Nice stuff, Henry. My parents divorced early, so I and my two brothers grew up with our dad, who was often absent (for work). We had lots of free time. Often though, that free time led to doing stupid and dangerous stuff. Two things I recall doing that were never smart: hanging on to the back of a city bus after a snowfall and being pulled along for a ride in the slush; building match guns out of clothespins (made with metal springs) and shooting each other with "strike anywhere" flaming wood matches. But, hey, we (most of us) made it through (though my younger brother lost the hearing in one of his ears when a firecracker went off prematurely in a pipe)...
Buckley, it ain't "nice stuff" but Americana slop. If you knew what a truly traditional and great time was you'd understand this. Lamentations over the late 20th century is crying over spilled milk and not Christendom.
Beautiful and touching, Henry. I'm 72 so I do know what you're talking about. I spent my first fifteen years in Altadena, as you know, above Pasadena. My mom thought Disney was a propagandist and didn't take me to see Bambi. Instead, she and my dad took me to see foreign films at The Esquire on East Colorado. So I'm quite possibly the only person of my generation who wasn't traumatized by the death of Bambi's mother. Instead I was traumatized by Jeanne Moreau in Liaisons Dangereuses. Disney was a client of my father's so we did go to Disneyland. I miss the old rides, that's true.
I didn't grow up in an innocent time. Nonetheless, I had an idyllic childhood in Altadena. I rode my horse into the mountains. My brother vroomed his go-cart up and down our street. But I wasn't allowed to walk to school or by myself. There were kidnappings and murders of children. The family next to us was beyond dysfunctional. The mother had a breakdown and wandered our street until her son and husband would get her and lock her up. My mom tried to intervene on the woman's behalf, but she got nowhere.
As a family we also watched tv shows together, but we thought the ones you mention were just good for laughs. I grew up on Mad Magazine. Which we all read as a family. And which means way more to me now than Disney. If I need cheering up I watch old Dragnets.
My family moved to Santa Barbara when I was fifteen. And then I did go to Disney movies - at the drive-in in Goleta. My stoner friends (I myself never liked or smoked weed) and I howled over Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and the other hapless Disney films of the 60s. Sometimes we'd go to Disneyland. My friends would drop acid. I never did, so I drove us home.
I see this current Wokeness of Disney as just more Disney crap. I feel much sorrier that kids today don't grow up on Mad Magazine. Which today would be demonized for not being Woke and for making fun of Woke pieties.
But I never thought family life was better then. The next door woman I mentioned earlier shot her son in self-defense and killed him when he was sixteen. One of the Altadena girls of my generation went on to become a prominent Manson Girl.
What I feel pain over losing in all this isn't innocence, but my beautiful old and highly imperfect neighborhood in Altadena. It's gone now. The fire took it away. A Google photo of my street and childhood home looks like a bomb dropped on it. This has made me incredibly sad. And nostalgic. Because for all its human flaws, Altadena was a wonderful place to grow up in. And I mean because it was full of humans with flaws. In 2012 I wrote and performed a one woman show about growing up there called “Bad Role Models and What I Learned from Them.” My theme in my show was that it's often the most imperfect of people who teach us the best life lessons. After the fire an Altadena woman I didn't know wrote me via my website and told me how much my show meant to her and how much it means now because that Altadena, with all its imperfect characters is gone. And what Scott Weiner will try to build in its place will be an inhumane 15-minute city with perfect but deadly Wokeness.
Sometime let's get together and talk about Pasadena. Sad? I don't know. But definitely a dark side. Certain places attract extreme people for a while. Like Upstate New York which produced feminism, Mormonism, the Burnt-Over District. Pasadena was like that in the mid twentieth century. You know about Jack Parsons, of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
Jack Webb's TV was purchased by a friend named Ed Reitan, who was mentioned in my post today. I'm certain it was an RCA CT-100 color tv produced in 1954. I haven't thought about Dragnet in eons. I liked the show, too. I had contact with Hollywood workers because of my hobby of restoring old televisions. One person I became to know was Kent Warner, a costume designer for the "Rockford Files." Kent worked at Warner Bros., but not related to Warner of the studio name. Kent (deceased) discovered the many "Wizard of Oz" ruby red shoe pairs worn by Judy Garland for the company auction. Kent snuck out a pair for himself. On a weekend, I would be at his apartment tweaking his old TVs with all his old Fred Astaire shoes, etc. Kent was an early victim of AIDS and passed away very young. By the way, Noah Lindsey Beery of the Rockford Files would frequent the Rose Bowl Swap Meet because his son sold there. I sold there, too. I produced and sold white oak wood bathroom and kitchen accessories at the Rose Bowl along with old, restored radios. I also did biorhythm charts for the fun of it at the Rose Bowl. Fun times.
Polly, loved Mad Magazine too - saved my allowance money to buy it. Was shocked when my dearly beloved grandfather declared it to be a piece of junk and a waste of money. What was it about its sly humor and satire that clicked with such young minds? Seemed like it taught self-deprecation more than just mean-spiritedly attacking others.
Maybe we have discovered a cultural lodestone -what made Mad Magazine lovers or haters. Plus during its short recent reign MadTV was 1000 times funnier and talented than SNL. MadTV skits were spoofs of shared human foibles - that is what separated them from the smug one-sided and often ill-executed SNL partisan snark. MadTV let you laugh at yourself; and did not require you laugh only at others.
MAD Magazine is the first thing I can remember being flat out forbidden. While my adoptive mother shopped at Crawford's Corner in San Gabriel I'd slip away and read an article or two in MAD. Even as a grammar school kid I loved the way it poked fun at everything adult, even though I was quite sure I was only getting a portion of the jokes. I would never have seen most of the movies lampooned, but that's what was so amazing. The jokes worked stand-alone or as parody.
Agree completely. “Mutiny on the Bouncy,” “Florence of Arabia” - brilliant! The amazing Sergio Aragones used to visit my ex boyfriend's art studio in L.A. the movie Airplane! came out of the Mad sensibility much more than SNL. David Zucker (also a friend of my ex) one of Airplane's creators was asked recently if they could make it today. He said, sure - they'd just have to take out all the jokes.
And……we threw hatchets into trees, played “stretch” with our pockets knives, and practiced with our bow and arrows. My brother and friends built a ramp over a fairly good sized bonfire, and all the neighborhood boys rode up and over it on their bikes.
There was this wonderful sense of freedom, testing our limits, learning about consequences, responsibility, patriotism, family time, and so much more. Thanks Henry, I love that you write with such vulnerability and openness. Bonnie
A great day to start the day off with a walk down memory lane. We all have our own special memories from our childhood and it was interesting to hear yours. Thank you for sharing and sparking many of the readers memories.
What a nice reminder of days gone by. Feminists glorifying a working woman instead of a woman creating a nurturing environment for her family and universities indoctrination have had a huge impact on our society.
and her lamp does not go out at night.In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her householdand does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
"36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[a] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."
But do go on about women not working or not "making a nurturing environment for their family" - the home is for the family not for women, and a woman's place is not the home but with at the foot of cross. But bourgeoise slop won't trll you that.
I read this "Passage of Time" article by Henry Schulte "Remembering Life Before Disney Went Woke" and like Mr. Schulte I had a very similar upbringing right down to the German Family.
I get EXACTLY what Mr. Schulte is saying here because we both lived it. Coming from a Big
Family I had 8 Uncles on my father's side & 2 uncles served on my mother's side in WWII.
We were a "Patriotic" family with no excuses for anything. One of my Grandfather's was an
Executive Officer in the Army Air Cor where he started-out at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio
next to Orville's and Wilbur's Manufacturing Plant weblink > bit.ly/43VyX0p
Mr. Schulte states "When you look back on the world, it couldn’t have changed more"
The US now faces Russia in a possible Nuclear Exchange .... WWIII.
The US is attacking Yemen and making War Talk towards Iran.
The US is Tariffing Every Nation in it's Gun-Sites.
The US Government has now been found-out to handing out Billions of our tax Dollars to Fraudsters including many in the State Of California.
Here in Santa Barbara there are very serious & similar problems.
So How Did We Get Here and What Exactly Happened?
Mr. Schulte Says In His Article and I quote as follows>
"....the benefit of having a faith and going to church has played huge roles in people’s lives. Churches used to bulge with parishioners. Families would gather afterwards and socialize. Christmas and Easter brought out Christians in droves"
In Santa Barbara the So-Called-Leaders have utterly violated the Core Principle to Serve
their Community and to Protect their Citizens. Instead in many incidents they Destroyed Families and Exploited Families at every opportunity for financial gain. Sound familiar?
Hello Santa Barbara Current. Oh it seems that we are telepathically connected!
I was just GOING-OVER Judge Michael Carrozzo's PLEA DEAL and the SB News
articles on same from 4/17/25. The story of the alleged facts stated on the
SB News and that are within the California Judicial Commission Complaint
is not the WHOLE FACTUAL RENDITION of Judge Michael Carrozzo alleged
Judicial Misconduct and in fact can be only gently characterized as a "Misrepresentation" that some would say was a MASSIVE "COVER-UP".
But then gain we are all about MASSIVE COVER-UPS in our country right down the Assassination of JFK and now the two Assassination Attempts of the now President Donald J. Trump. And we still do not have most of the Documents in the
Assassinations and Attempts of our Presidents.
So I ponder these MASSIVE CONCEALMENTS like someone in the past ........
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door—
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
What a great article, Henry. Brings back a lot of memories. My mother managed to remain at home and didn't go to work till my dad died from type 1 diabetes complications, so happened his death occurred on the day I turned 15 years old! My dad purchased a 1957 Model CTC5 RCA color TV costing $400, and we watched shows like Bonanza and the live Peter Pan show. My dad purchased the TV to study the operation of a color TV because he was a TV repairman. You didn't miss anything with early color television; the $400 color TV reproduced the Bonanza Ponderosa pine trees as brown trees, not green. I did restore the first RCA color TV made in 1954 and costing $1,000, a model CT-100, about 1000 of them manufactured. So happens this first RCA CT-100 color TV was considered a "lab model" with so-called "full color demodulation" and the color reproduction was excellent. And this TV also used a true-red phosphor which color TVs henceforth used a lower grade red phosphor.
I also used my dad's color TV for training purposes. When I was in my late teens my hand accidentally made contact to the metal bell of the CTC5 picture tube (namely, a 21AXP22A CRT ... the stuff I remember!), referred to the "2nd anode or ultra-cathode" which the outside metal "funnel-shaped" shell or bell of the CRT has about 23,000 volts. I was in the process of performing a convergence alignment which required pulling back the yoke (deflection device on the neck of the picture tube) located near the high voltage on the CRT shell. My hand touched the metal portion of the "hot" picture tube' bell, and I went flying backwards about six feet. Probably from that experience I never received a big shock again like that one. Such as receiving a deadly shock when working with a redesign of a high voltage power supply at Raytheon Goleta.
The purpose of this power supply was to power transmitting tubes (TWTs).
Again, great article. No doubt people could write about stuff for hours.
Ed Reitan (deceased), a color TV historian traveling between Westwood and Omaha, Nebraska, I knew very well. Ed and I spent a lot of time chatting about old televisions. Ed purchased in LA from electronics parts shop a mirror-in-the-lid, 1937 RCA RR-359 experimental television for a mere $60, a TV used by engineers at home mostly in the NY area for field test purposes. Only 75 of these TV sets were manufactured, priceless today. Ed's website was carried on by www.earlytelevision.org/Reitan/index.html. Ed was a display engineer/manager for ITT Gilfillan, about a mile from Litton Data Systems where I worked in Van Nuys.
Are these people that worked at a company? If so, which company are you referring to and what time frame? I worked in research and development engineering departments. I'd have very little familiarity with people working in manufacturing areas of a company. My SLQ-32 designs were well documented and worked when they left my hands, so little contact with other departments would be required. The HVPS power supply work was for ALQ-184 ... now that had some interface with manufacturing because it was a nightmare to build. But I don't remember any of the names in manufacturing.
Jeff, did you know Al Wildman, the crystal video receiver (CVR) designer or Nick Krilanovich? Or Bill Russell, the SLQ-32 Angle Encoder group leader (oh, that's me) during the time between 1983 and 1996? Or maybe you know someone that knows about the ALQ-184 high voltage power supply (HVPS) a product development which I made work after floundering for 12 years and spending about $12M in development costs? Yes, Raytheon, ESD took a signal processing engineer and put him on a project to make a power supply work. Why might you ask? Because someone in high level management figured the HVPS problems were related to circuits, which the company knew I could make anything work.
Is life better or worse with access to multiple sources of info and choices ? Simple lives of the fifties compared to complex daily living 75 years later are indeed different. Limited options then compared to unlimited options now. Shared media uniting readers and viewers then compared to many choices disconnecting us now. Lack of the same daily, predictable input has resulted in stimulating challenges to sustaining shared American values, and/or our traditional narrow perspectives. We only knew what we saw or experienced.
Life is an evolving, unpredictable adventure. Opportunities now are endless requiring increased individual responsibility and discipline. As per Bob Hope: ‘Thanks for the memory’, and for the reminders.
I really enjoyed reading your article. Like you said it brings back alot of memories, like the Dairy man brings milk, eggs, butter, than we had the Helms Man who would bring breads, donuts and the goodies we liked. LOVE THOSE MEMORIES AND WOULD NEVER TRADE THEM. Grew up in San Gabriel Valley.
Hey David. Wow, it's been a while. Goleta was good. I now enjoy the slower pace in the Valley. No surfing anymore. One of the by products of getting old. It's okay, though I do miss it.
One thing I wanted to write in the column which is timely with the China tariff stuff going on. I think we can all agree Disney is an American icon. It belongs to the United States. But you try and buy anything from Disney, every single thing is made in China. You can check the tags on every item in the park and it says Made in China. So I'm guessing Disney doesn't like the tariffs because God forbid in hurts their bottom line. They're already paying a huge price with their foolish decision to make Snow White woke. Grumpy is feeling the pain. Well he might if he wasn't computer generated.
Yes Disney is an American Icon, and that's peak America. Consumerism, nothing beyond that. Where Spanish Kings said "Non Sufficit Orbis" in their mission to spread the faith to whole world, and defend against heretics and Muslims, America produces cheap garbage to distract us.
In my response to your last piece, Henry, I mentioned how our life's experiences shape our world view. My earliest memories are of living on my parent's farm in Minnesota in the 1950's where there was no TV, just a radio powered by a battery. My father retired his last team of draft horses in 1956 when our farm got electricity, thanks to Roosevelt's "socialist" REA program, and we had a crank telephone! My older brother attended a one-room schoolhouse where half the students still babbled away in German, Swedish, and Finnish at recess, because doing so in class was severely punished. The closest town had four churches, an "English only" Baptist, a German and English Lutheran, a Finnish and English Lutheran, and a Swedish and English Lutheran. Catholics had to go to another town. My grandparents stopped going in the 1960's when German language services ceased. Moving to Lompoc in 1958 was like going to another planet. We watched the same Sunday evening lineup you did, Henry, but there were only TWO stations, 3 and 6. Watching the large selection of westerns available at the time, my father more than once remarked how fake they were. "Where are all the immigrants? Everyone is speaking ENGLISH!" Being a WWII veteran who spent some time training in the South, father also pointed out how there were no Blacks in Mayberry or in Andy's jail - nor were there any "WHITES ONLY" signs! As a cub scout in Lompoc my Den Mother was Mrs. Espinosa, a sweet, loving person. Imagine my shock when at a picnic in Ryon Park some "White man" called her a "dirty greaser." My memories of the time you so fondly miss were not nearly as pleasant.
I so love to read everyone's stories and sharing them with the other readers. So much nicer than being attacked for reflecting on life by others who just can't seem to find happiness. Thank you.
Stop the slop Mr. Schulte. Your nostalgia is just that - I don't value it as a Carlist or as a 21 year old - indeed nostalgia is worthless. If something is good - it's good, but what you promote has nothing to do woth God, King, Fatherland, and family - it's just mid century Americana.
I do actually try to live a life of joy - not petty sentimentality - you're upset of course that I pierce the veil and value something greater.
In those days, teachers always dressed up and were addressed only as Mr. Mrs. or Miss.
Dress for success was the secret sauce. The threat of being sent to the principal's office was all you needed for class discipline.
Schools back then only had teachers, the principal, the office secretary, and the custodian. Unless they also served hot lunches, then you also had a few cafeteria ladies. I loved going to school every day. Teachers were dedicated, amiable, and took the education of every child and their unique learning needs to heart.
Nice stuff, Henry. My parents divorced early, so I and my two brothers grew up with our dad, who was often absent (for work). We had lots of free time. Often though, that free time led to doing stupid and dangerous stuff. Two things I recall doing that were never smart: hanging on to the back of a city bus after a snowfall and being pulled along for a ride in the slush; building match guns out of clothespins (made with metal springs) and shooting each other with "strike anywhere" flaming wood matches. But, hey, we (most of us) made it through (though my younger brother lost the hearing in one of his ears when a firecracker went off prematurely in a pipe)...
Buckley, it ain't "nice stuff" but Americana slop. If you knew what a truly traditional and great time was you'd understand this. Lamentations over the late 20th century is crying over spilled milk and not Christendom.
Hey Jim, it is a wonder how some of us made it to adulthood. The real stories we could tell but shouldn't. I don't want my grandkids to see them :)
Beautiful and touching, Henry. I'm 72 so I do know what you're talking about. I spent my first fifteen years in Altadena, as you know, above Pasadena. My mom thought Disney was a propagandist and didn't take me to see Bambi. Instead, she and my dad took me to see foreign films at The Esquire on East Colorado. So I'm quite possibly the only person of my generation who wasn't traumatized by the death of Bambi's mother. Instead I was traumatized by Jeanne Moreau in Liaisons Dangereuses. Disney was a client of my father's so we did go to Disneyland. I miss the old rides, that's true.
I didn't grow up in an innocent time. Nonetheless, I had an idyllic childhood in Altadena. I rode my horse into the mountains. My brother vroomed his go-cart up and down our street. But I wasn't allowed to walk to school or by myself. There were kidnappings and murders of children. The family next to us was beyond dysfunctional. The mother had a breakdown and wandered our street until her son and husband would get her and lock her up. My mom tried to intervene on the woman's behalf, but she got nowhere.
As a family we also watched tv shows together, but we thought the ones you mention were just good for laughs. I grew up on Mad Magazine. Which we all read as a family. And which means way more to me now than Disney. If I need cheering up I watch old Dragnets.
My family moved to Santa Barbara when I was fifteen. And then I did go to Disney movies - at the drive-in in Goleta. My stoner friends (I myself never liked or smoked weed) and I howled over Disney's The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and the other hapless Disney films of the 60s. Sometimes we'd go to Disneyland. My friends would drop acid. I never did, so I drove us home.
I see this current Wokeness of Disney as just more Disney crap. I feel much sorrier that kids today don't grow up on Mad Magazine. Which today would be demonized for not being Woke and for making fun of Woke pieties.
But I never thought family life was better then. The next door woman I mentioned earlier shot her son in self-defense and killed him when he was sixteen. One of the Altadena girls of my generation went on to become a prominent Manson Girl.
What I feel pain over losing in all this isn't innocence, but my beautiful old and highly imperfect neighborhood in Altadena. It's gone now. The fire took it away. A Google photo of my street and childhood home looks like a bomb dropped on it. This has made me incredibly sad. And nostalgic. Because for all its human flaws, Altadena was a wonderful place to grow up in. And I mean because it was full of humans with flaws. In 2012 I wrote and performed a one woman show about growing up there called “Bad Role Models and What I Learned from Them.” My theme in my show was that it's often the most imperfect of people who teach us the best life lessons. After the fire an Altadena woman I didn't know wrote me via my website and told me how much my show meant to her and how much it means now because that Altadena, with all its imperfect characters is gone. And what Scott Weiner will try to build in its place will be an inhumane 15-minute city with perfect but deadly Wokeness.
Wow. A lot of sadness.
Sometime let's get together and talk about Pasadena. Sad? I don't know. But definitely a dark side. Certain places attract extreme people for a while. Like Upstate New York which produced feminism, Mormonism, the Burnt-Over District. Pasadena was like that in the mid twentieth century. You know about Jack Parsons, of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
I was born on Fair Oaks Avenue and grew up in Pasadena on Allen Avenue. If you get together for a nostalgia palaver tell me when and where.
It would be such a pleasure to meet you and talk about Pasadena!
Jack Webb's TV was purchased by a friend named Ed Reitan, who was mentioned in my post today. I'm certain it was an RCA CT-100 color tv produced in 1954. I haven't thought about Dragnet in eons. I liked the show, too. I had contact with Hollywood workers because of my hobby of restoring old televisions. One person I became to know was Kent Warner, a costume designer for the "Rockford Files." Kent worked at Warner Bros., but not related to Warner of the studio name. Kent (deceased) discovered the many "Wizard of Oz" ruby red shoe pairs worn by Judy Garland for the company auction. Kent snuck out a pair for himself. On a weekend, I would be at his apartment tweaking his old TVs with all his old Fred Astaire shoes, etc. Kent was an early victim of AIDS and passed away very young. By the way, Noah Lindsey Beery of the Rockford Files would frequent the Rose Bowl Swap Meet because his son sold there. I sold there, too. I produced and sold white oak wood bathroom and kitchen accessories at the Rose Bowl along with old, restored radios. I also did biorhythm charts for the fun of it at the Rose Bowl. Fun times.
Love this!
Polly, loved Mad Magazine too - saved my allowance money to buy it. Was shocked when my dearly beloved grandfather declared it to be a piece of junk and a waste of money. What was it about its sly humor and satire that clicked with such young minds? Seemed like it taught self-deprecation more than just mean-spiritedly attacking others.
Maybe we have discovered a cultural lodestone -what made Mad Magazine lovers or haters. Plus during its short recent reign MadTV was 1000 times funnier and talented than SNL. MadTV skits were spoofs of shared human foibles - that is what separated them from the smug one-sided and often ill-executed SNL partisan snark. MadTV let you laugh at yourself; and did not require you laugh only at others.
MAD magazine was great. It's when all you could do was read magazines, not your phone.
MAD Magazine is the first thing I can remember being flat out forbidden. While my adoptive mother shopped at Crawford's Corner in San Gabriel I'd slip away and read an article or two in MAD. Even as a grammar school kid I loved the way it poked fun at everything adult, even though I was quite sure I was only getting a portion of the jokes. I would never have seen most of the movies lampooned, but that's what was so amazing. The jokes worked stand-alone or as parody.
Agree completely. “Mutiny on the Bouncy,” “Florence of Arabia” - brilliant! The amazing Sergio Aragones used to visit my ex boyfriend's art studio in L.A. the movie Airplane! came out of the Mad sensibility much more than SNL. David Zucker (also a friend of my ex) one of Airplane's creators was asked recently if they could make it today. He said, sure - they'd just have to take out all the jokes.
And……we threw hatchets into trees, played “stretch” with our pockets knives, and practiced with our bow and arrows. My brother and friends built a ramp over a fairly good sized bonfire, and all the neighborhood boys rode up and over it on their bikes.
There was this wonderful sense of freedom, testing our limits, learning about consequences, responsibility, patriotism, family time, and so much more. Thanks Henry, I love that you write with such vulnerability and openness. Bonnie
A great day to start the day off with a walk down memory lane. We all have our own special memories from our childhood and it was interesting to hear yours. Thank you for sharing and sparking many of the readers memories.
What a nice reminder of days gone by. Feminists glorifying a working woman instead of a woman creating a nurturing environment for her family and universities indoctrination have had a huge impact on our society.
It’s not an accident.
Cathy
"The Wife of Noble Character
10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her householdand does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
"36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[a] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem."
But do go on about women not working or not "making a nurturing environment for their family" - the home is for the family not for women, and a woman's place is not the home but with at the foot of cross. But bourgeoise slop won't trll you that.
I read this "Passage of Time" article by Henry Schulte "Remembering Life Before Disney Went Woke" and like Mr. Schulte I had a very similar upbringing right down to the German Family.
I get EXACTLY what Mr. Schulte is saying here because we both lived it. Coming from a Big
Family I had 8 Uncles on my father's side & 2 uncles served on my mother's side in WWII.
We were a "Patriotic" family with no excuses for anything. One of my Grandfather's was an
Executive Officer in the Army Air Cor where he started-out at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio
next to Orville's and Wilbur's Manufacturing Plant weblink > bit.ly/43VyX0p
Mr. Schulte states "When you look back on the world, it couldn’t have changed more"
The US now faces Russia in a possible Nuclear Exchange .... WWIII.
The US is attacking Yemen and making War Talk towards Iran.
The US is Tariffing Every Nation in it's Gun-Sites.
The US Government has now been found-out to handing out Billions of our tax Dollars to Fraudsters including many in the State Of California.
Here in Santa Barbara there are very serious & similar problems.
So How Did We Get Here and What Exactly Happened?
Mr. Schulte Says In His Article and I quote as follows>
"....the benefit of having a faith and going to church has played huge roles in people’s lives. Churches used to bulge with parishioners. Families would gather afterwards and socialize. Christmas and Easter brought out Christians in droves"
In Santa Barbara the So-Called-Leaders have utterly violated the Core Principle to Serve
their Community and to Protect their Citizens. Instead in many incidents they Destroyed Families and Exploited Families at every opportunity for financial gain. Sound familiar?
Howard Walther, Member of a Military Family
https://keyt.com/news/california/2025/04/17/santa-barbara-county-superior-court-judge-michael-carrozzo-issued-public-censure-and-will-be-required-to-step-down-from-his-position/
Hello Santa Barbara Current. Oh it seems that we are telepathically connected!
I was just GOING-OVER Judge Michael Carrozzo's PLEA DEAL and the SB News
articles on same from 4/17/25. The story of the alleged facts stated on the
SB News and that are within the California Judicial Commission Complaint
is not the WHOLE FACTUAL RENDITION of Judge Michael Carrozzo alleged
Judicial Misconduct and in fact can be only gently characterized as a "Misrepresentation" that some would say was a MASSIVE "COVER-UP".
But then gain we are all about MASSIVE COVER-UPS in our country right down the Assassination of JFK and now the two Assassination Attempts of the now President Donald J. Trump. And we still do not have most of the Documents in the
Assassinations and Attempts of our Presidents.
So I ponder these MASSIVE CONCEALMENTS like someone in the past ........
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door—
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more."
"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil—prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us—by that God we both adore—
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."
Poe has a real Knack for Predicting the FUTURE >
"thing of evil—prophet still, if bird or devil!
What a great article, Henry. Brings back a lot of memories. My mother managed to remain at home and didn't go to work till my dad died from type 1 diabetes complications, so happened his death occurred on the day I turned 15 years old! My dad purchased a 1957 Model CTC5 RCA color TV costing $400, and we watched shows like Bonanza and the live Peter Pan show. My dad purchased the TV to study the operation of a color TV because he was a TV repairman. You didn't miss anything with early color television; the $400 color TV reproduced the Bonanza Ponderosa pine trees as brown trees, not green. I did restore the first RCA color TV made in 1954 and costing $1,000, a model CT-100, about 1000 of them manufactured. So happens this first RCA CT-100 color TV was considered a "lab model" with so-called "full color demodulation" and the color reproduction was excellent. And this TV also used a true-red phosphor which color TVs henceforth used a lower grade red phosphor.
I also used my dad's color TV for training purposes. When I was in my late teens my hand accidentally made contact to the metal bell of the CTC5 picture tube (namely, a 21AXP22A CRT ... the stuff I remember!), referred to the "2nd anode or ultra-cathode" which the outside metal "funnel-shaped" shell or bell of the CRT has about 23,000 volts. I was in the process of performing a convergence alignment which required pulling back the yoke (deflection device on the neck of the picture tube) located near the high voltage on the CRT shell. My hand touched the metal portion of the "hot" picture tube' bell, and I went flying backwards about six feet. Probably from that experience I never received a big shock again like that one. Such as receiving a deadly shock when working with a redesign of a high voltage power supply at Raytheon Goleta.
The purpose of this power supply was to power transmitting tubes (TWTs).
Again, great article. No doubt people could write about stuff for hours.
Ever heard of Chris Coles?
Not familiar with Chris Coles.
Ed Reitan (deceased), a color TV historian traveling between Westwood and Omaha, Nebraska, I knew very well. Ed and I spent a lot of time chatting about old televisions. Ed purchased in LA from electronics parts shop a mirror-in-the-lid, 1937 RCA RR-359 experimental television for a mere $60, a TV used by engineers at home mostly in the NY area for field test purposes. Only 75 of these TV sets were manufactured, priceless today. Ed's website was carried on by www.earlytelevision.org/Reitan/index.html. Ed was a display engineer/manager for ITT Gilfillan, about a mile from Litton Data Systems where I worked in Van Nuys.
Jim Long or Howard Davis?
Are these people that worked at a company? If so, which company are you referring to and what time frame? I worked in research and development engineering departments. I'd have very little familiarity with people working in manufacturing areas of a company. My SLQ-32 designs were well documented and worked when they left my hands, so little contact with other departments would be required. The HVPS power supply work was for ALQ-184 ... now that had some interface with manufacturing because it was a nightmare to build. But I don't remember any of the names in manufacturing.
Jeff, did you know Al Wildman, the crystal video receiver (CVR) designer or Nick Krilanovich? Or Bill Russell, the SLQ-32 Angle Encoder group leader (oh, that's me) during the time between 1983 and 1996? Or maybe you know someone that knows about the ALQ-184 high voltage power supply (HVPS) a product development which I made work after floundering for 12 years and spending about $12M in development costs? Yes, Raytheon, ESD took a signal processing engineer and put him on a project to make a power supply work. Why might you ask? Because someone in high level management figured the HVPS problems were related to circuits, which the company knew I could make anything work.
Is life better or worse with access to multiple sources of info and choices ? Simple lives of the fifties compared to complex daily living 75 years later are indeed different. Limited options then compared to unlimited options now. Shared media uniting readers and viewers then compared to many choices disconnecting us now. Lack of the same daily, predictable input has resulted in stimulating challenges to sustaining shared American values, and/or our traditional narrow perspectives. We only knew what we saw or experienced.
Life is an evolving, unpredictable adventure. Opportunities now are endless requiring increased individual responsibility and discipline. As per Bob Hope: ‘Thanks for the memory’, and for the reminders.
So true! Thank you.
I really enjoyed reading your article. Like you said it brings back alot of memories, like the Dairy man brings milk, eggs, butter, than we had the Helms Man who would bring breads, donuts and the goodies we liked. LOVE THOSE MEMORIES AND WOULD NEVER TRADE THEM. Grew up in San Gabriel Valley.
Thank you so much for the MEMORIES!!
Wow we are nearly the same age.
Thank you Henry. It is shocking to me how similar-identical both of our histories are. But of course, we wound up in Goleta. ;0)
Hey David. Wow, it's been a while. Goleta was good. I now enjoy the slower pace in the Valley. No surfing anymore. One of the by products of getting old. It's okay, though I do miss it.
Beautiful piece. I grew up very similarly (although in central-western NY state, with no surfing) so it was a sweetly nostalgic read for me too.
One thing I wanted to write in the column which is timely with the China tariff stuff going on. I think we can all agree Disney is an American icon. It belongs to the United States. But you try and buy anything from Disney, every single thing is made in China. You can check the tags on every item in the park and it says Made in China. So I'm guessing Disney doesn't like the tariffs because God forbid in hurts their bottom line. They're already paying a huge price with their foolish decision to make Snow White woke. Grumpy is feeling the pain. Well he might if he wasn't computer generated.
Yes Disney is an American Icon, and that's peak America. Consumerism, nothing beyond that. Where Spanish Kings said "Non Sufficit Orbis" in their mission to spread the faith to whole world, and defend against heretics and Muslims, America produces cheap garbage to distract us.
In my response to your last piece, Henry, I mentioned how our life's experiences shape our world view. My earliest memories are of living on my parent's farm in Minnesota in the 1950's where there was no TV, just a radio powered by a battery. My father retired his last team of draft horses in 1956 when our farm got electricity, thanks to Roosevelt's "socialist" REA program, and we had a crank telephone! My older brother attended a one-room schoolhouse where half the students still babbled away in German, Swedish, and Finnish at recess, because doing so in class was severely punished. The closest town had four churches, an "English only" Baptist, a German and English Lutheran, a Finnish and English Lutheran, and a Swedish and English Lutheran. Catholics had to go to another town. My grandparents stopped going in the 1960's when German language services ceased. Moving to Lompoc in 1958 was like going to another planet. We watched the same Sunday evening lineup you did, Henry, but there were only TWO stations, 3 and 6. Watching the large selection of westerns available at the time, my father more than once remarked how fake they were. "Where are all the immigrants? Everyone is speaking ENGLISH!" Being a WWII veteran who spent some time training in the South, father also pointed out how there were no Blacks in Mayberry or in Andy's jail - nor were there any "WHITES ONLY" signs! As a cub scout in Lompoc my Den Mother was Mrs. Espinosa, a sweet, loving person. Imagine my shock when at a picnic in Ryon Park some "White man" called her a "dirty greaser." My memories of the time you so fondly miss were not nearly as pleasant.
I so love to read everyone's stories and sharing them with the other readers. So much nicer than being attacked for reflecting on life by others who just can't seem to find happiness. Thank you.
"Attacked for reflecting"
Stop the slop Mr. Schulte. Your nostalgia is just that - I don't value it as a Carlist or as a 21 year old - indeed nostalgia is worthless. If something is good - it's good, but what you promote has nothing to do woth God, King, Fatherland, and family - it's just mid century Americana.
I do actually try to live a life of joy - not petty sentimentality - you're upset of course that I pierce the veil and value something greater.
"I feel sorry for you."
I had written back a few times with detailed responses, then decided naw. Can't fix it.
Translation; I have no refutation.
In those days, teachers always dressed up and were addressed only as Mr. Mrs. or Miss.
Dress for success was the secret sauce. The threat of being sent to the principal's office was all you needed for class discipline.
Schools back then only had teachers, the principal, the office secretary, and the custodian. Unless they also served hot lunches, then you also had a few cafeteria ladies. I loved going to school every day. Teachers were dedicated, amiable, and took the education of every child and their unique learning needs to heart.
Wonderful post JL - put me right back there :)