROES
WORLD WAR II
75 YEARS LATER

THE NATION ERUPTS IN CELEBRATION AS WAR

IN EUROPE AND THE PACIFIC COMES TO AN END.

VICTORY T LA

SHOUT IT TO THE SKY New Yorkers whoop it up on Victory over Japan Day, which marked the end
New York City of the Pacific campaign in World War II. The woman held aloft has V-J Day
Aug. 14, 1945 written on her forehead. The official war’s end was on Sept. 2, when Japan
signed the unconditional surrender aboard the USS Missouri.

26 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 From Over There to Right Here
YOUNG TELEPHONE OPERATOR CONNECTS
WITH RETURNING SOLDIERS
BY JEANNE HAMM MACHADO • SAN JOSE, CA

IN JUNE 1946, I TURNED 17, Many times I felt as if I was

just in time to qualify for a acting a role in a real-life movie.
summer job as a long-distance The callers sometimes flirted

ST
telephone operator with Pacific with me and wanted my name,
Bell Telephone in Oakland, which wasn’t allowed, but it
California. The company actively helped to relieve my tension.
recruited workers at my high Others asked what time I got
school in Oakland, and the hourly off work. I’m sure I was the first
wage was terrific—much better American girl that some had
than what I was paid at the naval talked with in a long while. It was
supply base where I’d worked the a memorable job.
previous summer. Three years later, I married a
With but a week’s training, I returned soldier who’d fought
had to figure out call routes, take with the Rainbow Division at the
collect calls, distinguish sounds Battle of the Bulge. Frank and I
of different deposited coins and met at San Jose State College;
reach long-distance operators all the GI Bill helped him get a leg
over the United States. up on his career and made it
Often calls went to rural areas possible for a young couple to
with party lines that required survive on a tight budget. That
sequences of different rings. bill provided our caring nation
Every workday was exciting with a hundredfold payback.
and sometimes emotionally Frank and I were married for
charged. One particular day I’ll 63 years at the time of his death.
never forget: I handled calls from
a phone booth at a naval base
where a large troop ship carrying
returning servicemen docked.
A long line of troops gathered at
the booth, waiting to call home—
some for the first time in years.
Calls were heart-wrenching.
For collect calls, I needed to stay
on the line to verify that I had
reached the right party, which
meant I heard the reactions of
callers at either end as they
connected. There was often so
much drama and emotion in the
FPG/GETTY IMAGES

bits of beginning communication JEANNE SHARED in the

that tears streamed down my joy of servicemen calling
cheeks and I struggled to keep home after WWII.
my voice under control.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 27

 SEA OF PAPER At New York’s V-J Day ticker tape parade in
1945, spectators threw an unprecedented 5,438 tons of paper,
more than 100 times the amount thrown for the parade celebrating
the New York Giants’ Super Bowl victory in 2008.

VICTORY MADE fast

Joining the Fun friends of returning
RAYMOND K. DITE • MORRIS, IL servicemen and the
women at the next table
WORLD WAR II had ended, and in 1946 we were coming at a USO celebration
home from the Pacific. We were given a 24-hour pass to go in 1946.
and celebrate at the United Service Organizations center in
San Francisco, California.
While there, I joined this bunch of guys at a table. Some
women in the next booth sat up to have their picture taken
with us. We were clearly having a great time, but I am sorry
to say that after all these years I have lost all their names.
I am the one at the far left side of the picture—the guy
with all the hair!

28 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

Changes at Home
JOE NATALE was
JOAN PEACE • IVYLAND, PA
an ensign aboard
the USS Charrette
AT THE HEIGHT of the war in 1943, when
during WWII.
I was 12, my father, Clifford, was drafted.
He was 37 and had to leave his job in my
grandfather’s hardware store. Whenever I
was missing my dad, I’d bike over to the store
to breathe in the familiar scents. Dad served
in the medical corps, treating the wounded
from both sides at the Battle of the Bulge.
During the war, our neighborhood in
Philadelphia was called Post 10; our church
sponsored a teen dance every Friday called
the Canteen. My mother, Clara, taught us the
fox trot, and we mastered the jitterbug.
We were visiting my aunt when Germany
surrendered in May 1945. It was a joyous
occasion when Dad came home that fall.
But we didn’t expect the changes to our
routine. Mother gave up her two years of
independence, and Dad didn’t recognize me
as the little girl he’d left behind. It took us
time to get reacquainted.

Calm After the Storm

JULIE MANN • CENTENNIAL, CO

MY DAD SERVED on the USS Charrette, a

JOAN AND HER DAD, Clifford
Reinboth, had to get to know each
other again after he came home.
destroyer that was involved in many Pacific
battles. On Aug. 1, 1945, the Charrette
and another destroyer captured the
Japanese ship Tachibana Maru, which was
masquerading as a hospital ship to smuggle
soldiers and arms back to Japan.
After its last battle, during its voyage home,
the Charrette suffered heavy damage from
three typhoons. A tugboat towed the ship
to Hawaii, then to Washington for repairs.
It was sent out again to clean up after the war
and finally sailed home in December.
Dad told me once how much he admired
Japanese culture. I was so proud of him for
saying that. He died in 2015, almost to the
day of the 70th anniversary of the Tachibana
Maru capture.

29
 CHLOE ALWAYS
remembers the
delicious joy of
seeing her father,
Dr. Garth Edward
Fort, return.
Late-Night Knock
CHLOE FORT • SAVANNAH, GA
MY FATHER WAS doing his residency in
surgery in Rochester, New York, when I was
born in 1940. In 1942, he was sent to serve
with American forces in Italy and North
Africa. I was devastated when he left.
On the night of his return, my mother,
Chloe; grandparents Julia and Horace
Frierson; and we kids were in the living room
when there was a knock at the door. Mother
said what she usually did when someone
called: “Chloe, go get the door.”
I instantly recognized the soldier as my
father. My younger twin siblings, Garth and
Julia, ran upstairs in fright—the chickens—but
I was delirious with happiness to have him
back home. I can feel it now as I write this.
Dad loved surprises, and he certainly
surprised us that night.
30
Silence Is Golden
A SMALL MEAL SHARED IN THE
FIRST MOMENTS OF PEACE.
BY WINFRED HARTMAN • MESA, AZ
I WAS A COMBAT SOLDIER, A MEDIC,
in the front lines on May 8, 1945, walking
with my fellow troops along a village road
in Czechoslovakia. We were taking back the
country from the Germans. We could see
the villagers peeking out of their windows,
looking us over. The Czechs, like so many in
war-torn areas, were suffering from hunger
and poverty. We didn’t know it then, but
that would prove to be the last day of the
war in Europe.
We had been feeling it coming for a while.
We crazy American kids had been taking
bets about who would survive the war.
We were just having fun with each other—
because, of course, we didn’t want harm to
come to any of us.
We were walking along that small road
when we heard voices screaming to us.
“Hold your position! Hold your position!”
We stopped and sat in the grass. It was
a warm day; the sun was shining. Someone
near me spoke: “The war is over.”
We just sat there looking at each other,
some looking through tears. We were
quiet—no celebration, no noise, just
silent stares.
The villagers in their homes across the
road grew restless, walking from house
to house and then turning to watch us
again. I am not sure how long we sat
there, but it was at least two hours.
Then some Czech women walked over
and gave us sandwiches they’d made for
 e slep t on th e floor,
W
ef u l that it wasn’t a foxhole—
grat
not that night, and not ever again.

WINFRED TOOK
this picture of three
Czech villagers on
the day the war in
Europe ended.

us—tiny ham sandwiches. It was plain We heard voices calling to us again,

fare, just bread and meat. We realized
they were feeding us from their meager
food supplies.
Behind us was the rest of the 90th
Infantry Division. These boys had landed
on the beaches at Normandy and had
been fighting for 11 months. The little
sandwiches wouldn’t have stretched to
feed all of them, but no matter.
softer this time, telling us to return to
the last town.
The authorities put us up in local
houses with civilians. We slept on the
floor, wherever we could find room,
grateful that it wasn’t a foxhole—not
that night, and not ever again.
For us, May 8, 1945, came to a quiet
and peaceful close.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 31

 Dancing in the Park
WHEN YOU’RE THIS HAPPY,
THE ONLY THING TO DO IS FORM A CONGA LINE
TONY PEJACK • YUCAIPA, CA
SOMETIME BETWEEN LUNCH
and dinner, our pickup baseball
game was interrupted by a
blowing car horn and someone
yelling down the street. It was
mid-August 1945, and I was 11
years old.
Coming down the street
toward us was a soldier sitting on
a car’s roof, his feet planted on
the hood. He was waving an arm
and shouting at the top of his
voice. We had just been able to
make out the words “war” and
“over” when the air raid siren
blared. That was unusual. It was
only 3 p.m.—we were used to
hearing that sound only at night
when blackouts were in effect.
To top it off, all the church bells
began to peal. There were at
least nine churches in Cambria
City, which was our small section
of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Putting all of these oddities
together, we realized that World
War II was over! To our young
minds, Pope Pius XII was always
the pope, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt was always president
(until recently, anyway) and WWII
was always a daily worry.
All of us, without a word, ran—
no, sprinted—home to tell our
mothers and fathers the news.
Getting up the block became
cumbersome as folks ran out of
32 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
their front doors and filled
the sidewalks and streets,
their mouths open in screams
of jubilation. This was chaos—
a very happy chaos.
When I finally did get back
home, my parents were locking
up our store and heading to the
house. Mom shouted to me as
I came in earshot.
“We heard it on the radio!”
Soon we were all heading
uptown to Johnstown’s Central
Park, where people hugged each
other and sang songs. Some of
them danced in conga lines that
snaked around trees, benches
and water fountains.
The next day was V-J Day, and
it was a total amazement. Mom
opened the store at 6 a.m., and
by 7:30 she was sold out of crepe
paper and toilet paper. Outside
people were stringing the paper
everywhere—over telephone
lines, up light poles, across
porches and through alleyways.
Looking back, I know I was
fortunate to have lived through
those momentous days. Only a
GALERIE BILDERWELT/GETTY IMAGES
few months before we were in
despair after President Roosevelt’s
death. Our community lived in
constant fear that local steel mills
would be bombed.
Suddenly, we were ecstatic.
The relief was overpowering. •
 All of us, without a word,
ran—no, sprinted—home
to tell our mothers and
fathers the news.

SPREAD THE WORD Residents of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, hold up copies of The Knoxville
Oak Ridge, TN Journal on Victory over Japan Day. Oak Ridge was formed in 1942 as
Aug. 14, 1945 part of the Clinton Engineer Works connected to the Manhattan Project,
which researched and developed the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in
August 1945.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 33

 J e w el

s
th e
of
r o u n d
y g
Pla

JUNGLE GYMS, such as

this hexagonal one at
Will Rogers Elementary
in Lynwood, CA, have
always been built on
the principle of active
learning.
 j u ngle gym
r s t
fi was installed at a

e
Winnetka, Illinois,

Th
school 100 years
ago. It came out
of a meeting of the
minds between a
progressive educator
and Sebastian Hinton,
a Chicago lawyer.
Hinton grew up playing
on a homemade
bamboo grid. His
mathematician father
believed that moving
in real 3D space made
it easier for kids to
understand math.
The shift in the early
1900s toward
focusing on the
lives of children—and
the role of play in
growth and learning—
put jungle gyms at
the center of the
SPENCER WEINER/GETTY IMAGES

playground.
G
ON

Y S
W
BY NATALIE
 NATIONAL MERRY-GO-
ROUND DAY started in
2014 to celebrate the U.S.
patent issued in 1871
to William Schneider
of Davenport, IA, the
first for that classic
playground ride.

BASIC EQUIPMENT
over a packed dirt
surface keeps girls
busy at an Irwinville,
GA, school in 1938.

Off the Streets

Mid-1800s social reformers were the first to
push for separate play areas. Neighborhoods
grew crowded, and busy streets and alleys

KEYSTONE-FRANCE/GETTY IMAGES; BROWN: CARL PURCELL/GETTY IMAGES

were dangerous for children. Their natural

MERRY-GO-ROUND: KEYSTONE-FRANCE/GETTY IMAGES; TEETER-TOTTER:

energy was seen as a force to be directed,
and so playgrounds were necessary for
proper moral development. Designers added
a Children’s District to plans for New York
City’s Central Park, where children and their
caregivers could enjoy fresh air and boys JOSEPH BROWN, artist
played ball. An 1895 state law mandated and instructor at Princeton
that schools must include a playground. University, designs a play
structure in 1955.

Child's Play
WITH PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT rare in the early
1900s, two boys use boards and rocks to make their
own double-decker teeter-totter.
Winnetka’s young superintendent,
Carleton Washburne, upset
the educational apple cart
with his whole-child model in
the 1920s. He believed kids
advanced fastest when their
emotional, social and intellectual
needs were considered, and
they could express creativity
through play. Schools rushed to
copy Winnetka’s child-centered
classrooms and playground,
with its innovative jungle gym.

36 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 Useful Art
By design or necessity, natural
materials and simple structures
were the ’30s and ’40s norm
for children’s play equipment.
Modernist playgrounds,
promoted by the Museum of I N STINCT *
Modern Art’s playground exhibit
Y

E
* MONK
in 1954, placed good design Hinton never called his
at the center of everyday life.
invention monkey bars, but
Artists such as Joseph Brown
introduced art to in the patent application
children’s creative for his jungle gym in 1920,
play with sculptural he acknowledged the risk
pieces. Novelty of climbing, noting that
SCHOOLYARD: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LC-DIG-FSA-8A03407;

equipment built to children had a primitive

resemble animals
“monkey instinct,” and were
and rockets
fired kids’ able to assess and learn
imaginations. from danger.
SLIDE: OLIVIA FALL/GETTY IMAGES

Brain Games
Charles Hinton built a 3D frame out of
bamboo to teach his children geometry.
He called out coordinates on the grid
and his children scrambled to get to the
point first. In a meeting with educator
Carleton Washburne, Hinton’s son Sebastian
later described the fun of climbing on the
structure, which led to their work together
designing the prototype jungle gym.

A 1970-ERA rocket slide in Commerce

City, CO, encouraged kids to dream big.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 37


No Running on
the Playground
LITTLE CLIMBERS learn to
judge the heights at Waterfront
Park in Boston in 1978.
38 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
SITTING HIGH on a
seesaw at Robstown
camp in Nueces
County, TX, in 1942
is an exercise in trust.
The thrill of a towering slide or
sky-high monkey bars was in
the peril it presented. In 1972,
Congress formed the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, which
began to track emergency room
visits and found that many injuries
to kids happened at playgrounds.
Equipment got curvier and
lower to the ground, and sharp
and splintery edges gave way
SEESAW: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LC-USF34-024865-D,
to smooth painted metal. Wood
chips, sand or rubber mulch
replaced asphalt and packed
dirt. But kids being kids, they
PARK: BOSTON GLOBE/GETTY IMAGES
changed the challenge, flying off
swings and jumping from slides,
counting on a soft landing.
The old welded steel cubes have
become relics, but kids’ tendency
to push the limit ensures there’s
no such thing as a playground
•
that’s perfectly safe.
 MODERN JUNGLE GYM
designs softened angular
cubes into friendlier
structures. Children flock to
this dome at the New York
City Housing Authority’s
Alfred E. Smith Houses on
the Lower East Side in 1956.

a y vig orous games

ou ld pl
w ho w ave places especially set aside
n st h
dre mu for t
BOB WANDS/SHUTTERSTOCK

hil m ental need, hem

“C a fu nd a ,
y is
ce pla uld be provided for ever
, sin ds sho y chi
nd gr oun ld.”
a
play
— President Theodore Roosevelt

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 39

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 RETRO REPLAY BLAST FROM
THE PAST
42 POP CULTURE
44 VINTAGE ADS
46 KEEPSAKES

It Walks!
A boy plays with a Slinky
in this early promo shot.
Engineer Richard James
invented the Slinky by
BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

accident while doing war

research in 1943, when
some spring samples fell
and “walked” off a shelf.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 41

RETRO REPLAY

A NOTICE banning Bermuda

shorts causes consternation
among male students at Los
Angeles City College in 1958.

Pop Culture

YOU’RE WEARING THAT?

Fashion has always moved faster than public opinion.
BY NATALIE WYSONG

42  REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 WARDROBE
INJUNCTION
Bermuda shorts, hot
pants, jeans, nylons, pants
(for girls, at least)—all
these styles at one time or
another exposed wearers
to the attention of the
fashion police, if not the
real police. Here’s a look
back at several times when
the latest thing got the
hairy eyeball.
MODESTY
PROPOSAL
Depending on one’s sex,
showing leg was either
informal or immoral. Up to
BERMUDA SHORTS: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA/GETTY IMAGES; NYLONS: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; JEANS: NATALYA DANKO/GETTY IMAGES
NYLON HITS A SNAG
When DuPont’s resilient
synthetic fabric in the
form of stockings went
on sale in 1940, it was a
sensation. Replacing
delicate silk and rayon,
the new style of hosiery
sold out quickly. Shorter
AMERICAN ICON THE WAY OF
hemlines showed more
Durable, riveted trousers THE BUSTLE
leg, and nylon hosiery
became a wardrobe made by Jacob Davis and Mary Tyler Moore’s
must-have. Levi Strauss caught on emphasis on showing
Or so women thought. with gold rush miners in a ’60s TV character who
The miracle fabric also the West and with farm did her everyday chores
turned out to be ideal workers everywhere. in capris instead of a
for parachutes, netting In the ’50s, movie stars full skirt put sponsors
and fuel tanks, and as Marlon Brando and James on edge. But viewers
the U.S. economy turned Dean established the identified with the choice
to war production, style pants as the uniform of of pants, and the look of
stepped aside. What the rebel, and schools women on TV changed

midcentury, the suit was a
man’s go-to outfit, from
the office to a baseball
game. Too-casual
clothing, unless work
related, was bad form;
shorts, most informal of
all, were for sport. But
patrolling propriety was a
lost cause: At Dartmouth
College in 1930, 600
male students protested
for the right to wear their
“delegged” trousers.
Women faced worse
judgment. Even at
beaches, police checked
hemlines to ensure legs
were legal. As late as
1952, the City Council in
Fort Worth, Texas, made
national news when it
considered a shorts ban,
after a complaint they
were “an advertisement
for adultery.” The city
wisely chose not to pass
any “leg”-islation.
SEEN IT ALL
With an inseam of only
a few inches, hot pants
were a ’30s design meant
for beach- and sports-
wear, but fashionistas in
the ’70s dared to wear the
super short, racy pants to
the disco and in public.
Today, hot pants are
called shorts.
were beautiful legs in rushed to ban them.
comparison to the needs In the ’60s, protesters
of the defense effort? made jeans a symbol of
activist youth. As the
WOMEN GIVE up nylons American classic went
and resort to leg makeup, international, all hopes
for our boys. of banning jeans faded.
for good.
WEARING PANTS
IN THE HOUSE
(AND THE SENATE)
In 1969, U.S. Rep.
Charlotte T. Reid,
R-Illinois, caused a stir
in the House when she
wore a black wool
pantsuit to work. Male
members scurried to see
what the future looked like.
It was another 24 years
before U.S. Sen. Carol
Moseley Braun, D-Illinois,
bucked tradition in
the Senate.
TIGHT PANTS
STRIKE
Pat Morris was dismissed
from her shift at an
Oregon plywood mill in
1966 for wearing pants
that were distractingly
tight. Morris argued
that she was dressed like
other employees, and her
co-workers went on strike
in support. After a week,
an agreement was
reached for Morris to
return to work. She did,
wearing baggy pants. •

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 43

RETRO REPLAY

Vintage Ads

HOT SPOTS
Soup companies aim for the small fry.

1933
It’s a Kids Game
Campbell’s adopted its Soup Kids,
drawn by commercial illustrator
Grace Drayton, in 1905. The mascots
were so popular, they were made
into a set of dolls. Use of the icons
diminished in the ’30s—note how
small the girl appears here—but
Campbell’s brought them back
in the mid-1950s.

44 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 1962
Slurpy Seconds
Where Campbell’s used
illustrated mascots, Lipton’s
showed real children in its
ads and wasn’t afraid to
have them looking messy,
such as this little girl with
noodle bits stuck to her
chin. The message, like
Lipton’s mix itself, is instant:
Kids love it.

1962
Check It Out
A striking graphic ad that plays
on Campbell’s iconic red and
white label, which was already
more than 60 years old when
this ran in Life magazine. The
spot targets busy mothers, with
many of the meals designed to
appeal to children and teens.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 45

RETRO REPLAY

DONNA’S FIRST
day of school got
off on the right
foot with a new
pantsuit and a
special present
from Mom.

Keepsakes

PENCIL BOX HOLDS HER MEMORIES

Mom’s gift helps kindergartner get organized to learn.
BY DONNA LONG • RIB LAKE, WI

O
n my first day of kindergarten in 1971, my mother,
Bernice, gave me a blue pencil box to hold my school FOCUS ON:
supplies. My name, teacher’s name and school are PENCIL BOX
written on the outside, and the Pledge of Allegiance is
printed on the inside lid. Mom probably bought it at
our local Ben Franklin store. It must have been the in thing to get that Vintage pencil boxes
year—my three sisters and two brothers don’t remember ever having like Donna’s are sold at
one. It was a wonderful box to keep all your supplies in, much different online auction sites.
from the backpacks of today. Because the boxes are
We lived in the country on a farm about 7 miles from school. cardboard and were not
We rode a school bus every day to Clearview School in Rib Lake, meant to last beyond a
which at the time went to grade four. Kindergarten was a half day— single school year, their
town kids went in the morning and country kids in the afternoon. condition dictates
My mother always wanted us kids to have a new outfit for the first pricing today—the
day of school—a store-bought one. She was good at sewing, knitting better the condition,
and crocheting and made most of our other clothes. She probably the higher the cost. A
ordered the blue polyester outfit I’m wearing from Montgomery Ward. pristine box can be $20;
I remember wearing this one and getting a brown one for first grade those showing their
and a maroon one for third grade. age—which is most of
The first day of school was always exciting, as was school shopping the ones available—go
with my mother. • for around $10.

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46 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020


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BACK IN TIME TAKE A BREAK
50 PICTURES FROM
THE PAST
52 LAST LAUGH
53 CROSSWORD
54 NAME THAT CAR
58 LASTING
IMPRESSION

Bird’s-eye View
My husband, Verdell, was a
photographer and aviation
expert. He took this picture of a
farmer studying an aerial shot
of his property in the 1940s.
DOROTHY HALLINGSTAD • SPARTA, WI

» MORE VINTAGE HARVESTon SCENES

page 50
SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 49
BACK IN TIME

Pictures from
the Past

VINTAGE HARVEST
Age-old ritual a reminder
of seasonal changes.

COMING UP: Halloween

Post your photos:
REMINISCE.COM/SUBMIT-A-STORY

50 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 FROM OUR ARCHIVES
Reminisce is fortunate
to have a large selection of
historical slides donated
over the years by readers.
These are among dozens
of harvest-themed
images in our collection.
Most date from the 1940s
through the 1960s.

1. Leonard Gunderson
pauses in his work on his
farm in Menno, SD, to sit
for a picture. His sister-in-
law Annie Rue sent it to us.
2. Scarecrows guard
melons in a field in 1963.
Joe Stabile of Sioux City,
IA, snapped the picture.
3. In 1966, Roberta
Nadler of Augusta, MO,
took this photo of her
daughter Rhonda, 9, and
her cousin-in-law Warren
Osthoff, who flexes his
muscle after stacking
2,500 straw bales for
grass seeding along I-270.
Temperatures climbed as
high as 107 that day.

1 2

3
BACK IN TIME

It worked for about three

years. Then, with a sizzle and
pop, the screen went black. So
Dad plopped a slightly smaller
console TV on top of it. Mom
sighed. The second console
died two years later.
Surely we’d remove the
carcasses and start anew? Oh,
no. Mom and I watched in
stunned silence as my brothers
hoisted a third console on top
of the others. The teetering
tower skimmed the 10-foot
ceiling, and we were under
strict orders to give it wide
berth when walking near it.
One night, in the middle
of a Johnny Carson-Ed
McMahon exchange, the top
TV went silent, although
the image shone on in all its
Zenith-patented beauty.
Dad explained the complex
viewing procedure: tune the
top and bottom TVs to the
same channel, control the
volume with the bottom
TV’s remote, and regulate
the picture with the top tier’s
Last Laugh clicker. Mom mastered the
trick of juggling remotes.
It was a bittersweet day
when Dad realized his tower
THE VIEW FROM ON HIGH of power posed too much
of a risk. He got rid of the
How many channels does pile we’d dubbed the Eighth
this gizmo get? Wonder and life returned to
normal—until Dad said he

M
y father, Ted, loved console TVs. I suspect it was
because they were BIG. You felt like you were
getting something for your money, even if it was
an oversize box around an ordinary size screen.
In the 1980s, he found one (at an estate sale, no
doubt, for an excellent price) that he parked facing the bed in
the master bedroom—perfect for The Tonight Show viewing.
My mother, Ange, wasn’t thrilled.
“found a guy” selling a console,
“practically free”! He shut up
when Mom sent three remotes
sailing inches from his face. •
Make ’em laugh:
REMINISCE.COM/
SUBMIT-A-STORY

BY ELIZABETH WIETHORN • WEXFORD, PA » ILLUSTRATION NATHAN LYNN

52 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 WWII BATTLES
BY MYLES MELLOR
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

10 11

12

13 14 15 16

17

18 19 20 21 22

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33

34 35 36 37

38 39

40 41 42 43
ACROSS
44 45
1 Pacific island
recaptured by U.S. 46 47 48
troops during WWII
3 Critical 1942-’43
battle site in the East 33 Was victorious 2 Julie who played 24 American WWII
10 Region where the 34 Maui welcome Mary Poppins general
Battle of the Bulge 36 See 19 across 4 Standoff 26 Navy members
was fought 37 Historic British school 5 Weight measurement, 28 Setting of an iconic
11 Fighting forces near Windsor abbr. WWII photograph,
13 Virginia Hall was a 38 Blue Jays’ league, 6 Scene of Operation 2 words
noted one during for short Overlord 29 Rocky peak
WWII 39 To and _____ 7 Baseball score, abbr. 32 Palmer of golf
15 1945 battle zone 40 Major campaign of 8 Overall character 35 Made better
17 Regulation the Pacific war in 9 Army segment 37 Eliminate
18 Broadcasting giant WWII, 2 words 12 _____ St. John played 39 Take to the skies
19 Tora tora tora was 44 French for sea Bond girl Tiffany 41 Electric resistance
the code name for it, 45 Spark for the Giants’ Case measure
goes with 36 across 1951 pennant win 14 Some long-winded 42 For instance
21 Manage 46 Bart Starr scores, abbr. people have this gift 43 ___ Bingle, nickname
22 Soldier 47 Pivotal Pacific battle 15 Roundish for singer acclaimed
23 Scaloppini, usually of WWII 16 Dawn time for raising troop
24 Nixon’s wife 48 O.K. Corral lawman 19 Georgia’s morale during WWII
25 Racing organization famous fruit 44 Rushmore, for one,
founded in 1948 DOWN 20 Pencil holder abbr.
27 Deal a blow 1 First major U.S. land 22 “For me and my _____”
30 Island east of Java offensive against 23 Older technology to HOW’D YOU DO?
31 _____ de Triomphe Japan in WWII record shows, abbr. Solution on page 56.

SEPTEMBER 2020 * REMINISCE.COM 53

BACK IN TIME

CLASSIC
CLUES

Name 1 This make was

founded in 1928,
That Car three years after
Chrysler Corp. was
reorganized from
Maxwell Motor Co.
MEMORABLE MODEL
The brand was
Some cars stick with you. 2 named after a
BY GERALD ELWOOD • BUCYRUS, KS conquistador who
reached the
Mississippi River.

W
hen I was a young
man in the 1940s,
one of my neighbors
had a red coupe
I admired. I began
buying and restoring pre-World War
II cars in 1984; from the start I kept
an eye out for a coupe similar to the
one I liked so much years before.
The search wasn’t easy. My wife,
Doris, and I traveled many miles
looking for just the right car.
Ironically, we found it less than
100 miles from home.
We finished a two-year restoration
on it in 1995. Since then we have
driven it more than 10,000 miles to
car shows and meets in the Midwest.
The car is a dream to drive. It
has coil springs in the front for an
easy ride. The 93-horsepower, six-
cylinder engine is equipped with an This coupe
optional overdrive transmission the
manufacturer aptly called the “gas
3 has no backseat.
Instead, shelves
saver.” The overdrive boosts the provide interior
coupe’s top speed. It’ll do 65 mph storage space.
very nicely.
The maker
The brakes from that period aren’t
as good as today’s disc brakes, though,
4 designated this
year’s model lineup
so I always leave considerable space the Series S3.
between me and the traffic ahead.
We’ve taken some lengthy club During this
trips with the coupe, including to the 5 model year,
Chrysler signed its
Ozarks, and once to Ellis, Kansas,
first labor contract
boyhood home of Walter P. Chrysler.
with the United
The town has a museum at one of Auto Workers.
the houses Chrysler lived in. • HOW’D YOU DO?
Share your vehicle challenge: Answer is on page 56.
REMINISCE.COM/SUBMIT-A-STORY

54 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

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N A S C A R H I T B A L I
TRIVIAL PURSUITS, PAGE 11:
1. Oscar Hammerstein II 2. Agnes de Mille A A R C A W O N T O
3. “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” 4. “Surrey with L E I H A R B O R E T O N
the Fringe on Top” 5. “I Cain’t Say No” 6. “Farmer
A L N J F R O
and the Cowman” 7. “People Will Say We’re in Love”
8. “Pore Jud is Daid” S O L O M O N I S L A N D S
NAME THAT CAR, PAGE 54: M E R H L M A Y S E
Gerald and Doris Elwood’s easy ride is a 1937 DeSoto
T D S M I D W A Y E A R P
Business Coupe S3.

56 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020

 Sculpted Wreath Is A Thomas Kinkade Classic!
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P by AC
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A AZ N 3D or 2 AA batteries
HOL DAY SCENES: (not included).

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©2020 HC. All Rights Reserved.
The Night Before Christmas © 2004 Thomas Kinkade. 09-00308-001-RIV
MAIL TO:

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BACK IN TIME
Lasting
Impression
HOW FAR SHE’S COME!
Like storybook heroines,
student undergoes big changes.
BY TRICIA POMEROY • TAMARAC, FL
T
he golden days of
September signaled
the end of summer,
and the start of
school. In 1944,
at Logan Elementary School
in Wilmette, Illinois, our
class prepared to face the
dreaded Miss Myrtle Cash.
She was a strict, old-fashioned
schoolmarm, and just looking
at her made our knees weak.
I’d had a run-in with Miss
Cash the previous year when,
on a visit to her classroom,
I absent-mindedly scraped
the paint off the underside
of the desk I was sitting at,
and Miss Cash had publicly
reprimanded me.
Now in Miss Cash’s fifth
58 REMINISCE.COM * SEPTEMBER 2020
grade classroom, my best
friend, Marjorie, and I liked
going to the reading corner,
where Marjorie read aloud to
me. Marjorie loved reading;
At that moment
I hated school,
I hated Caddie
Woodlawn, and
I especially hated
Miss Cash.
I did not. And Miss Cash set
out to change this.
She began by separating us
to opposite sides of the room.
TRICIA, HOLDING
her dog, and her best
friend, Marjorie, were
reading buddies.
When I reported to her after
school, she thrust a copy of
Caddie Woodlawn into my
hands. She told me to read the
first chapter and write a short
report on it by the next day.
At that moment I hated
school, I hated Caddie
Woodlawn, and I especially
hated Miss Cash. When I
handed in my report the next
morning, Miss Cash told me
to repeat the assignment for
Chapter 2. This became the
daily routine, and I was furious.
But strangely, by the end
of Chapter 5, I found myself
looking forward to going
home after school to read.
I even enjoyed writing the
short reports.
When I finished Caddie
Woodlawn, Miss Cash lent me
Little House in the Big Woods.
By the end of the school
year, I had read all the Little
House books, I didn’t hate
going to school, and I halfway
liked Miss Cash. In June, at
the end-of-school picnic, I
didn’t even mind when my
mother invited Miss Cash to
share our picnic. I was, in fact,
sorry when the time came to
say goodbye to her.
Years later, when I was
away at college, my mother
bumped into Miss Cash.
She remembered my mother
(and her fried chicken at the
picnic) and asked whether
I still enjoyed reading. I’m
still an avid reader, which I
attribute to Miss Cash. I often
wonder how many other lives
she changed. •
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 BAREFOOT SCHOLAR
Lunch pail and book in hand,
6-year-old Leonard James is all set
to walk a mile away for his first day
at Cane Creek one-room school
in Bollinger County, MO, in 1944.