Friday, December 29, 2017

From One to Eleven



I’ve been rummaging through my writing files again and came across a folder titled “An Ordinary Woman.” It’s the title of a memoir I thought I’d write someday. 

In among some notebook journal pages, I found a timeline I’d constructed while working at The Arizona Republic’s news library. The entries are in no particular order, but each one must have resonated with me in some way.

Do these people, songs, stage/screen and events seem familiar to you as well? If you were born in 1945 most probably do. What would you add/delete to make this record jive with your own personal lifetime? 

My timeline begins in 1946 when I would have been one year old and ends the year I turned eleven in 1956.

1946
Annie Get Your Gun and Brigadoon
Doin’ What Comes Naturally, Tenderly, Zip a dee doo dah

 1947
          Dead Sea Scrolls discovered
          The Diary of Anne Frank published
          Henry Ford dies, Al Capone dies
          Flying saucers reported in the United States

1948
          Harry S. Truman elected President of the United States
          All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, Buttons and Bows
          Orville Wright dies, Babe Ruth dies
          First Porsche 356
          Prince Charles, Prince of Wales born
          Military Draft in the United States begins (1948-1973)

 1949
         1984 by George Orwell published
         USSR tests atomic bomb
         Cortisone discovered
I Love Those Dear Hearts and Gentle People, Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, 
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’dve Baked a Cake, Rag Mop, A Bushel and a Peck, Good Night Irene, Music! Music! Music!

1951
         Rosenbergs sentenced for espionage
         The African Queen, A Streetcar Named Desire
Hello Young Lovers, Getting to Know You, Shrimp Boats, 
In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening

 1952
The Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway, East of Eden by Steinbeck, The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain, The Revised Standard Bible
This is Cinerama, High Noon (Gary Cooper & Grace Kelly)
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Jambalaya, Your Cheatin’ Heart
Rocky Marciano wins world heavy-weight boxing title
Yankees win World Series over the Dodgers

1953
          Rosenbergs executed
          From Here to Eternity, The Robe
          (most films now in Cinemascope)
          How Much is That Doggie in the Window, I Believe, 
          I Love Paris
          Yankees win World Series for 5th straight time
         
 1954
         Yankees win World Series Again
Dr. Jonas E. Salk, United States developer of the anti-polio serum 
starts inoculating schoolchildren in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
         Mister Sandman, Three Coins in a Fountain, Hey There
         Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein

1955
Yellow Rose of Texas, Davy Crockett, Rock Around the Clock, 
Sixteen Tons
Dorothy Hodgkin discovers liver extract (Vitamin B-12) for treating pernicious anemia.
Albert Einstein dies
Sugar Ray Robinson wins World Boxing Title
Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series

1956
          Rock & Roll dancing in vogue
          Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, Que Sera Sera
          Around the World in 80 days

Unfortunately I don’t remember and cannot find my source for all these facts. I’m sure I managed to scribble these down on company time, which would explain the random order and selection of the entries. None the less, each one has a note of the familiar to me.

Memory Lane remains a nice place to stroll when the gift of a quiet bit of time falls in your lap. Thanks for taking this walk with me.