Sears and Roebuck stores were the place to shop when growing as a kid and the place I got my first line of credit in 1968 buying a beautiful wood stereo radio console with a turntable included!
The store in my city had 3 floors with an elevator that took you to living room furniture, bed and bath, electronics, appliances, and the store even had an auto service in back of the store!
I even went there in the 50’s with my Mother to see Santa and give him my list! Sadly Sears had to request bankruptcy in October 2018 and Sears announced on January 16, 2019 that it had won its bankruptcy auction and would shrink and remain open with about 400 stores.
Happy Birthday To Elvis Presley today! Elvis was born on Jan, 8th 1935in Tupelo, Mississippi.
I’m glad to say I was there when he began was on the radio with songs like, Love Me Tender, Don’t be cruel, Teddy Bear,
Jailhouse Rock and saw the movies at the time He was Rocking the Country, What great Rock and Roll Artists and Groupes there were 1950s!
Elvis Home
Elvis was born in this house in 1935In Tupelo, Mississippi. built by his father, Vernon Elvis Presley, in preparation for the birth. In November 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis received only a C in music in eighth grade. When his music teacher told him that he had no aptitude for singing, he brought in his guitar the next day and sang a recent hit, “Keep Them Cold Icy Fingers Off Me”, in an effort to prove otherwise.
Elvis signing autographs
During his junior year, Elvis Presley began to stand out more among his classmates, largely because of his appearance: he grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. he competed in Humes’s Annual “Minstrel” show in April 1953. Singing and playing guitar, he opened
with “till I Waltz again with you”, a recent hit for “Teresa Brewer” Presley recalled that the performance did much for his reputation:
“I wasn’t popular in school … I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show … when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, ’cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became after that. The rest is history as you may know..
Back in the winters and summers of the1950’s my father worked part time around the corner tavern, and every once in a while he would wake me at 6:am and say, Do you want to come with me I have to open up and get the tavern ready for the day? I said ok so as we opened up he would say to me, take this flashlight and look under the wood plank on the floor behind the bar and any money you find you can keep I’m like wow a treasure hunt!
So I did just that and after about 30 minutes or so I added up my finds and at times it would add up to a couple of dollars, and a kid could buy a bit of candy then as most were 2 for a penny, and soda a dime or less, chips were about 5 cents, ice cream about 5 cents so you get the point I’m making here.
Yes what a treat it was to have 2 dollars at one time then you felt like you were rich! The money was gone in like no time because you would wind up buying things just so you can. And there were times I would go the 5 and dime store “Woolworth’s” just about 3 blocks from my house and once there I had a pick of things as the prices were low enough to buy a Duncan yo-yo, or a water pistol, a hi-bouncer ball, from Spalding and a number of other great little toys and gadgets and still have enough for candy!
Back in the 1950s, when my Brothers and Sisters and I woke on Christmas morning after a restless sleep like millions of other kids, there before us was a sight like no other! Let me explain, first on Christmas eve we went to bed without a tree, with just those visions of sugar plums in our heads so the saying goes.
Then we would wake on Christmas morning with a decorated tree with those old bright-colored lights, and a couple sets of bubble lights and the gifts were laided out before us because Santa never wrapped gifts so we were told and he always carefully placed them under the tree without us ever knowing of course! Oh how I loved sitting by the tree just staring at those sparkling bubble lights!
Over the years my father would send 2 of the older kids out on Christmas eve to a tree lot to pick out the best of what was left of them by that time of day the tree lot man wanted to get rid of what was left, and you could get a tree for $3.00! and if you were lucky a good size one at that!
Here is the great Betty White in her show from the 1950’s “Date With The Angels” I do remember watching the “Betty White Show” another show she starred in and may have seeen this episode but I was a kid so can’t recall it.
I did view this awhile ago and thought you might like to view it. It’s a nice little Christmas episode. So enjoy!
Back in December of 1956 I was 9 years old and one early one day in December, my Sister came home from the store and woke me up and said, Mike the Cop was outside with the other kids and he was taking them all to the movie theater for a Christmas show with Christmas movies, and a chance to win prizes!
I got dressed fast as I could and ran outside and Mike was about 2 houses away with the kids they were a little older than me and they didn’t want me to go with them to the show.
But Mike said, no! he’s allowed to come with us and so I went, we walked up to the theater about 25 blocks from my house, we always walked around then so it never bothered us. The show was fun to say the least.
We saw 2 movies then the theater manager would come out on stage and we would sing holiday music as I remember, then he would hold a raffle for the prizes and whomever had the winning ticket got to take home a great prize most of the time it was a new bike! Once my Cousin won a bike at one of the shows and rode it all the way home with a big smile on his face!
This was fun to do in the 1960s, it was a new dance craze that caught on like fire! I remember it well I never did learn how to do it but a few friends I knew could work it.
It was a great time fot dance crazes There was the Pony dance and others I will post later on when I come back as this is a test entry again to try out this new editor.
test posting
This is me when I was a kid at 10 years old not, really but it is very close I had redish hair with freckles and on summer days I wore polo shirts like this and had a blast as a kid. You can view more about my photo on the button link below.
I don’t have any other photos of me as a kid only one I have posted with my cousin, and a friend and me on the porch in 1957..
My sister took the photo after coming back from the candy store around the block from my house, I’m the one eating the Italian Ice on top left :
