125315097_web1_radio.host

Radio host donates COVID-19 interviews to Historical Society

Thomas spoke, Roberts ruled in unusual Supreme Court term

Good morning, time travelers. Ready to head back to the 1950s?
				Can&rsquo;t say that I blame you. A look at today&rsquo;s headlines isn&rsquo;t exactly uplifting.
				But, before you shove off, here&rsquo;s a little guide to the conversational topics that&rsquo;ll make you look like you really belong there. After all, we wouldn&rsquo;t want you to be proclaimed a space alien or &#8211; worse still &#8211; a communist and locked up, would we?
				All of you have been carefully chosen from social media posts, letters to the editor, bar room talk and other venues in which you bemoan 2020 and say you&rsquo;d like to go back to a &ldquo;simpler&rdquo; time, like the &rsquo;50s. So. as you wander around in that well-remembered decade, toss off a few of these bon mots and you should fit right in.
				TV quiz shows: To build up ratings, TV producers created quiz shows that offered enormous cash prizes. To generate even higher ratings, they began coaching the more photogenic contestants with answers and acting hints to create suspense and keep them on the air. Eventually, it all came crashing down.
				So, name drop a bit with remarks like &ldquo;I suspected that Charles Van Doren guy wasn&rsquo;t on the level.&rdquo; But, for gosh sakes, wait until the scandal is uncovered in 1958 and college prof Van Doren is properly disgraced.
				Flying saucers: The decade kicked off with a mega-popular book called &ldquo;The Flying Saucers Are Real,&rdquo; by Donald Keyhoe. It was sparked by a 1947 UFO sighting on the west coast and the famed Roswell, New Mexico &ldquo;crash&rdquo; that same year.
				If you really want to fit in, tell a tale about how your brother-in-law knows somebody who got a really good sighting of a UFO, but government agents hushed him up. Hint: when you talk about flying saucers, lean close to the person and lower your voice to sound like you don&rsquo;t want this to get around too much.
				Juvenile delinquency: Maybe it was movies like &ldquo;Blackboard Jungle,&rdquo; but the 1950s was riddled by fear that the tidal wave of teenagers created by the baby boom had somehow gotten out of control and was threatening to take over the streets.
				Practice a shake of your head while muttering &ldquo;these kids of today &#8211; I just don&rsquo;t know.&rdquo; Then drop a few words about how you were so busy working after school and weekends that you had neither time nor inclination to buy trashy comic books or rack up scores at the neighborhood pinball emporium.
				Tail fins: Avoid the Ford vs. Chevy debates unless you actually know what you&rsquo;re talking about. Instead, drop some fearful words about those tiny imports, which by the way will never become popular because they&rsquo;re unsafe and you can&rsquo;t get parts from overseas.
				What you can do is talk about the tail fins on the new Chrysler products and how some of them can&rsquo;t fit into garages. But hold this gab until the late &lsquo;50s, when they&rsquo;ve actually appeared or be prepared to face questions about your mental health.
				Elvis: When conversation turns to this goldarn new &ldquo;rock and roll&rdquo; music, announce confidently (only from late 1956 on) that we parents don&rsquo;t have to worry about this hip-swinging kid named Presley because he&rsquo;ll be gone and forgotten within a year.
				Well, folks, your 1950s express is about to leave. Remember, anytime you&rsquo;re stuck for words, just mutter something about the &ldquo;good old days&rdquo; when gasoline didn&rsquo;t cost 24 cents a gallon. Bon voyage.
				voyage.

How to fit in,back in the ’50s