<p>Hayden, I am mildly obsessed with Hullabaloo…those cage dancers made quite an impression on my little girl self. Did you know that Donna McKechnie (of *Chorus Line *fame) was a Hullabaloo dancer?</p>
<p>Here’s one for you…we’ll see if anyone else was a fundamentalist Christian…do you remember when one of the Beatles said that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, then everyone was supposed to break or otherwise destroy their Beatles albums?</p>
<p>oh yes, I remember that - a scandal</p>
<p>Hullabaloo, or really American Bandstand, for me, was a peek into some other world. WHAT are they DOING? I remember when the daughter of a friend of my mothers, who I came to think of as a best friend, introduced me to the Beatles. It was during that same visit that I recall her discovering that black people’s feet were white on the bottom.</p>
<p>From the Philly area I remember the movie after school, The Early Show. The theme music was called The Syncopated Clock. Garter belts and those painful garters were so awful, we were delighted when panty hose came out, and now I recently read that only old fogies wear panty hose.</p>
<p>And fishnet stockings! Loved those!
I remember when platforms were the rage in the 70s (and never really went away). I thought my mom was uncool but when she went to her closet and pulled out a pair of black velvet platforms (from the 50’s) she suddenly was pretty cool. She did however complain about the new “fast” music on the radio (the Beatles).</p>
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<p>Yeah, we could fill a whole thread with innocent racial and ethnic issues. It was only after I moved in 9th grade that I was in school with anyone who wasn’t a Caucasian. It wasn’t due to “separate but equal” schools, but just that the little farm communities in which I lived were totally white.</p>
<p>I remember a character in *Bonfire of the Vanities *who was encountering his first WASP. It was wild to think about, because growing up, everyone I knew was a WASP. People are now much more mobile, move more often, travel more.</p>
<p>One of my very early memories was being at the New York World’s Fair and seeing two Japanese ladies in kimonos. I’m sure the kimonos caught my eye, but I had also never seen an Asian person. Odd to think of how isolated and homogeneous some of our communities were.</p>
<p>My parents took me to that Worlds Fair, too. :)</p>
<p>DougBetsy - just started reading this thread today - I also just recently started watching Mad Men via netflix, per daughter’s orders. I have recounted the scene you described with the plastic bag to anyone who will listen. It just epitomizes how our parents weren’t consumed with the dangers of everyday life. </p>
<p>So - 12 years of Catholic school here - when I was in college I was really good friends with a guy named Howie Greenberg. One day he was talking about something and mentioned being Jewish. I said, innocently, “Really? I didn’t know you were Jewish.” He was hysterical. He said, “Worknprogress, my name is HOWIE GREENBERG what did you think I was?”</p>
<p>I think I may have thought he was Italian.</p>
<p>This might have been on only in NY but does anyone remember Romper Room and the Magic Mirror? One day, Miss (no Ms. yet) Mary Ann actually said my name and I almost fainted.</p>
<p>My friends and I used to play marathon games of Life, where we would get to the end and start over again as our kids and grandkids, all of whom had names and birthdays and personalities.</p>
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<p>Oh no it was Miss Sally in my area when I was little and her mother Nancy before that. This was the Baltimore area and the place it started. I was confused by your statement but NY could of had Mary Ann though. The syndicated version was Miss Molly and was filmed in Baltimore too.</p>
<p>I watched Romper Room in the mid-60’s and it was definitely Miss Mary Ann because one of my good friends had the same name. Do you remember “Do be a don’t be” or whatever? with the giant bee. I think they may have changed women every so often too.</p>
<p>We had those beautiful (ha) gym suits too. My mom was so cool she spent extra time embroidering my name perfectly across the back. One year ours had horizontal stripes across the top half of the suit. I’m sure I was the coolest looking inmate.</p>
<p>Many cities had their own local versions of Romper Room, some other countries had it too.</p>
<p>I also grew up in the Baltimore area, and Miss Sally <em>never</em> said my name. Scarred for life.</p>
<p>Another Baltimorean here, and feeling very old to only remember Miss Nancy. “Do bee a plate cleaner, don’t be a food waster…” I just wanted to crawl inside that TV and bee with Miss Nancy forever! My older brother blogs today about how dumb he thought Romper Room was and, as his evidence, how his little sister (me) bought right into it. What a great special effect, making the TV screen go all blurry and woozy!</p>
<p>I have to post too since I also grew up in Baltimore and remember Romper Room. I must be older than everyone else since I can’t remember if it was Miss Nancy or Miss Sally. ;)</p>
<p>Miss Barbara, where we were. One of my cousins was actually the “lady” on a Romper Room show–she would have been “Miss Kay,” if she used her own name.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to burst anyone’s bubble, but my mom took me to one of the Romper Room shows, and I was one of the kids who sat around to listen to Miss whatshername. She was all smiles during the show, but the minute the filming stopped, there were no smiles. She didn’t even say hello us to kids. I got the impression she didn’t like us. What a bummer for a 5 year old. Probably turned me into the cynic I am today . . . . ;)</p>
<p>Interesting info about the syndication and various “Misses”.
[Romper</a> Room - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romper_Room]Romper”>Romper Room - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I remember Romper Room in NYC with Ms. Louise.</p>
<p>I remember when a boy in my class was on Wonderama and won a bike in the dance contest. </p>
<p>Gosh, I miss Fred Braun shoes.</p>