I’m deep in the midst of trying to play catch-up on homework, and really want to do nothing more than throw myself into the holiday spirit instead. Thanks to taking a break on Thanksgiving day, I was able to do a bit of that. I got to revisit some childhood memories by way of a WGN broadcast, “The Best of Bozo, Gar and Ray.” For those of you who didn’t grow up with WGN (Radio and TV) being an avid part of your life in the 70’s when I did, you might not be familiar with these programs, but it was a wonderful trip down Nostalgia Lane for me. Ok, so Bozo was on air when I was around – I came too late to the party for Garfield Goose and the Ray Rayner show. I hadn’t realized, though, until I saw this show, just how much WGN had infiltrated my holiday memories.
Why do I say that this has holiday memories? After all, the shows ran year-round. However, in the midst of the show reruns, they included the videos for Suzy Snowflake, Frosty the Snowman, and Hard Rock, Coco and Joe. Each of these originally aired in the 1950’s, and brought back many memories of sitting on our brown and orange shag carpeting watching them on TV. (Ah, the 70’s and my childhood). But the really special thing for me was that this year, WGN had sent the clips to the Museum of Broadcast Communication to be cleaned up, so it was as if I were seeing them as they originally were (no static, no tears, just pristine footage).
Hearing this, of course, prompted me to seek out the Museum’s website (www.museum.tv). I had no idea that this museum was located in Chicago, let alone what kind of collections it has. When I have more time, I’m looking forward to exploring the exhibit on “The Great Debate & Beyond” – which deals with presidential debates from 1960 – 2000. And yes, I probably will follow the link to their online store to buy a DVD of Hard Rock, Coco and Joe!
Of course, for me, Christmas isn’t truly begun without listening to my dad’s and my favorite non-traditional holiday song. For years, the only way I could hear “The Pretty Little Dolly” was to listen avidly to WGN Radio to try to catch it. When my father and I heard it, everything stopped. If we were in the car, and it was just the 2 of us, we pulled over. Now, if any of you have heard the song (now available via a Dr. Demento compilation disk), you know that this is about as politically incorrect a song as you can get. The little girl writing the letter to Santa wants a dolly that walks, talks, and well, “happy drinking gets her stinking.” I have no idea why this song cracks me up so much. But it does, and so I sit here and listen to the song, and raise a cheer to my dear old dad. (I’m sure a therapist would have much to say on why my eldest sister (a social worker) wanted a Little Miss No Name doll as a child, while I grew up wanting my very own copy of a song that devotes it’s time to harassing a doll.)
So as I sit here, soaking in the holiday spirit, I wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving weekend, and may your holidays – be they Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or other – bring you dear, wacky, or just sentimental memories.