The death of the living room

Reprinted from Tinley Junction November 10, 2011

I read an article that the living room is being phased out of new homes that are being built. That home builders will start to merge this room with others to provide more useful space. The homes of the future, according to this article I read on the internet, will be smaller and make better use of space. And they are getting rid of the living room.

The living room. The parlor. The front room. We all grew up using these terms for that one room in the house where kids were not allowed. Our living room in Brementowne was designed for anything but living. It was, like many of the other living rooms of the era, more like a museum. Complete with marble statues and the prerequisite lights and plastic furniture covering that is a requirement for all Italians. The only thing we were missing was a picture of the Pope or Frank Sinatra. I looked upon that living room growing up with a sense of pride and felt sorry for all the kids who didn’t have light up paintings on the walls.

The concept of this room was that it was for “company.” That was back in the days when people had company and not visitors. These were folks who were invited to the home for some reason or another and wound up sitting in the pristine room that was created specifically for their use. Kids hanging out in the living room was unheard of back in those days even with the plastic coverings, and I remember my mother always yelling at me to “get out of the parlor.” It was a room that was neat and clean all of the time and could be shown off at a moment’s notice to anyone who happened to drop in.

One of the things that really set the living room off from other rooms in the house was the fact that there was no television in this room. And this was done purposefully. I soon discovered when I had a home of my own that if you want people to stay out of a room, do not have anything that might attract them in there. Like food, a TV or a bed. So the lack of the TV actually kept the living room free from the pesky people who lived in the house and might disturb it’s presence. I grasped onto the notion that this was a useless room early on, but kept up with the idea that someday, some way, someone would come over and want tea and chat and I’d better have some place to put them.

As fate had it, we wanted another TV in our house in Brementowne so we turned our beloved living room into a family room simply by adding a new set. And shortly after that, the plastic slipcovers were solemnly removed from the furniture because we realized it was really uncomfortable to sit on plastic. But we did keep the marble statues and lights.
　

The Deadheads

Printed in the Tinley Junction - November 3

Does anyone remember when The Grateful Dead appeared at the venue that I still call 1-80 World but I think is now owned by First Midwest Bank? This was back in the early 1990s when Jerry Garcia was still alive (obviously, or it would have not been much of a concert) and people, called “Deadheads” followed the band around from town to town.
The Deadheads came to town and were pretty much camped out everywhere. I remember my mom and dad going to the grocery store and coming back all excited at seeing so many “hippies,” they said it was like going back in time to the 1960s, even though they never joined the hippie movement. It was an exciting time because these folks were bringing something new to town, a blast from the past, and there was more than just a little excitement in the air.
Some folks in the village allowed them to camp on their property. The Deadheads were pretty nice people and caused no trouble in Tinley Park. Basically, they were just looking to hang out with other aging hippies and put the Volkswagon vans back into action. Some of them were looking for tickets and anyone who had tickets and wanted to make a buck could have done so easily even though ticket scalping is illegal. I never quite understood that concept - I mean, if you buy a ticket, you own the ticket. Who cares if you want to sell it to someone else to make a profit? Isn’t that what ticket brokers do?
But I digress. Back to the Deadheads. One day, I was at the grocery store to do some shopping and some hippie guy came up to me and asked if I could spare a few cans of the pop I was buying. I was never much of a soda drinker but was buying it for some party that was going to cost me a ton of money anyway, so I just gave him one of the six packs of pop and even a bag of chips.
He and his hippie girlfriend, or “old lady” as I think they were called, were very grateful but not dead. So they proceeded to help me to my car with my groceries. And no, they did not attempt to take them nor ask for anything else. They just saw that I was alone, had a ton of stuff and decided to help a fellow human being in need. They were a little different, but good people.
The Deadheads were a lot of fun. I was a little kid back in the 1960s when the hippie movement was in full force and had little interaction with them, unless you count the time my uncle grew his hair a bit longer than usual. So my first encounter with hippies was also my last because shortly after that, Jerry Garcia died and the whole movement went up in smoke. No pun intended.

Toys From The 1970s

Toys From The 70s



Printed in Tinley Junction - October 27, 2011

Back in the stone age, the things that we had that passed for toys would amuse most youngsters today. Not only were they completely low tech, but dangerous in some manner that would not be acceptable today. But they were what we had to play with back then and we were darned grateful to have them. Here are the three that I remember the most:

Number one is the beloved Slinky. Now, there are still Slinky toys today. My young niece and nephew had a slinky that was made out of plastic and was a bigger than the original Slinky that I had as a kid. Mine was made of metal coil that could scratch. That was pretty much the premise of a Slinky toy, it was a long, metal coil. The things that were done with this toy (in addition to it going down the stairs) was moving it back and forth in between your hands. Making your Slinky go down the stairs was an event and I remember entertaining my sister with this at our house in Brementowne for long periods of time. That was pretty much how we had fun in the 1970s - we watched a metal coil go down the stairs. We never got hurt with the Slinky, however, because the average life expectancy of this toy, before one of the coils gets bent and it no longer does anything but get increasingly tangled, is about 24 hours.

Another toy that we really enjoyed was Silly Putty. This was, as might be guessed from the name, putty. This putty was not toxic, if you did not eat it. In order to be truly entertained by this toy, you had to have the Sunday Comic section of the newspaper. You needed the Sunday comics because they were in color. You pressed the putty to the paper and lifted off the ink from the comic. Then you smooshed it together and did it again. And again. And then you got bored and tried to eat it. The life expectancy for Silly Putty was pretty much on par with the Slinky.
Finally, there was the Etch A Sketch. Today, there are many toys of this sort, but the original Etch A Sketch was painted a lead based red and had those two knobs where you could move the lines, either horizontally or vertically. The trick with this toy was to try to write something coherent and also make a diagonal line or a circle. When you gave up, you shook the toy and it would revert back to the beginning and you had the chance to start all over again. Within an hour or so you would learn to write “Hello.” The Etch A Sketch lasted a bit longer than the Slinky and the Silly Putty, but sooner or later you would not be able to shake it back to a blank screen. Or you would realize that this was a bloody waste of time and toss the toy.
　

The Best Halloween Costume

The best Halloween costume that either of my kids ever had was made by my friend who I’ll call “Jean.“ She lived across the street from me and had a baby girl six weeks after I gave birth to my son. We were both new mothers and formed a bond that should have lasted forever.
I have countless photos of my son as a baby and many of them include Jean’s daughter. There is a photo I keep in a scrapbook showing Jean and I bundled up in winter clothes standing behind our children, snug in their strollers going to the park. There is another photo of the two babies when they first learned to crawl. Many photos of our babies turning into little kids.
It was the third Halloween for the kids, the first being pretty non-existent as they were newborns and the second with the kids trick or treating to a few houses, my son with a store bought costume -he was a devil that year! No, really, he was dressed as a little devil, that was what they had in the store. But for the third Halloween, Jean offered to make his costume.
She outdid herself that year that the kids first started to grasp the notion of Halloween and the idea that this day is special and can be a lot of fun for kids. The costume she made for my son was that of Mickey Mouse and my mother still talks about it to this day. It was very well done, a professional quality costume. And to make it even cuter, she dressed her daughter up as Minnie. We had a ball taking the kids out trick or treating and the neighbors just loved them but it was the last year that I would be able to get my son into a costume like that.
We moved not too long after my son’s third Halloween. Jean and I both gave birth to new baby girls and life led us in different directions although the internet allows us to keep in touch. On my son’s fourth Halloween, he refused to wear a “baby” costume and wanted to be a turtle. So, without Jean, I tied some colored cloth around each of his arms and legs over his green sweatshirt and pants and he was that red Ninja Turtle whose name escapes me. And after that it was Dracula. Then just a mask. Then no Halloween costume at all unless you count a last year when he had to dress up for some party and simply put on a tie and went as that guy from “The Office.”
That Halloween is close to my heart as the last time my first baby was a baby and not a little boy. And thanks to Jean, it was complete with the greatest costume made by a master seamstress and the greatest friend a new mom ever had. Thanks, Jean, for being such a good friend and giving me that gift.

Svengoolie Greets Fans In Orland Park

Reprinted from the Orland Park Prairie

It was indeed Party City on October 14 when Svengoolie, beloved TV show host of classic horror movies greeted hundreds of fans who crowded in to meet him at the Orland Park Party City store. Fans began lining up two hours early to get in line to meet and take pictures with Svengoolie who hosts the popular program of the same name on Me-TV.
“He’s awesome,” said store manager Gina Vaitkus who went on to say that Svengoolie has visited the store for the past three years. She watched as fans lined up in the rows of the aisles and sold rubber chickens for Svengoolie to autograph. The Svengoolie show has a standing joke of the host being pelted with rubber chickens after a corny joke.
“This is really fun, I’m doing it in the spirit of Halloween,” said Eileen Jenkins of Tinley Park. She was with her friend, Ashley Berat. The two young women said that they were also going to purchase costumes for a Halloween party at the store.
The crowd was diverse with people coming not only from Orland Park but all over the local suburbs such as Frankfort, New Lenox and Tinley Park. Austin Yancy may have traveled the furthest for the event. He came all the way from Champaign. “I think he’s funny,” said the ten year old who said his favorite horror film on Svengoolie is “The Blob.” He was at the event with his great uncle who lives in Bradley and who gets the station which is not available in Champaign. Austin said he watches the program when he visits Bradley on the weekends.
New Lenox resident Frank Mavros, who said he is a “mad scientist” and has been watching Svengoolie for the past 20 years. “I have never seen him in person,” said Mavros who was in good humor with friends and said his favorite films on the program were “Frankenstein” and “Them.”
“I liked when he had Bernie Mac on,” said Yvonne Lally from Orland Hills. The engineer said she heard about the appearance on the radio and wanted to meet Svengoolie.
Svengoolie is played by Rich Koz, who began his horror hosting career in the Chicago area playing “Son of Svengoolie” after the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop, retired from the role. He has since moved around from different television stations and is currently seen on Me-TV where he is now known as “Svengoolie.” Koz has had a long broadcasting career in Chicago and has also been the host of “Stooge-A-Palooza” featuring The Three Stooges. He said he loves visiting Orland Park.
“Every time I’ve been here we have had a great turnout. The people are always nice,” said Svengoolie/Koz. He appeared happy to see the crowd, pose for pictures and give autographs, many on which were written on the rubber chickens, although no purchase was required to meet Koz, take a photo with him or get an autograph.
One of the most excited fans was Ethan Jankowski, 4, who was first in line with his mother, Melissa and father, Jeff. Melissa Jankowski, of Orland Park, said her son loves Svengoolie and told Koz that he and his father make it a habit to watch the program every Saturday night together. Koz said “that is just the thing I like to hear” and posed with the youngster and his father. When asked who played “Dracula” by Jeff Jankowski, young Ethan replied without missing a beat, “Bela Lugosi.” Ethan went on to say that his favorite Svengoolie movie was “The Creature From The Black Lagoon.”
District Manager of Party City, Mike Baker, said that the Svengoolie appearance is always welcome in the store and that the customers and staff are great. “We have had a good partnership between Party City and Svengoolie for the past three years,” he said. “It wouldn’t be Party City without a party.”