Chasing the mosquito man

For all the DDT -- Drop Dead Twice -- sprayed

on hot summer evenings, the killer fog never seemed

to eradicate mosquitoes (or lightning bugs). One always managed

to squirm through a tiny hole in the metal screen

and spend most of the night buzzing your ear.

I saw the greatest minds of my dead end street running into the blue mist of the sweet-smelling cloud behind the Essex County Mosquito Man's Jeep.

Summer in the 1960s, and the living was good.

Sticky fly paper hung over the Maytag wringer washing machine next to the kitchen sink. Melmac cups were neatly stored on the yellow contact paper on the shelves behind the glass doors. Sometimes, you'd bug Ma while she was cooking and get to eat a raw hot dog. It was just like rolled baloney from Prosperi's around the corner store.

Continue reading Chasing the mosquito man

Summer Peaches and Tomato Gardens

Watering the garden was a chore best completed before sunset.

After sunset, starving squadrons of Jersey mosquitoes

searched ravenously for the warm-blooded.

Sucking on a peach pit is the perfect way to while away a steamy summer afternoon.

Roll it around carefully and use the pointed end of the pit to pick out the strands of peach fuzz and pulp between teeth.

All this while the taste of fresh peach tingles through your cheeks.

One of the first things Dad did when we moved into the big house in Belleville was to chop down the black walnut trees and plant a half-dozen peach trees in their stead.

It wasn't long before the low growing peach trees bore fruit and we filled baskets while we decided what to do with the bounty.

Continue reading: Summer Peaches and Tomato Gardens

The fountain of youth under the pipeline

The fountain of youth under the pipeline

Four decades later, I return to the pipeline. The dragon's

tail is less pronounced, and full-grown trees

hide the view of homes on Sycamore.

“Hey, Ant! You got a third eye!” Gary yells but it doesn’t help me see much better.

Fumbling, I pick up my twenty-six-inch Schwinn, but I drop it just as quickly. Then pick it up again. Holding it up, it’s holding me up.

Gary is staring at me. I sense this more than I see it. Can’t see much of anything really. Gary looks like a tree, the bike in my hand, a tangled red bush. The world isn’t spinning but it’s coming in cloudy.  I sense something tremendous has transformed my eight-year-old body.

“That’s what happens when your bike hits a rock on the pipeline,” Gary explains.

Continue reading: The fountain of youth under the pipeline

Waiting for Jerry the Ice Cream Man

Hot summer nights on our dead end street 

were full of mosquitoes, fireflies, kids playing Sputnik, 

and an interminable wait for Jerry the ice cream man.

Back in the day, our refrigerator's freezer was the size that fit two ice trays and a pound of chop meat. Then that small cool space froze over and there was never room for ice cream except at your birthday!

Back in the day, our refrigerator's freezer was the size that fit two ice trays and a pound of chop meat. Then that small cool space froze over and there was never room for ice cream except at your birthday!

It was the same way up and down the block on Gless Avenue in Belleville, N.J. Anybody who got rid of their ice box and got an electric refrigerator had about the same amount of freezer space.

Unlike an actual ice box, think: the kitchen on The Honeymooners, where you put in a block of ice and it melted water into a pail underneath, these new-fangled refrigerators used electricity to take heat and make cold.

Continue reading Waiting for Jerry the Ice Cream Man

Saving washers

Stored in My Memory Bank: The Pink Pig, Dad’s Silver 'Washers'

Dad was a carpenter, and each week he gave me the washers from his pay envelope. I’d plunk them onto my piggy bank. Yeah, that’s right, washers as in nuts, bolts and washers. He told me washers weren’t money and I couldn’t spend them on candy or toys. When we filled the pink pig, we brought them to the big, boring stone bank. They said when I turned 16, I could take the money out.

Continue reading

Friday Flashback - TV Shows We Watched

Here's a list of TV shows we USED to watch that are no longer on TV.

Your challenge, add a show without duplicating a show on the list...

Bob - Lost in space.
Jodi The Munsters
Melanie The MagicGarden
Kelly Romper Room
Ingrid Dark Shadows
Debb Bewitched
Greg I Dream of Jeanie
Lydia Petticoat Junction
Lynn B. The Ed Sullivan Show
Nani The Rifleman
Judy - Star trek
Joanie FantasyIsland
>> Laura E. Hazel
>> Aaron C Emergency!
>> Ginny B Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
>> Gary MissionImpossible
>> Sue H. Lassie
>> Connie Dallas
>> Rebecca The Waltons
>> Chuck Bat Man
>> Lori Smothers Brothers
>> Simone Wild, Wild West
>> Irma Perry Mason
>> Ric Car 54 Where are you?
>> Scott One Adam 12
>> Teacia The Brady Bunch
Linda Bonanaza
Bill Gilligans
Sheila The Electric Co.
Pat Mr. Magoo
Donna Addams Family
David The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Sarah Zoom
Terri Golden Girls
Eleanor The A Team
Sue L. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Kelly 6 million-dollar man
Karen Ironside
Lesa The Partridge Family
Eileen Here Come the Brides
Theresa The Merv Griffin Show
Pat Soap
Chris I Love Lucy
Janet Mr. Ed
Stacey Three's Company
Candice Good Times
Laurie Who's The Boss
Leslie The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Denice Fury
Jackie Captain Kangaroo
Lori - The Flying Nun
Kate The Monkees
Mary Lou Please Don't Eat the Daisies
Lisa F-Troop
Bridget The Love Boat
CHERYL THE DONNA REED SHOW
Nancy "That Girl"
Joyce 'Ozzie and Harriett
Debbie Mash
Melissa Benny Hill
Pat.D welcome back, kotter
Mike G: The Time Tunnel
Donna B. Combat
Jean A. Howdy Doody Time
Terri Captain Kangaroo
Pat The Andy Williams Show
Bill THE PERRY COMO SHOW
Bucky Hullabaloo
Bucky Tommy 7(was on in new york )
Bob Perry Mason
Beth Grizzly Adams
Jeannine Bandstand
Karen Big Valley
Jimmy What's My Line
Mike Get Smart
Mike I've Got a Secret
Mike Starman
Mike The Fugitive
Neil My Favorite Martian
Bob J-The Green Hornet
Nita - Uhhhhhhh - Shindig!!!!!!
Pearl- The Mickey Mouse Club
BRYAN- RAWHIDE
Jeana The Great Space Coaster
SHELLEY- DYNASTY
Bridget - Dark Shadows
Bobbie-The Gong Show
Rose-- Daktari
Sherry--Lawrence Welk (hated it)>
Clark ---I've Got A Secret>
Barbara--The Dating Game>
Rosemary---I Remember Mama
Ann - Knot's Landing
Robin ~ My Mother the car
Stacy ~ Leave it to Beaver
Dennis ~ Bat Masterson
ROB -- THE RIFLEMAN
Bob -- Willaim Tell>
Lenny-- The Honeymooners
DAN-- THE FALL GUY
Denise - Mr. Belvedere
Jenny - Mork and Mindy
SUE-PASSWORD
Elouise - Dragnet
Marty - My Little Margie
Carole - Port Charles
Dea--Your Hit Parade
Darlene - Beulah
Will - Death Valley Days
Betty Jo Little House on the Prairie
Nancy - Gunsmoke
Delores - The Loretta Young Show
Dee- Dukes of Hazzard (hubba hubba)
Rhonda - My Favorite Martian
Melissa - Alias Smith and Jones
Welton - Nichols
Dave - The Champions
Rich- Captain Nice
Margo - Green Acres

This is fun...keep it going...and DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE ME WHEN YOU FORWARD THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS! How many shows can we come up with that we USED to watch that are no Longer on TV? Add ONLY 1 and keep it going! This should be fun and jog our memories. No repeats on the shows please and please only put one answer so as to allow others to think of something.

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Copyright © 2009 by Anthony Buccino, all rights reserved. Photos and content may not be used for commercial purposes without written permission.

Time to run with scissors (one of those forwards!)

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

"First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.