For Pop-o

WJW - August 11, 1917 - November 14, 2002

Nostalgia 3

Do you remember . . .

Timmy & Lassie

Old Yeller

Brylcream & Aluminum Christmas Trees

Fire Escape Chutes

Chef Boy-Ar-Dee

Flash Bulbs

&

Brownie Cameras

Television Test Signals

Speedy, the Alka-Seltzer kid

Chatty Cathy

5 Cent Cokes & Stamps

Gum Wrapper Chains

Jiffy Pop Popcorn

Those were the days, huh?

Train Spotting 1

Nostagia 2

Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets

Tinker Toys and Reel to Reel Tape Recorders



Sky King, Red Skelton, and the Fuller Brush Man



Washing machines with the roll-ringers on top
and the Studebaker

Car hops on skates at the local Drive-Ins like A & W and Dog 'n Suds

Nostalgia 1

To play a 45 record


S and H Green Stamps! Save up and get a Sunbeam Mix Master!













No need to
explain
Skate keys
Ice cube trays





Beany and Cecil!








Cork POP rifles!















Drive In Theaters!

Collect the dollar from everyone.
One person in the front.
Two in the back.
Three in the trunk!

You just made three extra bucks for
gas and popcorn!

The Fly Market

The Fly Market

So many times we would scrounge for money.
A few pennies here,
A few pennies there.
Sometimes, if we were lucky,
A nickel would appear before our wide eyes.

Packing our pennies
(some of them wheat-backs from dad's collection)
In our pockets,
Feeling rich with the nickel we found, too,
We would jump on our bikes
And start our half mile journey down Seventh Avenue -
To the Fly Market!
We were actually planning on buying them out
With the fourteen cents we had between us.

In our eyes, though,
We did!
We came away from there with bags full of
Carmel bull's eyes, licorice records,
Chocolate licorice twists . . . our favorite!
Red and black "shoe-strings", Mary Janes,
Candy buttons on the long, thin piece of paper,
Candy cigarettes, wax bottles filled with sweet liquid.
Pixie sticks, Slo-Pokes,licorice snaps, and Neccos.
Jaw breakers that would last for hours!
Red-hot licorice nickels,Boston Baked Beans,
And the sweetest bubble gum on earth!

We thought we were rich in those days!
For a few hours, we had everything a kid would want
In our little brown bags full of candy.
Mom always thought we were sick
When we didn't finish all our dinner.
But somehow, I think she understood.
Somehow,
I think she knew where we had gone that afternoon.
Mothers are like that, you know?

Leaving our dinner plates half eaten,
We would go to bed on a full stomach . . .
Smiling and wondering
Where we were going to find more pennies
For our next trip to the Fly Market.

Somehow, we always found a penny here
Or a penny there.
At times, it would take a week!

But we were just kids.
We could wait!

Carnie Boy

Carnie Boy

He's so young, but yet so wise for his youth.
He's been on the circuit since he was eight.
Entering adolescence with greasy hands,
Sweaty blond hair, and dirty feet.
Feeling old at thirteen, he's traveled the country
In the back of a truck,
Seeing more than his innocent eyes could take in.

From Dallas to Charleston,
He's seen it all.
Rain and mud - dry and dust.
Lifting equipment twice his weight.
Hoisting tents to their full glory.

He wants to escape . . .
But not really.
This is the only life he's ever known.
He has his friends -
Clowns by day, drunkards by night.
Bearded ladies with big bosom's always giving hugs.
He loves them all in his own special way.

You've seen this carnie boy, I'm sure.
Just look harder
Next time the circus comes to town.