childhood memories Archives - Page 2 of 9 - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

The Adventures of Superman

I was not even born when The Adventures of Superman first aired, but it still became one of my favorite TV shows.

The series starred George Reeves as Clark Kent and Superman, and for a generation of kids, he was the Man of Steel. The show originally ran in the 1950s, but because it was syndicated, it did not belong to one single night across the country. Local stations could run it whenever they wanted.

That is how I remember it — turning up before or after cartoons, rarely getting in the way of them, even on Sundays. Superman just seemed to be there, flying into the living room when you least expected it.

Looking back, the show was simple, but that was part of the charm. Clark Kent worked at the Daily Planet, Lois and Jimmy got into trouble, Perry White barked orders, and sooner or later Superman showed up to save the day. There were no giant special effects or complicated superhero universes. Just good guys, bad guys, and George Reeves making you believe a man could stand for truth and justice.

I also remember being devastated when my dad told me George Reeves had died by suicide. As a kid, that made no sense to me. How could the Man of Steel die?

That is the strange thing about childhood TV heroes. We know they are actors, but part of us still believes in them. And for many of us, George Reeves will always be Superman.

Do you remember watching The Adventures of Superman in reruns?

Dondi, the Sunday Comics, and the Bicentennial Newspaper I Saved

The newspaper shown here is the actual paper I brought home for my family and saved because it marked the Bicentennial of the United States.

Back then, bringing the newspaper home was part of the routine, and the comics were always one of the first places I looked. I remember reading Dondi on those walks home from the store. I enjoyed it, maybe not as much as some of the others, but it still stayed with me. It certainly caught me more than Dick Tracy, which I never really got into.

At the time, I was about the same age as Dondi, so I think that made him stand out. He looked like a kid I could understand — wide-eyed, innocent, and always seeming like he needed someone to look out for him. What I did not understand then was the deeper background of the strip.

Dondi was a long-running newspaper comic about a war orphan taken in by American soldiers. It was created by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen and ran from 1955 to 1986. The story changed with the times, but the heart of it stayed the same: a young boy trying to find safety, kindness, and a place to belong.

I’ll be sharing more from this saved Bicentennial newspaper, including how the newspapers and the comics celebrated America’s 200th birthday. Looking back now, it is not just a newspaper anymore. It is a little piece of the country, the comics page, and my own childhood all folded together.

Do you remember saving a special newspaper or reading the comics before anyone else got to them?

When Plymouth Turned a Cartoon Into a Muscle Car

The Road Runner was already a Saturday morning favorite before Plymouth got involved. Kids knew the bird, the desert, the endless chase, and that famous “Beep Beep!”

Then Plymouth did something that still feels almost unbelievable: they named a real muscle car after the cartoon.

The Plymouth Road Runner arrived for 1968, and it was not just a car with a cute name. Plymouth actually licensed the Warner Bros. character, put the bird on the car, and even gave it a horn that went “Beep Beep.” How many cars can say their personality came from a cartoon?

That was the genius of it. The Road Runner cartoon meant speed, fun, and always staying one step ahead. That fit perfectly with a stripped-down, affordable muscle car built for younger drivers who wanted performance without a lot of fancy extras.

So when Plymouth used the Road Runner in commercials, it was more than a gimmick. It connected Saturday morning cartoons to the muscle car era in a way that made instant sense. The bird was fast on TV, and now Plymouth was saying their car was fast on the street.

Looking back, it may be one of the best matches between pop culture and automobiles ever made. A cartoon character, a muscle car, and a horn that could make everybody smile.

Beep Beep!

The Road Runner Show: Saturday Morning Speed

This clip from 1966 comes from The Road Runner Show, when Warner Bros. gave Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner their own Saturday morning showcase. The formula could not have been simpler: a hungry coyote, a bird who was always one step ahead, a desert full of cliffs, tunnels, rockets, spring-loaded traps, and of course, plenty of bad ideas from Acme.

What made it work was that we knew exactly what was coming, and somehow it was still funny every time. Wile E. Coyote would carefully build the perfect plan, the Road Runner would zip by with a “beep beep,” and gravity would usually handle the rest. For kids watching in 1966, this was Saturday morning cartoon comfort food — fast, colorful, silly, and impossible not to watch.

And speaking of Road Runners, we’ll be staying in the fast lane for the next post — but this time, we’re trading the cartoon desert for one of the most memorable muscle cars to ever borrow a cartoon name.

Colt 45 and the Man Who Waited for the Pour

Colt 45 started in Baltimore in 1963, and even the name had a local sports connection. The brand now says it was named for Baltimore Colts running back Jerry Hill, who wore jersey #45. So right from the start, Colt 45 had that mix of beer, sports, attitude, and local pride built into it.

But before Billy Dee Williams later made Colt 45 famous with “works every time,” the brand had another unforgettable advertising campaign — the calm, silent man who barely reacted to anything.

In the 1960s Colt 45 malt liquor commercials, Billy Van sat at a table while the world around him went completely crazy. There could be noise, danger, action, beautiful women, strange characters, or total chaos, and he would barely move.

Then the Colt 45 was poured.

That was the joke. Nothing impressed him until the glass filled up.

The campaign came from W.B. Doner, the Baltimore ad agency behind Colt 45’s early advertising for National Brewing. Their idea was not to make another ordinary beer commercial. They wanted Colt 45 to feel different — a “completely unique experience” — and these ads certainly were. They played more like strange little comedy sketches than standard drink ads.

Even the music helped. The odd, bouncy tune came from Robert Maxwell’s “Solfeggio,” better known to classic TV fans from Ernie Kovacs’ Nairobi Trio. It gave the commercials that slightly offbeat, almost dreamlike feel.

Looking back, these ads were pure 1960s advertising: stylish, weird, simple, and memorable. A Baltimore-born malt liquor, a silent comic setup, a familiar piece of oddball TV music, and one perfect reaction when the drink was poured.

Do you remember the Colt 45 man who stayed calm through everything?

Maxwell House and the Percolator Days

Before Mr. Coffee changed the way so many of us made coffee (drip coffee), most homes had a percolator sitting on the stove or plugged in on the counter.

This old Maxwell House ad from the 1950s really shows how much effort went into getting a good cup of coffee. The percolator had to bubble, perk, and fill the kitchen with that smell before anyone got their first cup.

What stands out now is how dramatic the ad makes it all look. The rich dark coffee, the steam rising from the percolator, and the dark grounds all make a simple cup of coffee feel almost seductive.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate my drip coffee that goes into a carafe and stays warm for hours. There is something nice about pressing a button and knowing coffee will be ready and waiting.

What memories does this percolator ad bring back to you?

Before the Lawyers Got Involved

As a kid, I always wondered why adults were leaving blasting caps around often enough that they had to hire Willie Mays to make a commercial about it.

This old PSA is such a strange piece of TV history. One minute you were watching cartoons or cereal commercials, and the next minute one of the greatest baseball players of all time was looking into the camera warning you not to touch explosives.

It feels like it came from that era before everything had ten warning labels, sealed packaging, and a legal department reviewing every word. The message was simple: if you find a blasting cap, do not pick it up. Tell a policeman, a fireman, or an adult.

Looking back, it is funny how many safety lessons were delivered to kids through television. Fire safety, seat belts, strangers, drugs, littering, and apparently, random blasting caps.

Only back then could Willie Mays interrupt your Saturday morning to warn you about explosives.

Do you remember this PSA?

New Country Corn Flakes

The New Country Corn Flakes commercial stood out to me as a kid, and I still remember it to this day. So I guess it was an effective ad.

It was not flashy by today’s standards. There were no cartoon mascots running around, no big prize reveal, and no wild animation. Instead, it had that plain, old-fashioned country feel, with a serious farm couple look that reminded people of American Gothic.

That may be why it stuck. The ad was simple, a little odd, and very catchy. It kept repeating the name and selling the idea that these corn flakes were crispier, toastier, and just a little different from the usual bowl of cereal.

Looking back, it feels like a perfect example of early 1960s advertising. Sometimes the commercials that stayed with us were not the loudest ones. They were the ones that had a strange little rhythm, a memorable image, or a jingle that somehow never left your head.

Do you remember New Country Corn Flakes, or is there another cereal commercial that has stayed with you all these years?

The FedEx Fast-Talking Man

Before every company tried to make commercials feel like mini-movies, FedEx gave us one that felt like a full workday packed into 30 seconds.

The famous Federal Express fast-talking commercial starred John Moschitta Jr., who became known as one of the fastest talkers people had ever heard. In the ad, he plays a high-pressure office worker rattling off orders, calls, deadlines, and instructions at machine-gun speed.

That was the whole point. Business was moving faster, offices were busier, and everyone needed things done yesterday. FedEx used the joke perfectly: in a fast-paced world, you needed a delivery company that could keep up.

It was funny, memorable, and very 1980s — phones ringing, papers flying, everyone rushing, and one man talking faster than most of us could even listen.

“Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop”

I remember my mom calling it the “Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop,” and for years I wondered where that came from. Now I know she wasn’t just making up a funny name — that was actually part of Wham-O’s marketing.

The original Hula Hoop craze took off in 1958, but like most fads, it cooled down. Wham-O later tried to bring it back by adding a new twist: sound. They put small ball bearings inside the hollow plastic hoop so that when you spun it around your waist, it made a swishing, “shoop shoop” kind of noise. TIME described the 1967 version as the New Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop, with bright colors and ball bearings inside to give it that “whirry” sound.

That explains why the name stuck with so many parents. It wasn’t just a hula hoop anymore — it was the one that made noise. Toy collectors and nostalgia sites still point to the Shoop Shoop version as Wham-O’s attempt to freshen up the craze, and later versions from the 1970s kept the name alive.

It’s funny how those advertising names became part of everyday family language. A kid might have just called it a hula hoop, but Mom remembered the commercial name: Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop. And once you hear that, you can almost hear the sound of it spinning again.