20080130

Route 66 - Here's Yer Sign: BURMA SHAVE!

From the birth of the car and the open road Americans have been in love with their rides - "America's Love Affair With Cars" in an original image of mine from the Road Trip - Signs of Life Series at PopArtDiva.com. Available as archival prints and on canvas in various sizes.
If you're a baby boomer and ever took one of those family car trips you will probably remember the famous BURMA SHAVE signs. During the era of The Mother Road, more popularly known as Route 66, road side advertising was in it's heyday along with road side diners and motels.
Probably the most well known and well loved ads (before the Apple superbowl ads of this generation or the Pepsi and Coke ads of the 70s and 80s) were the Burma Shave signs. They were set about 100 feet apart and were red signs with white letters, each single sign featured one line each of a four line limmerick and then one last sign saying "Burma Shave".
As a kid riding in a hot '55 Chevy with my folks, my older sister and my annoying older brother, these signs (and a stop at Stuckey's for a pecan praline!) were the height of what was usually a miserable car trip. With my sister's whines about having to pee every 5 seconds, my brother's annoying habit of passing gas in an already stuffy car, my Mom making me piddle in a Folger's coffee can, my Dad's pipe smoke and my up-chucking from motion sickness, the Burma Shave signs were a bright spot in my memories of family motorized vacations!

Here's a few of those classics that will bring back some memories and a chuckle or two:
DROVE TOO LONG
DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
IS NOT AMUSING
------------------
BROTHER SPEEDER
LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING NURSE
------------------
CAUTIOUS RIDER
TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND MORE STEER
------------------
SPEED WAS HIGH
WEATHER WAS NOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT
------------------
THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A WARMER
HEMISPHERE
------------------
AROUND THE CURVE
LICKETY-SPLIT
ITS A BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?
------------------
NO MATTER THE PRICE
NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOU
------------------
A GUY WHO DRIVES
A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPIN'
------------------
AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT ITS HARD TO PLAY
------------------
BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL
DRIVER'S CODE
------------------
THE ONE WHO DRIVES WHEN
HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING
------------------
CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
------------------
PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW
------------------
AND HERE'S MY FAVORITE OF ALL:

DON'T LOOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
-----------------
I would like to propose one of the first new road signs for the Technology Generation:

20080128

The Hula Hoop is Dead - Long Live the Wii?

My artistic tribute to the things of my childhood, "Welcome to Doodyville" Click to learn some fun trivia about Howdy! You can find this Tribute and more on my Dedications Page at PopArtDiva.com

In the news for those of us who loved Mickey Mouse, Captain Kangaroo, had a Barbie or a Radio Flyer, carried our P,B & J to school in a Howdy Doody lunch box and loved the Hula Hoop.

If you're in the baby boomer age group you will, no doubt, remember Hula Hoops, Frisbees, SuperBalls and the company that gave them to us, Wham-O. Sadly, we have lost one of the talented minds behind those crazes. Richard Knerr passed away on Monday, January 16th in his home in Arcadia, California, at age 82.

These toys spanned the decades of the fifties, sixties and seventies, bringing joy, exercise and just plain hours of fun to the children of those eras. Along with Arthur Melin, his partner in the business of frivolity, Knerr brought us many other favorite toys including the Water Wiggly (remember that crazy sprinkler head?), the Slip 'N Slide (it made your back yard into a water park!), Silly String (still loved by children of all ages!) and a host of other goofy, fun toys.

In 1958 Wham-O introduced the Hula Hoop, a craze that swept the nation. I had one and I'm sure you did too - or at least you borrowed one from a friend. I spent hours swinging my hips and wiggling my tooshie attempting to keep this plastic ring circling for as long as possible. I even had the temerity to attempt to do this with multiple Hula Hoops! It was the perfect toy for the era. It's proper use would give you the same swing and sway of Elvis the Pelvis, the motion it created was in perfect harmony with the rock and roll bebop music that blarred out from American Bandstand and assaulted the neighborhood from our transistor radios!

This simple circle of hollow plastic swept the nation, sellling over 100 million hoops by 1960. The Hula Hoop is still the standard by which the success of any craze is measured, but did you know that Wham-O's final profits on the hoop ended up at only $10,000 due to the lack of business savvy of the new company?

The Frisbee, however, was another story. Originally dubbed the "Pluto Platter" by it's inventor, Frederick Morrison, this pie shaped disk, that would forever remind us of the flying saucers from fifties sci-fi seriels, was purchased by Wham-O in 1955, redesigned for better aerodynamics, and sailed into American Pop Culture on the winds of the imagination of kids, college students, and contest promoters.

The generation that baby boomers grew up in was a much simpler time and the toys we enjoyed complemented our unsophisticated tastes. We were truly kids in those days - naive, trusting, ingenuous and joyfully exploring the world. Our tastes and our toys reflected our times. We knew how to have some fun, by golly!

There was an attempt to bring back the Hula Hoop, scented with peppermint (why peppermint?) in 1982. It failed. Maybe because those unpretentious times were gone and along with them went the understanding and love of uncomplicated toys. The children of today cannot be seduced by simple rings of plastic or humble flying discs. Their playtime thrives in a cyber playground of flashing images and electronic beeps and a virtual world of Game Boy.

Maybe we will see the return of the Hula Hoop on a Wii platform! Then you and I can go back and revisit the days of our youth in virtual reality. Who says you can't go back again?

Read the New York Times article on Richard Knerr and Wham-O

Dear Mr. Knerr, thanks for all the great playtime! I am picturing the heavens swaying in the clouds with 100 milllion hula hoops in motion.

20080123

Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?



I was listening to The Beatles tune "When I'm 64" today and it got me to thinking - always a dangerous thing. I realized that the first time I heard that song I was 14 years old. Paul McCartney was 15 when he wrote the music (he later added the lyrics in honor of his father's 64th birthday.)

Paul McCartney is nearly 66, a few years past age 64. I am now 57 and creeping up on 64. Somehow, somewhere a lot of years went by when I was busy doing something else.

To me it was just a short while ago that I was mooning over Paul, putting on bell bottomed hip huggers, ironing my hair so it would be long and straight, painting my lips white and getting ready to see "Yellow Submarine", but that was

ONCE UPON A TIME, BEFORE I WAS 64

(An Ode to the Teeny-Bopper I used to be)

We wore hip huggers, love beads, and had long hair,
rolled doobies and burned incense to "clear" the air.
We had love-ins and turn-ons and rallys for peace,
while our peers were off fighting in the very Far East.
The radio played tunes from Beatles to Stones,
while we turned on and tuned out the establishment clones.
Where once we were young - so defiant and bold,
We now watch the world pass and we do as we're told.
And isn't it sad we don't still have that fire,
That changed the world with just a desire?
Forty years later I want to know, "will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64?"

20080111

POLITICAL POSTERS - NOW AND THEN

I got this in an e-mail from a friend yesterday and it cracked me up. I wish I had thought of it and done it! It's an very funny parody on our current Presidential race. (I do not know who created this parody - I wish I did. Anyone that creative and funny is someone I would like to know!)

What is more interesting to me is what this image says about the current mindset of American voters. We are not our parents, we no longer have total faith or trust in our government and we are a generation that is used to protesting and airing our views.

Compare this to the World War II posters that abounded during the forties. Do you remember the phrase "Loose Lips Sink Ships"? How about "Uncle Sam Wants You!"

If you're a baby boomer you are familiar with these patriotic mottos and the artwork that appeared all over this country to inspire a patriotic ferver. You will recognize the Uncle Sam - it's the most famous patriotic poster in history. Have you ever seen this Norman Rockwell poster?








There were hundreds of posters generated by the Office of War and these are just a few. The images are linked to pertinent pages and you will find the information fascinating and a wonderful lesson in the history of World War II.

More to point, you will see a visual change in the political views of the Americans of yesterday versus those of today.

This is not the America of the 1940s and we are not the Americans of our parents generation. We are a sadder yet wiser nation. We are not innocent and we are not easily swayed.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I do not know. I wish we could have lived in simpler times, when black was black and white was white and we were right, God Bless America. Our parents knew who the enemy was. We are not so sure anymore.

20080110

All I wanted for my birthday was a Schwinn!

My birthday is this Monday. I will be 57 years old. When you reach the half century mark and beyond, birthdays are a time for memories. A gift from Bev Mahone of the Baby Boomer Divas Group (this adorable banana seat bike ornament, complete with teeny playing card and clothes pin!) stimulated some thoughts of birthday presents past.

Fifty years ago all I wanted for my birthday was a brand new, bright blue Schwinn bicycle with thin tires. I was the youngest of three children and, as was often the case in fifties families, I got a lot of hand-me-downs. One of those was my older brother's beat-up red bicycle. It was rusty, it didn't have cool ribbons that would flutter in the breeze, it had old-fashioned fat tires and it was a boy's bike! I wanted my own, gleaming speed demon to terrorize the neighborhood with!

I could picture it in my mind - complete with horn, shiny ribbons draping from the handles and a basket on the front for all my most special possessions. I was already hording a deck of cards and some spring loaded clothes pins so the bike would make that cool sound as I pedaled the mean streets of Kansas!

As my birthday grew closer, and my spying had been unsuccessful in revealing any hint of a new bike, I began to worry that my new ride was not going to be forthcoming. Sadly, I was right - I did not get my new bike for my birthday. We were not "made of money" as my mother would say. "You have a perfectly good bicycle to ride. You need new school clothes more." And so on my 7th birthday, half a century ago this Monday, I spent my birthday unhappily wearing new clothes and riding an old bike to school.

I have learned a lot in those fifty years, half a century can bring a certain amount of wisdom. I have learned to live with disappointments. I have learned it is not easy to survive in this world, let alone have all the luxuries one desires. And I have learned that my mother was right about many things. Mom, if you're listening from beyond the vale, I'm sorry I was such a brat about that bike. I'm sorry I ruined your enjoyment of the gifts you gave me. I wish I could have one more birthday with you so I could tell you how much I love you and appreciate all you did for me. Oh, and one more thing, because of all you taught me I am able to buy my own bikes and stuff now.

20080105

DID YOU KNOW? The very first ice cream mix-in!












This image is my artistic ode to penny candies that I knew and loved as a child called "Why Baby Boomers Need Dentures"

I have a gigantic sweet tooth and right now I am eating a hot fudge sundae with lots of chocolate jimmies. It got me to thinking about retro candies and ice cream when I was a kid.

Did you know the very first ice cream mix-in was Rocky Road? Yup, developed by Edy's Grand (aka Dreyers), and the marshmallows had to be cut by hand with scissors because there was no automated equipment designed for the task in those days! Wonder who cut up the nuts????

Another interesting ice cream fact from pop culture - Baskin Robbins/31 Flavors marketed their brand by creating a different ice cream flavor for every day of the month - hence, 31 Flavors!

Here's a nice little historic tidbit for those of you who love soft serve. Soft serve was created by accident when a vehicle breakdown occurred - Caravella (aka Carvel) took what could have been a small disaster and turned it into an American treat!

So, there you have it - a slightly sticky post inspired by a sugar rush!









For those of you who subscribed to my posts via e-mail recently:
  • You may have gotten a subscription to another of my blogs
  • I messed up and put in the wrong code on some of my blogs
  • I am an ashamed Diva
  • I have fixed this error
  • PLEASE RESUBSCRIBE via the e-mail or rss feed
  • You will now get a subscription to THIS blog
  • I'm an idiot and I'm sorry!
  • You may beat me with a blogging stick 50 times
  • Okay, I said 50 times - you can stop now!
  • I will forgo chocolate for the entire day to make amends!
Seriously, I am very sorry for this mistake and hope you will forgive me and continue to visit. I value each and every visitor and subscriber to my blogs, and I will endeavor to bring you fun, informative and delicious DIVA content without error in the future.

Terri, aka PopArtDiva, The Martini Diva, The DIVA of TINY FOODS ,The Normal Challenged Artist, The DIVA of DIVAVILLE

20080103

FIFTY YEARS OF CHANGE FROM A FIFTIES RAISED FIFTY YEAR OLD

SOCK HOP, BE BOP - MY FINE ART TRIBUTE TO THE FIFTIES - THE DECADE OF MOM, APPLE PIE, ELVIS, LUCY, ROCK AND ROLL AND INNOCENCE!

It's a New Year - 2008 to be exact for those of you who have lost track. And, as always, I find myself looking backwards to the past as I contemplate the future and what it has in store for me. As a fifty-something baby boomer, these are some of the things that I see the most change in:
  • Technology - who would have thought that in the span of my lifetime (57 years on January 14th!) that we would all have cell phones that were inspired by Dick Tracy's watch and the communicator on Star Trek? That TVs would be flatter than my stomach? That we would send e-mails and stamps would be going the way of the dinosaur?
  • Music - I was born during the Rock and Roll Era - Elvis, The Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and learned to dance to the Beatles, the Stones and The Who. I'm not too sure how to dance to rap - can you dance to rap?
  • Housing - could you have predicted that the simple tract house you bought 30 years ago would now be owned by a millionaire????? Because no matter who owns that house now it's probably worth close to a million bucks in many areas of the country!
  • Cars - Nope, the only thing that has really changed there is the price of them and the cost to keep them running - where's my Hovermobile???????
  • Manners - by that I mean, simple courtesy and patience for the other beings who you come in contact with. Manners have all but disappeared and it's a crying shame. Manners make human interaction a much more pleasant and positive experience. My mother used to say "Don't say anything if you don't have anything nice to say!" What good advice that still is. Could we try it again?
Do you have anything to add? What's changed most in your view? Send this post out and let your friends add to it - let's see what the world has to say about 50+ years of change. (That little envelope below the post will allow you to e-mail it to anyone, btw!). Check out some cool fifties stuff at Amazon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - It's a Brave New World out there! And now a little video to take you back down Memory Lane: