Ask not...

Lots of "anniversaries" recently... the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech among them. (And, perhaps just as important in terms of the content if not the emotional charge, Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address with his warning about the development of the "military-industrial complex.")

One observation I have made about media recollections of Kennedy's address, made all the more significant by the fact that our current president was born 6 months after that day in early 1961: there continues to be a widespread assumption that we all remember Kennedy's inaugural address. A suggestion, however muted, that we have personally witnessed and yet perhaps not quite responded to his powerful words calling us to service.

Kennedy's words (like Eisenhower's) live on with the immortality of those statements that carry a ring of eternal truth. It is time to recognize, however, that these fifty years--a mere blink in our historical memory--nonetheless bring with them not one, but at least two generations of adult Americans, coming to maturity (?) in a post-Kennedy era. To suggest that we bring with us a personal link to Kennedy is to deny not only the changing face of America, but to bind ourselves to the emotions of a particular time and place without offering ourselves the opportunity to evaluate in historical context.

Kennedy's address--and his presidency--have lessons to offer us that travel lightyears beyond the emotions of the time. Personal connection is powerful, and we can continue to be moved personally even by events and statements we did not witness. It is time, however, to move beyond the personal and into the reality of a world where intelligent, honest, earnest people can begin to assess with the detachment of historical rather than living memory.

We need the witnesses. When the witnesses are finally gone--and I pray that will not be the case for many years to come--we need their memories, written, recorded and otherwise preserved. We also, however, need to move on, to recognize that we are no longer a nation of the 1960s, even as we continue to be a nation deeply impacted by the history of the 1960s. These are two different things.

Ads of yore #6

Umm....



This one comes to us from 1955. Eisenhower's in the White House... Lucy's on the television... Tennessee Ernie Williams is singing "Sixteen Tons" on the radio... and this "jewel-like beauty sparkles like a gem in any bath."

From http://christmasyuleblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/vintage-christmas-ads-pt-18-borg-1955.html; this blogger provides a cite for the original link.

Ads of yore #5

I have noticed this on various blogs and will post the link I actually used below. Love it. Well, don't love it at all insofar as a certain local Mr. Gifford values his life more than to ever attempt giving one of these for Christmas, but it's an interesting little side trip down memory lane in the history of American gender stereotypes...



Ah, 1960. A very good year for Massachusetts senators, anyway.

Image from: http://vintage13.wordpress.com/page/7/

Ads of yore #4

For everyone who remembers flapping those instant photographs to "help" the image emerge...



This image comes to us from the polyester-tinged days of 1978 and is part of a great collection posted by a blogger at: http://christmasyuleblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/vintage-christmas-ads-pt-13-celebrity.html.

Ads of yore #3

I love Christmas lights, and it turns out people (rich people, at least) have been loving electric lights longer than one might have suspected... here's a nice little number from General Electric, vintage 1904:



I include this under the rubric of ads we would not see today given our contemporary concerns about safety. I'm thinking I would not let my four-year-old anywhere near a string of wiring manufactured in 1904, even if it was brand-new at the time. A "festoon" of eight sockets and ten "lamps" cost $5.00. For the sake of reference, the average weekly wage in the United States at this time for a worker in the building trades was $17.87 (assuming a full work week averaging 48.3 hours). The average teacher earned $6.30, and the average worker in medical and health services earned $4.92. [1]

You can see this image, other advertising brochures and even the text of these early ads on the following page of an excellent Web site called "Old Christmas Tree Lights": http://www.oldchristmastreelights.com/history_2.htm. Enjoy!

[1] Facts and Figures, Income and Prices 1900-1999, US Diplomatic Mission to Germany: http://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/his/e_prices1.htm.

Ads of yore #2

Because nothing says good health and smooth voice tone over the long haul like a Pall Mall... the fine print on the copyright date is too small to read. I would guess '40s vintage?



This comes from a funny Web site with some other great holiday gems: http://www.oddee.com/item_96522.aspx

Ads of yore #1

In honor of the festive season, I thought it would be fun to share a few advertisements that we would never see today...

First up: "Dorothy's Wedding," "Robert's Anniversary Dinner" or my favorite, "Susan convalescing from her operation!" All wonderful occasions, it seems, for a new Parker Vacumatic Pen... from the days when that hole and/or divot on high school desks wasn't just an ornamental feature:



Photo: Reminisce Online, http://www.reminisce.com/2011/DJ11/Ads.asp?RefURL=&KeyCode=&tdate=&PMCode=&OrgURL=, accessed 17 December 2010.