IPOD FUN

I'm a '49er, remember, so the 1950s were my childhood years while the '60s were my teen years. That's how I think of it.

So, when I was a child, the "Golden Age of Radio" was over. Oh, there were still some radio programs. I remember "Mr. Record Man and the Story Lady." Or was that "Mr. Story Man and the Record Lady"? I honestly couldn't tell you. Our radio was in the kitchen and teen-agers in the home listened to music and danced, as teen-agers do, while they did kitchen chores. Papa had a big radio in his living room and a smaller one in his little breakfast nook. He was a fan of the news and I think other programs like "Fibber McGee and Molly." But the spoken word coming through the radio went by too fast for little me. I remember it sounded like gibberish and I wondered if I would ever grow to understand the language that adults seemed to follow with ease. And of course, I'm really a child of the television age. Who would want to just listen to the radio when they could watch tv? Turns out it's me!

I've come to love the replays of the old radio programs. When I first got my iPod I asked Hallie if we could find radio programs. She didn't have time to poke around iTunes too much, but eventually I subscribed to a number of nostalgic radio podcasts and I simply love them! Some are better than others, of course, and some have more appeal than others. As many genres existed on radio as we now have on television – news programs, comedies, mysteries, detective series, horror, dramas, adventure programs, etc. And you can find them through podcasts. One of our favorites is "The Great Gildersleeve," and we like to listen to an episode as we drift off to sleep. The old Kraft ads are just as entertaining as the show. They touted Parkay as an energy food loaded with 9,000 "units" of vitamin A! And using Parkay encourages your children to eat more bread and other foods that are good for them. And there was a cheese called Pabst-ett, which was probably the first cheese food (like Velveeta) and was developed by a member of the Pabst Beer family during Prohibition. Often you'll hear a plug for a movie incorporated into the program, and if the program was produced during wartime, they'll talk about pulling together for the war effort.

We're getting ready to make a trip to Seattle. Mike has geocaches and maps ready. I have radio programs on my iPod. We have our priorities straight – get your toys ready first. KW