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 5^th 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.