Every Saturday we would all sit around the square, squat TV placed reverently against the living room wall. This was when our favorite shows came on; The Three Stooges, Lone Ranger with Tonto, Micky Mouse, plus lots of cartoons . One favorite was Felix the Cat, but there was great debate over which show would win out. Popeye was popular with the brothers as they imagined how strong and powerful they could become if they ate spinach. Tom and Jerry appealed to those of us who liked trickery and practical jokes. My least favorite was The Three Stooges because my brothers would try to imitate their antics which did no harm on the TV screen but translated poorly on the sibling victims. We were glued to the tube as a world of make believe and fantasy descended upon us. It was theater and our seats were ringside on the floor. When fights would break out over which show could be watched our dear grandmother would ask us to take turns. There was no immediate gratification in that so usually the most persuasive, i.e., the strongest won the battle. No mention of who brother D. was.
Then there were the commercials; funny, serious, ridiculous and blessedly short.
Sardo, a bath oil showed a lady stepping into a tub full of warm, silky water and exclaimed Sardo, take me away." To this day I use that expression. There was Superman touting Sugar Smacks, and so, so, many Coca Cola commercials that the refrain of "that refreshing new feeling' buzzed in your head long afterwards. Skippy peanut butter, Marshmallow Fluff, what home could be without? Sunbeam bread with a lovely little girl taking a bite of the battered whipped or better described as battered and whipped,store bought bread. Oatmeal was being replaced by cereals, sugar coated, fortified, emulsified ,mystified as Tony the Tiger and the breakfast of Champions became the focus of our grocery jaunts. Some of the tag lines never went away like: You wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent, Mums the Word, When it Rains it Pours, Coca Cola gives you that Refreshing New Feeling,- - -. Many commercials were jingles and worked their way into our lexicon of babble. Halo everybody, Halo or Relief is just a swallow away, or my favorite to dance to,
Hot Digity, Dog Digity, Armour Hot Dogs. Advertising is all about creating desire and boy did we desire; cereals with prizes, toys with magic rings, and who can forget PF Flyers.
Commercials are still around today, in fact our lives are wall papered with them. The jingles have faded out, but the tunes of those 30 second blurbs live on in our heads and in our memories.
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