In the crisp fall of 1960 as presidential hopeful Senator John Kennedy beckoned us into a New Frontier I would be embarking onto my own new frontier – Kindergarten.

This New Frontier of 1960 that stood in front of me, was not a set of promises- it was a set of challenges.

What was going to be asked of me?

It held out the promise of more sacrifice, instead of more security. Beyond that frontier were uncharted areas of reading, writing, unsolved problems of arithmetic and science, unconquered puzzles of grammar and geography, unanswered questions of history and civics.

It would be easier to shrink back from this New Frontier, to look to the safety of my home. Mom was the center of my world and the gravitational pull was strong. My parents and the Board of Education, was asking me to be a pioneer on that new Frontier, and it was here whether I liked it or not.

Happy Trails

The crowd of mothers at the bus stop cheered; Brownie cameras clicked, the glare of flashbulbs popped; in a few moments the school bus pulled up and my Mom began to melt away into the suburban landscape.

My long journey had begun.

Vintage Children’s School Book Illustration “Stories about Linda and Lee by Eleanor Thomas Ginn and Co. 1960

School Days

The John Street Elementary school was beautiful, sunny and fresh. The teachers were sunny and fresh too.

“It was time for a new generation of leadership, the class of 1973 begins now!” Mrs. Johnson, my kindergarten teacher exclaimed in a stirring voice addressing me and my new classmates.

We were, she said “…Boys and girls who were not bound by the traditions of the past, boys and girls who are not blinded by the old fears and hates and rivalries, children who can cast off the old slogans and delusions and suspicions.”

I was part of a new, thrilling generation. John Kennedy and Mrs. Johnson both said so.

Never before such a generation… never before a candidate…both so new and different.

On the Campaign Trail

As the presidential campaign progressed that fall with Kennedy and Nixon vying for our votes,  so did my campaign in trying to win over my new classmates.

I felt like I was connecting, gaining momentum.

Kids were responding to my wit. My firm resolve to stay within the lines of coloring won admiration. It wasn’t long at all before everyone knew my name.

I felt connections as wildly cheering crowds surged around me on the monkey bars, exhibiting unusual grace under pressure, just as I  had successfully won over the grumpy kids on the swing set.  My campaign was plainly catching fire.

The surge continued for a number of days . Then toward the end of the month as mysteriously as it had begun it started to wane. It was a strange, impalpable ebbing away as kids deserted me at the sandbox

Did I spend too much time trying to win over the playground swing set gang, was I not relating to the core group of block builders, did I flip-flop too much during our somersault sessions?

Or was it simply a false boost in ratings.

I soon came to the conclusion that my name recognition had less to do with me and my actual feats and more to do with sharing the same moniker as our humble basic reader -  Dick Jane and Sally!

The New Frontier, I found out could be  could be fickle.

Copyright (©) 2012 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

The German Measles Crisis of October

 This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, those harrowing 13 days in October 1962 that brought us to the brink of thermonuclear war.

I didn’t know until years later that they called it the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In my mind it would always be remembered as the “German Measles Crisis.” All I knew was Halloween was just a few short weeks away and as luck would have it, I came down with a case of measles.

The itchy red spots were spreading from my face to my body as quickly as Communist aggression was visualized on maps and films at school. The scary red splotches of Communism were pictured slithering around the globe oozing over continents, increasing in number as the Russian enemy was hell-bent on world conquest.

The red Rubella rash was on its own expansionist path

March of the  Measles

To make matters worse, it wasn’t just plain old measles.

They were German Measles; Nazi measles goose-stepping across my ravaged body.

I used to have nightmares that men in brown shirts, black jack boots and wide Sam Browne belts, rank and file members of the Nazi Party would storm into my suburban ranch house to take me away never to see my family again, all while  lustily humming the Nazi anthem Hort Wessel Song

Now the Germans and their horrors fused with the Russians and their nuclear bombs, and there was nothing to stop the red rash that was charging across my body.

Vintage Illustration by George Hughes Sat. Evening Post Cover 1960

Monday Madness

Monday, October 22 was a day of superb weather, a burnish of autumn on the trees. Things had never looked lovelier or more peaceful.

Early that morning my pediatrician came to the house and confirmed the diagnosis.

The spots had Deutschland written all over them. Solemnly Dr. King informed me that to prevent the spread of the disease, I would have to be quarantined. I was to get back to bed mach schnell.

October 22 was also my parent’s 12th wedding anniversary. They had planned on going to the movies that evening to see The Longest Day, that star-studded spectacle about D Day, the invasion of Normandy. However  they stayed home not only because they were concerned about me, but were anxious to watch President Kennedy’s live broadcast on television that evening.

High Noon

At noon, Kennedy’s press secretary Pierre Salinger  had made a dramatic announcement that the president would speak that night “on a matter of the highest national urgency.”

The crisis that was brewing in Cuba that had begun a week earlier had been kept top-secret. Now with rumors circulating, there was a nearly unbearable sense of foreboding and tension.

Across the country while American’s eyes would be fixed on their TV sets gripped and involved in the most intense moment of recent history, I was confined to my bedroom without a TV. At a loss,  I trained my ears to tune in to the Philco playing in the living room.

At 7:00, I could hear the TV announcer from the popular game show based on Charades saying:  “Stump the Stars will not be seen tonight so that we can bring you this special broadcast….”

Along with 50 million other Americans my parents listened in pin-drop silence as President Kennedy spoke about Cuba.

Sitting behind his desk, a solemn President Kennedy, got right to the point. This was no time to play charades.

He grimly announced to a shocked nation that Russia had sneaked missiles into Cuba just 90 miles from Florida. Along with the Offensive Missiles, Khrushchev had deployed bombs and 40,000 Soviet troops. The alarming evidence from photographs showed that nearly every city from Lima Peru to Hudson Bay Canada would lie within push button range of thermonuclear bombs in Cuba.

“To halt this offensive build up,” a determined Kennedy said, “a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment to Cuba is being initiated.” The Navy’s mission was to block the flow of Russian weapons to Cuba.

Vintage NY Daily News Headline 10/23/62

While the President explained how we might respond to the situation, Dad figured that if Russians didn’t withdraw the missiles as demanded, a US pre-emptive strike against the launch site was inevitable. The United States would not shrink from the threat of nuclear war to preserve the peace and freedom of Western hemisphere, Kennedy said firmly.

Like me, the Russians would have a quarantine imposed on them but Dad wasn’t convinced this was the best tactic. It might work for preventing the spread of the measles but not for the missiles.

The Presidents voice faded away as my parents grimly turned to another channel to watch “I’ve got a Secret.” Little did they realize the night would turn into the longest day.

Copyright (©) 2012 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

Related articles

• The Cuban Missile Crisis PT II (envisioningtheamericandream.wordpress.com)
• The Cuban Missile Crisis PT III

Vintage school book illustration “Fun With Dick & Jane” 1951 Visiting Grandparents on the farm

The smell of morning coffee percolating on the old gas stove drew me out of the bedroom of my grandparents apartment.

Just like the mythical Dick, Jane and Sally would visit Grandmother and Grandfather on their farm, I was off for an overnight visit with mine, not on a farm like in the primer, but in their apartment in Queens, NY.

Because my grandparents still lived in the same brick, Art-Deco-Moderne apartment house that my father grew up in, I had entered the world of my father’s youth.

Padding into the Nile gray-green kitchen unnoticed, my footsteps were wiped out by the hum of the old Frigidaire which my grandparents still referred to as an icebox. The sliding-leaf kitchen table, its bent tubular chrome legs shined to a gleaming perfection, was always uncharacteristically cluttered, so unlike the rest of the tidy apartment.

It was the only hint of disorder in an otherwise well-ordered world.

An oilcloth covering the table’s antiseptic porcelain top was littered with dozens of little tins of Phillips Milk of Magnesia tablets, that my grandfather chewed like candy mints, which were scattered among the repository of the day’s flotsam and jetsam. Only the maroon, Bakelite table top radio, with its large round dial and concentric speaker grill bars, stood constant watch over the ever-changing tableaux of detritus on the table.

Acknowledging my presence, my grandfather greeted me, his gravely Noo Yawk voice in its best Jimmy Durante delivery: “Ev-rybody wants ta get intah da act”.

Unlike Little Sally’s farmer grandfather with whom she politely shook hands, my grandfather proceeded to kiss me with his unshaven face that was as abrasive as his voice.

Whatever time of day, Papas breath was always minty-fresh, whether from peppermint Chicklets, those candy coated little nuggets of gum in the little yellow box, or from minty Feen-a Mint laxative gum. He always carried both of the similar looking gum in his pocket, often confusing one for the other, which was why I always refused his offer of gum.

Cooking over the blue flame of the gas stove was a large pot of bubbling gray stick-to-your-ribs hot cereal, which Nana said would brace up my nerves and help with my digestion.

Turning my nose up at the bubbling gruel, she quickly reached for a box of cold cereal as an alternative. “The Big chief says he’ll throw in the whole village for a box of Shredded Wheat,” she recited reading from the unfamiliar box with a picture of a factory and Niagara Falls on it.

“Shredded Wheat was your fathers favorite!” she crowed pouring milk into my bowl till the whole mass was submerged in a pool of liquid, wiping the glass milk bottle with an absorbent dishcloth to catch any rogue drop lest it splash on the clover patterned oilcloth.

Now staring up at me at the breakfast table was a hefty, stoneware ceramic cereal bowl filled with a very forlorn looking object that resembled a bale of hay. I began feeling homesickness coming over me.

I was used to jolly bowls of make-you-happy cereals- little puffs of corn in gay fruit colors, or wholesome, colorful, candy-coated flakes of wheat, served in light-as-air-it-never-breaks-melamine bowls.

Except for the promise of relief offered by the color Sunday comics, my morning had started out as dull and dreary as the view of the dark back alley, as a steady drizzle of cold November rain sifted down out of the wan sky.

Vintage Cereal Ads (L) Shredded Wheat Ad 1940 (R) Vintage Trix Cereal Ad1956

 New Horizons

The thick morning tabloids gushed with hot-off-the press news about the birth of John F. Kennedy Jr., and were chock full of pulse stirring stories of our new President-Elect, this most modern of leaders- this, the president in our future.

On the cusp of a new decade Americans were ready to blast off into the New Frontier of the 1960s leaving grandfatherly Old-father-time Eisenhower in the dust.

Since the summer the promise of young men vying for his job was on everyone’s mind. And no more so than the Senator from Massachusetts John Kennedy. JFK exuded youthful optimism , he was pure motion like the feel of a Thunderbird smooth, easy with a special flare, urging us to move forward

In contrast to the topical editorials extolling how JFK would “get us moving”, the comic strips seemed, well… stagnant and a bit dusty.

Sadly frozen in time, Poor Little Orphan Annie, and The Katzenjammer Kids had faced the same un-resolved dilemmas for the past forty years, when a little boy in knickers sat at this same table hungrily enjoying his Shredded Wheat.

I on the other hand, was used to having Little Orphan Annie served up to me in the lively form of TV Host Chuck McCann dressed in drag, who in his curly top auburn wig, would read the comics from the Daily News to his TV audience.

Coming up: Pt IV Little Sally’s Big Visit With Her Grandparents

Copyright (©) 20012 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved -Excerpt From Defrosting The Cold War:Fallout From My Nuclear family

Related articles

• Little Sally’s Big Visit With Her Grandparents (envisioningtheamericandream.wordpress.com)
• Little Sally’s Big Visit With Her Grandparents PT II (envisioningtheamericandream.wordpress.com)
• Little Sally’s Big Visit With Her Grandparents Pt IV- Radio Daze (envisioningtheamericandream.wordpress.com)

Gun Violence R.I.P.

In July 1969, a full-page ad in the Sunday  NY Times posed a request to the American public: Hold onto this page for 1 year and hope and pray it ended.

The hopeful ad  appeared  one  year after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and 6 years after the shooting  of President John Kennedy.

The copy reads:  The trouble is hoping and praying isn’t enough

Violence won’t end unless you’re willing

to start the ending.

I have held onto to this yellowing page for 44 years, the hope for the end of gun violence  nearly extinguished.

If not now, when?

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

January 20, 1961-The Day a Black and White World Changed to Color

I was proud as a peacock.

The year was 1961. John F. Kennedy was the first president I ever saw sworn in on television and I got to see it in rich tonal color!

Despite the heavy snowstorm, my family  had trudged over  to my Aunt Judy’s house to watch on her RCA  Color TV, the first ever color broadcast of a president being sworn in. It was an auspicious and memorable day in the life of the nation and in mine

The young president, the old poet, the splendid speech, the triumphant parade, the brilliant sky and the shining snow were all brought to you in living color.

The Wonderful World of Color

Color TV was still a novelty; a thrilling, wholly new standard of viewing enjoyment.

The first color TV sets retailed at $1,000 in 1954. That was a lot of money for the few hours of broadcasting that would be on NBC during that year. Four years later color telecasting still averaged only 1 1/2hours a day nearly all of it on NBC alone. And the quality left much to be desired.

It would take another 10 years until sales of color television sets would really take off.

Because my Aunt and Uncle were one of the fortunate few who owned a genuine color TV we would be eyewitness to history. The color viewing experience, RCA promised, would be so real, so sensationally life-like, that you would swear you almost could feel the frosty wind that whipped through Washington DC that day.

Ring-a ding ding!

The Following Program is Brought to You in Living Color.

The Kennedy presidency began with incomparable dash and color.

It was a cold day for a cold war warrior to take office.

It had been cold all week on the East coast, the nations’ capital included. The second of 3 major Nor’ easters that occurred during the winter of 1960-61 was moving up the East Coast. The snow came on Thursday with winds howling, stinging gusts and whipping the snow down the streets.

Washington  DC was choked with a blanket of snow, bringing the Capital to  halt.

By dawn of Friday, inauguration day the snow had stopped. The skies were blue and cloudless and the Capital glistened in the sun, but it was frigid as the temperature was barely 20 degrees above zero.

The crowds, curious, expectant hopeful, huddled and shivering in the cold.

They watched restlessly as the bundled up dignitaries slowly took their place on the platform.

At twenty minutes after twelve, the 43 year old  president-elect strode in and the spectators broke into wild applause. There stood their newly elected president young, handsome, tough and communicating confidence.

I proudly listened as Marian Anderson sang The Star Spangled Banner, restlessly observed the craggily cardinal as he boomed out a long invocation, and  anxiously watched the breath of elderly poet Robert Frost visible in the freezing air, the glare from the sun blinding him.

At nine minutes to one the Chief Justice Earl Warren came forward to administer the oath to the 35^th president. Braving the elements, the vibrant president-elect without hat or coat, the family bible open before him answered in a firm tone. At last he began his inaugural address, his voice ringing out into the frosty air.

It was a day on which, as President Kennedy himself observed, the country passed into the hands of a new generation. In a great inaugural address President Kennedy, outlined his idea of the nation of the future, asking  Americans to consider not what your country can do for you but what we can do for our country.

After the seemingly stillness of the B&W Eisenhower years, suddenly the promise of a new young colorful vibrant president who promised to get America moving again seemed exhilarating, urging us to come alive …we’re in the wonderful world of color.

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

The Great Society Comic Book was produced by writer DJ Arneson and artist Tony Tallarico, published by Parallax Comic Books in 1966

The Comic Tragedy of The Great Society

Holy Satire, Batman, Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird… it’s a plane….its SuperLBJ!

1966 was a year when comic strip superheroes POP! came to life and real life heroes SOCK! appeared in the comics. While that caped crusader Batman got his own hit TV show and the Man of Steel Superman starred in his own Broadway musical, The President of the United States Lyndon Baines Johnson got his own comic book.

The Great Society Comic Book published in 1966 was a political satire of the Johnson administration and his Great Society programs.Lampooning political figures cast as superheroes, it followed the adventures of SuperLBJ.

Comic books, a place where bright colors forever defeat darkness and good forever triumphed over evil was the  perfect metaphor for the noble venture of  LBJ’s Great Society .

A Great Society

Lyndon Johnson wanted to build a great society for all Americans.

His Great Society was a set of ambitious domestic programs aimed at eliminating poverty and social injustice. LBJ’s vision dovetailed thoroughly with the American Dream of a more perfect society, representing the hope and idealism of liberal mid-century America.

With powers and abilities and ego far beyond those of mortal men,LBJ  would pass more bills for his Great Society than any other president in history. In sweep and scope he rivaled FDR’s New Deal, improving the lives of millions of Americans.

In today’s environment of legislative stalemate it is awe-inspiring.

Yet he is best remembered for the tragic debacle of  Vietnam.

History

Hold it Reader! We know the question spinning through your mind How did this turn of events come about? For the answer let’s go back in time.

Like Superman, LBJ was a product of the Depression of 1930s.

(R) Cover illustration of Lyndon Johnson as Minority Leader of the senate Time Magazine June 1953 (L) Superman as Clark Kent goes to college

Unlike Superman, who disguised as timid Clark Kent  was mocked as a freshman in college,  freshman Lyndon Johnson rode into Congress  like the wild bronco from Texas that he was, commanding respect.

A New Deal democrat he was in awe of Roosevelt’s progressive programs that included public works projects that moved mountains, changed the flow of mighty rivers and raised buildings that touched the clouds. In many ways it seemed as if anything was possible of Americans.

A true political operator, Johnson rose to power eventually  becoming House Majority leader. The Texas size  6 ft 3″ 204 pound hunk of perpetual motion was renowned for his domineering personality and the “Johnson Treatment” -he was not shy in his coercion of powerful politicians in order to advance his legislation.

Powerful as Senate Majority leader he would be  sapped of his power as Vice President  and presided in the shadow of President Kennedy after JFK’s assassination. Though the hold of the Kennedy legend on the American imagination was still powerful, after November 1964 he was elected to the presidency in his  own right.

JFK had been mythologized into a hero of mythic proportions, but LBJ would be no ordinary hero- he would be a superhero fighting the never-ending battle of truth, justice and the American way.

President SuperLBJ

Art imitates life when (R)Jimmy Olsen imagines Superman as President of the United States in this vintage comic and (L) life imitates art when Lyndon Johnson appears as SuperLBJ in The Great Society Comic Book 1966

Taking office as president with his unlimited super powers and unwavering commitment to truth, justice and the American way, LBJ vowed, like Superman, to spend his days fighting crime, injustice and helping those in need.

Danger and challenge were nothing new to SuperLBJ who warded off all threats with his quick thinking, resourcefulness and his superb legislative skills. But now faced with  menaces so formidable that ordinary powers were not enough, the caped crusader would become superlegislator.

Confronted with urban decay, poverty, crime and civil injustice, SuperLBJ  would protect and serve the powerless and innocent becoming the champion of the oppressed.

With supersonic speed he passed more legislation than thought humanly possible with cunning and determination far beyond that of mortal lawmakers, as a blizzard of Great Society legislation swept through Congress.

Zap! He would eliminate racial discrimination with historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965  and Pow! Poverty and urban decay would be eradicated with his War on Poverty! Bam! Medicare !Wham! Medicaid! Zow! Education, immigration, environment, the arts!

For a year the world  watched in awe as SuperLBJ   used his amazing array of superpowers.

Vietnam

While LBJ dreamed of a Great Society his presidency was haunted by the specter of Vietnam. As SuperLBJ he believed he could support both guns and butter, but soon much of the funding he had hoped to spend on social reforms went towards war in South East Asia.

The escalation of bombing in Vietnam was not working. Even Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense in his administration was losing confidence in the ability of the massive bombing to bring the enemy to its knees.

Superman’s biggest battle with the Super Gorilla from Krypton who appears invulnerable to all of Superman’s attacks

Just as Superman  met his challenge with a super beast who seemed immune to his strength and powers, Vietnam would be the Monkeys on LBJ’s back.

By fall of 1966, the conservative Congress goaded LBJ on passing huge military appropriations bills encouraging him to sink ever deeper in the Vietnam mire.

When Superman was president, he solves the National Budget crisis

Behind a veil of secrecy the war escalated and the cost of the war skyrocketed.  The press had sensed a credibility gap between what LBJ was saying in press conferences and what was happening in Vietnam. But LBJ was passing huge amounts of social legislation through Congress. If the true cost of the war were known, LBJ  feared that the Great Society would come to a shuddering stop.

Unlike the comics, there was no hidden buried treasure; even Superman couldn’t pull off guns and butter

Vietnam would be LBJ’s kryptonite sapping him of power, money and dreams

By the end of 1966, Vietnam would turn out to be LBJ’s kryptonite sapping him of his strength, funding and dreams of a Great Society.

Just as Batman’s final episode would be in 1968, so LBJ bowed out of politics by announcing on March 1968 national television that he would not run for a second term as president. His decision was in large part a consequence of declining public support, a credibility gap for his policies in Vietnam.

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

Disappearing Fairy Tales collage by Sally Edelstein

Collage by Sally Edelstein

Mad Men’s Don and Megan Draper may have been nonplussed about the marriage of Jackie Kennedy to Aristotle Onassis that fall of 1968, but they were clearly in the minority.

In a year filled with unprecedented turbulence,violence and upheaval, Jacqueline Kennedy’s  bombshell wedding announcement one Oct weekend seemed to rock an already shook up  world to the core.

For many the marriage meant the myth of Camelot was now not only shaken, it was shattered. Anti war protests were nearly dimmed by the roar of outrage expressed worldwide by the this unlikely match between Americas favorite First Lady and the Greek Shipping tycoon.

For one weekend presidential campaign hi-jinx were forgotten Vietnam put on the back shelf and all eyes were on Jackie.

October Surprise

Vintage NY Daily News Newspaper 10/18/68 The shocked world learns for the first time that Jackie Kennedy will marry Ari Onassis. The date of the wedding is unknown, but could be as soon as next week.

Friday, October 19 started out as an ordinary fall day for 40-year-old Patty Doyle.  The suburban New Hyde Park housewife had just finished stitching up the last of the Halloween costumes for her 3 children, poured the Rice Krispie treats in the pan to cool, when she heard the startling news on the radio. Stunned, she dropped the package of Brats she was defrosting for Sundays tailgate party right onto her freshly waxed linoleum floor.

Her heart sank.

Mrs John F Kennedy had bade farewell to Camelot to become the 39-year-old bride of a 62-year-old Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Onassis.

Of course there were always rumors of a noble new Prince Charming who would sweep their beautiful Queen off her feet, but this short, old, rudely spoken Greek billionaire was more a toad than a prince, and was now carrying her off to his island like a spoil of war.

Perhaps, Patty thought, it was a practical joke , a bad one and tasteless at that.

Once this well-kept secret was revealed it unleashed a wrath of anger, disbelief, and dumbfoundedness, worldwide, resulting in anything but apathy. “The Reaction Here is Anger, Shock and Dismay,” headlined The N.Y. Times.

Like millions of Americans Patty worried that Jackie had permanently tarnished the image of Camelot.

Queen of Camelot

A Thousand Days of Camelot- Vintage Life Magazines (L) The Kennedy Inauguration 1/27/61 (R) John F Kennedy’s Funeral Life Magazine 12/6/53

For nearly 8 years Jackie Kennedy had reigned over the American Republic as its uncrowned queen.

As first lady of the land she tended the WH with a radiant beauty and cultured taste that seemed to make Americans feel just a bit more beautiful and cultivated themselves. When tragedy struck her husband down in Dallas she helped raise the nation’s spirit with her courageous dignity.

In the years following the Dallas tragedy she lived high on a pedestal of her countrymen’s making. She had been elevated and made a national treasure after Dallas and never left.

To the countless Americans who dogged her footsteps through the public prints, Jackie Kennedy was a special celebrity.

 Watching Jackie

(L) One of hundreds of magazines paying homage to the recent widow Jacqueline Kennedy in an article entitled “Valiant is the Word for Jacqueline”. Look Magazine 1/28/64 (R) One of hundreds of movie and fan magazines that would feature Jackie on the cover “Screenland Magazine” 3/71

The press couldn’t get enough of Jackie. . She was as beautiful as a movie star as regal as a Queen. And now it was no longer just news magazines like Life and Time, her face was splashed across all the movie and gossip magazines too, promising shhh…never before told stories and intimate details.

A Jackie hungry public gobbled them up.

Her every movement was recorded her dinners at Le Pavilion, her visits to Kenneth’s Hair salon or visiting a discotheque where she spent the evening with Mike Nichols doing the watusi at Sybil Burton’s Arthur.

Patty Doyle proudly counted herself one of the legions of so-called “Jackie watchers’ who charted her every move.

The happy housewife knew Jackie lunched regularly at the  Colony, exercised with Dina Merrill on 57th Street and was a constant smoker who took great pains to see that she never held a cigarette within range of a camera, though a long gold holder and a gold mesh cigarette case were nearly always with her in private.

It was no secret she has been to the best of discotheques- Arthur, Ondine, Le Club even a neighborhood bar and Italian restaurant called Elaines where she performed a ladylike swim.

Featured articles ran the gamut from gushing admiration to slightly vulgar bad taste.
(L) Vintage Ladies Home Journal Magazine 2/66 featured articles on Jackies new life in NY (R) Vintage Photoplay Magazine 7/66 one of hundreds of appearances Jackie would make on Photoplay over the years this one ran a tawdry story about an alleged fight Jackie had with Bobby Kennedy about JFK’s legacy.

And of course Peggy knew that Jackie’s apartment was a spacious 15 room duplex decorated by Billy Baldwin, filled with fragile French antiques and was within walking distance of the children’s schools and Mrs Kennedy often rose early to walk with them and their secret service escorts.

But of course Patty had never actually sat outside on a park bench across from Jackie’s home at 1040 Fifth Avenue hoping to catch a glimpse of her as so many other curiosity seekers had.( though a class field trip to the nearby Metropolitan Museum Art as a class mother proved mighty tempting to Patty).

Only once did Patty cross the line when she made an appointment at Kenneth hair Salon hoping to run into Jackie. She had booked an appointment 3 months in advance at the posh East Side salon, but had her hopes dashed when she realized they stuck the VIPs in secluded privacy on “3.”

No, she stuck to the articles and magazine reports, content to get her news second-hand. Besides which there was plenty to be had since the entire magazine industry seemed obsessed with Jackie, none more so than the movie and screen magazines Patty devoured under the hair dryer at her local beauty parlor.

Whats Love Got To Do With It?  

Vintage Motion Magazine 7/67 “Women Without Love”

Headlines blazed speculating about new boyfriends, obsessing over her love life.. Jackie may be seen with eligible men, dining privately with a gentleman in a quiet restaurant only to read snatches of their conversation in the paper the next day.  The question of Mrs. Kennedy’s remarriage came up inevitably and her dating life was well documented and scrutinized.

A year before her stunning marriage announcement, Motion Picture Magazine expressed deep concern about the former First Lady s love life in their July 1967 issue.

The headline promised to answer the burning question: “Women Without Love: Why Jackie and Barbara Stanwyck always date men they can never marry!”

“Women Without Love” article in Motion Picture Magazine July 1967 answers the burning question “Why Jackie and Barbara Stanwyck always date men they can never marry!”

“Jackie Kennedy was dining in one of N.Y.’ s poshest restaurants with a charming distinguished gentlemen” the article reports. “It was food for East coast speculators in the gossip game. But her escort was just an old friend who was entertaining her for a few hours before depositing her at the door of her 15 room apartment.”

The article expressed deep concern for this most glamorous single gal who underneath it all was just a regular girl like you and me who was looking for security:

“In that apartment Jackie is mistress of all she surveys but a mistress without a master. Her possessions may be costly, her home elegant, her wardrobe chic, her life glamorous- but do any of these fill her need as a woman for security? Do any of these make her feel she belongs to someone? “

Ironically only a year later  she would be roundly criticized when it was assumed she married Onassis for the financial security.

Then in an unlikely comparison to Liz Taylor held up as  “a model of matrimony” the article continues: “Do any of these bring to Jackie Kennedy the happiness that Elizabeth Taylor, a woman as famous as she, has found elsewhere”

“The world may find some comfort in having idols like Jackie Kennedy to look up to; but whom do these women have to admire?”

The major question will be where she will find a man willing to be compared to JFK? Willing to pass muster before the world? Will the public allow her to marry him?”

Before the towns gossip mill could start grinding out the latest dirt, her wedding announcement the next  year kicked up a new cloud of controversy.

Next Post: Oh! Jackie! Oh! Pt II – The World Reacts

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

(L) Vintage Life Magazine 8/24/59 Jackie Kennedy as a candidate’s wife (R) Newsweek 10/28/68 Jackie Onassis- The Wedding

The  World Reacts

In the autumn of 1968 the world reacted to the stunning surprise wedding of Jacqueline Kennedy, the Queen of Camelot and Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis with shock, amazement, and even condemnation, but definitely without apathy.

Jackie Kennedy had been elevated to a national treasure after the tragedy in Dallas and had remained there ever since. That is, until one weekend in October 1968  when the world learned about her impending nuptials on a chilly Friday afternoon and the reaction was as frosty as the unseasonably cool temperature.

World Reacts to Jackie Kennedy’s Impending Marriage -Newspaper Article NY Daily News 10/19/68

From Acapulco to Moscow, London to Zanzibar, Jackie was the talk of the town.

“Jackie! How Could you?” asked the headline in the Stockholm newspaper Expressen, pretty much summing up the world’s disbelief.

“Lamentable, lamentable,” headlined the Madrid newspaper, Informaciones.

“In Spain millions of women wept for Mrs Kennedy when her husband was slain in Dallas 5 years ago,” The NY Daily News reported on Saturday October 19. “The reaction yesterday in that conservatively Catholic country was bewilderment and condemnation.”

In Paris a news vendor hawked: “The Latest Kennedy Tragedy, “while the Paris newspaper Le Monde said“The Americans just cannot believe it!”

In Moscow a blonde girl exclaimed, “Oh, but he’s too old!”

“I wouldn’t do it if I were Jackie,” sighed a Frankfurt clerk.”He has no likeness to John Kennedy.”

Wedding Bell Blues

Jackie Kennedy’s Marriage as reported in newspapers (L) NY Daily News 10/19/68 (R) NY Post 10/19/68 The Wedding: Hours away. The exact date of the wedding was still speculative

Closer to home, the shock waves continued.

Like millions of Americans, suburban housewife Patty Doyle  was flabbergasted, with a good case of the wedding bell blues. “The jet set may be ga-ga, but the average Joe was ready to… well… gag.. ,” she bemoaned.

To the shock and dismay of most of Jackie’s admirers, Patty included,  the Queen of Camelot had abandoned her reign and, many felt, her reputation, by choosing as her consort Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Onassis, a short (an inch shorter than Jackie, gasp! at 5 feet 5 inches! )swarthy man of 62 who wears dark glasses night and day smokes cigars and has a boatload of money.

“It’s simply unbelievable” gasped one former friend of Jackie’s. “For Gods sake he’s a peasant-he’s so bloody unattractive and obvious. I mean at least she could have picked a gentleman”

A Work of Art Has Fallen From its Pedestal

Collage by Sally Edelstein

A day after the stunning announcement, Patty clipped  an article that appeared in the NY Daily News . It said what she could not put into words.  It went right to the heart of the matter and echoed the sentiments of millions.

Article appearing in NY Daily News Friday October 18, 1968

“It is very different now. Somehow, very different.”

“She has the same extraordinary smile and the same matchless grace the indefinable quality called class. But something is gone now- for all of us. A fragment of a fragile image has broken away and is gone.”

The Myth of Camelot A Thousand Days (L) Vintage Life Magazine The Kennedy Inauguration 1/27/61
(R) Vintage Life Magazine- John F Kennedy’s Funeral 12/6/63

“No one can forget Jacqueline Kennedy’s days in Camelot, the perfect grace note for a young new president a personification of beauty and taste and yet somehow impersonal, like a work of art to be admired.”

“Nor can anyone forget the lonely figure of tragedy and dignity kissing a coffin in the capital great rotunda.”

“And when Jacqueline Kennedy finally walked away into a new private world, the image lingered on. She was the widow of a slain president, a picture of the  race and beauty we all so briefly knew.Even as she moved back into the society of new friends and new interests her magic continued to cast its spell.”

Camelot Continues (L) Life Magazine 5/29/64 Jackie talks about JFK’s mementos
(R) Look Magazine 1/28/64 Valiant is the word for Jackie

“When the rumors began about a possible romance with Britain’s Lord Harlech they had only a passing  effects on Jackie’s place on the pedestal. Harlech was a blue blood and one of the courtiers in Camelot. He seemed to fit so well. But the rumors died away and Jackie remained single.”

“Many American women have beauty and style and good taste. But Jackie always had something more. It was as if she were not really one of us but someone in a play or movie.”

“Women have not envied her. You admire a painting or a statue but you do not envy it. Jackie has always been something you couldn’t be in a million years even if you had her looks and clothes.”

No longer a symbol

Newspaper article New York Daily News 10/23/68

“But now she is suddenly flesh and blood. She is no longer the almost mystical  symbol of a nations tragedy and guilt. She is no longer the partner of a handsome young president.”

“She is simply a woman, a woman marrying a man old enough to be her father, rich and colorful but hardly handsome, a foreigner known mainly in the jet set and then primarily for his yachts and parties and celebrated friends.”

“He must have something besides carloads of money. But he isn’t Jack Kennedy. Everyone wanted Jackie to find her way out of tragedy to make a new life, surely to get married again. But now it is happening and her husband is going to be someone called Aristotle Onassis and somehow everything is different.”

“Very different.”

Public Sinner

Going to the Chapel (L) John and Jackie Kennedy and family celebrate Easter Sunday from A Day in the Life of President Kennedy by Jim Bishop 1964 (R) Jackie’s Wedding to Onassis Life Magazine 11/1/68

On Sunday morning, Patty hurriedly finished packing up the brats, beer and baked beans for the tailgate party later that afternoon. She was running late and wanted to get to church on time. As a good Catholic, Patty Doyle was devastated.

“I cannot believe a good Catholic like Mrs Kennedy would marry a divorced man,” Patty said in disbelief.  By doing so she knew it meant  Jackie could not hope for the church’s blessing.

Patty took her cue from her priest who took his straight from the Vatican who gave the opinion that Mrs Kennedy would automatically excommunicate herself if she married Onassis. “Marriage is a sacrament that cannot be dissolved by divorce,” her priest Father O’ Hare spoke from the pulpit that morning.”In sharing a bed with Onassis she was profane in the eyes of God.”

Newspaper article New York Daily News October 19, 1968 Vatican disapproves of Jackie Kennedy’s Marriage to Aristotle Onassis

The Roman Catholic Church indeed was upset “We regret she chose to marry such a notorious figure married and divorced and living openly with Maria Callas”

In fact the greatest blow came not from the secular press but from the Vatican’s L’Osservatore della Domenica. Branding her “a public sinner” it reported that she would be denied church rites.

While the wrath of God seem to came tumbling down in churches across the globe that Sunday morning , a simple wedding was taking place far away in Greece. The marriage was celebrated on Oct 20 in a tiny chapel on Skorpios Onassis’s private island

Mrs Aristotle Onassis would always be Jackie Kennedy to Patty and a whole lot of other Americans.

postscript:

The gossip magazines were consumed with Jackie’s love life before and after Onassis (L) Motion Picture Magazine July 1967 “Women Without Love” (R) Movie World Magazine Feb. 1971 “How Jackie Broke Ari’s Heart”

The Queen of Camelot was soon rechristened Jackie O and  the press didn’t skip a beat as Jackie O and  Ari became fodder for the gossip mills.

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

Related articles

• Oh! Jackie! Oh! (envisioningtheamericandream.com)

The sizzling summer of 1960 was dominated by the equally hot Presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

Earlier in the summer Kennedy had boldly beckoned us to hitch our wagon to his train and be pioneers in a New Frontier. After the seemingly stillness of the Eisenhower years, Americans were anxious to get moving again.

The  Presidential race-  a spectacle of pure showmanship filled with hoopla and chutzpah, showboating and glad handling – paled in comparison to my grandmother’s beach club, itself crawling with glitter and glamor.

Beach Club Ballyhoo

In the years before I went to day camp, my days were spent at The El Flamingo Beach Club on Long Island NY.

The entire day was a step up and in to the good life, living proof that the American Dream was alive and well in mid-century America.

It was a world where your every need seemed to be anticipated and taken care of.

Immediately upon arrival at the club, handsome valets with exotic name like Silvio and Lorenzo sporting  hi-rise pompadours lovingly lavished with Vitalis,  would briskly park your car.

Not far behind, eager-to-please cabana boys with Big Man on Campus crew cuts and smiles, would rush to set up your chairs and umbrellas, later to appear at your beck and call to fetch you another ice tea or diet cottage cheese plate.

It was a rarefied world where the open skies at the beach always seemed Kodacolor perfect, not a mushroom cloud or the nose of a submarine on the horizon.

Like the other Beach Clubs that dotted the narrow spit of Long island, the club was always overrun with sun worshiping, jewelry glittering, deeply tanned women, their middle-aged matronly bodies newly trim from a week at the milk farm pummeled and pounded by a host of masseurs,  squeezed into this seasons-must-have figure flattering swimsuit.

They teetered and tottered about on perilously high raffia straw wedgies slides, sun-loving fun-loving play shoes studded with colorful sea shells or a gay spray of red plastic posies to brighten their footsteps, a cold Pepsi in one well manicured hand and a glowing Kool in the other.

High Hopes

The scents and sounds of that summer would sizzle together creating the perfect summer cocktail.

Offsetting  the slightly musty earthy dampness of the cabanas, was the tropical smell of Sea and Ski blending seamlessly with the bracing briny sea air already choked  with the roasted woodsy leathery smell of cigar smoke, pungent chlorine, and the greasy snack bar burgers and fries, making  my eyes tear and my mouth water .

While mindlessly singing along to a Rheingold commercial playing on a Zenith portable radio “my beer is Rheingold the dry beer” a new upbeat commercial came over the radio as high-apple-pie-in-the-sky-high-hopeful as any beer ad jingle.

It even caught my Mothers ear when she recognized that unmistakable voice of  Swoonatra, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself belting out a swingin’ campaign jingle for JFK.

With unadulterated optimism dripping from every note, a swaggering Sinatra plugged his pal with special lyrics sung to the hit song “High Hopes:”

“Everyone wants to back….Jack/ Jack is on the right track/”Cause he’s got high hopes/he’s got high hopes/Nineteen Sixty’s the year for his high hopes./Come on and vote for Kennedy/Keep America strong!”

Come Alive You’re in the Pepsi Generation

The grinning cabana boys had an extra glow of enthusiasm about them that summer-their beaming faces echoing JFK’s own confidently smiling countenance blazoned on the flashy campaign buttons they proudly sported on their white polo shirts.

K–E–Double N–D–Y with his jet propelled as-fine-tuned-as-a sporty-Corvette campaign machine, had just snared the democratic presidential nomination despite his being dismissed as more poseur than performer, and despite the “Catholic Issue”.

For these college boys, stylish JFK had the fresh air of progress.

His energy as effervescent as a bottle of Pepsi, his  sleek, fresh, follow me flare had  the mark of tomorrow stamped all over him.

You Might Also Enjoy

High Noon at the Democratic Convention 1960

High Noon at the Democratic Convention 1960 PT II

Convention Guide 1960

TV and John Kennedy were made for each other.

The Kennedy years stand out as a time bracketed by TV milestones. In the years between the Great Debates and the network coverage of the assassination and funeral of the president, television became truly central in Americans lives.

The images of those 4 days in November 1963 are  burned into our minds but a more colorful memory is his inauguration.

January 20, 1961-The Day a Black and White World Changed to Color

I was proud as a peacock.

The year was 1961. John F. Kennedy was the first president I ever saw sworn in on television and I got to see it in rich tonal color!

Despite the heavy snowstorm, my family  had trudged over  to my Aunt Judy’s house to watch on her RCA  Color TV, the first ever color broadcast of a president being sworn in. It was an auspicious and memorable day in the life of the nation and in mine

The young president, the old poet, the splendid speech, the triumphant parade, the brilliant sky and the shining snow were all brought to you in living color.

The Wonderful World of Color

Color TV was still a novelty; a thrilling, wholly new standard of viewing enjoyment.

The first color TV sets retailed at $1,000 in 1954. That was a lot of money for the few hours of broadcasting that would be on NBC during that year. Four years later color telecasting still averaged only 1 1/2hours a day nearly all of it on NBC alone. And the quality left much to be desired.

It would take another 10 years until sales of color television sets would really take off.

Because my Aunt and Uncle were one of the fortunate few who owned a genuine color TV we would be eyewitness to history. The color viewing experience, RCA promised, would be so real, so sensationally life-like, that you would swear you almost could feel the frosty wind that whipped through Washington DC that day.

Ring-a ding ding!

A Telegenic President

(L) Vintage Life Magazine 11/21/60 The Victorious Kennedy’s ( and the vary pregnant Jackie) (R) Life Magazine Cover 1/27/61 The Kennedy Inauguration

Television and John Kennedy were made for one another and he gasped the nuances of television like a pro. Stylish JFK had the fresh air of progress; his energy as effervescent as a bottle of Pepsi.

JFK’s overriding campaign them in 1960 was the need to “get America moving again” and TV was the perfect medium to chronicle movement.

On the morning of November 9, 1960, the day after election day,  an unprecedented sense of familiarity on the part of the public toward a US president and his family began to develop because of TV.

At a televised press conference at the National Guard Armory in Hyannis Port, our new President-Elect Kennedy with pregnant wife Jackie at his side, dedicated himself to freedom around the world and then added before leaving, “So now my wife and i prepare for a new administration and a new baby.” It was a heartwarming and exciting story that television was only too happy to convey.

The transition from the Eisenhower administration to the New Frontier unfolded on television screens before our eyes  as JFKs every move was followed.

The Following Program is Brought to You in Living Color.

The Kennedy presidency began with incomparable dash and color.

It was a cold day for a cold war warrior to take office.

It had been cold all week on the East coast, the nations’ capital included. The second of 3 major Noreasters that occurred during the winter of 1960-61 was moving up the East Coast. The snow came on Thursday with winds howling, stinging gusts and whipping the snow down the streets.

Washington  DC was choked with a blanket of snow, bringing the Capital to  halt.

By dawn of Friday, inauguration day the snow had stopped. The skies were blue and cloudless and the Capital glistened in the sun, but it was frigid as the temperature was barely 20 degrees above zero.

The crowds, curious, expectant hopeful, huddled and shivering in the cold.

They watched restlessly as the bundled up dignitaries slowly took their place on the platform.

At twenty minutes after twelve, the 43-year-old  president-elect strode in and the spectators broke into wild applause. There stood their newly elected president young, handsome, tough and communicating confidence.

I proudly listened as Marian Anderson sang The Star Spangled Banner, restlessly observed the craggily cardinal as he boomed out a long invocation, and  anxiously watched the breath of elderly poet Robert Frost visible in the freezing air, the glare from the sun blinding him.

At nine minutes to one the Chief Justice Earl Warren came forward to administer the oath to the 35^th president. Braving the elements, the vibrant president-elect without hat or coat, the family bible open before him answered in a firm tone. At last he began his inaugural address, his voice ringing out into the frosty air.

It was a day on which, as President Kennedy himself observed, the country passed into the hands of a new generation. In a great inaugural address President Kennedy, outlined his idea of the nation of the future, asking  Americans to consider not what your country can do for you but what we can do for our country.

I was to be part of a new thrilling generation.

After the seemingly stillness of the B&W Eisenhower years, suddenly the promise of a new young colorful vibrant president who promised to get America moving again seemed exhilarating, urging us to come alive …we’re in the wonderful world of color.

The New Frontier was off and running!

Who could ever have imagined that in just a thousand days, the world would be very black and white again.

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

You Might Also Enjoy

Sun, Sand and JFK

High Noon at the Democratic Convention Pt I

High Noon at the Democratic Convention Pt II

On the Kindergarten Campaign Trail

“John Fitzgerald Kennedy …As We Remember Him” 1965 MacMillan Co.

Through 1,036 days of the New Frontier, from the lift off in a freezing Washington blizzard, to its sudden end on that bright Dallas Day, a nation was captivated by Camelot.

Suddenly everything concerning JFK was news and by 1962 the nationwide obsession was beyond control. The appetite for all things Kennedy was seemingly insatiable and the media was all too eager to feed the hungry public’s interests.

The Kenedys became a boundless source of material for comics and satirists. But despite the quantity of Kennedy material the parodies were rarely barbed and the satire seldom stinging-it was more often the humor of endearment.

“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor (GP Putmans Sons 1962)
Within weeks of JFK being elected public interest in all Caroline said and did was news and a nation was captivated by her childish charm. Feature stories reported on, her clothes her pets her walks with her dollies.Every little girl likes to dress up in her mothers shoes. When Caroline did during a press conference, it was front page news, as was riding horses and chasing stray cats

One popular parody published in 1962 was called “Carolines Doll Book” a good-natured takeoff  caricaturing  the First Family along with a collection of Cold war era figures from the world of politics to pop culture.

Written  by Joyce Haber known for her barbed commentaries and one of the last of Hollywood’s powerful gossip columnists, it offers a glimpse into the  people, politics and issues that caught Americas attention during the heady New Frontier era, bitingly capturing the flavor and mood of the times.

The 1962 book, a series of cartoon drawings by Richard Taylor or R. Taylor  ( a well-known cartoonist whose work appeared in  Esquire, New Yorker etc)  claimed to be a “lost book” of  the presidents daughter Caroline Kennedy.

A Tongue in Cheek Take

The premise of this tongue in cheek tome as the editor explained it  was “that shortly after the last election a worn and weathered document smudged with pony tracks was discovered under a lamppost on Washington’s Penn Avenue. On the last page was the inscription written in a child’s scrawl: ‘This is my book If lost and found please return to Caroline Hyannis Port, Mass’.”

“And so from this yellow tattered manuscript,” the editor continues by way of explanation “Caroline’s Doll Book” was reassembled.” He explains “that the pictures needed to be redrawn and the captions rephrased. The original captions,” the editor makes clear, “were penciled in an obviously  executive masculine hand and somewhat illegible, thus the captions  had to be rephrased.”

Jack Kennedy

The Jack Kennedy Doll- You wind it up and the Bobby Doll runs
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

In this American Royalty if Jack was King of Camelot, then Bobby and Teddy were princes sure to get their chance at the throne.

Political nepotism became a well-worn joke, the idea prompted by Robert Kennedy’s appointment as Attorney General and kid brother Edward’s entry  into the race for the US Senate in 1962.

Bobby Kennedy

The Bobby Doll- You wind it up and the Teddy doll runs
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

When a fresh-faced 30-year-old Ted Kennedy entered the Senate race  in the November  1962 special election to fill the seat once held by JFK, many balked at his inexperience. “I back Jack but Teddy ain’t ready!”

The issue of nepotism was front and center in the heated race.

“Don’t you think that Teddy is one Kennedy too many?” His opponent in the primary Edward McCormick famously said that if his opponent’s name was Edward Moore rather than Edward Moore Kennedy his candidacy would be a joke.

Comedian Red Skelton for example recalled on his show the days when politicians promised a chicken in every pot but the slogan from the White House was “a Kennedy in every office.” Continuing in the same vein Skeleton told of the President’s conference with his father the former Ambassador to Great Britain, to complain about his kid brothers-“Ted and Bobby are playing with my country!”

Ted Kennedy

The Ted Kennedy Doll- You wind it up and the Caroline doll runs
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

The public fell in love with Caroline  even before Kennedy was in the White House. The first large group to feel her impact was the Republican party.  “Little Miss Poison” was a phrase used by Republicans mostly to describe the unassailable appeal of 4-year-old Caroline. Two months after Caroline took official residence in the White House  nursery a GOP spokesman all but conceded defeat to her in 1964 with the gloomy tribute “She the Democrats one secret weapon that we cannot fight.”

Jackie Kennedy

The Jackie Kennedy Doll- You wind it up and it invites all the other dolls to the White House
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

John Kennedy and his elegant wife Jackie invited a parade of luminaries including famous artists musicians and writers to the White House. The well-bred fashion queen who charmed foreign leaders,  Jackie carefully  orchestrated state dinners  for visiting dignitaries complete with dazzling entertainment from cellist Pablo Casals through Metropolitan Opera Stars  receiving wide publicity. Reporters lavished attention on the high culture and taste that the Kennedy’s appeared to bring to the government.

Arthur Schlesinger

The Arthur Schlesinger Doll – You wind it down…and you wind it down…and you wind it down…and it still runs
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

The Kennedy White House crackled with spirit, youth and boundless energy.

Kennedy made a show of assembling a team of highly educated advisers for his New Frontiersmen. Many were academics- David Halberstam would characterize them as “the best and the brightest”- culling them from Harvard and other elite institutions.

Arthur Schlesinger a bone fide egghead, was a Harvard history professor, and  Pulitzer prize winner, who served as special assistant and court historian to President Kennedy. After Kennedy’s assassination, Schlesinger chronicled JFKs presidency in “A Thousand Days” which contributed to the myth of Camelot.

Lee Radziwill and Oleg Cassini

(L) The Lee Radziwell Doll- You wind it up and it’s out of fashion (R) The Oleg Cassini Doll- You wind it up and it dresses the Jackie Doll
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Jackie may have been the Queen of Camelot, but her younger sister Lee Radziwill was a real life Princess. Married to Polish Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, she was perpetually on the best dressed lists and  traveled in the fashionable jet set.

Oleg Cassini was a fashion designer to the stars most notably to Jackie Kennedy. Cassini’s appointment by Jackie as her exclusive couturier in 1961 dubbed him her “secretary of style”. The “Jackie Look” was recognized as being the single biggest fashion influence in history.

Ethel Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy, Arthur Schlesinger and Pierre Salinger

The Ethel, Teddy, Arthur and Pierre Dolls- You wind them up and they make a big splash
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Ethel Kennedy, wife of Attorney General Robert Kennedy was the towns number 2 social lioness after Jacqueline.

Wild parties at RFK’s McClean Virginia home Hickory Hill were the stuff of legend  and the press delighted in reporting the antics.

One story had Pierre Salinger, JFKs press secretary, being tossed into the Hickory Hill swimming pool fully dressed at the end of an uproarious lawn party there and an impulsive Teddy Kennedy dove in after him.

The next story that made all the news was a party for the Attorney Generals 12^th wedding anniversary in June of 1962.

He and Ethel gave an outdoor  party with tables around the pool. Ethel was seated at a table on an impromptu catwalk which crossed the pool. Arthur Schlesinger and a partner decided to dance in between courses, but their weight on the catwalk tilted it  tipping the hostess chair and suddenly- splash- Ethel was in the pool. Schlesinger was mortified and ever the gentlemen plunged in after her.

Frank Sinatra

The Frank Sinatra Doll- You Wind it up and it takes all the girl dolls to Lapland
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Leader of the Rat Pack, Old blue eyes liked the ladies and liked em young Sinatra played a role in campaigning for Kennedy With unadulterated optimism a swaggering Sinatra plugged his pal with special lyrics sung to the tune of High Hopes. Appearing at the July 1960 Democratic convention “Swoonatra” belted out  a swinging campaign jingle for JFK.

Dean Martin

The Dean Martin Doll-You wind it up and it falls down
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Another member of the Rat Pack, Dean Martin was the king of cool who often played drunk performing with a drink in his hand.

Liz Taylor and Brigitte Bardot

(L) The Liz Taylor Doll- You don’t have to wind it up at all (R) Brigitte Bardot Doll- Yo wind it up and it drops the towel
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

The glamorous queen of Hollywood was busy playing the infamous Queen of Egypt – Cleopatra  the infamous movie of the same name. Released 50 year s ago, its monstrous budget which almost bankrupted Twentieth Century Fox, was nothing compared to the monstrous scandal created during the filming of the epic movie- the beginning of the heated affair between Taylor and her leading man Richard Burton.

The epic movie began filming in 1960 with Elizabeth Taylor receiving a mind-boggling,  record-setting contract of 1 million dollars  eventually swelling to 7 million equivalent to 47 million dollars today.

French bombshell Brigitte Bardot took the  world by storm in 1957 with the release of “And God Created Woman” the  steamy film about an immoral teenager in a respectable small town was an instant success.

Huntley- Brinkley

The Huntley Brinkley Doll- You wind it up and it talks to itself
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

NBC’s flagship evening news program from 1956-1970 was anchored by Chet Huntley in NYC David Brinkley in Washington  “One is solemn the other twinkly.”  “Good night Chet. Good night David. And good night from NBC  news” was how this popular duo of newscasters signed off on their nightly broadcast.

The evening  national news was still only 15 minutes long. Eventually CBS took the lead in expanding the news to 30 minutes in 1963, and NBC quickly followed.

Dick Nixon

The Dick Nixon Doll – You wind it up and it can’t stop running
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Run Dick Run!

In 1962 former Vice President and failed presidential candidate Richard Nixon  challenged incumbent Pat Brown for governor in California. Losing, the bitter defeat was widely believed to be the end of his political career. He famously said at an impromptu speech directed at the media, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore because gentlemen this is my last conference.”

Barry Goldwater

The Barry Goldwater Doll -You wind it up and you’re in the 19th century
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Known as Mr Conservative the 5 term senator from Arizona was a front-runner for the ’64 presidential elections. JFK fully expected Barry Goldwater to run against him in 1964 and relished the prospect. Kennedy wanted to make sure the country understood the difference between his own centralism and Goldwater’s extremism.

The Medicare Doll

The Medicare Doll- You wind it up and you can’t afford to be sick until you’re 65
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

In 1962  Medicare was a hot button issue not unlike Obamacare is today.

The health care reform proposed by President Kennedy in 1962 was intended to prevent the elderly from going into bankruptcy when unexpected medical costs not covered by pensions or insurance. Kennedy fought hard for this but it was stalled in Congress.

AMA

The AMA Doll- You wind it up and you cant afford to be sick at all
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

The American Medical Association resisted and Kennedy encountered great difficulty in passing Medicare into law.

The A.M.A. argued the act would strain the US medical resources, lower doctors incomes by making their jobs government-funded and cause individuals to be assigned doctors based on insurance rather than preference. Congress was wary of passing the bill. The American public enthusiastically supported the idea and JFK persisted in his efforts to pass the bill. LBJ signed medicare into law in 1965.

Ben Casey

The Ben Casey Doll- You wind it up and it lets you die
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Doctors reached the peak of their prestige and cultural status and were celebrated in TV shows such as Dr Kildare and Ben Casey who would rival each others as America’s heart-throb.

In 1961 a month after Dr Kildare first aired on NBC, ABC premiered its own TV medical drama Ben Casey. The  series starred Vince Edwards as Dr. Ben Casey a young intense idealistic neurosurgeon at County General Hospital The no-nonsense Dr Casey’s expertise seemed to justify his brusque aggressive manner but his mentor Zorba was not impressed. The 2 clashed as Casey refused to go by the book when it interfered with his cases.

The White Citizens Council

The White Citizens Council Doll- You wind it up and it gives you a ticket to Hyannis
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Civil rights was another a hot button issue during the Kennedy years. Strong opposition to integration created many extremist groups.   The White Citizens Council  was an American white supremest organization formed in 1954.  Some claimed it originated after Brown vs Board of Education outlawed segregation as unconstitutional.

With about 60,000 members mostly in the south, the group was well-known for its opposition to racial integration during the 1950s and 60s when it retaliated with economic boycotts and strong initiatives against black activists.

Ian Fleming and Jimmy Hoffa

(L) The Ian Fleming Doll – You wind it up and it SMERSHes you (R) The Jimmy Hoffa Doll- You wind it up and it says “Tilt”
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Ian Fleming was an English  author best known for his James Bond series of spy novels, the  perfect read for the cold war spy vs spy climate of the times.

Fleming’s books had always sold well but in 1961 sales increased dramatically. In March of ’61 four years after publication of “Dr N” an article in Life  Magazine listed “From Russia With Love” as one of JFK’s 10 favorite books.This accolade and publicity led to a surge in sales that made Fleming very wealthy.

Jimmy Hoffa,  labor leader and president of the Teamsters was the long time nemesis of the Kennedy brothers. Because of his involvement in organized crime Robert Kennedy had earlier attempted to convict Hoffa while serving  as counsel to McClellans sub committee. As attorney general RFK pursued the strongest attacks on organized crime the country had ever seen and he carried on with a so-called “Get Hoffa” squad of prosecutors and investigators.

Kathryn Murray

The Kathyrn Murray Doll- You wind it up and it twists its head off
“Caroline’s Doll Book” by Joyce Haber, drawings by R.Taylor 1962

Kathryn Murray was the wife of Arthur Murray the patriarch of American dance and owner of dance studios chains. The 2 hosted a TV program that catered to the white-gloved cotillion set but soon they were seen haunting the  Peppermint Lounge in NYC ground zero for the dance craze the  twist “We wanted to observe the dance in its native habitat,” Murray said.

When Chubby Checker and Kathyrn Murray did the twist in the Peppermint Lounge  there was no surer sign of the twists acceptance by the broader society than the presence of Arthur and his wife. “Any new dance craze will stimulate all kinds of new business,” said Kathryn Murray.

Soon the Arthur Murray Dance Studio took out a large newspaper ad: “Quite frankly, the twist is not our favorite dance,” began the ad. But if you’re young at heart, you just have to dance it these days. It’s all the rage and YOU can become a twist expert in 6 easy lessons.” During the hot summer of ’62 Americans were twisting the night away as the Cold war was heating up.

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You Might Also Enjoy

JFKs Inauguration: A Colorful Account

High Noon at the 1960 Democratic Convention

High Noon at the 1960 Democratic Convention Pt II

Sun, Sand and JFK

Licensed to Grill

How to Keep Your Cool n the Cold War

The Cuban Missile Crisis Pt I

The iconic George Lois “Esquire Magazine” Cover from May 1967.
Lois was to comment that the cover represented “the moment when all American kids stated to grow up with live violence in his carpeted den complete with an all American Hamburger and Coke.”

History was compressed into a single weekend that November.

It was the weekend that never seemed to end, that began with a TV bulletin and ended with a burning flame flickering on TV screens across the nation.

Like a relentless Greek tragedy, the Kennedy assassination was a trauma played out over 75 straight hours on French Provincial wood consoles and sleek portable TV sets  from coast to coast; its indelible impressions burned into our collective consciousness for half a century.

Vintage Advertisement Motorola TV 1950s

TV, that post war  miracle  that promised to bring the family closer,  made good on its promise that weekend.

There was no time that weekend  to reflect, no time to collect oneself, no time for anything but to sit transfixed before the set and try to bring into reality this unthinkable thing.

The Wonderful World of Color Goes Black and White

The television landscape normally littered with canned laughter, persistent commercials, and goofy game shows had suddenly been silenced and stilled. In their place was an endless stream of  tragic images.

In the end, it would be a series of sounds and pictures emanating from our TV sets  that would always remain in the minds of those who watched: the bloodstained suit, the widow’s mourning veil, the little boy saluting the casket, the tum tum tum-a-ta-tum of the muffled drums, the band playing Hail to the Chief in dirge time, the hollow clip clop of the horses hooves, the spirited riderless horse Blackjack, and a little girl’s white-gloved  hand gently touching a coffin.

Countered against all this was the jarring impact of the assassin’s own murder, so quick so nightmarish and so immediate because an already traumatized nation saw it happen on live TV.

This was the event that scholars have noted that legitimated television in the eyes of the public. In one weekend America had gone from a print and radio nation to a television nation.

It was our baptism into the TV generation

November 24, 1963-  No Ordinary Sunday

Vintage Campbell’s Soup advertisement

It was lunch time and our Sunday routine seemed oddly ordinary.

As usual Mom was at the stove preparing a bowl of Campbell’s Tomato soup for me. The  perfect meal for a cold blustery November day,  its hearty tomatoey fragrance filled the house…..mmm…mmm good.

As always, Dad was just getting around to reading the news section of Sunday’s N.Y. Times, having already devoured the sports section earlier. And as usual, my brother was grousing about something- today’s complaint  was the complete upheaval of television – our Sunday  favorite  “Lets Have Fun” was nowhere to be found on the TV.

But it was anything but an ordinary day.

A numbing sorrow gripped everyone.

The impact of grief over the death of our president was apparent. On Saturday streets were deserted, stores empty, theaters half-filled. Rain had fallen in N.Y. and the bleak November sky accentuated the deafening of emptiness and loss.

This was the mood of the country and my family.

Since Friday afternoon, networks and independent stations had completely  canceled commercials and regularly scheduled programs.   Continuous news reports about the assassination and related events were supplemented by special programs.

All related to the death of our youthful, dazzling, president.

Quite out of the ordinary, my parents  portable 17 inch television set had remained in our suburban kitchen since Friday. For 4 days its flickering  presence  uncharacteristically accompanied all our meals.

Watching endless TV became the weekends  new norm.

Friday November 22 – We Interrupt This Program

Routinely, Mom would roll the portable Admiral TV set into the kitchen on Friday afternoon  so that our cleaning girl Willie Mae would not miss her favorite soap opera as she did her chores.

Friday November 22 was no different.

Adjusting the antennae that zipped out oh-so-easily, Mom was grateful for this new lightweight TV set that miraculously eliminated any interference caused by appliances, cars or anytime a neighbor used his  power drill.

With the set warmed up by 1:30 in time for “As The World Turns,”   Willy Mae settled into the Formica  kitchen table to tackle the silver. Daubing the pink oily polish onto the ornate silver candy dishes and bowls, she rubbed  vigorously, dissolving the black tarnish to magically reveal its true shiny and gleaming self.

Hooked on the soapy trials and tribulations of the shows characters, Willie Mae’s concern that day was whether or not her hero would remarry his divorced wife.

Actress Helen Wagner had just said “I gave it a great deal of thought Grandpa”when the show was interrupted.  Suddenly at 1:40  a Bulletin card flashed on the screen The disembodied voice of Walter Cronkite announcing: “In Dallas, Texas, 3 sots were fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown Dallas.”

When it was done CBS cut to a commercial for Nescafe, but when it returned the country would never be the same. The last entertainment or commercial that anyone would see for 3 and a half days had run its course.

The silver would remain tarnished for another week,

A Solemn Sunday Morning

Sunday morning began solemnly – plans for the Presidents funeral was the agenda for the day.

The kitchen radio, normally turned on most Sunday mornings as Mom prepared breakfast, had now been displaced by the TV  set, strangely still in the kitchen. The TV was like the guest who came to dinner and never left.

Out of Respect

Compared to Friday’s pandemonium and shock, Sunday  was a quiet and subdued morning on TV  filled with religious services.

The usual assortment of Sunday morning cartoons were not an option. Today was not a day for “Let’s Have Fun.”

At 9 AM all 3 channels were broadcasting Richard Cardinal Cushing’s eulogy for the slain President, live from Boston.

The sound of his  nasal voice cracking with pain about his “dear friend Jack” filled the morning airwaves. The unfamiliar intonations of a Catholic Church Service  would normally carry a sense of the forbidden, but for today it was oddly not out-of-place in my Jewish home. Americans all, we each mourned out President.

Mom lit a cigarette and  flipped through the morning  newspapers. The weekend papers usually chock full of pre-Xmas shopping ads were devoid of all advertising. Department Stores were closed  till Tuesday ; even the supermarket had limited hours despite Thanksgiving being right around the corner.

Vintage Ad for Waldbaums Supermarket announcing the closing of its stores during the funeral services on Monday for JFK. NY TImes Nov. 25, 1963

The country had come to a grinding halt. A country used to moving forward with the New Frontier was at a stand still. Our new President had declared Monday was to be a national day of mourning  with offices, banks, schools and colleges closed.

Vintage Memorial Ads for President Kennedy placed in NY Times Sunday Nov 24,1963 by NYC Department Stores (L) Gimbels (R) Saks Fifth Avenue

Vintage Memorial Ads for JFK placed in “NY Times” Sunday Nov 24,1963 by NYC Department Store (R) S.Kleins (L) F.W. Woolworths

Though Monday would be a  welcome day off from school, it was oddly unlike any other. Relieved to put off my Arithmetic test until Tuesday, the day had neither the feel of a sick day or the fun of a snow day. Unlike a sick day, the balm of TV offered no distraction from our misery.

As disappointed as I was to miss Quick Draw McGraw and The Bullwinkle Show, my football fanatic father was equally disappointed that The Giants game was blacked out.

The sold out football game between the NY Giants and the St Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium would still be played but the game would not be televised. Though WNEW radio promised to broadcast the game, Dad never got around to listening to it.

High Noon The Times They Are-A-Changin’

Headline of “NY Times” Sunday November 24, 1963

The most important  event of the day would begin at noon when all networks would televise the funeral cortege from the White House.  The First Lady was scheduled to follow the caisson bearing the flag draped coffin down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capital Rotunda where the body of the President was to lie in state.

With the funeral  procession about to begin on TV, I  sat down for lunch.

Dad, poured another cup of instant coffee and tackled the Times. With so much Kennedy coverage, Dad barely noticed that one of his favorite authors  Aldous Huxley the author of  “Brave New World” had also just died.

All The News That’s Fit to Print

Not surprising, The New York Times  lead story was about President Kennedy’s body lying in state at the  White House.

Sharing the front page, but under the fold, was an article with the headline : “Evidence Against Oswald Described as Conclusive” written by Gladys Hill.

“Here’s one for you,” Dad said reading aloud from the newspaper. Mom looked up from the dishes with interest.

“Police officials said today they had amassed evidence enough to convict Lee Harvey Oswald of the assassination of President Kennedy,” Dad read .

NY Times Article Sunday November 24, 1963 “Dallas Police Describe Evidence Against Oswald as Enough to Cinch the Case”

Dad continued, as my ears perked up.

“’We’re convinced beyond any doubt that he killed the President,’ said Captain Will Fritz, Chief of Dallas Police Homicide Bureau after questioning Oswald and others.”

“I think the case is cinched,” Dad read on. “District Attorney Henry Wade said he planned to present the case to the grand jury next Wednesday or the following Monday. He though the case might come to trial in mid January.”

Dad whistled: “That’ll be one heckuva trial! Imagine the press on that one!” Like most Americans, Dad felt relief that they had caught their man. In the great American tradition, justice would prevail.

I thought back to the picture they played over and over that past day and a half of the morose, puffy eyed man wearing a T-shirt flanked by 2 beefy plains clothes officers  as he entered the bedlam of the Dallas police station.

“Just like on TV,” I mused, “the sheriff had caught the bad guy!”

Stay Tuned…Don’t Turn That Dial

Satisfied, my attention turned back to the TV where  a newscaster was reporting live from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, concerning the condition of  Joseph P. Kennedy, the late President’s father. Suddenly they switched from the overcast beach of Cape Cod to the now familiar,  overcrowded corridor in the Dallas police department.

I watched with great curiosity as Lee Harvey Oswald appeared  in handcuffs, the T-shirt covered by a sweater, with 2 plain clothed cops at each side.

What happened next came with such breathtaking suddenness as to defy description.

The nightmarish TV sequence filled with panic and pandemonium  was over almost as soon as it started. A shot rang out and the news would never be the same.

Television, for  years  “promising a TV picture so real you’ll feel like you were there”  finally rang all too true.

Dad dropped the newspaper in disbelief.

Television was now more than the medium of choice it was the only medium anyone could envision capturing an event. When the weekend was over, print would never again challenge TV as the public’s primary source of information and authority.

The times they were a- changin!

A Brave New World indeed.

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You Might Also Enjoy

JFK A Third Grader Remembers November 22, 1963

Captivated By Camelot

JFKs Inauguration: A Colorful Account

High Noon at the 1960 Democratic Convention

High Noon at the 1960 Democratic Convention Pt II

Sun, Sand and JFK

Licensed to Grill

How to Keep Your Cool n the Cold War

The Cuban Missile Crisis Pt I

“My Weekly Reader” Special Memorial Section for President John Kennedy December 1963
The secret to the success of the popular weekly newspaper for elementary school children was the presentation of timely news articles from a child’s angle. By 1963 it was published by American Education Publication, a division of the Wesleyan University Press by which time there were 6 editions, one for each elementary grade.

While others relied on Walter Cronkite for their news of the Kennedy Assassination, My Weekly Reader was the newspaper of record for the grade-school set. The popular publication was a weekly newspaper that covered current event for elementary school children.

When we returned from Thanksgiving in 1963 this is how My Weekly Reader  gently reported the sad news of the death of President Kennedy on November 22:

A Special Tribute to President John F. Kennedy

“The world had liked John Kennedy’s vigor and his energy,” the newspaper reported. “People liked the graceful ways he and his wife had brought to the White House.”

“And Young Americans had liked him most of all. They had felt that he was a very special friend.”

Vintage “My Weekly Reader” Special JFK Memorial Issue Dec. 1963

“Kennedy felt it was important for a president to see the people and for the people to see him.”

“He went to Dallas in November 1963.”

“He knew then that no all of the people there liked him. But he asked that he and Mrs Kennedy ride in an open car. That way he and the people could see each other. And so it was that President John F. Kennedy was shot.”

“Everyone will long remember his young good looks. His ready smile. His quick step. He was a man on the move. A brave man.”

“He looked for the paths to move ahead. He said follow me to the end of the road and we will seek out greatness.”

“He was struck down long before we could see what lay at the end of his road. But for a moment we caught his step. And when he turned, we smiled.”

Don’t They Know, It’s the End of the World?

Vintage Children’s School Book Illustration “Stories About Linda and Lee” 1960

As an 8-year-old, I was blissfully ignorant of the shadows of society and was happy to bask in the sunny Kodacolor optimism of John Kennedy’s New Frontier.

But after that long weekend in November 1963 the fragility of life became crystal clear…if  President Kennedy, brimming with vigor, erupting with energy, had been silenced and stilled….no one was safe.

Afterwards and for years to come people would remember precisely where they were, and  what they were doing when they heard the news from Dallas. Comparison to Pearl Harbor were inevitable. But unlike Pearl Harbor folks could not enlist in the military to give vent to their feelings. They could not take a war job or patriotically give up meat and gasoline.

There was little we could do, it seemed but grieve.

The first cracks in my mid-century American dream had begun to appear

Even as a third grader, it was clear that “the times they were a-changing.’”

Remembering John F. Kennedy

The authors 1964 fourth grade report on President John Kennedy, on the first anniversary of his assassination. Illustration by Sally Edelstein

On the one year anniversary of John Kennedy’s death, my teacher asked us to remember our late President.

What do you remember about that November  day 50 years ago?

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You Might Also Enjoy

JFK Assassination – Transfixed by TV

Captivated By Camelot Pt II

Captivated By Camelot

JFKs Inauguration: A Colorful Account

High Noon at the 1960 Democratic Convention

High Noon at the 1960 Democratic Convention Pt II

Keep Hope Alive

In July 1969, a full-page ad in the Sunday  NY Times posed a request to the American public: Hold onto this page for 1 year and hope and pray it ended.

The hopeful ad  appeared  one  year after the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and 6 years after the shooting  of President John Kennedy.

The copy reads:  The trouble is hoping and praying isn’t enough Violence won’t end unless you’re willing to start the ending.

I have held onto to this yellowing page for 44 years; the hope for the end of gun violence  nearly extinguished.

Now on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy, its time to ask- if not now, when?

Copyright (©) 2013 Sally Edelstein All Rights Reserved

You Might Also Enjoy:

JFK Assassination Transfixed by TV

Robert Kennedy Remembered

US Senator Ted Cruz to the Future Comic Coloring Activity Book 2013, Really Big Coloring Books publisher

Color me Conservative

It’s a Christmas miracle! Just in time for that All-American holiday Christmas, appears the perfect gift- just right for your right-wing child.

Forget Flutterbye Fairies, Furby Boom or Big Hugs Elmo.

This years “gotta have” present for the young tea party tyke in training is.- the Ted Cruz to the Future Coloring Book.”

Concerned that the liberal media will turn your child into a Obama supporter? Fear not! For hours of truth filled fun, this educational book promises to indoctrinate the kiddies in truth justice and the American way…at least the tea party way.

US Senator Ted Cruz to the Future Comic Coloring Activity Book 2013

The publisher, Really Big Coloring Books,  promises it is a “non partisan, fact-driven view of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, details his quotes, his ideas and what he believes will help America grow.”

This non-partisan book states that Cruz supports the second amendment unlike socialist President Obama who has a consistent disregard for constitutional right. If Obama had his way he’d probably outlaw the Nerf-N-Stroke Rapidstrike Blaster Junior wants for Christmas!

This truth filled book also states that “millions of citizens believe Obama Care is worse than any war.” But not to worry, make sure your child receives The Doc McStuffins Get Better Checkup Center for Xmas. It has everything Doc Mc Stuffins needs to do a checkup ( and best part is you don’t need Obama Care)

Just be sure to color within the line kids.

Coloring in Camelot

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

Crayola and politicians were meant for each other.

For years, coloring books featuring  historical characters and events were popular and  I scribbled in my share of them as a child. Who wouldn’t love coloring in pictures of the US Capital, Thomas Edison and John Paul Jones leading the American navy to victories. Why I could spend hours coloring in the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima, alone!

So it was no surprise that 1962 along with a toy nurses kit and a 6 room split level doll house   I received a “JFK Coloring Book” for Chanukah. It didn’t matter that the book illustrated by Mort Drucker of MAD magazine fame was a tongue in cheek satire of the Kennedy’s meant more for the cocktail party set than the milk and cookies set.

American’s of all ages were swept up in Camelot Mania and this 7-year-old was no exception.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin
John Kennedy is flanked from left to right- Newscaster Edward R. Morrow, UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk

Stylish and brimming with confidence,  President Kennedy had the fresh air of progress, his energy as effervescent as a bottle of Pepsi and  a star struck nation was enthralled, eager to bask in his glow.

I took great care in coloring in JFK’s shock of chestnut hair selecting a raw sienna crayon, while carefully choosing carnation pink to fill in Jackies pill-box hat.

After all, it was JFK who would lead the US into the future and the fabulous promise of the 1960s. With a ring a ding ding Americans were ready to stare in to the future that Kennedy beckoned us to.

Color me ready for blast off!

Whereas Tea Party Ted Cruz’s book had not a whiff of irony, the JFK book was satire pure and simple.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy

Well bred fashion queen First Lady Jackie Kennedy  had appointed fashion designer Oleg Cassini as her exclusive couturier in 1961  dubbing him her “secretary of style.” The “Jackie Look” was recognized as being the single biggest fashion influence in history.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

Political nepotism became a well-worn joke prompted by Robert Kennedy’s appointment as Attorney General.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

The Presidents Rocking chair which he used to ease his painful bad back, set off a nationwide  trend towards rocking chairs.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

More than a few eyebrows were raised when kid brother Ted Kennedy entered the race for US Senate in 1962. Comedians  joked that once upon a time politicians promised a chicken in every pot, but the slogan from the White House was “a Kennedy in every office.”

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

John F Kennedy Jr was a mere toddler, but hopes for the continuation of Camelot were already in place assuring his place in  1996.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

The Dream Kennedy Supreme Court

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

The Cold War heated up between the Soviets and the US  particularly in October 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crises. Note Nikita Khrushchev has Fidel Castro in his pocket.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

A collection of influential  Democrats, Lyndon Johnson, former President Harry Truman, Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Adlai Stevenson.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

The president shock of unruly hair was a constant source of jokes for comedians and commentators alike.  The figure on the right is Labor Leader  Jimmy Hoffa  whose connections with organized crime caused attorney General Robert Kennedy to pursue him ruthlessly,carrying  on a so called “Get Hoffa” squad of prosecutors and investigators. Sending Hoffa  to the moon would apparently solve their problem.

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

Press Secretary Pierre Salinger

Vintage Coloring Book 1962 “JFK Coloring Book” illustration by Mort Drucker copy by Paul Laikin

Everything concerning Caroline Kennedy was news and the nationwide interest in her was often beyond control.

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2013. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You Might Also Enjoy

Captivated By Camelot Pt I Captivated By Camelot Pt II

The iconic George Lois Esquire Magazine Cover from May 1967. Lois was to comment that the cover represented “the moment when all American kids started to grow up with live violence in his carpeted den complete with an all American Hamburger and Coke.”

History was compressed into a single weekend that November of 1963.

It was the weekend that never seemed to end, that began with a TV bulletin and ended with a burning flame flickering on TV screens across the nation.

Like a relentless Greek tragedy, the Kennedy assassination was a trauma played out over 75 straight hours on French Provincial wood consoles and sleek portable TV sets from coast to coast; its indelible impressions burned into our collective consciousness for half a century.

Vintage Advertisement Motorola TV 1950s

TV, that post war miracle that promised to bring the family closer,  made good on its promise that weekend.

There was no time that weekend to reflect, no time to collect oneself, no time for anything but to sit transfixed before the set and try to bring into reality this unthinkable thing.

The Wonderful World of Color Goes Black and White

The television landscape normally littered with canned laughter, persistent commercials, and goofy game shows had suddenly been silenced and stilled. In their place was an endless stream of tragic images.

In the end, it would be a series of sounds and pictures emanating from our TV sets  that would always remain in the minds of those who watched: the bloodstained suit, the widow’s mourning veil, the little boy saluting the casket, the tum tum tum-a-ta-tum of the muffled drums, the band playing “Hail to the Chief” in dirge time, the hollow clip-clop of the horses hooves, the spirited riderless horse Blackjack, and a little girl’s white-gloved  hand gently touching a coffin.

Countered against all this was the jarring impact of the assassin’s own murder, so quick so nightmarish and so immediate because an already traumatized nation saw it happen on live TV.

This was the event that scholars have noted that legitimated television in the eyes of the public. In one weekend America had gone from a print and radio nation to a television nation.

It was our baptism into the TV generation

November 24, 1963-  No Ordinary Sunday

Vintage Campbell’s Soup advertisement

It was lunchtime and our Sunday routine seemed oddly ordinary.

As usual, Mom was at the stove preparing a bowl of Campbell’s Tomato soup for me. The perfect meal for a cold blustery November day,  its hearty tomatoey fragrance filled the house…..mmm…mmm good.

As always, Dad was just getting around to reading the news section of Sunday’s N.Y. Times, having already devoured the sports section earlier. And as usual, my brother was grousing about something- today’s complaint was the complete upheaval of television – our Sunday favorite Let’s Have Fun was nowhere to be found on the TV.

But it was anything but an ordinary day.

A numbing sorrow gripped everyone.

The impact of grief over the death of our president was apparent. On Saturday streets were deserted, stores empty, theaters half-filled. Rain had fallen in N.Y. and the bleak November sky accentuated the deafening of emptiness and loss.

This was the mood of the country and my family.

Since Friday afternoon, networks and independent stations had completely canceled commercials and regularly scheduled programs.   Continuous news reports about the assassination and related events were supplemented by special programs.

All related to the death of our youthful, dazzling, president.

Quite out of the ordinary, my parent’s portable 17-inch television set had remained in our suburban kitchen since Friday. For 4 days its flickering presence uncharacteristically accompanied all our meals.

Watching endless TV became the weekends’ new norm.

Friday, November 22 – We Interrupt This Program

Routinely, Mom would roll the portable Admiral TV set into the kitchen on Friday afternoon so that our cleaning girl Willie Mae would not miss her favorite soap opera as she did her chores.

Friday, November 22 was no different.

Adjusting the antennae that zipped out oh-so-easily, Mom was grateful for this new lightweight TV set that miraculously eliminated any interference caused by appliances, cars or anytime a neighbor used his power drill.

With the set warmed up by 1:30 in time for As The World Turns,   Willy Mae settled into the Formica kitchen table to tackle the silver. Daubing the pink oily polish onto the ornate silver candy dishes and bowls, she rubbed vigorously, dissolving the black tarnish to magically reveal its true shiny and gleaming self.

Hooked on the soapy trials and tribulations of the show’s characters, Willie Mae’s concern that day was whether or not her hero would remarry his divorced wife.

Actress Helen Wagner had just said, “I gave it a great deal of thought Grandpa” when the show was interrupted.  Suddenly at 1:40, a Bulletin card flashed on the screen.

The disembodied voice of Walter Cronkite announcing: “In Dallas, Texas, 3 shots were fired at President Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown Dallas.”

When it was done CBS cut to a commercial for Nescafe, but when it returned the country would never be the same. The last entertainment or commercial that anyone would see for 3 and a half days had run its course.

The silver would remain tarnished for another week.

A Solemn Sunday Morning

Sunday morning began solemnly – plans for the President’s funeral was the agenda for the day.

The kitchen radio, normally turned on most Sunday mornings as Mom prepared breakfast, had now been displaced by the TV  set, strangely still in the kitchen. The TV was like a guest who came to dinner and never left.

Out of Respect

Compared to Friday’s pandemonium and shock, Sunday was a quiet and subdued morning on TV  filled with religious services.

The usual assortment of Sunday morning cartoons was not an option. Today was not a day for Let’s Have Fun.

At 9 AM all 3 channels were broadcasting Richard Cardinal Cushing’s eulogy for the slain President, live from Boston.

The sound of his nasal voice cracking with pain about his “dear friend Jack” filled the morning airwaves. The unfamiliar intonations of a Catholic Church Service would normally carry a sense of the forbidden, but for today it was oddly not out-of-place in my Jewish home. Americans all, we each mourned out President.

Mom lit a cigarette and flipped through the morning newspapers. The weekend papers usually chock full of pre-Xmas shopping ads were devoid of all advertising. Department Stores were closed till Tuesday; even the supermarket had limited hours despite Thanksgiving being right around the corner.

Vintage Ad for Waldbaums Supermarket announcing the closing of its stores during the funeral services on Monday for JFK. NY Times Nov. 25, 1963

The country had come to a grinding halt. A country used to moving forward with the New Frontier was at a standstill. Our new President had declared Monday was to be a national day of mourning with offices, banks, schools, and colleges closed.

Vintage Memorial Ads for President Kennedy placed in NY Times Sunday Nov 24,1963 by NYC Department Stores (L) Gimbels (R) Saks Fifth Avenue

Vintage Memorial Ads for JFK placed in NY Times Sunday, Nov 24,1963 by NYC Department Store (R) S.Kleins (L) F.W. Woolworths

Though Monday would be a  welcome day off from school, it was oddly unlike any other. Relieved to put off my Arithmetic test until Tuesday, the day had neither the feel of a sick day or the fun of a snow day. Unlike a sick day, the balm of TV offered no distraction from our misery.

As disappointed as I was to miss Quick Draw McGraw and The Bullwinkle Show, my football fanatic father was equally disappointed that The Giants game was blacked out.

The sold-out football game between the NY Giants and the St Louis Cardinals at Yankee Stadium would still be played but the game would not be televised. Though WNEW radio promised to broadcast the game, Dad never got around to listening to it.

High Noon The Times They Are-A-Changin’

Headline of NY Times Sunday November 24, 1963

The most important event of the day would begin at noon when all networks would televise the funeral cortege from the White House.  The First Lady was scheduled to follow the caisson bearing the flag-draped coffin down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Rotunda where the body of the President was to lie in state.

With the funeral procession about to begin on TV, I  sat down for lunch.

Dad poured another cup of instant coffee and tackled the Times. With so much Kennedy coverage, he barely noticed that one of his favorite authors  Aldous Huxley the author of  Brave New World had also just died.

All The News That’s Fit to Print

Not surprising, The New York Times lead story was about President Kennedy’s body lying in state at the  White House.

Sharing the front page, but under the fold, was an article with the headline: “Evidence Against Oswald Described as Conclusive” written by Gladys Hill.

“Here’s one for you,” Dad said reading aloud from the newspaper. Mom looked up from the dishes with interest.

“Police officials said today they had amassed evidence enough to convict Lee Harvey Oswald of the assassination of President Kennedy,” Dad read.

NY Times Article Sunday November 24, 1963 “Dallas Police Describe Evidence Against Oswald as Enough to Cinch the Case”

Dad continued, as my ears perked up.

“’We’re convinced beyond any doubt that he killed the President,’ said Captain Will Fritz, Chief of Dallas Police Homicide Bureau after questioning Oswald and others.”

“I think the case is cinched,” Dad read on. “District Attorney Henry Wade said he planned to present the case to the grand jury next Wednesday or the following Monday. He though the case might come to trial in mid-January.”

Dad whistled: “That’ll be one heckuva trial! Imagine the press on that one!” Like most Americans, Dad felt relief that they had caught their man. In the great American tradition, justice would prevail.

I thought back to the picture they played over and over that past day and a half of the morose, puffy-eyed man wearing a T-shirt flanked by 2 beefy plains clothes officers as he entered the bedlam of the Dallas police station.

“Just like on TV,” I mused, “the sheriff had caught the bad guy!”

Stay Tuned…Don’t Turn That Dial

Satisfied, my attention turned back to the TV where a newscaster was reporting live from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, concerning the condition of  Joseph P. Kennedy, the late President’s father. Suddenly they switched from the overcast beach of Cape Cod to the now familiar,  overcrowded corridor in the Dallas police department.

I watched with great curiosity as Lee Harvey Oswald appeared in handcuffs, the T-shirt covered by a sweater, with 2 plain-clothed cops at each side.

What happened next came with such breathtaking suddenness as to defy description.

The nightmarish TV sequence filled with panic and pandemonium was over almost as soon as it started. A shot rang out and the news would never be the same.

Television, for years “promising a TV picture so real you’ll feel like you were there”  finally rang all too true.

Dad dropped the newspaper in disbelief.

Television was now more than the medium of choice it was the only medium anyone could envision capturing an event. When the weekend was over, print would never again challenge TV as the public’s primary source of information and authority.

The times they were a- changin!

A Brave New World indeed.

© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

You Might Also Enjoy

JFK A Third Grader Remembers November 22, 1963