Sunday, June 27, 2021

Vintage 1960 TV Bonanza

Bonanza 

Bonanza  an American western television series that ran on NBC  from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running episode, western, and ranks overall as the second-longest-running western series on U.S network television (behind CBS's Gunsmoke), and within the top 10 longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication.

          The story centers around the 1860s and follows the wealthy Cartwright family who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. The time period for the television series is roughly between 1861 (Season 1) and 1867 (Season 13) during and shortly after the American Civil War.

          The show's theme song, Bonanza, became a hit song. Only instrumental renditions, without lyrics, were used during the series' long run.  In 2002, Bonanza was ranked No. 43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.  

          During the summer of 1972, NBC aired reruns of episodes from 1967–1970 in prime time evening under the title Ponderosa.


Added note:

In 1968, Don Blocker began wearing a toupee on the series, as he was approaching age 40 and his hair loss was evident. Pernell Roberts and Lorne Greene, both begun the series with hairpieces (Greene wore his modest frontal piece in private life too). Michael Landon was the only original cast member who was wig-free throughout the series. Even actor Victor Sen Yung (Hop Sing) wore an attached ratta

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Vintage 1960s Music Sugar Shack

 


 Sugar Shack

 Sugar Shack is a song written in 1962 by Kenith McCormack. gave songwriting credit to his aunt, Faye Voss, after asking what were "those tight pants that girls wear," to which she replied "leotards." The song was recorded in 1963 by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs.

          Sugar Shack hit No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 (where it spent five weeks from October 12 to November 9, 1963) and Cashbox  singles charts (where it spent three weeks from October 19 to November 2, 1963). It ended up being Billboard's number 1 song of 1963. (Surfin' U.S.A.  was originally listed as the number 1 song of the year, but later lists place SugarShack at number one). Its run on the Billboard R&B chart was cut short because Billboard ceased publishing an R&B chart from November 30,1963 to January 23, 1965. Sugar Shack has the distinction of being the last single to make it to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart because 

Billboard did not publish an R&B chart for fourteen months. In Canada, the song was No. 1, also for five weeks, from October 14 to November 11. On November 29, 1963, the song received RIAA certification for selling over a million copies, earning gold record status. In the UK, Sugar Shack also reached No. 45 on the Record Retailer chart. Gilmer and The Fireballs were the last American band to chart before Beatlemania hit.

          The song is featured in the films Mermaids, Dogfight, Forrest Gump, Congo, Stealing Sinatra, and the television show Supernatural.

 

Added Note:

According to group founders Tomsco and Lark, the group took their name fromJerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire" "

 

Enjoy!

           

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzjfGF6MiU


Sunday, June 13, 2021

Vintage 1960s Movies The Graduate

 


The Graduate

 

THE GRADUATE  is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the1963 book if the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock(Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson( Anne Bancroft), and then falls in love with her daughter Elaine( Katharine Ross).

           The movie won the Academy Award for Best Director and was nominated in six other categories. In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry  as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Initially, the film was placed at No.7 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list in 1998. When AFI revised the list in 2007.. the film was moved to No.17.


An Added Note:

Many of the exterior university campus shots of Berkeley were actually filmed on the brick campus of USC in Los Angeles.

 

The film boosted the profile of Simon & Garfunkel. Originally, Nichols and O'Steen used their existing songs like "The Sound of Silence" merely as a pacing device for the editing until Nichols decided that substituting original music would not be effective and decided to include them on the soundtrack, an unusual move at that time.

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Vintage 1960s - Food Wedge Salad - with Blue Cheese Dressing

 


Vintage 1960s
Food
Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

The general consensus of current sources squarely places this salad as a common menu item of the 1950s and1960s. I grew up with this salad and is so easy to make.

 

Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons water

1-1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Dash cayenne pepper

1 large head of iceberg lettuce

2 cups chopped tomatoes

6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

 

In a small bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients. Cut lettuce into 6 wedges. To serve, top wedges with dressing, tomatoes, and bacon.

                                                                                                Taste of Home

Wednesday, June 2, 2021


 

Memorial Day was the first day the BBQ was brought out after it's long winter nap. We always had grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, grilled peaches for dessert and potato salad. Oh...the memories!!

My mother was well known for her potato salad in the neighborhood and in the family. Here is her delicious recipe. I make this simple salad for my family year round.

Classic Potato Salad

3 pounds Yukon Gold unpeeled potatoes, quartered

4 stalks celery diced

4 hard-boiled eggs diced  (optional)

1-1/2 cups mayonnaise

 

Bring water to a boil, add potatoes, cook cover, cook at a low boil for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and immediately rinse potatoes with cold water..

Combine chopped potatoes, diced celery, and chopped eggs (if using) in a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine.

Add mayonnaise and gently mix.

Sprinkle with paprika, cover, and refrigerate for at least an hour or more.