Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob, Clarabell and the Peanut Gallery helped introduce a generation of American children to the magic of television. Long before streaming and hundreds of channels, The Howdy Doody Show turned watching TV into an event—and gave millions of kids memories that lasted a lifetime.
SNL is still on the air, but for me the thrill is gone. I miss the days when Saturday night felt like sneaking out after curfew — when a sketch could knock you off the couch and keep you laughing into Sunday morning. I’m talking about the Coneheads (“Mass consumption!”). The Loud Family. The 747 … Read more
Two little piles of clay earned lifetime leases in my memory: Gumby and Mr. Bill. Different eras, same magic—stop-motion characters who made us laugh till we cried
How Thousands of People Came Together to Remember the Hometown We Never Really Left In 2020, while living in Jefferson City, Missouri, I did something I didn’t expect would amount to much. I started a Facebook group called Growing Up in Ferguson, Missouri. I wasn’t trying to build an audience. I wasn’t starting a business. … Read more
Names withheld and details blended to protect privacy. This is an anecdotal recollection, not a factual claim about any specific case or person. Los Angeles used to feel smaller—wide streets, Saturday matinees, and neighbors who were famous without acting like it. A Marine buddy of mine grew up in that version of the city. Across … Read more
Before turn-signal neglect and horn-rants, we had a friendlier language on the road: short taps, open-palms, and courtesy waves. In Southeast Asia, horns often mean only “I’m here.” Maybe it’s time we relearned traffic as conversation—not combat. The old vocabulary Borrowed from busy streets In Manila and beyond, with pedicabs, tuk-tuks, jeepneys, bikes, and pedestrians … Read more
When my mother announced there was a “gas war” in town, my nine-year-old mind imagined soldiers, tanks, and machine guns. Armed with my Fanner 50’s cap guns and Army helmet, I climbed into the car ready for battle—only to discover that the only fighting was over pennies per gallon. It’s a funny childhood memory and a reminder of a time when neighborhood gas stations competed by giving customers more.
Saturday mornings once belonged to heroes like Sky King, his niece Penny, and the Songbird soaring across our television screens. For a generation of kids, those adventures didn’t end when the TV was turned off—they followed us outside and fueled our imaginations for the rest of the day.
On February 9, 1964, the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and exploded into millions of American living rooms. In just a few unforgettable minutes, four young men from Liverpool helped reshape American music, fashion, youth culture, and an entire generation.
Long before targeted ads and skippable commercials, millions of Americans watched the same commercials—and some characters became as memorable as the shows themselves. The La Choy Dragon was one of them: loud, clumsy, ridiculous, and impossible to forget.