..Memories of walking with a group of friends to Canal Street to catch all the Mardi Gras parades. Back row in the movies at the NOLA theater (when nobody bothered to watch the movie), skating rink in Arabi, Lovers Lane at the Point, Fats Domino's pink car with gold bumpers, Elvis Presley's first appearance at Pontchartrain Beach, the Manuel's Hot Tamale cart, the (Roman Candy) taffy cart with horse drawn carriage passing, St. Roch fish market on St. Claude Avenue, Tiger Drive In, Morrison's Cafeteria in downtown New Orleans with fake balconies and an outdoor atmosphere. Getting all dressed up and going to the Orpheum or Saenger movie theater on a Sunday afternoon with your beau.
Remembering open bedroom windows with a window fan planted in the kitchen that would blow breeze through each window in a shotgun house, your parents forcing you to go to church, getting into a small claustrophobic booth and telling this stranger (priest) all the bad things you did the previous week (THAT WASN'T SUCH A GOOD MEMORY).
I learned to drive on my dad's brand new 1957 Chevy Bel-Air which he paid $1,500 for in those days. He would allow me to take my friends in the car to school games and I would set the radio on WTIX and blast it till the speakers almost blew. I would forget to change the station back before he used it and it would nearly break his ear drums when he started the car. He threatened not to let me drive it anymore, but he always gave in and forgave me. He was the greatest dad.
BOB:
Yeah, those lovely days when every student just knew the streets that bounded
his/her high school. Geez...take us back... before the Bobcats...
BOB:
I've asked around in radio circles and nobody seems to remember this one.
I'll keep trying tho and let you know if I hear anything.
REPLY ON 9/13/04 FROM ROBERT CHANDLER (Baton Rouge):
The 'Charlie Douglas Road Gang' occasionally would do a brief comedy
bit for long-haul truckers. There were lots of gems in there. The one that
'Susan in Indiana' is remembering is a bit called appropriately "The
Old Prospectors." The comedians were a wonderful team called "Hudson
and Landry." They had some LPs out-never saw a CD.. Pity. Also loved
the opening theme to the 'Road Gang.' It was Danny Davis and the Nashville
Brass doing 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown.'
The Great McNutt and Johnny's Follies--I can still see Johnny dancing in front of the curtain in his straw hat and striped jacket and hear the old theme:
"Hail, hail! The gang's all here!
Here at Johnny's Follies, Here at Johnny's Follies
Hail, hail! The gang's all here,
Everybody give a cheer--YAAAAAAY!!!"
And the fragment of the other theme:"It's time to meet---the Great McNutt!"
Mister Bingle--who could forget that show, that song! I still have my Mister Bingle christmas stocking made in 1955--it was not exactly Mr. B but a lady made the snowman to be a dead ringer, and when I was little I BELIEVED it was Bingle--still do<ggg>.
The best brownies in the world--those dainty brownie fingers you could get at MacKenzie's, glazed with chocolate frosting and sprinkled lightly with finely chopped pecans....pardon while I wipe the drool off the keyboard..
Hanging around around noon, outside Preservation Hall. Lots of the players would be sitting outside in the sunshine, drinking a cold Jax and eating a muffalatta and you could hear that divine music drifting into the street.
The wonderful record store at Lakeside--I remember Lakeside was bloody near a trip to Disneyland--nobody in my neck of the woods had ever seen a MALL before! I remember buying my copy of the Woodstock soundtrack there.
Dear, mad MORGUS!!! He was my hero! I always made sure I was home in time to see him on WWL doing the weather forcast, although as a little kid I was kinda scared of Chopsley and E.R.I.C. I used to sneak downstairs and watch "Morgus Presents" when nobody else was around.
Eating Red Bird Peppermint Candy ice cream, made by a small dairy owned by the mayor of Bogalusa--we'd fix a dish while we watched the evening news--I got to stay up long enough to see the nightly cartoon by John
Chase.
Katz and Bestoff lables on nearly everything in the medicine cabinet.
Christmas windows at DH Homes and Maison Blanche--we'd go window shopping and then for a treat have dinner at the Blue Room. My parents were having dinner there when they heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Those thick, white china cups full of steaming cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde and Morning Call--and three beingnet to a plate--one for me, one for my brother...and one for us to fight over!
Being scared witless at Ponchartrain Beach of that huge clown's head, nearly wetting my pants on the Zephyr and Wild Maus, falling on my butt over and over in the funhouse and those pig and lion talking trashcans that sucked up paper--the lion never worked when I was there, but the Pig--called Porky The Paper-eater, was funny. There was also a make-your-own-record booth and my cousins Kate and Carol and I gleefully shrieked out our own version of "Henry the VIII" by the then-popular Herman's Hermits.
The original Audubon Park Zoo--they had these Talking Storybooks--you bought the Key To The Zoo, which was a flat, red plastic elephant with a round-barreled key for a trunk. Insert the nose in the book and you'd hear a recorded message about the animal before you--and I remember being at Grandmother's and hearing about the awful fire that killed so many of the animals.
All the great DJs--like Poppa Stoppa.
Playing on the levees...and Dad warning us we could slip in and get eaten by the gators...not that it stopped us...
Watching "Midday" and waiting for Jayne Mansfield to come on...only to hear she'd just died in a car accident--was that on Chef Mentur?? I can't remember.
REAL glass throws--I still have a pair of necklaces from the old days when beads weren't cheap and plastic and doubloons were metal coins.
The horrible smell in the alley behind my grandmother's house on Saturday, because there was about ten pounds of shimp head and tails and shells rolled up in soggy newspaper along with empty Ritz cracker boxes. The only stench that was worse was the foul fog from Crown Zellerbach's paper mill in Bogualusa--one mile from our house.
And, of course...looking for REAL live pirates in Pirate's Alley.
Bob--thanks. You don't know what a pleasure it's been!
BOB:
The pleasure is all mine...thanks for sharing a ton of goodies!
BOB:
Your dad and your aunt created a sound that is part of all of our younger
days...days we fondly remember. Thank you for writing, and if anyone contacts
me with a copy of the *original* Pontchartrain Beach jingle that they recorded
I'll let you know. And ya gotta love dem Red Goose shoes!!
BOB:
Picayunes? Cough COUGH...hack...wheeze... whew! Those were some STRONG coffin
nails there!
BOB:
You get the feeling that Dillard's, who owns Mr. Bingle now, are missing
the boat these days?
BOB:
How nice it is to hear from not only a great N.O. DJ / TV personality (Popeye
& Pals) from those golden years, but from one of my favorite friends.
Y'know, when Darlene died seemed to be when radio went down the crapper.
I miss her...she was such a good person.
KEVIN GRIZZAFFI:
Hi, Bob. When I was a boy during the 60's, there were several Dixie Beer
commercials that featured some pretty background music. In one commercial
in particular, a horse and carriage rode along Lake Ponchartrain while a
truly lovely song played. For years I tried to find out what that song was.
I contacted Dixie Beer, the ad agency (at the time of the commercial) and
various other possible sources in New Orleans and never could get an answer.
Then, a few weeks ago, while listening to an internet radio station from
Florida, I heard this song. I could not believe it! I checked the site's
song listing and identified the song as "That Happy Feeling" by
Bert Kaempfert. It is available on several Bert Kaempfert CDs. I just purchased
"The Very Best of Bert Kaempfert" and am reliving some wonderful
memories. I hope this information helps others who may remember this song
and have longed to find it.
BOB:
Dixie Beer provided many of us with "That Happy Feeling" through
the years. The "bright, cheerful tomorrow" they promised was another
thing!