"Quick Henry —the FLIT!"

(original artwork-all rights reserved)

…now my mom was probably among the most loving and caring of moms that ever lived; but I remember her doing something that would probably be grounds for child endangerment today!

Living in the country with seven children who were in and out of the house all day long on hot summer days—the screen door practically swung on its hinges. Flies were plentiful as I recall but were not welcome in our house. So my mom—along with other caring mom’s of the day, had her FLIT can ready for action!

She would pump the handle and spray directly at flies that landed on the kitchen table, or directly into the air—wherever she saw those little flying menaces.

In her defense, the advertising of the day was very convincing.


Remember.. this was the same era when testimonial ads convinced my parents that Camel cigarettes were actually good for you!

Long before the Cat in the Hat ever made his appearance (..very interesting story there of the origin of the book) , Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr.Seuss) created very convincing ads for FLIT.

They are priceless!

This ad campaign actually began during the depression— my mother grew up hearing "Quick Henry the FLIT!"which became a common catchphrase.
So my mother, like thousands of other mothers in the 50's thought she was doing something "good" for her family.

..I have to wonder what I did for the "good" of my children that they will write about in the future!

                   Dear BabyBoomer Original products are now available on Etsy!

DearBabyBoomer-Etsy

....Iron along with Liberace!

(Original artwork—if you can call it that!)

September 1958

....Now for some cookies and milk and some after school TV; maybe some cartoons and if I can get control of the TV knob—Liberace!

That’s right, Liberace!

My brothers laughed at me and ran outside to play, but I sat, eyes glued to the set, fascinated by this piano player; dressed in his brocade jacket, rings glittering on his hands as they danced up and down the keys of his grand piano complete with a candelabra. His smile was so broad and white it looked like another set of keys.

Today I would describe him as.... flamboyant; but to my seven -year old mind, he was spectacular!

And I wasn’t the only one who thought so. Housewives across the country got out their ironing boards and ironed along with Liberace's afternoon piano concertos.
When the half hour was over, it was my turn. I would sit down and play our piano—by ear—mimicking his techniques. My mother, realizing the seeds of genius here, encouraged my father to find a piano teacher for me. And he did—my first lesson would take place on a Saturday in September and would continue, every Saturday at 1:00.

I could hardly wait to meet my piano teacher. All I knew is that he was a “Mr.” “Mr.Lipman”
Hmmm…..didn’t sound much like “Liberace”— but I was still excited.

Whether I had any intentions of impressing my new piano teacher, (after all, I’m sure Liberace would have been impressed!) or it was just a coincidence, I do not recall; but early Saturday morning before my first lesson I was playing next door and my little friends and I discovered a bottle of blue nail polish in their big sisters room. Her room was almost as fascinating as Liberace. She was boy crazy—Elvis crazy—and finally talked her parents into allowing her to have her very own telephone in her bedroom. It was a white Princess phone, a brand new model that was streamlined with a light up dial. The first thing she did when it was installed was to paint it with pink nail polish and while it was still wet, sprinkled it with silver glitter. I guess blue nail polish was her latest fad. The three of us painted our finger nails while big sister was in the shower, and I headed home to wait for my piano teacher to make his appearance.

I stood at the window watching the end of the driveway.
Would I see a great big flashy convertible with fins turn in? I had no idea. All I knew is that I had butterflies in my stomach for the first time in my life.
At exactly 1:00 on the dot, a little, tiny grey Volkswagen put-put-putted up the driveway. My piano teacher very slowly got out, ducking his head to avoid hitting it on the roof of the car.
“He’s very tall and very bald” was my first impression.
Dressed in his gray herringbone jacket, tie, and navy blue pants-- glasses thick with black rims. He was scary.
“Mary, Mr.Lipman is here. Go to the door and greet him,” my mother said.

I slowly, very slowly, opened the door and let him in. My mother introduced us and walked us to the living room where our piano sat by the window.
“I’m going to put the baby down for a nap. Have a nice lesson.”

Now we were alone. Me and Mr.Lipman, my piano --and one chair.

“Oh, I forgot, our piano bench is broken! I’ll be right back.”
I walked to the dining room and retrieved a chair for him. I returned and placed the chair next to mine and sat down beside him—nervous, but ready for my first lesson. Mr.Lipman, obviously perturbed that there was no piano bench, sat down abruptly in the chair. One of the four legs immediately collapsed beneath him and Mr.Lipman fell backwards, legs extended heavenward and let out a disgruntled “…OUGH!”

This lesson was not off to a very good start.

Finally, the chair replaced, Mr.Lipman’s striped tie straightened, glasses back on his nose—we were ready to begin. He asked me to place my right hand on the keys and…oh dear. How does a seven year old little girl explain to a bald man in a herringbone jacket that it was Liberace who made her think that blue nail polish would be acceptable to wear for her first piano lesson?
It was not.

“Mamie…..” he said and then paused for what seemed like a very long time.
“ Please go into the bathroom and wash that nail polish off. I will wait.”
I guess neither of us knew that soap and water would not remove the blue nail polish. I sure tried but I returned ten minutes later, fingernails just as blue. He tolerated the disturbance—but only this time.

From that lesson on, I looked forward to Saturday afternoon with a great big knot in my stomach. I watched for that little gray Volkswagen, and secretly hoped I wouldn’t see it. I did learn my lessons, however, when we finally got around to them.

Oh, and he really disliked bubbles blown during my lesson---two pieces of Bazooka Joe and the bubbles were amazing; but NEVER during my piano lesson.
Never again.

One Saturday after my lesson I overheard my mother telling my father that Mr. Lipman called me a “child prodigy.” I wondered if that was something like juvenile delinquent and if my father would punish me.
Must have been the broken chair, and the blue nail polish. Whatever it was, I was in for it.

You can see pictures of Liberace and his amazing grand piano here at the Liberace Museum.

...and you can listen to Liberace's fantastic piano playing here!

No wonder I wanted to play the piano!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

(This was a great 50's toy—it was a Doepke Yardbird—a little train
that ran on a track in our back yard.
The metal train car moved around the track by
cranking the handle between two kids—
definitely a team effort!)

I was blessed with SIX brothers—each one is special to me—each one so different; each having his own gifts and special qualities.
Today is the birthday of my older brother Jeff. Older, yes—but only by a year— born two days after Christmas. When you're born so close to Christmas, your birthday often gets lost in all the commotion.
I was born December 19th....not quite as close as December 27th.
Remembrance of the birthday of a brother as special as Jeff should never get lost—even for a moment.
He is a kind, gentle and compassionate person—always looking for ways to do do nice things for others.

I'm told that when I was born, Jeff was not thrilled. He was still a baby himself—only a year old. My mother tells the story of a time not too long after my arrival when Jeff tried to push my carriage down a hill...but all that is behind us.
Jeff is the brother who built the greatest forts and little houses when we were kids—and the brother who can restore just about anything. And he is the brother with the greatest imagination; creator of a family of "paint brush people"—each with its own individual personality.

A few years back he created a chair—a one of a kind creation—made up of numerous paint brush people.
But as they say-a picture is worth a thousand words...

My brother Geoffrey with his incredible carved chair—
each head intricately carved- Notice the spindles on the back of the chair-
each one an individual "paint brush person" The seat was also hand-rushed by Jeff.


Happy Birthday Jeff!

Christmas Make-over: The Little Log House

Back in the 50's my brother Jeff (#3 brother in the line of 6 brothers) —could put together a fort or house in the woods that was quite unbelievable! He would take a few of my dad's tools, (pay for it later) hammer and nails, saw, spare lumber— gather some fallen branches and construct small houses that we could really play in.

His most advanced project though, for an eight-year-old, was the houseboat; complete with built in bunk beds and a balcony overhead. We were all excited on the day of the launch, standing on the banks of the swamp in the woods behind the house. It is a good thing we were not on board, though. It sunk immediately!
His creative endeavors have continued, now a master at carving and furniture restoration. Sometime I'll share some of his amazing carvings here. But this is about something nice he did for us last year just before Christmas....

We live in a log cabin and the original builder constructed a miniature cabin and placed it at the end of the driveway to the house. It was in bad shape after years of neglect. I wanted to find a way to restore it rather than put it out of its misery. The picture above is the "before" picture...it definitely needed a friend!

I asked my brother Jeff if he could put a new roof on it and he agreed to—loaded it up into his truck and drove it away. A few months later he brought the little cabin back and true to form Jeff amazed us! This is what it looks like now...

Jeff even installed lighting inside so the windows light up at night.


........Thanks again Jeff!