Grok it, baby boomers: We were the luckiest generation in the history of the world!
Our parents had beaten the damn nazis and fascists and hiro-freaks back into their holes. The US armed forces came back to their land of the free, home of the brave, with victory in their strides, smile on their face and a melody in their heart.
They began building the largest economic expansion in the history world, with that Depression memory fading into the background. Through a sparkling new 1950’s American cinemascope they set out confidently to build the suburbs, drive their sparkling new cars to well-paying jobs, cook up scrumptious meals in pristine new kitchens, and make babies.
Yep, bubby, we were the babies who had it best, living in the lap of middle class luxury, like no other generation ever before us.
Still wet behind the ears, and half-spoiled, we had it made. We had TV. We had Davy Crockett, Howdy Doody, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Deputy Dawg and Buffalo Bill. We had Disney wonderful world of color; we had Matt Dillon and the Ponderosa for our cowboy fantasies to roam around in.
We had toys, new toys, comin’ out the yinyang: hula hoops, Lincoln logs, erector sets, monopoly, dolls like chatty cathy and GI Joe. We had toys never seen before, newly manufactured plastic things that went “whiz” when they went, “pop” when the hopped and “whir” when they stood still.
Most of all, we had new Chevys, new Fords and Pontiacs. . . Pontiacs and Studebakers to ride around in, and new interstate highways for our parents to whiz up across as they drove cross-country, New York to LA, Miami to Seattle, where the space restaurant stood high in the sky. We had the Jetsons, Whirlybirds and widgets of all kinds. We had Chuck and BB, Elvis and Aretha to listen to, James Brown and his band of reknown and stereo sound. We had the Four Tops and the Impressions and Motown.
But my magic memory for today is Puff the Magic Dragon, who lived by the sea, and frolicked in a silver mist in a land called Hanalee:
Our newly-acquired Hawaiian island, Kauai, where a village called Hanalei is found, was just one little island westward from the Oahu, where Pearl Harbor is, where our first 911 disaster had been inflicted by the Japs, December 7, 1941.
The Japs didn’t like us then, but it’s all good now. Time heals all wounds. So that’s all Pacific water under the bridge now.
But there we were in the ’50’s, millions of baby boomers in our own suburban homes, with our very own bedrooms and our very own toys and plastic playthings.
And along came Peter Paul and Mary with their ode to Puff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg2RcXC8KSk
Perhaps you will revisit their historic tuneful memory, because “ a dragon lives forever, but not so little boys. . . painted wings and giant strings make way for other toys”. . . as Puff slips back into his cave.
. . .the cave of generations past.
It's been nice knowin' ya.
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