52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Favorite Teacher

I'm not even real sure how the memory of my first teacher, Miss Bess Bowen, popped into my head this afternoon. She was my teacher in kindergarten, first and second grade in the 1950s in a small rural school. Three grades were in one room.

I credit Miss Bowen with my love of learning and being able to spell and write and do math. You've heard of the book, "All I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten." In the case of Miss Bess Bowen, that was so true. She taught you, and she taught you well.

As a four year old starting in public school in the 1950s, I knew that Miss Bowen was a grandmotherly type, even though she had remained single all of her life. It was only by doing a little bit of online research that I learned that she was 72 years old when I first met her in kindergarten!

I admit to being a bit of a teacher's pet and recall her getting after my third/fourth grade teacher for not recognizing my intelligence and ability to the extent that Miss Bowen had! Ha! Well, that was how I felt at age eight. I had become very attached to Miss Bowen and it was hard for me to move on to a different (first year) teacher for third grade!

As I look over the census records showing Miss Bowen throughout her career, I recall such fond memories of her. The newspaper articles about her from the 1920s and 1930s tell of her work with her young pupils.

In 1916, she went home to Avoca, Iowa to spend the month of August with her parents and other family members. In 1922, she was awarded her teachers' certificate from the University of Nebraska.

In 1926, she and another delegate to the convention of the National Education Association left for Philadelphia before spending a week in Washington, D.C. and going on to New York City to take summer classes at Columbia University. By 1930, she was an officer in the state education association.

In 1937, her students gave some reviews concerning early pioneer life. The pony express, and the early school and home were compared with present day life. Oh! Wouldn't she enjoy sharing stories about our pioneer ancestors!

And in 1950, she served as a census enumerator! Why do I sense that her spirit is looking over my shoulder as I type this?!

Greenwood School, Greenwood, Nebraska - This school building housed grades K - 12 when Miss Bowen was my teacher. My Mom also attended this same school. My great-grandfather, Daniel Kelly, served on the school board (long before I was born!).






Miss Bowen kept in touch with me for many years after I was under her tutelage. She always wanted to know how my education was going. I remember reading in the newspaper that had she passed away - although I don't remember exactly when it was. To this day, when I look back over my education, I still feel that the foundation she provided during those first three years gave me what I needed to succeed in school and in life.


Do you have fond memories of a teacher from your past? If so, please leave a comment below.

note: references are from articles that appeared in the Lincoln Star, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1916 - 1950.


52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History is a series of writing prompts sponsored by Geneabloggers and created by Amy Coffin of the We Tree genealogy blog. This blog post was first published on LongLostRelatives.net on June 11, 2010.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Fame

Week 20 Challenge. Fame. Tell us about any local brushes with fame. Were you ever in the newspaper? Why? You may also describe any press mentions of your family members.

This week's challenge for 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History presents an intriguing perspective for me. I can view this challenge from a couple different perspectives: my own 15 minutes of fame as well as my rubbing shoulders with celebrities.

From the time I was able to write, I always fancied myself a writer. To this day, some of my writing is better than others. In elementary school, I was writing my own short stories based on Winnie the Pooh characters and songs based on Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was no surprise that I was drawn to journalism by the time I got into junior high and high school.

I always used to get a kick out of radio announcer Jimmy O'Neill (he was the Ryan Seacrest of his day) who shot to TV stardom at age 24 by landing the job of host on the popular ABC-TV music series, Shindig. In later years, he was a disc jockey/announcer at KOIL in Omaha. He always said that his resume read upside down - meaning most broadcasters start out in local radio then work themselves up to a bigger job over time.

I've often thought the same about myself because the first article I ever wrote was an interview with Peter, Paul and Mary when I was 15 years old. It was published in the national teen magazine, Datebook, and I was paid $25. There was a bit of notoriety about me being published in this particular magazine because this was the magazine that published the famous interview of John Lennon by Maureen Cleave in which he made his controversial comment "the Beatles are more popular than Jesus". 

Mary Travers
Peter, Paul and Mary
Lincoln, 1965

A small article was published in the Lincoln Journal about my article being published in a national magazine. Since the article identified the high school I attended, I received a couple "fan letters" at school. I think I may have become pen pals with those people. I also received a nice letter from Bob Magee of Magee's department store in Lincoln, congratulating me and commenting that it was nice to see a youngster doing something so positive (or something to that effect!). He sent me a gift certificate for $25 to Magee's and I got a long sleeved white sweater with that. As coincidences go in genealogy, the Magee building is where my great grandfather's brother-in-law had his pharmacy business in the 'olden days.'

So - who wouldn't get hooked on fame and celebrity after that sort of attention at age 15? This all happened at the same time as the British Invasion of pop music groups, which is what really impacted my teen years. Armed with my Kodak Instamatic camera, my notepad and pen as well as press passes from Datebook and Teen Screen, I did my best to get backstage at every rock and roll concert that came to town. If I wasn't going to be a celebrity myself, I was definitely going to hang out with them. And what better access than by being a reporter/photographer. It was probably that combination that drew me into journalism school.

With Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, 1968
Instamatic in hand

I think that I met just about every band that came to town. Let me make it perfectly clear, I was not a groupie - I just was not "one of those girls." I probably wanted to be, but it just wasn't in my nature. I've got to say, however, I really felt an emotional connection to the films Almost Famous and The Banger Sisters and Pamela Des Barres' book I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie. Fantasy. Besides, I was a reporter.

Actors Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
circa 1971

I submitted articles to the Lincoln Journal during my high school years and they published my pieces about The Who, Herman's Hermits, The Blues Magoos, and The Rumbles, the Omaha/Council Bluffs band who had quite a bit of regional success and a national hit with Jezebel. The band is still active today, albeit with only one original member. I even became president of their Lincoln fan club, which didn't mean much other than that their manager, Eddy Haddad, always paid for my friends and me to get into their shows and I think he made the guys be nice to me. Mostly, they just tolerated this kid, I think.

Peter Noone
Herman's Hermits
Omaha, 1967

Once in journalism school, I continued to follow the bands, but expanded my interests to journalists and politicians. By the time the 1980s rolled around, I had migrated from pop music to country and entered what I still refer to as The Nashville Years. My annual pilgrimage to Fan Fair in Nashville provided a lot of interaction with famous people. Within my first hour of arriving at my first Fan Fair, I was being interviewed by Ralph Emery on WSM Radio. Why and how? I managed to get next to him while he was interviewing attendees and he asked me what I thought about Fan Fair. Once his TV show, Nashville Now, debuted on The Nashville Network (TNN), I was on as a phone-in caller several times.

Susan with Danny Davis
Lincoln Community Concerts

I parlayed my Nashville contacts into a short stint at writing a newspaper column on country music. My hopes were to syndicate the column throughout Nebraska, but only one newspaper picked it up. But it got me some street cred, published bylines and clippings for my portfolio. Among my more enjoyable interviews were with Ranger Doug Green of Riders in the Sky (I even attended a few parties at his home) and a breakfast interview in Omaha with Danny Davis of the Nashville Brass. He had been a producer for MGM Records in the 60s and was responsible for bringing Herman's Hermits to the label. So not only did we talk about country music, we also talked about the Sixties. He also told me that he and Merv Griffin performed together in the big band days.

with Riders in the Sky
Nashville, 1984

During this same time, I became the volunteer publicity director for the Lincoln Community Concerts Association - another opportunity for me to brush shoulders with entertainers. We produced four or five concerts each year and I was instrumental in securing Louise Mandrell for our 50th anniversary concert/party.

With former Nebraska Governor and Senator Bob Kerrey
the night he announced he was running for President
Omaha, 1991

Things have slowed down quite a bit in recent years. Now I attend lectures and book signings and have been fortunate to meet Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln's own Ted Sorensen, who was JFK's speech writer and author of Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History. And, of course, there are the genealogists I've met like John Philip Colletta, author of They Came in Ships. 

My thoughts about fame

Even after a life where I've been around a lot of famous people, I am concerned about the celebrity-obsessed society we seem to have become. I totally do not get 1) people who are famous for being famous (Paris Hilton, the Kardashians), 2) why anyone would want to be on a reality TV show or 3) why anyone is interested in celebrity couples. I certainly never sought to be famous myself and up until the time that I started blogging about family history, my internet presence had been under a pseudonym - 17 years of not being me.

I also am distressed about what the journalism field has turned into. I no longer see journalism (particularly broadcast journalism) as having the high standards of obtaining the truth that I was taught. I believe there were two significant events that contributed to the deterioration of journalism. The first was the excellent film, All the President's Men, the story of the two Washington Post reporters who were attributed with exposing Watergate. The second was the introduction of 24-hour cable news channels.

After Watergate, enrollment in journalism schools around the country skyrocketed. Every reporter who had missed out on the story of the century wanted their own Watergate-type legacy. I believe that is what triggered reporters into trying to turn every story into a sensational story. I felt my theory was validated when Robert Redford expressed similar thoughts during a recent interview with Piers Morgan on CNN. (Just because I'm not keen on 24-hour news channels doesn't mean that I don't watch them).

Shortly after Watergate, I sent my resume to The Washington Post. Sorry, not interested. At least I can say that I was turned down by the best in the business. Oh yes, I even met former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee at a speaking engagement many years ago. He signed his book, Conversations with Kennedy, for me. We share the same birthday, but fortunately, I didn't know it at the time or I would have made some stupid comment about that.

This reminiscence is definitely more about personal history than about genealogy, but it is these experiences that made me who I am - and what brought me into the blogging world. It's been a fun ride.

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers. The theme for 2011 is 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History. 

Read all articles in this series

Disclaimer: links to DVDs and books in this post are via my Amazon Associates agreement.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Sports

Week 15 Challenge: Did you have a favorite sports team as a child? If so, which one and why? Do you still support the same teams?

This blog post was originally published on January 15, 2011.

Mickey Mantle at the plate
Municipal Stadium, Kansas City
August 19, 1962
my photo from the upper deck

No, Mickey Mantle was not one of my long lost relatives. But he played a big role in my early years. As I've written before, there are many baseball players in my family, including my father, my maternal grandfather, and two great uncles on both sides of the family. For whatever reason, the New York Yankees were my number one team. Today, I've expanded "my teams" to include the St. Louis Cardinals. So I've got a team in each league.

I remember listening to baseball games on the radio with my grandmother, Sina Bellinger Kelly. There was something about the name Mickey Mantle that resonated with me. At such an early age (under five), I really believe that I thought Mickey Mantle and Mickey Mouse were the same person! Anyway, I loved his name. Then I remember watching baseball games on our black and white television set.

Then came along the summer of 1961 and the home run race between the two Yankees, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. This season was expertly recreated in Billy Crystal's film 61*. I followed the home run race, read the box scores, and checked the statistics on a daily basis that summer. Being a huge Mickey Mantle fan, I wanted him to beat Babe Ruth's record. But as long as the record was broken by a Yankee, it didn't matter.

1962 rolled around and a dream came true for me. My grandparents, parents and I went to Kansas City's old Memorial Stadium to see the Yankees play the Kansas City Athletics on August 19, 1962. The Yankees were smokin' that day. Home runs were the norm. Mantle hit 3 for 4, including the seventh grand slam home run of his career. It was enough to see Mantle and Maris and the rest of the Yankees, but to see a grand slam! I was thrilled!

Between Mantle and Elston Howard, the two drove in 15 runs to beat the A's 21 - 7. Howard hit two home runs. It wasn't as if the A's were idle that day, either. Of 11 hits by the A's, four were home runs! No kid could ask for anything better than that!

Just as baseball is a big part of my lineage, it's still a big part of my life today (as a TV spectator anyway). Opening Day is April 1, 2011. It can't get here soon enough.

source: Beckley Post Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

August 20, 1962

Update for 52 Weeks: Oh yes, I still follow the Yankees! One of their relief pitchers, Joba Chamerlain, and I went to the same high school (oh, about 30-35 years apart). It's fun to keep an eye out for the home town boys who made it big. But I am also a huge fan of the St. Louis Cardinals (my Dad tried out for the team prior to enlisting in World War II). Pujols Rules! It's hard to believe, but I also like the Boston Red Sox (Yankees fans, do not attack me!), the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Chicago Cubs. Face it, if there's a major league baseball game on TV, it's on in the background.

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers. The theme for 2011 is 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History. These are shared on the Geneabloggers.com web site, hosted by Thomas MacEntee.

Read all articles in this series

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Movies

Week 12 Challenge: Movies. Did (or do you still) see many movies? Describe your favorites. Where did you see these films? Is the theater still there, or is there something else in its place?

Joyo Theater
from the Joyo's Facebook page

This week's challenge for this series is a topic near and dear to my heart - movies. 


I grew up in the suburbs of northeast Lincoln, Nebraska. It's a cluster of the small communities of Havelock, University Place and Bethany. Everyone who grew up in these predominantly blue collar neighborhoods spent nearly every Saturday afternoon at the Joyo Theatre at 6102 Havelock Avenue.

At the time, the Joyo was the only indoor neighborhood movie theater in Lincoln. After movies had their initial run in downtown Lincoln, they would find their way to the Joyo a few weeks later. I wish I could remember the price of a movie in the early 1960s - but I am quite certain it was less than a dollar.


The Joyo was a safe place for parents to drop off their pre-teens for an afternoon double feature. Mainly, I remember seeing nothing but Disney films for years - The Absent Minded Professor, The Parent Trap, Pollyanna (I didn't just love Hayley Mills, I wanted to BE Hayley Mills!), The Swiss Family Robinson (James McArthur before he became known for 'Book 'em, Danno'),  Babes in Toyland (oh, yeah, I also wanted to BE Annette!), The Castaways, Summer Magic (did I mention that I loved Hayley Mills?), The Moonspinners. Of course, I saw all of Disney's animated features as well.


I've pretty much defined my life in two segments: Before The Beatles and After The Beatles. This era began in Feburary 1964. That summer came the much anticipated release of their first feature film, A Hard Day's Night. This film opened at the Varsity Theater in downtown Lincoln. Advance tickets were sold for the premier weekend. My friends and I bought tickets for the first and second showings on a Saturday afternoon. At age 13, we were the typical screaming teenyboppers. We had seen the kids screaming while the group performed on the The Ed Sullivan Show, so even though the lads were only performing for us through the magic of film, when it got to the concert portion at the end of the film, we were screaming as loud as we could, girls were throwing jelly beans and pennies at the screen. By the time we stood in line for the second showing, I had no voice left. I wasn't able to talk for a couple days. I never heard a word of dialog. The Varsity was torn down many, many years ago, but the Joyo still stands.

My friends and I laughed about when we would be old ladies and A Hard Day's Night would be shown on TV and we could tell our grandkids about it! The film showed up on TV much sooner than that. And, a few weeks later, the film made its way to the Joyo and we went to see it a couple more times. Since then, I know I've probably watched it well over 100 times, and I don't think 200 would be an exaggeration.

Then there were the series of Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette. I saw all of those as well. Frankie performed at Lincoln's Lied Center a couple years ago and as he stood about three feet from me as he sang from the aisle, well, it was still pretty exciting.

From this basis formed a life long love affair with film. I am from the generation that still thinks movie musicals make sense. I thought nothing of the knife wielding thugs from the gangs of West Side Story breaking into ballet moves on the streets of New York. My collection of original soundtrack and Broadway cast albums came from this love of musical theater and film.

These days, the majority of my film viewing is from the comfort of my own home, where I can rewind if I missed part of the dialog or display closed captioning if I want to.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I am proud to be from Nebraska. I have developed a special interest in the role of Nebraska actors and actresses in the entertainment industry: Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Montgomery Clift, Robert Taylor, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, all the way up to Marg Helgenberger from CSI. So much is my fondess for my fellow Nebraskans - and the movies that were shot on location here - I have created a web site devoted to Nebraska on Film.

So, I guess you could say that film has had a pretty big impact on my life.  

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers. The theme for 2011 is 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History. These are shared on the Geneabloggers.com web site, hosted by Thomas MacEntee.

Read all articles in this series.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week 9 - Sounds

This week's challenge: Describe any sounds that take you back to your childhood. These could be familiar songs, jingles, children playing, or something entirely different.


My initial thought about this week's challenge in 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History would have been to write about my lifelong love affair with the music of The Beatles. However, I opted for something that is a bit more closely related to the heritage of my family - the sound of the whistle of the railroad train.

Harry Bellinger and his locomotive
my great uncle

For the majority of my life, I've known the comforting sound of the whistle of the railroad train, noticed mostly at night, and in the distance. The sound of the whistle was never loud enough to wake me from my sleep, but as I lay awake during the night, I could hear the faint sound of the trains.


Growing up in Greenwood, Nebraska, our home was adjacent to the railroad tracks. There was a deep ditch that separated my life from that of the trains that clacked their way along the tracks.


The sound of the whistle always began in the distance, warning people on foot and in cars that it was approaching the crossing. There were no crossing arms, just the familiar white X indicating the crossing. As the train neared the crossing, the sound became louder, then as it traveled down the tracks, the sound again faded in the distance.


There was a different sound of the whistle, depending upon whether it was the Zephyr passenger train or one of the trains carrying coal. It became easy to distinguish the difference between the two.


Even after my family moved to Lincoln, we were in proximity to railroad tracks. The sounds became as natural to me as the chirping of the birds or the tinkling of a wind chime. The sound was just always there, in the background.


Many members of my family were contractors who built the first railroad lines through Nebraska and neighboring states. Mom's uncle, Harry Bellinger, was an engineer. So maybe my affinity for the sound of the train has something to do with my ancestry.

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week 8: Technology - Space Program

This week's challenge: Technology: What are some of the technological advances that happened during your childhood? What types of technology do you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid?

John Glenn
Mercury Astronaut
Former U.S. Senator, D-Ohio
1968, Wilber, Nebraska

There was no question about this week's selection for the technological advance of my childhood.


Space travel - it doesn't get more technologically advanced than that.


When I was a child in the late 1950s, I vividly remember when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. I couldn't have told you the date from memory, but NASA says it was October 4, 1957. I remember standing in our yard, looking skyward, confident I would be able to see it pass overhead. I also tried to dig my way to China once, but gave up after I dug about four inches of dirt and decided I enjoyed life right where I was.


In his inaugural address in January, 1961 President John F. Kennedy challenged the United States to place a man on the moon in the next decade. That seemed like the thoughts of a wild dreamer at the time.


The space race began between the United States and the Soviet Union (It was called the USSR then). Monkeys were being tested in spacecrafts, but the first human being to enter space was Yuri Gagarin of the USSR. We followed the current events surrounding the space race in grade school. I knew the names of all seven of the astronauts selected for the Mercury space program: Alan Shepherd, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Wally Schirra, and Deke Slayton.


Shepherd became the first American in space and John Glenn was the first American to oribit the earth. His capsule was called Friendship 7. I read and re-read every article about the astronauts in Life magazine. Glenn's flight was in 1962. I took a huge risk by taking my transistor radio to school with an earphone so I could listen to the radio broadcast about his flight. I must have gotten away with it because I don't remember getting in trouble or having it taken away from me. John Glenn was my true American hero! In 1998, at the age of 77, he became the oldest person to fly in space.


I remember the tragedy when Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died during a pre-launch test of the Apollo craft in 1967.

It was only two years later that the Apollo mission carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins took off for the moon, fulfilling President Kennedy's dream. I remember watching the live coverage of the landing and the first walk on the moon during that hot July of 1969.


Aspects of the space program have been well portrayed in the film version of The Right Stuff and Apollo 13. There was even a sci-fi thriller that pondered that the space program could have been smoke and mirrors and produced in a television studio in Capricorn One. On a family history note, my third cousin, David Doyle, appeared in that film. 


Current Technology


For the second part of this week's challenge, what technology do I enjoy today and what do I avoid?


All who know me probably think of me as Lady GaGadget. Really. Over the years, I've had to have the latest and greatest in electronics, including stereos, boom boxes, Sony Walkman, VCRs, DVD players, DVD recorders, Sony Camcorder, you name it. Over time, I learned to not jump on the technology bandwagon as early as I had before. Now I tend to wait for the bugs to be worked out and the price to come down. I didn't buy my HDTV until about a year and a half ago.


My first computer purchase was in 1986, a Tandy T-1000. No hard drive. Didn't need one. Since then, I had one other desktop model, followed by four laptops and a netbook. I don't love computers. What I love is what they allow me to do.


My other recent techno gadgets would include two Creative Zen mp3 players (I'm not an Apple or iPod fan), and the Creative Zen which plays mp3 files, audio books, videos from YouTube and stores photos. I had the first generation Flip Video Camera even before Oprah featured it on her show. My current love affair is with the Flip-Pal mobile scanner. I ordered that last summer and was in the first round of early adopters to begin using this product from the company's first shipment. This scanner also has to compete with my Kindle E-reader for my attention. I'm definitely glad I waited for the price to go down on the Kindle, but now I'm waiting for Amazon to come out with a color version. I also make quite a bit of use of my Garmin GPS.


What do I avoid?


Cell phones! I have a love/hate relationship with cell phones. I like having it when I need to make a call, but for carrying on a real conversation? Nope. Don't like it. And I can't imagine me giving in to a Smartphone. I figure that I can wait 8 hours to read all of my junk email and do it on my computer. I loathe the idea of texting and hope my state Legislature will outlaw the use of cell phones and texting while driving.


Mostly, I hate ring-tones. More specifically, yours. :-) 


Related blog posts:


Sending my stuff to the technology graveyard


Flip-Pal review, Part 1


Flip-Pal review, Part 2


Using Kindle for Genealogy

Using Kindle for Genealogy Redux

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers. The theme for 2011 is 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History. These are shared on the Geneabloggers.com web site, hosted by Thomas MacEntee.

Read all articles in this series.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week 7: Toys

Week 7 Challenge: Toys. What was your favorite childhood toy? Is it still being made in some form today?

There were many toys that struck my fancy as a child, but the one I chose to write about this week is the original Hula-Hoop by Wham-O. These circular tubes were great fun and good exercise! These toys came out in the mid 1950s, and as with most new inventions, I had to be the first on my block to have one. If I remember correctly, mine was banana yellow.

I loved to Hula in our front yard, or in the living room if the weather was bad outside. I was always Hula-Hooping. It didn't take long to pick up the technique. After a while, just Hooping around my waist wasn't enough and I had to master twirling the hoop around my neck and my arms. I don't think I ever mastered hooping on one leg, but I'm sure I must have tried.

My father became a master at the Hula-Hoop boomerang - as you can see in the third drawing in the advertisement here. You had to have a pretty good concrete driveway. There was a trick to spinning the hoop backwards while it moved forward and then it came right back to you! I'm sure there was some kind of scientific equation involved, but all I know is that it worked. Like magic.

Wham-O's other big toy of the 1950s was the Frisbee. This was the incredible flying disc with which you could play catch, or if alone, you could master the boomerang method with the Frisbee as well.

Both of these toys are still manufactured and sold today. In fact, I bought an imitation Hula-Hoop a couple years ago. It was certainly not like the original. It was light weight and filled with water. I really do blame my inability to hoop this time around on the cheap device rather than lack of hooping skills. It started leaking, then broke apart. It wound up in the trash last fall. I'm still going to shop around for a brand name Hula Hoop because I could still have fun with one today!

I also loved board games and my favorite was Monopoly. I still have my original board, funny money, cards and tokens. A couple years ago, I bought The Beatles Monopoly board game. It's still in the shrink wrap, but I might break the seal some day just to see what's inside. Years ago, I received as a gift a version of Monopoly-type game based on my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was produced as a fund-raiser for a community organization. Apparently donors could buy a square on the board and put the name of an honoree on the square. Yep - my name was printed on the game board.

Some things never change. Last month I downloaded a version of Monopoly to my Kindle e-reader.

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week 6 - TV Shows

Week 6 Challenge: Radio and Television. What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it?

Being a pop culture junkie my entire life, this is a challenge that I can definitely embrace. What's difficult is that I don't think I can narrow this down to just one TV show.

The 1950s:

• I Love Lucy
• Father Knows Best
• Leave it to Beaver
• Make Room for Daddy
• The Andy Griffith Show
• 77 Sunset Strip
• Roy Rogers Show
• Our Miss Brooks
• The Real McCoys
• I've Got a Secret
• Perry Como Show
• Ed Sullivan Show

This list would be an indication that, as a pre-teen, I liked sit-coms. Lucy was probably my favorite, but the shows that featured families are right up there. I remember when I was in my twenties and my Mom said to me, "You always thought that life was like Father Knows Best and it's just not like that." Truer words were never spoken. The character I related to on that show was Cathy/Kitten since we were about the same age. Of all of the shows listed, Father Knows Best is the one I never missed. And I had to get my hair washed around the Father Knows Best time slot.

In the 1950s, we had three over-the-air broadcast networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. The educational television network was in its infancy. The reception for the ABC affiliate in Omaha was horrible, so we didn't see very many ABC shows.

As a family we watched the entertainment shows like Ed Sullivan and Perry Como. We had a parakeet we named Perry. I don't know if he was named by me or my Mom. One day he was out of his cage, the front door was open and we never saw him again. I can actually remember watching Elvis Presley's first appearance on the Sullivan show. I remember that I grabbed a broom as my pretend guitar and started dancing around with it.

The 1960s

• Bonanza
• My Three Sons
• Candid Camera
• Dr. Kildare
• The Beverly Hillbillies
• The Dick Van Dyke Show
• Gomer Pyle, USMC
• Gilligan's Island
• Ed Sullivan Show
• My Favorite Martian
• Get Smart
• Green Acres

In the 1960s, color TV came to American households. Not ours - none of my immediate family had color TVs until about 1976. But my grandparents (Dad's Mom and his stepfather) were among the first to have a color TV. I remember going to their house to see our first TV show in color - Bonanza. I went to school the next day to tell my friends about the experience. I said, "you can even hear the horses snort better in color." Where do kids get this stuff? And why do I remember it?

As much as I loved Get Smart back then, I am furious that the phrase "Sorry 'bout That" has remained in the public consciousness. Whenever someone screws up, they say "Sorry 'bout That" and it's clear they really don't mean it.

Outside of national news events, the biggest TV event of the 1960s for me was The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. My life has always been divided into two time frames: before The Beatles and After The Beatles. Something that blog readers probably don't know is that for the past 13 years I have hosted an online discussion forum for more than 1,600 collectors of Beatles music and memorabilia.

Network News

Growing up, we were a Huntley-Brinkley family. It was NBC all the way. I was in my third year of journalism school in the 1970s when I transitioned over to Walter Cronkite on CBS. The around-the-clock news coverage of President Kennedy's assassination and funeral was a turning point for television news. The ability to bring news as it happened into American living rooms demonstrated the new power of the medium. I'll save my comments about how 24-hour news channels have contributed to the deterioration of journalism ethics for another day. (Recent examples: the inaccurate reports last month that Rep. Giffords was dead after being shot).

As I review the list of television programming that filled up much of my childhood, I'm amazed by how much of my life has been spent in front of a television screen. Putting this in a family history perspective, people from my parent's generation and back did not spend time watching television. Were they more connected with their nuclear family? Did they read books by lamplight in the evenings? Did they sew? Did they play cards or other parlor games? How did they know when something was funny without having a laugh track?

This list also makes me wonder how I managed to keep up with school work, read books, and participate in athletic and theatrical activities. Apparently, there was some kind of balance in the mix.

Something strange has occurred over the last few years. When I conduct training workshops (non-genealogy), I frequently use pop culture references in my talk to make a point. As an example: "Lu-cy, you got some 'splainin' to do." My audiences have become much younger and they have this glazed-over expression and I can tell they are thinking, "what on earth is she talking about?" Maybe one other person in the room has a clue what I'm talking about.

TV Theme Songs

What was best feature of these shows? The theme music! How many of these themes can you finish:

• Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed . . .
• Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip . . .
• Green Acres is the place for me . . .
• I love Lucy and she loves me . . .
• Here's a story of a man named ...
• Well, we're movin' on up, to the East side . . .
• Boy, the way Glenn Miller played . . .
• Who can turn the world on with her smile . . .

And the best instrumental themes of all time

• Hawaii Five-O
• Magnum, P.I.
• Dallas
• Bonanza
• Hill Street Blues
• Mash (Suicide is Painless)

Share Your Comments
Please share some of your old favorite shows or theme songs in the Comments section below.

About 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History: Amy Coffin of We Tree Genealogy has created a third year of blogging prompts for genealogy bloggers. The theme for 2011 is 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History. These are shared on the Geneabloggers.com web site, hosted by Thomas MacEntee.

Read all articles in this series.