Recollections

In the 50’s, we earned money by collecting bottles.  Most bottles had a redemption value and we kept ourselves in soda pop and candy bars by hauling boxes of bottles to the local markets to collect our bounty.  Scavenging golf balls from errant shots and reselling them was also a steady source of revenue as was mowing lawns and, in season, selling mistletoe door to door.  Mistletoe is a parasite and was abundant in the trees where we lived.

It was the time of Gene and Eddy and the birth of Rock & Roll.  Elvis, Jerry Lee, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Fats Domino, are just a few of the early stars of those days, pumping out 45’s at a rate designed to keep a young boy in the poorhouse.  A 45 rpm record cost about a dollar at the Tower Records store near the corner of 15^th and Broadway.  Tower Records was attached to the Tower Theater and is the birthplace of the Tower Records we know today.  The records were in paper sleeves and after selecting the one you wanted to hear, you would take it into a booth, put it on a turntable, and voila, music.  Little did we know how all this would change so radically.

One of the major changes during the 50’s was the introduction of Jet aircraft for passenger travel.  The Boeing 707 came into use in 1958 and slowly replaced the 4 engine, propeller driven, Constellation that was the leading passenger carrier at the time.  I’m sure there are many of us who can remember sitting on the runway for what seemed like an eternity while the pilot warmed up the engines.  I remember my amazement when I first flew in a jet and the pilot barely aligned himself with the runway before he applied full throttle and we were off!  Such a little thing, but such a noticeable difference.

Contrary to popular lore, the music did not die in an Iowa cornfield that day in February 1959.  Nor did it die a year later in April 1960 when Eddie Cochran met his Waterloo when he and “Bad Boy” Gene Vincent were in an automobile accident while touring England.  Like everything else, the music only changed.  Further change was apparent when the gaudy “Fins” and chrome on automobiles faded away along with “whitewall” tires, fender skirts, hood ornaments, and  “Continental Kits.” 

The transistor was invented about this time, and it wasn’t long before it replaced most of the old vacuum tubes in radios, televisions and all things electronic.  The Japanese were quick to take advantage of the new technology by producing some of the world’s first transistor radios.  A typical one was about the size of a cigar box (another relic of the times) and because it could run on batteries, it was portable.  My first one was a red leather encased “Emerson.”  Small compact tape recorders soon followed.

In the 50’s, Japanese products had a horrible reputation for cheapness and shoddy workmanship, much like the Chinese products have today.  It was so bad that the Japanese actually renamed one of their manufacturing centers “USA” (pronounced like Yoosa) and then stamped “Made in USA” on their products in an attempt to deceive the American market.  It didn’t work but by the time the first Datsuns and Toyotas started showing up over here, the Japanese had gotten their act together and became leaders in quality control.

Even with all the new technological advances, change was not so obvious while we were living it.  Compared to the logarithmic expansion of technology today, it almost seems like we were standing still.