History Lessons (alternately, ch-ch-ch-ch-changes)

Today's post will discuss some of the things we ran across in 1967-68 that were a little different than the way things were 50 years later. We'll also review a few historical moments. Let's start with the culture at the time. 1967 was the Summer of Love, with the Monterey Pop Festival taking place in June on the west coast, the song "San Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair)" climbing the charts, and the hippie subculture gaining a foothold in many large cities, most notably San Francisco. That cultural phenomenon was clearly present in Los Angeles as evidenced by the various mentions of hippies in Mom's letters, especially the earlier ones. My small-town Texas parents definitely went through a bit of culture shock being exposed to all that, which gave us some entertaining reading on more than one occasion. Closely related to that cultural movement, and no doubt somewhat of a driver of it, was the escalation of the Viet Nam war in 1967. Protests against the war were also escalating, including marches that often turned violent. A Peace March scheduled to pass within a few blocks of our apartment on August 6, 1967 made my parents nervous enough to leave the area that day and make our first of many visits to Knott's Berry Farm. The military draft was also in effect at the time, and we got to see the impact of that on a young family in a letter one of Mom's friends wrote to her. Another bit of civil unrest during this time was the race riots that were occurring all over the country. (Look up "long, hot summer of 1967.") We moved to L. A. only three years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, and two years after the famous riots in the L. A. neighborhood of Watts. So when Dad found out Mom and I had unintentionally driven through Watts one day, he was understandably upset. Technology has obviously advanced a bit in the past 50 years. Some things that were relatively new at the time, with a certain "wow" factor, are either taken for granted today or have almost disappeared entirely. For instance, Dad spent a lot of money to purchase a Polaroid camera while we were there. Polaroid instant pictures were a good alternative to waiting days to have film developed and they gave people nearly instant gratification. But today, given how easy it is for anyone to take a digital picture and see it (and share it) instantly, for free, Polaroid film doesn't have much of a chance although it does have a certain nostalgic charm to it. Polaroid instant cameras are still available, although with slightly different technology. Another thing that wasn't commonplace in 1967 that we take for granted now is color TV. We had a black and white television set in our apartment, and one of the letters mentioned my parents' friends, the Dirrs, inviting us over to watch a TV special on their color television one night. Mom mentioned that she hoped we could buy a color TV when we got back to Texas, and I'm pretty sure we did before the end of the year. As previously noted, 1972 was the first year in which more color television sets were sold in the US than black-and-white sets. Also in the area of technology, something important was happening in the late 1960s that I don't think was mentioned in any of the letters although there were a few front page newspaper articles about it while we were in L. A. That was the race to the moon. The Apollo program was in its early stages, having yet to launch a manned spaceflight, yet we found our apartment in L. A. exactly two years before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. The changes in technology in the past 50 years have certainly changed the way we communicate. In 1967, long before the internet was even a gleam in Al Gore's eye, there was no such thing as email. This was also long before mobile phones of any type were available, so there were no cell phones either, which meant no texting. No cell phones. No internet. No email. No texting. So how did people communicate? Well, people communicated the old fashioned way, via letters and phone calls using telephones connected to landlines. To make matters worse, the telephone companies charged extra for long distance calls outside of your local area, so most people, especially those who were pinching pennies, just didn't make a lot of long distance phone calls and tended to rely more on letters. We know letters were the primary method of communication between Mom and my grandmother. Letters at the time could go via ground, or you could pay a few cents more for airmail if you wanted faster delivery. All but one of Mom's letters was sent via airmail, and even with that we could see on a few occasions where the lag between sending and receiving caused some communication issues that wouldn't occur today. We have grown so accustomed to nearly instant communication these days that it's hard to imagine having to wait several days, perhaps more than a week, to have someone reply to a question. We did learn about one method of almost instant communication that was occasionally used back then, and that was the telegram. When my grandmother made her flight plans to visit us she sent a telegram because sending an airmail letter would have taken too long. Strangely enough, we also learned that Western Union continued their telegram service until 2006. Speaking of letters, we also learned the use of zip codes was somewhat new in 1967. Although Mom grew up in the house my grandmother was still living in, she didn't even know my grandmother's zip code when she started writing letters. It took her several months to get to the point where she always remembered to include the zip code when addressing the envelope, but she ended up doing it consistently. Not only was it nearly impossible to communicate as quickly as we do now, it was also difficult to get stuff as quickly. We moved to L. A. six years before the first overnight delivery service, Federal Express, began operations. People in 1967 probably didn't see much of a need for overnight deliveries, and they definitely would have been amazed that in the future you could even get same day delivery of some items. During our stay in L. A. we also ran across a few things that seem totally out of place today and have since been changed for the better, often with the prodding of the legal system. The first notable event was the search for an apartment in Los Angeles when my parents found it difficult to find an apartment building that would allow children. This was before the Fair Housing Act of 1968, so that was a perfectly legal practice at the time. The next incident that comes to mind was my encounter with a pay toilet when I was unable to pay. Fortunately pay toilets were banned in most places in the US in the 1970s and are rarely seen today. We learned that car seats were not very common in the late 1960s and certainly were not required by law. On a related note, I don't think any of the letters mentioned seat belts, but seat belts were not even required equipment for all seating positions in passenger cars until 1968, and wearing seat belts wasn't mandated by law until the mid 1980s. For most people it's weird to even think about not wearing a seatbelt today. Another more recent change in the area of child safety was the design of playground equipment. I haven't done any research on that, but the playground equipment I played on in Griffith Park would be viewed as quite archaic and hazardous today. Another item related to health and safety that was mentioned many times during the first half of our stay was the smog. Say what you will about California's environmental regulations, but they seem to have greatly improved the smog situation over the past 50 years. It was really sad reading Mom's description of how the smog affected us. Even if people who were living there got used to it, you know it had to have a negative effect on people's respiratory systems and who knows what else. If you want really bad smog today you can go to some big cities in China. We also learned that the medical guidelines regarding the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy have changed in the past 50 years, since Mom did not abstain early on in her pregnancy. In the world of sports there was a lot going on, although in most cases Mom just mentioned it as an aside, leaving me to do the research to figure out what game she was talking about. (You're welcome.) The most important thing from a historical perspective was the rise of OJ Simpson to national prominence as a junior running back for the USC Trojans. I really wish I could ask my dad what his thoughts were while watching college football's "Game of the Century" between USC and UCLA, especially OJ Simpson's touchdown run that is considered one of college football's best plays ever. The same goes for college basketball's "Game of the Century" between UCLA and The University of Houston two months later, which Mom and Dad both watched intently with friends while I played on the floor with coloring books and dominoes. Finally, since we were so close to Hollywood, it's only natural that the world of entertainment was featured in one way or another in many of the letters and diary entries. Mom and I saw a scene from the 1968 movie "The Party" being filmed, we saw a Shasta root beer commercial being filmed, and we attended tapings of Let's Make a Deal (with Monty Hall) and Art Linkletter's House Party. Our friends the Dirrs appeared on The Newlywed Game with Bob Eubanks, and Mom and I got to see Dean Martin's dressing room, including the toilet, as part of an NBC studio tour. And some television history was mentioned in one of the letters, too. That was the final episode of "The Fugitive" television series, the most watched TV show of all time until the world found out who shot J. R. Ewing 12 years later. In tomorrow's post I'll try to fill in a few gaps and tie up some loose ends.

January 21, 1968: Woods, blood, and popcorn

Letter postmarked January 24, 1968 (Part 1, dated January 22):

The CCZCC, after the previous letter's adjustment, extends its winning streak to 20. I think Mom's getting the hang of this zip code thing.

Dear Mother and Mike,

Well, I got your letter last Friday and evidently you hadn't gotten the one from me about the "coming home crisis" being over. Again, let me say, it is a big relief to both of us that the job is ending by first of March. As to whether I will fly or ride in the car, we haven't decided for sure - more than likely we'll let my doctor decide that for us. Suzie "spilled the beans" to David Wayne about flying home (I hadn't planned on telling him anything until we knew for sure) so I thought, uh-oh we'll have to fly. But he seems to want to ride home so he can sit in front seat with Daddy and me in the back seat - also he said he needed to keep an eye on toys!

Last Thursday we went on a picnic with Suzie and believe me, the woods is the place for that ole gal. She and David had more fun than any two people I've seen - they followed the horse tracks on the bridal path and made up all kinds of games about them. Suzie found Winnie-the-Pooh's house for David Wayne, climbed trees, did all kinds of tricks on the swings, and they built a campfire (first one David Wayne has seen!) Since we were out in the woods, I could sit back and relax, letting them make all the noise they wanted to - and they did have a screaming contest which sent all the animals in Griffith Park scurrying away!

[Here are a couple of pictures of me and Suzie at Griffith Park, possibly on this day.]

[In the one with the playground equipment you'll see that it's all bare metal. None of that padded plastic crap the kids these days have to play on. Nope. If you hit your head (or any other body part) on playground equipment back in the day it hurt, by golly. It might even draw some blood as a further reminder to be careful and not do that again. And do you think a bare metal slide got hot with the midday sun shining on it? You bet your sweet bare skin it did. How are kids supposed to learn about heat absorption these days?]

[Speaking of blood . . .]

The day was a lot of fun with only one minor accident - David Wayne fell and skinned his elbow, side, and wrist. He didn't cry very much but he was most upset at having to go into the ladies restroom and get the blood washed off! We plan to go on the picnic bit again this week. Oh, I forgot - when we got home, David Wayne fell right to sleep (in the afternoon) and slept for two hours. He probably would have slept longer but I woke him up so he'd be able to sleep that night.

Friday I just felt sorta blah - know what I mean? I called Barbara Hansen and she told me to come over and have a cup of coffee. I bet she won't make that mistake again - I had morning coffee, noon lunch, afternoon beauty shop (we both got our hair fixed), and I was just leaving when Erland came home. I think she enjoyed the day as much as I though.

[Still no mention of that broken feather duster. I might be in the clear.]

Saturday we really had fun - the Sivells had invited us over. We got there about 2 o'clock and didn't leave until 10 o'clock. David Wayne had more fun playing in their back yard with their two dogs. He and Mr. Sivell are great "pals" and Mrs. Sivell said her husband had really been looking forward to our visit. She had fixed a wonderful meal for us. (You should have seen David Wayne eat!) After eating, the men played ball in the back yard and I helped (very little) clean up dishes. Then it was too dark to stay outside so we all watched a basketball game on TV - Houston vs. California. Now, I never watch any kind of sports and Dave watches only football, but you should have seen us pulling for the Texas team! During the game, David Wayne played in the floor all by himself - drew pictures, played with their dominoes, and looked at his "Jungle Book" funny book. He really did behave good all day.

[That basketball game they watched wasn't just any old basketball game. It happened to be the very first time a regular season NCAA college basketball game was televised nationwide during prime time. If that's not enough of a big deal, it was also college basketball's game of the century, between the UCLA Bruins and the University of Houston Cougars. Legendary coaches John Wooden vs. Guy Lewis. Legendary players Lew Alcindor (future Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) vs. Elvin Hayes. The game was announced by legendary sportscaster Dick Enberg. #1 ranked UCLA came into the game with a 47-game winning streak (two and a half seasons). #2 ranked Houston was undefeated that season and won this game 71-69.]

[So once again Mom casually mentions a game being watched on TV and it turns out to be a major historical sporting event with its own Wikipedia page.]

Mrs. Sivell really knows how to get along with children - she had gotten some Jiffy Pop popcorn and she let David Wayne fix his own snack. He was delighted. We all three spent a wonderful day and we are going to try and do something very nice for them before we leave L. A. - what? I don't know.

[Jiffy Pop! Jiffy Pop! The magic treat! As much fun to make as it is to eat!]

[Here are links to three low-quality commercials for Jiffy Pop currently on the Youtubes:]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vegPoI0NgdM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVdMA4QHdUU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-An6eaGItk

[Note the Jungle Book connection with that last one.]

[We'll end Part 1 of this letter here.]