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.

October 5, 1967: Q & A

Letter postmarked October 5, 1967 (dated Wednesday):

The CCZCC extends its record-breaking streak to 5.

"Dear Mother and Mike,"

"I was really surprised to get another letter from you today! The one you wrote on Wednesday came here Tuesday (yesterday) and the one you wrote Sunday came here today (Wednesday). From reading your letter yesterday I gathered that I wouldn't be hearing from you for awhile. I surely was happy to get one today!"

[Yep, Mom's making excuses for her "broken arm" comment in the previous letter, blaming it on the US Postal Service.]

"We were surprised about the 47 degree weather. Dave, especially, just couldn't believe it was so cold there."

[That year Denton set a record low temperature for September 28 of 44 degrees, which is about 20 degrees lower than the normal low temperature for the month of September. (Source: http://www.iweathernet.com/texas-dfw-weather-records)]

"The weather is nice and warm here in the daytime and just cool enough for a sweater at night. David Wayne and I have gone back to walking again since it is not so hot. This morning we walked to the grocery store to get ingredients for a chocolate cake, so I don't think the walk will help me much weight-wise."

"Linda Kay wrote and thanked me for the things from Farmer's Market. Sure took a long time to get to Texas. It looks like I will be mailing Christmas packages from here so I better start now. I will try to get a catalog from some stores at Farmer's Market. Last weekend Dave and I mailed a gift to Patsy W. (our neighbor). We got it at Knott's - four jars of jelly and a really cute jam jar - and it cost about $6. They have some cheaper items there also. One unusual item might be a sack of their corn meal - it's really good."

"It is almost certain that we will be here Christmas, but maybe it won't be so bad. We are going to have a Mexican Christmas with a piñata to break, and decorations on the tree from Olvera Street. If you have any other ideas that we could use, let me know - it is going to take a lot of imagination to make both Davids happy at Christmas this year."

[It sounds like Mom and Dad are going to try to make of the best of things despite being in Los Angeles for Christmas. All I need is toys. Lots of toys. And candy.]

"We are going to have a lot of pictures to show all of you when we get home, but I don't know about sending many. We took one of David Wayne at the observatory with a plan of sending it to you, but it turned out so cute that Dave wanted to keep it. Every time he looks at our album he just beams when he gets to that one. I wish you could see how proud he is of this new camera. And David Wayne is such a ham that we can get him to do anything in order to have his picture taken. We'll send you some next week after visiting Disneyland again."

[I wonder if the previously posted picture of me pointing to the center of the earth is the one Dad really liked.]

"By the way, thank you for the picture and article of Mike. David Wayne recognized Mike right away from the newspaper. There is a new name for Mike - Knucklehead - from a television show. It was first given to his daddy, but we told him it wasn't nice to call an adult a name. So you just inform Mike that he isn't an adult yet - at least not to his nephew!"

[I wonder if I was already watching The Three Stooges at that age. That's definitely one of the first TV shows I remember watching repeatedly.]

"David Wayne is sitting on the floor right now making a book with the animal pictures. I didn't tell him how to do it - just gave him paper. He has put all the birds on one page, fish on another, etc. If he isn't a genius, like you have always claimed he was, he soon will be - we are going through the "questions" stage. Good Lord! Dave and I need three encyclopedias to answer him."

[My four-year-old grandson has begun the questions stage. So far I can usually answer his questions or give a semi-bogus answer that's so long he gets bored and moves on to something else.]

"We watched "The Devil at 4 O'Clock" on TV the other night, and since, we have been besieged with questions of volcanoes, lava, earthquakes, etc. I never realized I was so dumb."

["The Devil at 4 O'Clock" was a 1961 movie starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra, in which a crusty, eccentric priest recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano. (Hence my sudden fascination with volcanoes, lava and earthquakes.) Much of the movie was filmed in Hawaii in 1960, and Frank Sinatra would spend his mornings flying around the islands drumming up votes for John F. Kennedy in the upcoming presidential election. Kennedy narrowly won Hawaii by 115 votes.]

"Between David Wayne watching cartoons and getting ideas for questions and Dave drooling over Elizabeth Taylor ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), I wish our television set would break down."

[Elizabeth Taylor would have been 24 or 25 years old when "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was being filmed. She wore mostly lingerie and low-cut dresses in the movie.]

"Another big mistake I made was buying a globe for David Wayne. I had to go out and buy myself a geography book so I could answer all his questions. He's made up a game with it - he picks out a place on the globe to visit, then asks me (ME! of all people) what will he see there and what will the weather be like, then he goes outside for a few minutes and comes back in with glowing accounts of what he saw and did."

[That's hilarious (and nice) that Mom bought a book to answer my geography questions. Little did she know that I was training her for when she taught social studies many years later.]

"The status of my health is great - never felt better. Don't tell Linda Kay that because I imagine she feels pretty bad now with only four weeks to go. Be sure to let me know how Wayne stands up in the labor room. I am debating on whether or not to lock Dave out of that particular phase. You would be amazed to see how big my tummy is already - I may just have another "baby elephant."

[I weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces at birth, and I was rather chunky in my baby photos. Here are a couple to prove my point. The first one was taken in July of 1963, when I was one year old. I'm sitting on my grandmother's front porch in Denton.]

[You can't read it in that photo, but I zoomed in on another photo in the album to see that the front of my overalls say "Be My Valentine."]

[The next photo was taken (well, developed, anyway) five months later. I'm standing on the front porch of my great-grandparents' house in Alabama.]

[I was too sexy for my shirt even at a very young age.]

"I am reading "To Sir, With Love" and I really like it. Well, I will close for now. Write as often as you can and I can understand if work keeps you busy. Wish I could help you."

"Love, Linda"

"P. S. - Pat Neal informs me that Joan G. is living in Florida. Pat and Rob went to Jamaica this past summer and "free-loaded" on Joan while they were in Florida waiting on plane connections."

October 2, 1967: Wet sandals, haunted donkey

Letter postmarked October 2, 1967 (Part 1):

The CCZCC now stands at 4.

"Dear Mother and Mike,"

"Both of you must have broken arms - we didn't get a letter from you last week! About Wednesday Dave started asking each afternoon, "Did we get a letter from your mother?" We only got three letters all last week and we were beginning to think everybody had forgotten us."

[There's that funny bit about the broken arm again from Mom. We'll see if she has to backtrack in the next letter like she did the last time.]

[That's neat that Dad was looking forward to the letters from my grandmother. As I've mentioned before, she was a very good writer.]

[So Mom got three letters in a week and still thought everyone had forgotten about us? I wonder how many she typically received each week to have such high expectations.]

"I got a letter from Myrna today and she said they were going to move out of state in a year. She also said Aunt Edna was upset about it and claims she's going back to Kansas. Bless their hearts! I was glad all over again that we are going to have more than the one little chick. In fact, Dave is already talking about having the next one (one after April, that is.) I think I have over-played my part on how easy it is for me to be pregnant. Last week he even stayed up past 10 o'clock to see "Cheaper by the Dozen!"

[Hold on, stop the presses. Dad was already talking about Child #3 before the arrival of Child #2? Wow, that's interesting. Also, we learn here that Mom is due in April. No spoilers on how that prediction turned out.]

["Cheaper by the Dozen" was a movie released in 1950 based on the book by the same name published in 1948. (Most of us are more familiar with the 2003 movie with the same name.) The book was about the family of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, who not only had 12 children (one died at the age of five) but were also time and motion study and efficiency experts. I guess you pretty much have to be efficient with that many kids.]

[Fun Fact: The title of the book came from one of Frank Gilbreth's favorite jokes: When he and his family were out driving and stopped at a red light, quite often a pedestrian would ask, "Hey, Mister! How come you got so many kids?" Frank would pretend to ponder the question carefully and then, just as the light turned green, he would say, "Well, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know," and drive off. Ha ha. Dad humor. <snort>]

"We are all three enjoying our new Polaroid. The film is costing a small fortune, (we are taking about four rolls per week) but we enjoy going places even more when we can take good pictures. I love to see Dave enjoy something so much and David Wayne is such a ham that he's a pleasure to photograph."

"We are revisiting all the places that we have been just so we can take the pictures. Saturday we went back to Knott's again. We love it there and we always see and do different things. This time we took the coal mine ride - David Wayne made sure his daddy sat on the side where he got drenched going under the waterfall!"

[Yet another trip to Knott's Berry Farm. This is trip number 5 for those of you keeping track, and it gives us an opportunity to present some more ephemera and photos from there. First we have the front and back of some child tickets (5-1/2" x 2-1/2") to the Calico Mine Ride, which have the story of Pete "Sluice Box" McGee who allegedly started digging into Calico Mountain in 1882 and found all sorts of gigantic caverns, stalactites, underground lakes, and gold. Pete was tragically killed in 1890 by a cave-in. Enjoy the ride, kids!]

[When the Calico Mine Ride opened in 1960 it was recognized as one of the world's most immersive "dark rides," meaning it is primarily an indoor ride that simulates some journey or experience, in this case a trip through a coal mine. It's still a popular attraction today, having been refurbished in 2014. Mom and I had apparently ridden this ride before without Dad, and I must have remembered which side of the car got wet so I sneakily made sure Dad sat on that side. I'm sure I was absolutely giddy with excitement waiting for that part of the ride. Here's a picture of me and Dad in front of the Calico Mine Ride.]

[This appears to have been taken before Dad got drenched on the ride. In the background you can see what may be the guilty waterfall, and on Dad's left wrist you can see his watch that probably wasn't water resistant. Dad was not holding a cigarette in this picture, but if you zoom in you can see my belly sticking out from under my shirt.]

[Apparently Mom and Dad were spending so much money on Polaroid film that they couldn't afford to buy me some clothes that fit.]

"We all went through the "Haunted Shack" and we took the Stagecoach ride - scared David Wayne to death when we got held up - and we went to the show featuring the Wagonmasters. First western music we've heard since getting here. They (Wagonmasters) asked if there was anyone from Texas in the audience and all three of us went wild yelling and clapping. Then our host very gallantly welcomed us to the United States. Oh - embarrassment!"

[I'd be the Wagonmasters played both kinds of music, country _and_ western.]

[Here are the front and back of the tickets to The Haunted Shack (3-1/2" x 7".]

[If you remember Casa Magnetica at Six Flags over Texas, then you know what The Haunted Shack was at Knott's Berry Farm. It's not a "ride" per se, but rather a small building you walk though while a guide demonstrates and discusses the various gravity-defying things that happen within the walls of Slanty Sam's Shack. I was probably fooled as a five-year-old but I know I had Casa Magnetica figured out soon after we started going to Six Flags.]

[The holdup on the Stagecoach ride must have been a bit more realistic than the one on the train Mom and I experienced during a previous trip to Knott's. So much for being a clever kid with a good memory.]

"David Wayne went on the donkey ride, too. We took your suggestion and bought some corn meal and we bought some pancake mix (just add H2O) and boysenberry pancake syrup."

[Here is a picture of me on the donkey, leading the pack, followed by a closeup of me in that same photo where I'm looking a little chubby.]

"Saturday night we went to Olvera Street and ate Mexican food again - I dare not tell Dave that the greasy food doesn't agree with me and that's why I can't eat all of it. Dave found a good buy on some Mexican shoes - they have a name but I can't pronounce it much less spell it!"

[I'll go ahead and break into the middle this paragraph and inform the reader that those shoes were huaraches. The English pronunciation is "wuh-rah-chee." Traditional huaraches are handmade sandals with woven uppers. I remember Dad wearing them sometimes when I was growing up, and that's probably what I'm wearing in the picture of me standing outside our apartment building that I posted on August 25. There's a good chance you've heard them mentioned in the first stanza of a certain Beach Boys song that was released in 1963:

You'd see 'em wearing their baggies
Huarache sandals, too
A bushy bushy blonde hairdo
Surfin' USA

[Ok, back to you, Mom.]

"Anyway the shoes are real soft and most comfortable. We thought (if you would do a little spy work for us) that this might be an idea for Christmas for Linda and Wayne. I know Linda loves sandals and I thought Wayne might enjoy wearing them around the house. See if you can get their sizes, on the sly of course. A funny thing happened with the shoe buying - they were too small so we had to go back Sunday and get a larger size. Dave was a little perturbed when he found out the man had sold him women's size 9 instead of men's! He said about three times, "It wasn't that dark!"

[This is a good point to conclude Part 1 of this letter. In Part 2 (tomorrow) we'll see what happened on Sunday.]

September 26, 1967: What an invention!

Letter postmarked (and dated) September 26, 1967:

The CCZCC now stands at 3.

"Dear Mother,"

"Just a note to inform you of our latest buying spree. A Polaroid camera - less than $100, but not much less. Dave is just like a kid with it and says over and over, "What an invention!" David Wayne is still a big ham and he is really enjoying the posing. I am enclosing a picture of David Wayne with his bank collection and his turtle, Snappy. We all are enjoying the camera even if it is expensive. Oh well, we needed to go on a diet anyway!"

[Too bad I don't have that picture Mom sent in this letter.]

[Ok, let's assume Mom was exaggerating and the price of the Polaroid camera was only $70. That is still about $511 in 2017 dollars. Every $10 above that in 1967 is an additional $73 in today's money. So, wow, Dad really spent a lot of money on that camera, like spending between $500 and $700 today. It sounds like he really enjoyed it, so that's good. And I know for certain it was put to good use.]

[I don't know how long Dad had that particular Polaroid camera, but it seems like he always had one while we were growing up. I know he had a Polaroid at least into the mid 1980s because whenever one of my sisters would be picked up at the house for the first time by a new date, Dad would take their picture together. Since it was a Polaroid camera, they had to wait for it to develop so they knew Dad had a picture of them before they left the house. Just in case . . .]

"Speaking of weight . . . I went to the doc yesterday and I hadn't gained an ounce. Dave looks more pregnant than I do or even will in seven months. A big flu (Asian variety) epidemic is in store this year, so the doctor gave me and David Wayne a flu shot and Dave has to get one, too. My infection looks a lot better so the good doctor says. The flu shots will cost $30 so it's about time I had some good news."

[I guess the Asian flu is nothing new.]

[Yes, my dad always seemed to have a belly on him, not real big, but a belly nonetheless. You may have noticed it in some of the pictures already posted. But he definitely wasn't a big guy by any means. I guess all his extra weight was just concentrated in one spot.]

"Keep Mike in line, work as little as you can get by with, and write soon."

"Love,
Linda"

"P. S. - I bought a photo album this morning, but I don't think I can put the pictures in as fast as Dave takes them! I also bought David Wayne a world globe this morning. He is having a good time with it and can already find Los Angeles and Dallas."

September 24, 1967: Got pics?

Diary entry for September 24, 1967:

We bought more film then went to La Brea Tar Pits and took pictures. Then we drove to Santa Monica Beach and took more pictures. Came home and took more pictures to send to family.

Based on the clothing worn by me and my parents it looks like seven pictures from today's trips to La Brea Tar Pits and Santa Monica Beach made it into the photo album, and I have already posted two of them. Those two were posted on August 28, and they are both from La Brea Tar Pits. One was just a lake of tar with an elephant statue in the background, and the other one was the picture of me and Mom, with Mom's awesome hairdo. Here is the one of me and Mom to refresh your memory. You'll need this for reference later.

Luckily for you loyal readers I am in all five of the remaining pictures from this day, so you get to see them all. We'll start with the La Brea Tar Pits series since we went there first, and then we'll look at the ones from Santa Monica Beach.

Here is another picture of me and Mom at La Brea Tar Pits, obviously in the same outfits as the previous photo.

I like to zoom in on these photos to look for interesting details. In the upper left of this photo you'll see what I'm calling a grassy knoll (hey, I'm from Dallas). If you zoom in on that area you'll see four well-dressed people sitting on a bench.

Why is that bench positioned such that the tree is right in front of it?

Next up is a picture of me and Dad at La Brea Tar Pits.

When I zoomed in on this one the detail I noticed was the cigarette in Dad's right hand.

I don't think Dad put quite as much effort as Mom did into dressing up for Picture Day.

Now let's go to Santa Monica Beach, 45 minutes away if you take Wilshire Blvd. First up is me in a tree.

If you look closely you may notice that I'm not smiling in that one like I am in the others. I think I was in a bit of a precarious position, barely keeping myself from falling forward with both of my arms fully extended and my right arm slightly behind me. Poor kid.

"Oh please, hurry up and take the picture so I can get down from here."

Also, how in the heck did my left sock get so dirty, and in that pattern? It wasn't that dirty in the pictures from La Brea Tar Pits.


Next is a picture of me and Dad with the beach in the background.

For those of you playing "Where's the cigarette?" it's in Dad's left hand this time.

Last is a picture of me and Mom with the beach in the background, probably only a few yards from where Dad and I were standing.

Before moving forward, let's take another look at the first picture of this post, the closeup of me and Mom at La Brea Tar Pits taken earlier that same day.

Now look at the beach photo of me and Mom again. Notice anything different? I'll zoom in to show you my favorite part of the beach photo. Look at Mom's hair and her body language.

That cracked me up when I first noticed it. I can just imagine her writing letters in the morning, then we had lunch, then she got dressed up and spent who knows how long doing her hair and makeup before we went to La Brea Tar Pits. Then we spent who knows how long looking for good picture spots, then we drove 45 minutes to Santa Monica Beach and spent who knows how long looking for good picture spots there. The darkness of the beach photos may or may not have been due to the time of day, but she was definitely not her perky made-up self in that last picture. This is one of those times where I would love to be able to ask her "What were you thinking while Dad was taking this picture?" Here's my guess: "I'm pregnant, my back hurts from standing for pictures all day, my hair's a mess due to this wind, and it's getting dark. I want to go home."

September 23, 1967: The camera

Diary entry for September 23, 1967:

Stayed home most of day. We bought a Polaroid camera on the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Ed and Joyce, Jimmy H. and Marsha came by before they went to ball game. We took pictures.

As Mom mentioned in the September 19 letter, Dad wanted to buy a Polaroid camera due to a lack of success taking photos up to this point. Hopefully this one was purchased at a retail establishment at the corner of Hollywood and Vine and not from some street vendor. (Hey, wanna buy a camera?) We can expect lots of pictures going forward, but unfortunately we don't have any of today's visitors for some reason.

Now we know why Ed and Joyce Kubala were in town this week. It was to attend the Texas vs. USC football game. Both teams were ranked in the top 10, and USC won 17-13. (The offensive coordinator for Texas was future head coach Fred Akers.) Texas finished the season third in the Southwest Conference. USC, on the other hand, went on to be consensus national champions, no doubt helped along the way by a junior running back named O. J. Simpson.