This is a simple story about memories from your past. These just happen to be my memories, because actually it would be real hard for me to remember your past.

Doing research for characters is fun and sometimes requires a tremendous
amount of time. Everyone in your life is a character of sorts, and some
more than others. Asking the right questions can open up some amazing
conversations. I once met a man who told me he invented the pop top for
soda and beer cans and he told me he earned one penny for every 6-pack
sold. Now I don't know if he was pulling my leg, but the character who
told me that story is one I will never forget. I also met the man who
invented the process you see when you watch football on TV when the
screen flips up with a stat and then seems to move away from the screen
flipping and turning until it disappears. Him, I believed.

People are stories waiting to be discovered... all you have to do is ask, or in this case... just remember. I challenge every writer to review and list the simple things from their past that left a lasting impression on them in one way or another. Better yet, ask your parents or grandparents before it is too late. At your next family get-together seek out that quiet uncle and see what the conversation will bring.

I asked my father to tell me about every job he did and the results were amazing. I also asked him about every car he owned and that led to some incredible stories. The point is that the past is there for everybody to discover... you just have to ask.

In doing research for the background of some characters in an upcoming
book, I sat down and flashed back to my childhood and took note of my
own experiences and growing up with the influences that shaped my life.
As I looked at the list, I started to see things that almost rhymed and
then I thought... Oh what the hell, have some fun and and try to make a
poem out of it. So here is my attempt to kill two birds with one stone.
It may bring back some memories if you're old enough to remember.

I remember Howdy Doody, and Captain Kangaroo
Clarabell, Mr. Green Jeans, and Bunny Rabbit too
Always loved Popeye, Olive Oil and SweatPea
Cow cartoons with funny mice, and Mr. Bugs Bunny

Black and white cartoons when no one ever talked
Ruff and Ready, Heckle and Jeckle and their funny walk
Three Stooges, Andy Devine, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
Trigger, Sky King and Penny and the Songbird, oh heavens

Yogi Bear and Booboo bear, and Mr. Ranger Sir
Johnny Quest, Tweetie Bird and action Speed Racer
Felix the Cat, Pepe Le Pu, cats of different sorts
Peabody and Sherman and the way-back machine reports

Abbott and Costello with Stinky on the stoop,
Mike the cop, Mr. Fields and Mr. Bacciagalupe
Untouchables with Elliot Ness machine guns shooting hell
Lassie helped Timmie out when he fell down the well

Road Runner Meep Meep, and Huckleberry Hound
Wylie Coyote and that ACME anvil sound
Tasmanian Devil, and Fog Horn Leghorn tricks
Ma and Pa Kettle a family from the sticks

Love That Bob, Our Miss Brooks, George Burns & Gracie too
Dick Van Dyke and Laura Petrie, Car 54 Where Are You
Sergeant Carter, Gomer Pyle, Duke and the platoon
Million Dollar Movie all day Saturday from noon.

Always watched Superman with the Chief and Lois Lane
The Green Hornet and Kato, Bruce Lee before his fame
Mickey Mouse Club, Spin and Marty, Dolenz Circus Boy
Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, remember Real McCoys?

Lone Ranger and Tonto, and Casper who said Boo
Mighty Mouse, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey too
Laurel and Hardy movie shorts, and watching Jack Lalane
McHale's Navy, Ensign Parker drove Binghamton insane

Rocky and Bullwinkle, they lived in Frostbite Falls
The Dead End Kids in trouble, the funniest Huntz Hall
Boris and Natasha they were always plotting away
Petticoat Junction with Uncle Joe, Gomer who said HEY.

Ed Sullivan had everybody who could sing or dance
Saturday Night Live, The coneheads were from France
Arnold the pig on Green Acres always stole the show
Eb and Mr Ziffel, and Haney's truck so slow

Taxi was outrageous with Louie and Reverend Jim
The Munsters, Addams Family, and My Favorite Martian
Zorro, Flintstones, Jetsons with Spacely Sprockets
A sidekick Buddy Ebson in a show called Davey Crocket

Mr. Ed, Dukes Of Hazzard, The Flip Wilson show
American Bandstand played music we all know
Leave it to Beaver with Wally and the Beev
Ozzie and Harriet's Ricky Nelson singing on TV

The Man From UNCLE, Illya Kuryakin and don't forget I Spy
Get Smart's cone of silence, shoe phones and Agent 99
Mayberry's mild sheriff, Opie and Aunt Bee
Goober at the station, and Otis had his key

Magnum PI, Hawaii Five O we waited for Book em Dano
Before Jack Paar Steve Allen, and Liberace on piano
Frankenstein, Godzilla, the Wolfman and King Kong
Rodan, Mothra, Dracula and Mighty Joe Young

My Three Sons with the saxophone music
Chip and Ernie made Uncle Charlie lose it
Hogan's Hero's with Klink was something
Newkirk, LaBeau and Schultz I see nothing

Rockford Files, Mannix, Columbo, Peter Gunn
F-Troop, Outer Limits and scary Twilight Zone
The creature from the Blue Lagoon and Invisible man
Sherlock Holmes with Rathbone and Detective Charlie Chan

And now it's on to other things, I remember when
jiffy pop, creamcicles, Good Humor ice cream man
TV dinners, cracker jacks, cotton candy and red hots
one color M&M's, papersheets of candy colored dots

jaw breakers and jujubees and Tang and Ovaltine
candy cigarettes, Kool aid and egg creams
Blackjack and Clove and Bazooka chewing gum
fireballs and sugar straws and Penny candy fun

NeHi flavored soda and favorite Nestles Quick
gumballs, wax candy and liquorish twisty sticks
comic book sea-monkeys really sea horse pets
speaking in Pig Latin, and the New York Mets

Silly putty, simple kites, and Erector sets
hula hoops and slinky and the Etch-a-sketch
Duncan yo-yo's, Chatty Kathy, marbles and jacks
hopscotch sidewalk fun, don't step on any cracks

The Game Of Life, Parcheesi, simple blocks of wood
assembling your own bicycle, directions were no good
Easy-Bake ovens, and your army men were green
Superball, Mr. Potato Head and robot Mr. Machine

Monopoly, Chutes and ladders, and also Tinkertoys
The Fort Apache Play Set and Lincoln Logs for boys
Candy Land, stickball, skateboards if you're able
glass bottles for your soda pop, jukebox on your table

skates with metal wheels and jumping jacks in Gym
windshield cleaned and tires checked at your gas station
wooden soda crates, x-ray glasses for your eyes
Washtub wringers, peashooters, and records 45's

Hi-Fi's, sting ray bicycles with banana seats
Cork pop guns and Drive ins, Keds for your feet
Fuller Brush Man, Green Stamps, metal ice cube trays
cigar boxes with pennies saved for a rainy day

Reel-To-Reel tape recorders, and shouts of tag you're it
5 cent packs of baseball cards, how far can you spit
Studebakers, Edsels, and cars with rumble seats
15 cent McDonald's and shouts of Where's The Beef?

eeny-meeny-miney-moe, Baseball cards in spokes
Stay up late for Johnny Carson just to hear his jokes
Oly-oly-oxen-free, three channels on TV
mini-bike at age 12, my Red Wagon at age 3

Station wagons, Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life
coonskin hats, decoder rings, shiny Boy Scout Knife
Concentration with Hugh Downs, also Queen for A Day
Flipping cards and jumping rope, these were things to play

Everyone's Mom was at home when you got home from school
Fights were settled by foot races, there lived a golden rule
Mr. Clean, Do Overs, free glasses in Detergent
Caps and Sparklers on the 4th, catching lightning bugs was urgent.

Now I think I have to stop, I could go on all day
Remembering the olden times while hair is turning gray
hope this brought back memories, it was really nifty
but I think you would have to be born around 1950.  

http://authorsden.com/rigby