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I Will Survive: A Universal Breakup Song

Apr7

April 7th

Gloria Gaynor’s Anthem for Heartbroken Women

LIT181EA_12in-DISCO-BALLA Tuesday Newsday Classic from 2020

In the spring of 1979 a different sort of fever gripped the United States. This fever, unlike the one in 2020 when I first wrote this article, was one that encouraged people to get together in large groups. We called it Disco Fever. By the spring of that year, the musical airwaves were dominated by the catchy beat of Disco tunes and artists such as the Bee Gees, ABBA, and Donna Summer.

There was one song from that year – unlike any others – which has spanned generations and remains popular 40 years later. That song is I Will Survive.

On April 7, 1979, Gloria Gaynor’s anthem topped the Billboard Charts. The song’s path to popularity was one of being almost an afterthought… and yet the song survived and thrived. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Originally released as the B-side to a cover version of the Righteous Brothers song ‘Substitute’, ‘I Will Survive’ became a worldwide hit for Gaynor when disc jockeys played that side of the record instead (kick-started by legendary Studio 54 DJ Richie Kaczor). ‘Substitute’ appeared on the Billboard ‘Bubbling Under the Hot 100’ chart for four weeks in October–November 1978, peaking at No. 107. ‘I Will Survive’ then entered the Billboard Hot 100 in December that year and reached No. 1 on the chart in March 1979.”GLORIA_GAYNOR_SUBSTITUTE-402771

Even its three weeks at number one on the charts was unconventional. In March it arrived there for two weeks – March 10th and 17th – only to be knocked out by the Bee Gee’s song Tragedy. Yet, I Will Survive was back at number one two weeks later.

In writing this article I had to go out and find a YouTube of the Bee Gee’s Tragedy to remember it. Such has never been the case for Gloria Gaynor’s famous work. In list after list of ‘best’ songs, I Will Survive can be found. The Infallible Wikipedia provides additional information:

“The song received the Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980, the only year the award was given. It is ranked #492 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’, and ranked at #97 on Billboard magazine’s ‘All-Time Hot 100’.  In 2000, the song was ranked #1 in VH1’s list of the 100 greatest dance songs.”

Go to any dance today and you are more likely than not to hear this song. Teens respond to its catchy beat and Gaynor’s soulful vocals with the same enthusiasm the young people of 1979 did.

The song has also become an anthem for anyone – particularly women – devastated by a relationship breakup. And perhaps that is one of the reasons for the song’s success. Its message resonates for souls whose heart has been broken only to discover their inner strength and be able to move on.

When I think back to March of 1979 I would describe myself as being in a perpetual state of relationship flux. I’d had a series of boyfriends – some more serious and others short lived – and I had become jaded. This song became, in many ways, my unofficial anthem. And yet, despite developing a basic distrust in the male of the species, I still clung to hope.

One day, it must have been during her spring break, my sister was in Tacoma visiting and we were out for lunch with one of my ‘completely not serious’ boyfriends at the time. After he left, my sister and I stayed and we dissected my relationship with him and a couple other of the guys I’d recently dated. One moment stands out as I very clearly said ‘I’d rather be alone’ than be someone’s  ‘second best,’ a situation I’d found myself in more than once. I had recently resigned myself to the belief that ‘being alone’ was the likely outcome as none of the current crop were ‘good bets.’ Ironically a few weeks later, when I was not seeking a relationship with anyone, I met the man who would become my husband.  That story is here: https://barbaradevore.com/2018/09/11/the-ford-pinto/

As a romance writer, breakups and finding one’s inner strength is elemental to many a story line. In fact, it is a theme which never gets old and connects with readers because nearly all have experienced it. I Will Survive taps in to that emotion, that moment in time, when the epiphany occurs. It’s storytelling at its best. That, I believe, is the essence of its staying power. The lyrics speak a universal truth which transcends time. My favorite lyrics of the song:

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart
Kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart
And I spent, oh, so many nights just feeling sorry for myself
I used to cry but now I hold my head up high

And you see me, somebody new
I’m not that chained up little girl still in love with you
And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free
But now I’m saving all my loving for someone who’s loving me

Stay Healthy everyone. We will SURVIVE!

I feel strongly that the co-writer’s of the song need to be acknowledged:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Perren

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Fekaris

And, of course, a link for the song itself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Will_Survive

Remembering Karen Carpenter: The Voice That Captivated a Generation

Feb4

February 4

Karen Carpenter

A Tuesday Newsday Classic

February 3, 1959. August 16, 1977. December 8, 1980. February 4, 1983. April 5, 1994.

For any person who is a true fan, any one of these dates might invoke an unpleasant memory of the ‘day the music died’ for them. Each date marks the passing of a well loved and famous musical artist. Do you recall where you were and what you were doing on any one of these days?

My brother – who is a disc jockey – still talks about August 16, 1977. The day Elvis died. For Nirvana fans it’s April 5, 1994. Beatles devotees recall December 8, 1980 as a day which shocked the world. And, of course, February 3, 1959, marks the tragic date when Buddy Holly died in a plane crash along with a few others.

Karen Carpenter early 1970s

Karen Carpenter in the early 1970’s

If you don’t recognize February 4, 1983, you can be forgiven. But for me that was the date when the first artist whose voice and music truly captured me, died: Karen Carpenter.

To this day I wonder it was an avoidable outcome if only…  if only her mother had been more loving and less controlling… if only she hadn’t been forced to come out from behind her drums… if only the press had not been so awful to her… if only she could have loved herself the way her fans loved her.

By all accounts, Karen’s life could have become a fairy-tale come true. At the age of nineteen Karen, as one half of The Carpenters, saw their first big hit “Close To You” rocket to the top of the pop charts. Fame and financial success followed with a string of Top Ten records. Concerts, TV specials, and an invitation to the White House were all a part of those heady years.

And yet. Karen was particularly sensitive to body image. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Carpenter began dieting while in high school. Under a doctor’s guidance, she began the Stillman diet, eating lean foods, drinking eight glasses of water a day, and avoiding fatty foods. She reduced her weight to 120 pounds and stayed approximately at that weight until around 1973, when the Carpenters’ career reached its peak.  That year, she happened to see a photo of herself taken at a concert in which her outfit made her appear heavy. Carpenter hired a personal trainer who advised her to change her diet. The new diet caused her to build muscle, which made her feel heavier instead of slimmer. Carpenter fired the trainer and began her own weight loss program using exercise equipment and counting calories. She lost about 20 pounds and intended to lose another five pounds. Her eating habits also changed around this time, with Carpenter trying to get food off her plate by offering it to others at the meal as a taste.”

With increased success, came increased pressure to look and be perfect. By most accounts it seems that Karen spent her life trying to gain her mother’s love and approval. Older brother Richard was the focus of the family’s attention. At age 3 he was playing the piano and had been identified as a child prodigy with immense talent. It must have come as a huge shock to her parents when it was Karen and her amazing voice that proved to be the secret to success. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:

“(Karen) Carpenter had a complicated relationship with her parents. They had hoped that Richard’s musical talents would be recognized and that he would enter the music business, but were not prepared for Karen’s success. She continued to live with them until 1974. In 1976, Carpenter bought two Century City apartments which she combined into one; the doorbell chimed the opening notes of ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’.”

Karen carpenter in grip of her disease

In this photo, you can clearly see that she is not at a healthy weight.

Most of the focus on Anorexia Nervosa came after Karen’s untimely death. In the decades since there has been research and a public push to find solutions for those who are afflicted by the disorder. Karen Carpenter’s struggle has been largely responsible for this.

One of the things I would have loved would have been to attend a Carpenter’s concert. Alas, being only 13 when they hit the top of the charts, it was not going to happen. My mother believed rock and roll concerts (the Carpenters were not exactly rock and roll BTW) were not appropriate places for young women. In fact, the first concert I attended was a decade later, long after the Carpenters were no longer touring.

For several years in the 1970’s, however, I purchased every one of their albums and would listen to Karen’s dulcet tones for hours on end. I loved her voice.

Fast forward to Friday, February 4, 1983. I was working at Microsoft – then located near the Burger Master on Northup Way in Belleuve, Washington – paying more attention to selling computer software and not listening to music for hours each day.

It was payday and at lunchtime one of my fellow Microsofties, Sue C., and me decided to go deposit our paychecks in the bank. We headed to downtown Kirkland, a few miles north. Once our banking was complete, we drove south on Lake Washington Boulevard. We likely had the radio on – background to our chatting – when I heard the announcement “Pop star Karen Carpenter has died.”

I think Sue was behind the wheel and immediately stopped the car as we both exclaimed shock and dismay. How could it be? What I most recall about that day is that it seemed dark to me. In reality, according to the weather history, it was a fairly mild, clear day. But in my mind, it’s dark.

Karen Carpenter was such a part of our growing up experience; she was 32 years old, a mere seven years older than ourselves.

In 1989 I watched with interest the CBS TV movie The Karen Carpenter Story. In the years since her death I had not listened much to The Carpenters. The moment I heard those favorite songs and her voice, however, it was as if I was transported back to the early 1970’s. What a voice. It was filled with emotion and able to convey a sadness that transcended the years. Like so many artists who died young, I wonder what wonderful songs the world missed out on when Karen Carpenter left us on February 4, 1983.

A few links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter

I couldn’t make up my mind as to which of these two songs to share… so I did both. I think Superstar also captures the depth of whatever pains she felt in life.

Superstar: https://youtu.be/SJmmaIGiGBg

Links to three other posts I’ve made about Karen Carpenter:

Wedding Woes

Just like me, they long to be…

Top Of The World

The 100-Year Legacy of the National Christmas Tree

Dec24

 A 102 Year Tradition

December 24th

2019NCTL_Ceremony.jpg

The 2019 National Christmas Tree

At 3 p.m. on Monday, December 24th, 1923, an American tradition began which continues to this day. That event was the lighting of the first National Christmas tree.

Now, 102 years later, the event occurs earlier in the month – this year on December 4th – as it has since 1954 during a month long event known as the Pageant of Peace. But back to the beginning.

The concept of a National Christmas tree was the idea of Frederick Morris Feiker, an engineer with General Electric. He, along with Vermont US Senator Frank L. Greene, convinced President Calvin Coolidge to light the tree.

Alumni of Middlebury College in Vermont paid for the transport of a 48 foot tall balsam fir to be transported to Washington, D.C. with GE providing 2,500 green, red, and white electric lights.

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

calvin-coolidge-was-the-first-president-to-instate-a-public-christmas-celebration-at-the-white-house-with-the-first-national-chris.jpg

President Calvin Coolidge and dignitaries at the first National Tree Lighting ceremony in 1923

“At 3 p.m. on December 24, 1923, a 100-voice choir from the First Congregational Church assembled on the South Portico of the White House and began a two-hour concert of Christmas carols. At 5 p.m. (dusk) on Christmas Eve, President Coolidge touched a button at the foot of the tree which lit the lights and electric candles adorning the tree, but he did not speak. A searchlight from the nearby Washington Monument was trained on the tree to help illuminate it as well. The Coolidge family invited citizens of the city to sing Christmas carols on the Ellipse after dark. Between 5,000 and 6,000 people thronged the park, joined by 3,000 more people by 9 p.m. The crowds were joined by the Epiphany Church and First Congregational Church choirs, which sang carols, and the Marine Band played Christmas-themed music. The singing ended shortly before midnight. After the white residents of the city had dispersed, African American residents of the city were permitted on the park grounds to see the National Christmas Tree. An outdoor Christian worship service was held, and a mass choir composed of signing groups from area community centers sang more Christmas carols. An illuminated Christian cross was flashed on the Washington Monument, and men dressed as shepherds walked from the National Christmas Tree to the monument.”

300px-US_National_Christmas_Tree_1923The following year Coolidge objected to cutting down a tree for the event so a 35 foot tall live Norway Spruce was located and planted in a new location near the Treasury Building. This tree survived until 1929 when it was determined that the plant had been damaged and needed to be replaced. This began a series of live trees being planted, dying, and being replaced until, in 1934, the last tree was cut down in that location.

In December 1934, the tree and the ceremony were moved to Layfayette park, north of the White House. There it remained for only a few short years before returning to its original site on the Ellipse where it remains to this day. Over the years there have been many, many trees which have served in the role. Additionally, the ceremonies and events associated with it have become quite extensive. If you’d like to read more about its history, here’s the Wikipedia link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Christmas_Tree_(United_States) and also the link to the official website https://thenationaltree.org/lighting-ceremony/2019-national-christmas-tree-lighting-ceremony/.

Although I’ve never seen the National Tree, I do love driving around during the Christmas season and viewing all the wonderful outdoor decorations. There is nothing quite so beautiful as a blue spruce or fir tree at night covered with lights AND an inch or two of snow on its branches.

My first memory of such a tree was when I was probably 7 or 8. My bedroom in Yakima faced towards our backyard. Our neighbor, Ray Broten, spent a lot of time keeping his yard beautiful. No matter the season, his was always manicured and trimmed to perfection. That particular December, the spruce tree located in the southwest corner of his backyard cut through the darkness with blue, green, red, and white lights, illuminating my bedroom each night. After I went to bed there was many a time I stole back over to the window and just stood and looked out at his beautiful tree. My favorite nights were when a soft snow was falling, muting the darkness with a blanket of white.

When I got too cold, I’d crawl back in to bed, and as I warmed up and drifted off to sleep, the shine of those lights would bathe the room with a soft glow.

This tradition continued for a number of years until the time I moved away from Yakima. Although those years are long ago, the memory is etched with clarity as Mr. Broten unknowingly created one of my fondest recollections.

May your Christmas also be one of wonderful reminiscences and the creation of new memories. Merry Christmas one and all.

Still Going…

Oct29

The Energizer Bunny

October 29, 2019

In the world of advertising, this campaign was particularly brilliant. The story begins in 1983 when Duracell featured a dozen stationary, identical light pink bunnies, all battery powered, drumming on snare drums. The announcer intoned that the one with the Duracell battery would last longer. Eventually, all the batteries die with the exception of the one powered by Duracell.

On October 30, 1988, however, a new bunny emerged on the advertising scene and stole the show from Duracell.

energizer-bunnyThe Energizer Bunny was also pink but instead of being one of a crowd which outlasts the others, this rabbit had attitude. It wore hip sunglasses. It was hot pink. It moved around the room on blue flip flop sandals. And it had a big ole bass drum with the word “ENERGIZER” emblazoned across the surface. In short, it had important elements of a great advertising campaign in that it was memorable and humorous. The bunny has appeared in over 100 commercials and has been featured on TV shows and in movies.

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Commercials after the first started out with the Bunny leaving the studio it performed the ‘Drumming Bunny’ ad in, then wandering into the sets of a couple of realistic-looking commercials for fictional products, interrupting them. As the campaign progressed, many of these ads were standalone (for fake products such as ‘Sitagin Hemorrhoid Remedy’, ‘Nasotine Sinus Relief’, ‘TresCafe Coffee’, ‘Alarm’ deodorant soap, etc.) and even a few featured celebrities (such as Lyle Alzado promoting a snack called ‘Pigskins’, and Ted Nugent doing an ad for a Mexican food chain called ‘Cucaracha’) only to have the Bunny march through, beating his drum, because he was ‘still going’ (one infamous commercial was for a fake long-distance telephone company with a couple in the United Kingdom talking to their son, who was supposedly in New York and exclaimed that he ‘sounded like he’s right next door’, and when the Bunny came in, he knocked down the divider to show they really were next to each other). Eventually real-life products and icons would do a crossover with the Energizer Bunny (Michael J. Fox doing a Pepsi ad, and the opening of TV shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and ABC’s Wide World of Sports). The Energizer Bunny has appeared in more than 115 television commercials.”

The Energizer Bunny has come to represent something or someone which keeps going and going, seemingly without end.

In late November 2010 I was in Yakima staying to take care of my parents who were in crisis that week. My mom – who had dementia and mobility issues due to a stroke a year earlier – needed round the clock assistance. Between my Dad, a part time caregiver, plus help from both my sister and me, they had been managing okay.

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, however, Dad collapsed and was discovered by the caregiver. 9-1-1 was summoned and he spent three days in the hospital. A difficult patient, he convinced the doctor to release him earlier than the Doc thought prudent, and arrived home on Friday, November 26th proclaiming he was just fine.

A little after 10 p.m, he went in to take a shower. I heard him calling for help a few minutes later and rushed in to discover him collapsed on the floor. After many struggles I was able to get him up onto the seat of my mother’s walker, but he was slumped to one side. He objected to the thought of calling 9-1-1 (again!) so I called my sister who, along with her husband, came over. Eventually we did call the medics who arrived and discovered his heart was pounding at about 200 BPM and suggested he go to the hospital.

No way was he agreeing to that and kept insisting that the medics just put him to bed. Which they did. Convinced by the EMT’s that he might not survive the night, my sister and I took turns with an all night vigil.

Around 8 a.m., and with Dad still with us, I was up and out in the kitchen contemplating how to deal with two parents in need of assistance. A noise to my left drew my attention. I looked up and here came my dad, using my mom’s smaller aluminum walker, advancing with purpose and determination and seemingly unfazed by all which had happened. That entire day he moved with frenetic energy, straightening things, switching from one thing to another, hardly sitting down all day.

I described the whole thing to my sister this way: “Dad is like the Energizer Bunny.”

For the next nine years, this has been the way we’ve described our dad. There have been countless episodes of the pounding heart which takes him down for a day or two. When he’s recovered, though, watch out! Because it was always back to Energizer Bunny mode.

Eventually, however, even the strongest, most durable batteries run out of energy. And so it was for my father on October 24. His strong heart – in spite of what I am now certain were Tachycardia events – was the battery which kept him going to the age of 96 and a half.

RIP our Energizer Bunny.

The links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energizer_Bunny

https://www.shawandsons.com/obituary/vincent-devore

Saturday Night Live

Nov20

Still Crazy After All These Years

November 20, 2018

When this TV show hit the airwaves in October 1975, it was considered edgy and pushing the boundaries of societal good taste. For teenagers and twenty-something’s it became ‘must see’ TV. We are, of course, talking about Saturday Night Live which is now in its 44th season.

140207_2721464_Paul_Simon_s_Monologue_Worries_anvver_4

Paul Simon – Still Crazy After All These Years – in the turkey costumer on SNL.

No doubt I watched the November 20, 1976, episode live when singer/songwriter Paul Simon hosted the show and donned a turkey costume for one of the sketches. In the sketch he sings the first five lines of the song:

I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy after all these years
Still crazy after all these…

From there he complains about how stupid he feels being dressed up as a turkey, eventually leaves the stage, and has a backstage conversation with Lorne Michaels – SNL’s producer – before the bit is over.

It was things like this which propelled SNL into the pop culture of the 1970’s and soon had young people repeating lines like:

“We’re just two wild and crazy guys!” and “Never mind” and my personal favorite, “Jane, you ignorant sl*t.”

All three of these were repeated multiple times in multiple episodes, as were another dozen characters who said memorable things.

soon-will-be-the-foxes

Two Wild and Crazy guys! – Dan Akroyd and Steve Martin

The first featured Steve Martin and Dan Akroyd who took on the persona of two socially awkward Czechoslovakian brothers, Yortuk and Georg Festrunk, who continually tried to pick up American women. But always failed.

“Never mind” was from the genius of Gilda Radner whose character Emily Litella would pontificate on some subject. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Emily Litella is an elderly woman with a hearing problem who appeared 26 times on SNL’s Weekend Update op-ed segment in the late 1970s. Attired in a frumpy dress, sweater and Lisa Loopner glasses, Litella was introduced with professional dignity by the news anchors, who could sometimes be seen cringing slightly in anticipation of the malapropisms they knew would follow. These sketches were, in part, a parody of the Fairness Doctrine, which at the time required broadcasters in the United States to present opposing viewpoints on public issues.

Litella would peer through her bifocal glasses and, in the character’s high-pitched, warbly voice, would read a prepared statement in opposition to an editorial that the TV station had supposedly broadcast. Litella would become increasingly agitated as her statement progressed. Midway in her commentary, it became apparent to the anchor, and the audience, that Litella had misheard or misunderstood the subject of the editorial to which she was responding. A typical example:

‘What is all this fuss I hear about the Supreme Court decision on a ‘deaf’ penalty? It’s terrible! Deaf people have enough problems as it is!’

The news anchor would interrupt Litella to point out her error, along the lines, ‘That’s death penalty, Ms. Litella, not deaf … death.’ Litella would wrinkle her nose, say something like, ‘Oh, that’s very different,’ then meekly turn to the camera and say, smiling, ‘Never mind!’”

Of course the last one was completely over the top in the 1970’s as saying the word ‘slut’ on TV was just not done. But that’s exactly what Dan Akroyd – in the role of a news anchor – would deadpan to his co-anchor, Jane Curtin, during a segment titled “Point/Counterpoint”. And the audience loved it.

53-46720-akroyd-curtain-1516730738

Point/Counterpoint with Curtin and Akroyd

It was society altering humor which has influenced several generations. I was 18 when it first hit the airwaves. Although I watched at my home in Yakima the first two years I have a distinct memory of hurrying into the TV room at the Alpha Phi house at the University of Puget Sound to watch it while in college from 1977 through 1979. There was always a fairly large group to view it with me.

Nowadays, when I see the program, I find myself shaking my head as what the current generation finds funny no longer resonates with me. Alas, we are all products of our time. I will forever think of Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Bill Murray, Garret Morris, and Laraine Newman as the REAL SNL cast!

SNL cast 1975 to 1979

SNL cast member 1976 to 1979, left to right, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, John Belushi, Laraine Newman, Dan Akroyd, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray

As I have been known to do with my kids is to provide them with the cultural reference – usually in the form of a video – whenever my husband or I quote something from SNL. A roll of the eyes lets me know that they’re not interested to which I respond “Never mind.”

As always, a few links:
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/paul-simons-monologue-worries/n8639

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurring_Saturday_Night_Live_characters_and_sketches_introduced_1977%E2%80%931978

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Litella

Sadie Hawkins Day

Nov13

November 13, 2108

Catch and Release?

sadietitleThe origin of Sadie Hawkins Day is, no doubt, an anachronism to the young people of today who would be simultaneously surprised and offended by it. But on November 13, 1937, the event was introduced in a popular comic strip and soon, in the vernacular of today, went viral.

 For those who have never heard the term, it was cartoonist Al Capp who, in his syndicated comic Lil’ Abner, wrote it as a plot-line device.

According to the Infallible Wikipedia:

“In Li’l Abner, Sadie Hawkins was the daughter of one of Dogpatch’s earliest settlers, Hekzebiah Hawkins. The ‘homeliest gal in all them hills,’ she grew frantic waiting for suitors. When she reached the age of 35, still a spinster, her father was worried about Sadie living at home for the rest of her life. In desperation, he called together all the unmarried men of Dogpatch and declared it ‘Sadie Hawkins Day’. A foot race was decreed, with Sadie pursuing the town’s eligible bachelors. She was specifically interested in a handsome boy named Adam who was already in a courtship with a cute girl, Theresa, whose father was the area’s largest potato farmer, Bill Richmand, and, unlike Sadie, had a number of courtship offers. Adam was invited to the race because Miss Theresa and Adam weren’t actually engaged. With matrimony as the consequence of losing the foot race, the bachelors of the town were running for their freedom. Adam scored fourth place out of 10, leaving John Jonston as Sadie’s prize. It is possible that the concept’s origins are in an inversion of the myth of Atalanta, who, reluctant to marry, agreed to wed whoever could outrun her in a footrace.

            ‘When ah fires [my gun], all o’ yo’ kin start a-runnin! When ah fires agin—- after givin’ yo’ a fair start—- Sadie starts a runnin’. Th’ one she ketches’ll be her husbin.’

            The town spinsters decided that this was a good idea, so they made Sadie Hawkins Day a mandatory yearly event, much to the chagrin of Dogpatch’s bachelors. If a woman caught a bachelor and dragged him, kicking and screaming, across the finish line before sundown, by law he had to marry her.”

sadie hawkins cartoon

The 1937 cartoon which started it all.

The idea caught on and, just two years later, an article in Time magazine claimed over 200 Sadie Hawkins dances were being held that year at colleges throughout the United States. By 1952 it was estimated that the annual November event was celebrated in 40,000 venues!

Sadie Hawkins Dance, 1949d

Some late 1940’s Sadie Hawkins costumes

Even today, Sadie Hawkins festivities remain popular in the mid-west and south and women – perhaps still shy about asking a boy out – can feel free to pursue the guy of their dreams on November 13.

When I was a teenager, Tolo was our high school version of Sadie Hawkins Day. Apparently a Tolo Dance is unique to the Pacific Northwest. It was started at the University of Washington by Mortar Board, an all women’s honorary society, known there as the Tolo Club. The first dance held by the Tolo Club was conceived as a fundraiser. Like a Sadie Hawkins Day dance, it was the girls who asked the boys.

But back to high school. There was something frightening about the concept of asking a guy to go out. What if he said ‘no’? What if he told his friends and laughed about you behind your back? What if, what if, what if…

And yet somehow I screwed up the courage to ask one my junior year. His name was Mel, he was a senior, and he was an assistant editor on the yearbook staff. We had worked together on the annual since the beginning of school. I thought he was cute, had a good sense of humor, and would be fun to ask to Tolo.

In those days people didn’t do crazy things to ask someone, you just waited until the person was alone and then swoop in. Perhaps I asked him during class one day. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried to block the incident from my memory because I don’t recall exactly how or when I asked him. All I know is that I did and that he said he would.

When the day of the big event arrived I was a wreck, obsessing over what I had chosen to wear (Don’t judge – all I can say is that double knit was a thing in 1973). And obsessing over what we would talk about all evening and if he really wanted to even go with me.

So we went to Tolo, danced, hung out with Mort (editor of the annual that year) and his date a bit, made small talk, and then Mel took me home. The evening ended with a polite ‘thanks for asking me, I had a good time’ verbal handshake and then he left.

 Afterwards I was determined to not let the less than stellar date affect our friendship in class and things went back to normal. Mel’s most famous moment in high school occurred a few months later in the spring of 1974 when he became the one and only student at Eisenhower High School to – at an after school track meet – participate in the nationwide phenomenon of … streaking! He graduated that June – in cap and gown – and I have never seen him again.

The next year there was no way I going to put myself through another awkward evening. I stayed on the sidelines and have never regretted that decision.

 What the experience of asking Mel to Tolo did for me was two things:

  • First, it made me totally appreciate the challenge for men – at least in my day – of having to read the tea leaves of a woman’s interest levels. It’s darn intimidating to figure out if she’ll say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
  • Second, from experiences such as that, I gained valuable insight which has made it easier to penetrate the heads of the fictional characters I write. If I can conjure up the way I felt  when I asked someone out or endured an awkward date, then I can imagine a character – male or female – having similar trepidation’s.

sadielife2-life-magazine

Some Sadie Hawkins girls participating in catch and release.

So here’s to Sadie Hawkins day… hope you ladies out there looking to ask that perfect guy out on a date find a keeper. Otherwise, there’s always catch and release.

A couple of links for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Hawkins_Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadie_Hawkins_dance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capp

Oktoberfest

Oct2

October 2, 2018

Bavarian Beer Bacchanalia

In the category of ‘Any Excuse For A Party’ – Oktoberfest is one of the biggies.

It began in 1810 as a celebration of the wedding of Kronprinz Ludwig and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen of Bavaria. According to the Infallible Wikipedia:

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Traditional Bavarian dancers celebrate Oktoberfest

“The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the royal event. The fields were named Theresienwiese (‘Theresa’s Meadow’) in honour of the Crown Princess, and have kept that name ever since, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the ‘Wiesn’. Horse races, in the tradition of the 15th-century Scharlachrennen (Scarlet Race at Karlstor), were held on 18 October to honor the newlyweds.”

Apparently the citizens of Munich had such a good time that everyone thought it was a splendid idea to do it again the next year… and the next… and pretty much every year for the next 208 years. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:

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“Oktoberfest is the world’s largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling funfair). Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first weekend in October, with more than six million people from around the world attending the event every year. (snip) The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since the year 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modeled after the original Munich event.”

For many years the festival was held during the first half of October but was moved to the last two weeks of September and culminates the first weekend of October. But there is one caveat: if the first weekend ends on either the first or second, then the festival runs until the third.

The beer served at the Munich festival must conform to a standard known as Reinheitsgebot, and it must be brewed within the city limits of Munich in order to be served at the Munich Oktoberfest. The only breweries which can participate are:

  • Augustiner-Bräu
  • Hacker-Pschorr-Bräu
  • Löwenbräu
  • Paulaner
  • Spatenbräu
  • Staatliches Hofbräu-München

For more information and minutiae than you could ever hope to know, be sure to visit the Wikipedia page linked below.

This past weekend, while in Reno visiting our daughter and her boyfriend, the hubby and I agreed to attend a Lake Tahoe version of Oktoberfest. Held in Tahoe City,  the event featured beer, of course, as well as food and entertainment. There were about a half dozen breweries present. Since I’m not a beer drinker, I was happy to see Barefoot Wines have a booth. We enjoyed a lovely day along the shores of the lake although it was windy.

There was a live band – the Beer Gardeners – who played 60’s and 70’s music. There were also contests including a wiener toss. The game was exactly like a raw egg toss where partners stand across from each other and toss eggs to each other until the egg drops and breaks and the pair is eliminated from the game.

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The competition was fierce at Tahoe City Oktoberfest celebration.

But instead of eggs, they toss their wiener back and forth. About 12 pairs of wiener tossers participated and each time a wiener was successfully caught, the participants would take a step further apart. The game was won when only one pair was left who hadn’t dropped their wiener. Yes, I’ve just used the word wiener five times. Yes I took photos.

wiener toss
The Weiner winners!

But the main reason for the event was to drink beer. As the internet might tell you “Beer Is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Contrary to popular belief Ben Franklin never said that. It was probably just a marketing ploy for Oktoberfest and another excuse to have a beer.

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No beer for the author… but the wine and giant pretzel were delicious!

Such a fun time!

A Trusty Steed

Sep11

The Ford Pinto

September 11, 2018

By the late 1960’s no doubt those who study demographics had advised US car makers that there was a huge market for smaller, less expensive cars. In the mid 1960’s the first of the Baby Boomers arrived in droves to get their driver’s licenses. Between 1966 and 1975 over 40 million American teens became drivers.

b_1975 Ford Pinto (Cdn)-06-07Ford Motor Company’s response to this demographic phenomenon was the introduction of the Pinto, marketed as “The Little Carefree Car” on September 11, 1970. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Initial planning for the Pinto began in the summer of 1967, was recommended by Ford’s Product Planning Committee in December 1968, and was approved by Ford’s Board of Directors in January 1969. Ford President Lee Iacocca wanted a 1971 model that weighed under 2,000 pounds and that would be priced at less than $2,000.”

Over the course of the car’s production lifetime, from 1970 through 1980, there were 3,173,491 Pinto’s built and sold.

The Pinto was not without challenges and a design flaw which could result in an explosion and fire during a rear end collision resulted in very bad publicity for the company based on two very high profile legal cases. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:

Sports Car Graphic 1970-09.jpg“In April 1974, the Center for Auto Safety petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall Ford Pintos to address fuel system design defects after reports from attorneys of three deaths and four serious injuries in rear-end collisions at moderate speeds. The NHTSA found there was not enough evidence to warrant a defect investigation. In August 1977, Dowie’s ‘Pinto Madness’ article was published a series of accusations against Ford, the Pinto and the NHTSA. These included that Ford knew the Pinto was a ‘firetrap,’ and said that Ford did not implement design changes because Ford’s cost-benefit analysis document showed that paying out millions in damages in lawsuits was more profitable than the design changes. The day after the article’s release consumer advocate Ralph Nader and the author of the Mother Jones article held a news conference in Washington DC on the alleged dangers of the Pinto’s design. On the same day, Nader and the Center for Auto Safety re-submitted their petition to the NHTSA.”

In 1978 there was a nationwide recall of the car which required a polyethylene shield to be installed between the rear end and the gas tank as well as additional work to improve fuel lines and seals.

Despite the efforts of Ford and Chevrolet to stave off the invasion of foreign cars beginning in the late 1960’s, both the Pinto and – Chevy’s answer – the gutless Vega, were abandoned by 1980 as US car makers struggled to compete.

In 1975 Pinto’s, Vega’s and other small cars filled the streets as they were inexpensive options for teens and young adults whose wages from part time work allowed them to own a car. I was such an individual.

valley ford 19970

How Valley Ford looked in 1970. I worked in an office just to the left of the door you see in the summer of 1976 when I bought the car.

My first job was as a file clerk for Valley Ford in Yakima where I started working part time in the fall of 1975, earning an amazing $2.10 an hour. I suppose my parents tired of me always having one of their cars (the Mustang!) so when the new car sales manager advocated on my behalf the following summer for a car which they’d gotten at auction, I became the proud owner – and with a monthly payment! – of my very first car: a 1974 Pinto Runabout, dark blue with a white top and sunroof.

As I thought about this article I contemplated what story I would share about my experiences as a Pinto owner for five years. How I killed the engine at every intersection the day I drove it home since I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift? Dragging Yakima Avenue with my friend Daphne and meeting two guys who, if their life depended on it, could not guess what her last name was (It was ‘Guess’)? Or how the car took me all over the state for several years?

Finally, I understood that my Pinto was the one constant during that five year period from teenager to adult. Snippets of memories flood back and I see myself as a barely 20 year old driving to a Rainbow Girls’ camp on Hood Canal singing along with Billy Joel’s ‘She’s Always A Woman To Me’, the freedom of the moment and an open road palpable.

Scan_20180909 (3)

My Pinto parked in the driveway at my parents’ house in Yakima. I had never noticed yet another Pinto across the street.

It was with me when I arrived on the campus of the University of Puget Sound in late August that same year and provided more than a few runs for me and my sorority sisters to Piggly Wiggly for study snacks or out for pizza. I can see it in the parking lot at the Alpha Phi house the Tuesday before Thanksgiving covered by a blanket of snow. A few hours later I had my roommate, a girl I knew from Yakima who also attended UPS, then picked up my ex-boyfriend in Seattle before dropping my roommate off in Kirkland then navigating over Snoqualmie Pass in a snowstorm.

But my favorite memory involving the Pinto occurred May 5, 1979. It was the Saturday before finals week and the campus was going crazy with parties and people letting off steam. I had decided to attend a Rainbow Girls’ reception for a friend of mine over in Gig Harbor. It was about a half hour drive from UPS to Peninsula High School so I took off around 6:15, needing to arrive by 7:00 pm. I made it across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge with no problem but when I got to Gig Harbor I was lost. This was long before the days of GPS; all I had was a paper map and it didn’t provide good detail. Up and down several streets I went and my frustration grew. Finally, I pulled the Pinto to the side of the road, consulted the map, and determined I was hopelessly lost and, best case scenario, even if I could find the high school, I would be late.

Resigned to these facts I decided to forgo the event and return to campus. I pulled back on to the road. Just as I came to the crest of the hill, there’s a full rainbow arched before me. I sigh and think “It’s going to be alright.” Now calm, I descend down to the waterfront of Gig Harbor then turn left when I get to the bottom of the hill. I’m thinking this will put me back on the highway but, when I get to the top of the road, I am literally at the front door of the school. Then the next miracle occurs. There is a car leaving from a parking space right in front of the entrance. I park the Pinto and hurry in, barely getting into the gymnasium before things begin. I see a couple of girls I know and ask if I can sit with them. No room on the bleachers where they sit, they say, but there is a spot on the one below. I find myself sitting next to a guy who I know is dating another of my friends – but she’s a mucky muck and is sitting with a different group of people.

As the meeting goes on I find myself spending more time talking to this guy than paying attention to the meeting. I accidentally knock his coat and camera on the floor. We keep talking. Nearly three hours later, the reception over, I go to visit with a couple other friends and there’s the same guy also talking to one particular gal. My friend – the girl that is – asks me what my phone number is so she can call me. I give it to her but say “I’ll only be there another  couple weeks as I’m graduating and going back to Yakima.”

Then I leave. By then it’s about 10 pm and it’s a beautiful night as the earlier showers and clouds have cleared. I walk down the steps towards my Pinto when I hear a voice behind me say “Barb, wait up.”

I turn. It’s the fellow who I’d been sitting next to.

“Did you want me to remember your number?” He asks.

“Do you want to remember my number?” I respond.

“Only if you want me to,” he says.

I repeat the number and say – again – that I’m only there for a short time as well as it being a long distance call for him. He replies that it’s in his budget to make the call and says he will. I get into the Pinto and drive back to campus.

***

The Pinto remained with me through graduation and then when I moved to Eatonville for my first post-college job. It was reconstructed after I hit a deer in the fall of 1979. It moved with me to West Seattle in August 1980 when I got married and ferried me to interviews and then a new job that fall. Then in early 1981, the hubby and I sold it to raise money for the down payment on our first house. And the guy from the reception in Gig Harbor? We celebrated our 38th Wedding Anniversary in August.

Scan_20180909 (4).jpgIt took some digging but I finally found a few photos. I’m particularly amused by this one of ‘my’ guy giving us a little beefcake with the Pinto in the background.  Belatedly, I give thanks for that car and how important it was to me at the time. For five years it was my trusty steed, there for me every step of the way.

As always, a link!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto

1965 Ford Mustang

Apr17

April 17, 2018

Where Were You In ’62?

Ford Thunderbird. Chevy Corvette. Volkswagen Beetle. Ford Mustang.

Just saying the name of each of these particular cars evokes instant pictures in the brains of people who grew up in the 1960’s and 70’s in the United States. One could claim each of these cars is iconic and hearkens back to a time when turning 16 and getting to drive your first car were rites of passage.

American Graffiti ThunderbirdThe line “Where were you in ’62?” is in reference to the movie American Graffiti where then unknown actor Richard Dreyfuss becomes obsessed with finding the blonde who is driving the white Thunderbird. He never does but the already iconic Thunderbird is cemented in legend and, for his character, is what defines his final teenage experience.

The Ford Mustang was that car for me. Introduced mid-year 1964 – it’s initial release is known as the 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang – it sold over 120,000 cars in its first six months and an additional 600,000 in 1965 catapulting the vehicle to fame. It was introduced on April 17, 1964 and was Ford’s most successful car launch since the Model A.

From the infallible Wikipedia:

“The Ford Mustang was brought out five months before the normal start of the 1965 production year. The early production versions are often referred to as ‘1964½ models’ but all Mustangs were advertised, VIN coded and titled by Ford as 1965 models, though minor design updates for fall 1965 contribute to tracking 1964½ production data separately from 1965 data (see data below). with production beginning in Dearborn, Michigan, on March 9, 1964; the new car was introduced to the public on April 17, 1964 at the New York World’s Fair.

Executive stylist John Najjar, who was a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited by Ford to have suggested the name. Najjar co-designed the first prototype of the Ford Mustang known as Ford Mustang I in 1961, working jointly with fellow Ford stylist Philip T. Clark. The Mustang I made its formal debut at the United States Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York, on October 7, 1962, where test driver and contemporary Formula One race driver Dan Gurney lapped the track in a demonstration using the second “race” prototype. His lap times were only slightly off the pace of the F1 race cars.”

In thinking about the Mustang, memories from a four year span – from age 14 to 18 – seem to have that car as a part of them.

ford mustangFirst, a description of the car. It’s a 1964 1/2. White with a black convertible rag top. Red leather seats. Pretty much every teenager’s dream as the coolest car. I know it was mine.

One memory is particularly strong. I had just gotten my driver’s license earlier in the day, my 16th birthday. It’s August and it’s hot. Around 8 p.m. I find some reason why I absolutely need to borrow the car and go someplace. The store? Who knows. What I do know is that when you are 16 and have the freedom of a car for the first time in your life there’s a heady moment when you feel the world belongs to you. That was my moment.

I drove the car to the appointed place and did my errand. After that I did the ONE thing my parents told me I was NOT to do. I headed to downtown Yakima to cruise the “Ave.” Yakima Avenue was, for years, the go to spot for teens looking to see and be seen, as American Graffiti-like as Modesto California in the early 1960’s. It was there that guys and girls would talk from car window to car window and, if there was mutual interest, meet in the parking lot of Shultz Furniture, and get to know one another.Yakima Avenue cruises.jpg

Another thing about Yakima Avenue is that the street lighting was really, really good. So good, in fact, that one might not notice that they had failed to illuminate their headlights.

In my 16 year old brain I think ‘what harm can come from one run on the Ave?’ I drive east without incident and then head back west. So far so good. My parents’ warning resonates in my head and I don’t stop or talk to anyone but dutifully head for home. police car lightsThen, behind me, blue and red lights come on. My heart pounds. Oh crap.

I’ve had my license less than 24 hours and I’m about to get my first ticket. My hand shakes as I hand the officer my license. He asks if I know why he pulled me over. I say no.

“You’re driving without your lights on.”

He goes back to his patrol car and I wait, on the verge of tears, for the bad news.

A minute later he hands me back a paper – a warning – and my license.

“We just want you to be safe. Keep your lights on,” he says.

I make it home, the car intact and me without a ticket and never did tell my parents about it. Some secrets are best kept to oneself for forty some years.

The next day I purchased a keychain with a little plastic light bulb and kept my set of car keys on it for several years, a reminder to turn my lights on at night. I’ve never once forgotten since that incident.

There are other memories associated with the Mustang including being taught  to drive by my dad and, during the very first lesson, accidentally driving up and over a snow bank on our street… My first kiss while riding in the back seat. My sister was at the wheel that night and we were giving my boyfriend a ride to his house… New Year’s Eve the winter before I graduate college and it’s 15 below zero and I vow to never again live in a place where it can get that cold… The top down and sitting up on the edge of the back seat to wave at people while riding in the Sunfair parade. Yes, all of them American Graffiti type moments never to be re-lived.

It was a sad day when I learned my dad had sold that car (Washington license plate number EEE 161) and an important piece of my teen years.

american Graffiti poster.jpgFor more information, here’s the Wikipedia link to the Mustang and, for those who have never seen American Graffiti, it’s a classic movie worth the time it takes to watch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mustang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Graffiti

The Safety Pin

Apr10

April 10, 2018

From Practical to Ridiculous

It was patented on April 10, 1849, as a way for the inventor to pay off a $15 debt. Today, this device is a ubiquitous part of everyday life. What is it? The safety pin.Original safety pin design

Although we take its clever design for granted, the safety pin is truly ingenious and, for those of us who used cloth diapers on our children or who ever has had a torn hem or  a loose fitting garment, it’s been the one thing that’s saved us.

From the infallible Wikipedia:

“American mechanic Walter Hunt is regarded as the inventor of the safety pin that bears resemblance to those used today. The safety pin included a clasp that covered the point and kept it from opening, and a circular twist at the bend to act as a spring and hold it in place. Charles Rowley (Birmingham, England) independently patented a similar safety pin in October 1849, although the company no longer makes these.

Hunt invented the device in order to pay off a $15 debt to a friend. He used a piece of brass wire that was about 8 inches long and made a coil in the center of the wire so it would open up when released. The clasp at one end was devised in order to shield the sharp edge from the user.

After being issued U.S. patent #6,281 on April 10, 1849,  Hunt sold the patent to W. R. Grace and Company for $400 (roughly $10,000 in 2008 dollars). Using that money, Hunt then paid the $15 owed to a friend and kept the remaining amount of $385 for himself. What Hunt failed to realize is that in the years to follow, W.R. Grace and Company would make millions of dollars in profits from his invention.”

vintage diaper pinsThe safety pin was an especially great invention for mothers everywhere to keep the baby’s diaper pinned without stabbing the child. Making a large pin with a cute animal as the protective head has been a popular adaptation for decades.

It never occurred to me, however, that a safety pin would be used for anything other than, well, holding together fabric in some fashion.  Boy was I wrong. Today safety pins are routinely used as jewelry and to, ahem, enhance one’s body art. insane face piercingWhen Punk Rock became a thing in the late 70’s and early 80’s the practice of using a safety pin as a decorative piercing became popular with the musicians and their followers.

Tattoos and piercings – any numbers of which are safety pins – are a common fashion in the 21st century. Additionally, safety pins have been incorporated into impressive jewelry designs.

Along with a G-2 pen and paperclips, safety pins are – in my opinion – an indispensable item one should carry with them at all times! So hooray for Walter Hunt and the invention of this invaluable item.

And, of course, a link to Wikipedia to whet your appetite for knowledge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_pin