Baby Boomers, Pretty Much

Having enjoyed the benefit of nine lives (and many more to boot), I can tell you first-hand my cat's eye view from the 1940s and 1950s.  Following World War II (ended August, 1945), Americans began having babies fast and  furiously, so the "Baby Boomer" generation was literally born.

If you missed being there, you can see for yourself what all the fuss was about.  Fortunately, my Library has a series of Through the Decades displays that can give you the skinny.  I could post the photos here, but then Scowl-Face wouldn't get viewing stats for his blog, and, let's be honest, ol' Scowlly needs all the viewers he can get.

So you should click here to see our 1940s/1950s exhibits, which are part of the Library's centennial celebration (1912-2012).  Better yet, you should, if you're in the neighborhood (like I am), visit the Library to see everything in person.  Check out the clothing from the period that is on display.

What do you think of that "zipper dress," people ladies?  That's apparently some 1960s outfit, but all I remember is mini-skirts.  Felines like moi got yelled at by women when we tried climbing their bare legs or using them as scratching posts.

The 1950s dress and hat look like something from the Eisenhower days, but they could also have been worn in post-World War II America during the late 1940s.  The hat reminded moi of something Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), which actually would have placed it in the next decade.  But that style was around in the fifties, as best I recollect.

Next exhibits will showcase the 1970s/1980s.  Funky time!  Get down tonight!  Do the Hustle!  In cars!  (shout-out to Gary Numan there).  [An old school chum of Scowl-Face's thought that Van McCoy and the Soul City Symphony were singing, "Eat a Hot Dog!"  That's a lyric for "Weird Al" Yankovic, maybe; but "Weird Al" didn't make the scene until 1979 or thereabouts, while "The Hustle" (the song) was released in 1975.]

Through the Decades Needs Some Canned Tuna-in-Oil,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Library History News Beat

P.S.  Okay--Is it "eat a hot dog," or what?  Where did that guy get that from?  If you liked disco, then "The Hustle" is a great song.  Sadly, Van McCoy died in 1979 of a heart attack (age 39).  R & B lost a great talent.

P.P.S.  Gary Numan released "Cars" as a single from the LP The Pleasure Principle (1979).  After disco controlled the American charts between 1974-1978, some of us were more than ready for "New Wave," although Numan was considered a pioneer of what was then termed "Electronic Music."