THE FIRST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD chapter 5

 Irene lived one block down the hill, just a couple of buildings west of the local mom and pop corner store. No one used the term “convenience store,” but it was a nice little place to pick up a few things between the monthly visit to the grocery store. Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz (German immigrants) ran the store and lived in the apartment above. They were the kind of people that if there was an emergency you could always knock on the apartment door and they would open up to get you what you needed. My family never took advantage of them in that way.

You can hardly see her, but Irene was the ringmaster for our third grade circus based talent show. As you can see, I played the accordion: “Shrimp Boats are a Comin’” Mom sewed on red strips down the sleeves of my jacket and pants. I can’t remember what I was supposed to look like. My accordion strap kept slipping down and finally Irene saved me by putting it back where it belonged.

Irene’s family was the first in our neighborhood to have a TV. It was a big old cabinet TV that sat in the corner of their living room. We all thought Irene and her family were pretty cool. Why? Because a few of us from the neighborhood were invited to come to their house Monday through Friday at 4:00 to watch the two most popular TV shoes of the early 50’s — “Howdy Doody” and “The Mickey Mouse Club.”

We all got there just as Kate Smith was signing off her talent show by singing her trademark song “When the Moon Came Over The Mountain.” We would sing right along with her and mock what we considered to be a very silly song. Irene’s mother would often come in and say “Now kids, be nice.”

Howdy Doody was first and came on immediately after the “Kate Smith Show.” Buffalo Bob began the show with, “Say kids, what time is it?” and we would respond with the peanut gallery, “Howdy Doody Time,” then sing the shows theme song (set to the tune of "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay")

Howdy was a redheaded marionette with 48 freckles, one for each state (at the time).

He wasn’t the only marionette. One of my favorites was the curious Flub-a-Dub (a combination of eight animals: a duck's bill, a cat's whiskers, a spaniel's ears, a giraffe's neck, a dachshund's body, a seal's flippers, a pig's tail and an elephant's memory). I had a Howdy Doody hand puppet. I wanted a miniature marionette, but the answer was “no.”

Some of the people that lived in Doodyville were the mute Clarabell the Clown, who communicated by honking horns on his belt and squirting seltzer, J. Cornelius Cobb, Princess Winterspring, Summerfall, and Chief Thunderthud, head of the Ooragnak tribe of Native Americans (kangaroo spelled backward).

“The Mickey Mouse Club” was a variety show for children, with such regular features as a newsreel, a cartoon, and a serial, as well as music, talent and comedy segments. One unique feature of the show was the Mouseketeer Roll Call, in which that day's line-up of regular performers would introduce themselves by name to the television audience.

Jimmy Dodd was the head Mouseketeer. The boys in the peanut gallery cheered when Annette Funicello came on. I liked her, Cubby and the serials. I was always disappointed when I missed a serial segment. What happened?

TV, a wonderful invention! It took us kids out of the streets and sat us still on the carpet. Pundits cried that it would be the death of active children. They were right, it jusr took longer than they expected.

Dad gave in a got a TV when I was in high school. At that point friends were more important than television. Dad never missed “Gunsmoke” and used Saturday baseball games to put home to sleep. He would always say he was watching especially if mom tried to turn it off. I doubt he ever really saw a complete game.