My Father’s Personal Music History of California for the 1950s, 1960s

My Father’s Personal Music History of California for the 1950s, 1960s

Alex: “Did your mom ride a donkey?”

Father: Of course. She rode to school on a donkey as a child and her brother pulled the reins. Her brother tied the donkey outside during her school.

Alex: “Oh, almost like the horse who can’t drink water near the source.”

Father: Yes! She rode a donkey to school. That’s exactly what they did before fuel.

Alex: “Did you buy music records during childhood and in the early years?”

Father: No, I just listened to music on radio.

Alex: “Did your parents listen to music?”

Father: No, they did not. They did not like it. But, they did watch music-oriented shows on TV. They did not really entertain much. My parents were retired and very poor. It was a sterile environment. They were just existing.

Alex: “You heard music on radio in the 1960s.”

Father: Yes. I also heard Mozart in middle school. I loved Mozart’s music.

Alex: “Mozart was definitely unique. Did your family go out to eat during this time?”

Father: Rarely, almost never. My parents occasionally took me out with them to Woolworth’s coffee shop. They actually served meals there! Whole, complete meals. Thrifty Drugs had a coffee shop.

Alex: “There was TV in the 1950s.”

Father: “TV” in the 1950s was recorded on video tape, not film. And, it usually wasn’t very good.

Alex: “Did customers in fast food restaurants and diner restaurants dance to music?”

Father: No.

Alex: “No, never?”

Father: No.

Alex: “So, that whole poetic idea of “dancing restaurant customers” was made up? It was made up by artists?”

Father: Yeah. They made it up. Customers don’t dance in a restaurant.

Alex: “Let me get this straight. You never saw customers dance in a restaurant?”

Gary: No. Customers are in a restaurant to eat.

Alex: “Oh. So, the “Grease movie” fashion was just poetry and nobody really did it.”

Father: Yeah. People didn’t do that in a restaurant.

Alex: “Well, maybe they did. There could’ve been a few locations in America pulling off that “dancing restaurant customers” stuff. But those locations were probably very particular and the liberal arts was more rare for the vintage technology. You would probably find that dancing thing in New York or somewhere where there were more and more people. Gasoline was still expensive in your childhood. So, it’s not like your parents could just “drive with gas” everywhere they could imagine. They were like farming people and did not burst with rough vernacular. Even today, near Elvis’s home around Graceland, the old-fashioned restaurant that operates near the property just has calm, cool customers who order their food and just eat. I was there. I visited the restaurant after visiting Elvis’s home. None of the customers were dancing there and the restaurant was only playing Elvis music. I found that surprising.”

Father: It was what it was. My parents were simple-minded people. My father lost all his teeth at some point. He did not talk very much. He was probably embarrassed about the dental problem. He could’ve had sugar growing up and just lost his teeth at an early age. Very sad.

Alex: “Did relatives come over to your parents?”

Father: Yeah. A family from Iowa would visit my parents; they were farmers, and, they raised a handful of cows and grew corn in the fields.

Alex: “Maybe some of your relatives were cowboys and they did not want to tell it to themselves.”

Father: No, they were not cowboys. They were just farmers. They weren’t doing all that “kind” of stuff.

Alex: “I went to Sacramento during my university education in the 2010s. Some people in Sacramento were mean and nasty. To me, they were basically cowboys without cowboy clothes.”

Father: Yeah. People can really be like that.

Alex: “Did your mom play any games?”

Father: A little. She played cards, played Yahtzee, boardgames, and looked out the window. She did not do very much. She was retired.

Alex: “Oh, that makes sense. The comedian George Carlin would look out the window and wonder.”

Father: Yeah, I guess. But what was it for?

Alex: “Well, George Carlin believed it was “healthy” for people to look out the window and wonder. Did your father play games?”

Father: No, only when he was backed in a corner. He played Yahtzee with my mom. Sometimes he played cards and Yahtzee with her. I played cards with my mom. I was very good at a certain card game.

Alex: “When did you become a music lover?”

Father: As a little kid. I loved music as a kid.

Alex: “Yes, you were a young music lover. It’s difficult to tell if music was a “young boy’s” thing. Some of the elderly people probably did not care as much, did they?”

Father: Music is for the young. As people get older they mostly listen to what they grew up with.

Alex: “Well, for your parents, it was different. They probably did not listen to much music, if at all, during their childhood. We’re talking 1900s or even before.”

Father: …

Alex: “That “silence” in childhood was pretty awkward for them, I’m sure. They just didn’t really notice it. Going a day without TV would’ve been very natural during the early-1900s. Religion was more alive. So many Americans in the Great Depression could not afford much TV I’m sure. Radio would’ve been the star for their children perhaps.”

Father: …

Alex: “Do you think I’m correct?”

Father: My parents had little interest in music.

Alex: “You love music. And, your parents did not love music. This creates a memory for a low point in history. It was not unusual for the “old folks” to know little about music. How could they know much? Maybe their childhood was very, very quiet. Really, really quiet! Reading was popular back then. Books were very popular when there was no TV.”

Father: My parents didn’t read either.

Alex: “Oh, your parents didn’t read. Really? Oh my.”

Father: TV only.

Alex: “Man. I know how that feels. So, the parents did not read. But, as a child, you were reading. You were reading newspapers as a child and drank coffee. Those were some good mornings for you. Now, newspapers are dead leaf.”

Father: …

Alex: “Your mother was a teacher from Iowa. She was probably reading in her youth. But, she became a housewife and her husband worked until his 70s years of age. Opportunity for women was less great in those days. TV advertising was about housewives, cooking in the kitchen, and being kind mothers. And, America had less inflation and even a small pocket change of money was extremely valuable.”

Father: …

Alex: “My brothers and I were rich kids. We ate pizza, we had money, we had high class, we went on vacations, we played video games, and so much more. Modern living was wonderful for us. You were reading bedtime poetry to me during my childhood. This is strange. You were a poor kid. You did not create art in your childhood except for some minor things with crayons and markers. You were not really into making art. You still do not create art today. You will “read” poetry today and say to me that you do not read poetry. And, you raised us as your children with this illusion of luxury. We did not always know who you were. We just loved you as our dad.”

Father: Not luxury, but middle class comfort.

Alex: “Well, pizza has been a comfort food for centuries. Arcade machines were fine machines for pizza restaurants. They still have them. In your childhood, there were no video games. Videogames were an adult thing in your life. For your childhood, there was entertainment of a nice variety of TV, radio, and boardgames, but everything was paint-by-the-numbers. Was anyone a freemason in our family?”

Father: No masons. There were on grandma’s side.

Alex: “Close-by grandma, Wendy’s mother?”

Father: …yes, the closely grandma. Mom was a life member of Eastern Star, the masonic women’s group.

Alex: “Good to hear. I did find a box with someone’s sword case and what looked to be a revolutionary hat. Did my little brother show you?”

Father: Yes. I believe it was ours from past relatives.

Alex: “It’s interesting. I looked on the card that came with the material. But, it was just business print with nothing written on it. I’m glad you saw it.”

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