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Joan’s Boomer Blog

Helping Boomers Find Wealth, Health and Happiness in the Second Half of Life

Archive for the ‘1950's TV Shows’ Category


Take Me Back to the Fabulous Fifties

Fabulous Fifties

Fabulous Fifties

I grew up in the 1950’s and vividly remember the “fabulous fifties” - drive-in movies, blackjack gum and riding my bike downtown to get a cherry coke for a nickle. A friend sent me this video montage, Take Me Back to the Fifties, and it really did take me back to my childhood.

When we used to go to the dime store, where things really cost a dime, and agonize over which penny candy to get with our allowance, which was, I think a dime. Back when Ricky Nelson was my first crush and I couldn’t wait for Ozzie and Harriet to come on each week.

Visit Old Forty-Fives.com and find montages of growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s, plus Growing up in the Fifties, What we Drove in the 50’s and 60’s, Old Westerns, Do you Remember These, When Life Was Black and White and others that are well worth a trip down memory lane.

Life was simpler in the fabulous fifties - at least for kids. We lived on a farm in Oregon and we could disappear in the morning, going down to the creek near our house, up on the mountain behind our house or take a bike ride downtown. We showed up for lunch, then took off again and my mom never once thought someone would kidnap us. Party lines and one telephone meant we couldn’t talk long to our friends - we’d ride our bikes to visit them instead.

Nobody had much money, our mom made our clothes and canned our food and everybody we knew lived pretty much like us. Nobody’s mom worked and none of my friends parents were divorced. Nobody seemed to worry what kind of education we got and all our free time was “unscheduled.” I know my parents worried a lot about “making ends meet” but living on a farm, we always had good healthy food to eat and healthy air to breathe.

I’d be the first to admit I love my computer with the Internet, connecting with old friends via Facebook, having my cellphone (now with text messaging because all our kids use it!), being able to DVR my favorite TV shows. Still, when I look at my young grandchildren, I feel sorry that they will never know the carefree freedom we had, learning to use their imaginations because that’s the only toys have, being on the run outdoors all day without anyone worrying about them.

I watch the grandchildren glued to videos, unable to go out their front door without supervision, going from activity to activity with no time to just lay out in the grass and watch the cloud shapes take form. I guess that’s why, when either of my 3 year old granddaughters comes to spend time with me, we always sit in the big swing out back and look at the trees and the birds and talk about things.

Just as my own parents were my link to the past which included World War II, the depression and life in the 30’s and 40’s, I guess I’ll be that link for my grandchildren to a simpler time to grow up-life in the Fifties.


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Ronald Reagan Speaks Out on Socialized Medicine

Posted by JE Jones on Apr-6-2010


What Did Ronald Reagan Have to Say About Socialized Medicine? Here it in his own words.

I was young when Reagan was President and, to tell the truth, I didn’t pay much attention to what he had to say back then. In the present, however, I’ve started paying more attention to what Ronald Reagan had to say about socialism and socialized medicine.

Here’s a real commercial from the 1950’s about the dangers of socialized medicine by Ronald Reagan. His message has a lot of relevance for us today.

Listen to Ronald Reagan’s own words about socialism and socialized medicine.

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Nostalgic TV Shows - Donna Reed Christmas and More

Posted by JE Jones on Dec-22-2009


I used to love the Donna Reed show. Shelly Fabres was about 4 years older than I was and I wanted to be just like her. When she sang Johnny Angel, it was one of my favorite episodes. Since it’s the holiday season and nostalgic TV shows are on every list, I wanted to give you this link to The Donna Reed Christmas Show from 1960. You can watch this episode free on Retrovision.tv.

In this episode, Donna is tired of her family caring more for presents than the spirit of Christmas. We like to think things were different in “the old days” but were they really? I remember a similar old TV show from Father Knows Best in the 1950’s which dealt with the same Christmas theme.

Another nostalgic Christmas episode from an old TV show now on Retrovision is the Bewitched episode “A Vision of Sugar Plums” from 1962. This was the show’s first Christmas episode and stars Billy Mummy, along with Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York.

I love watching these old Christmas episodes at this time of year and make it one of my holiday traditions.

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I love watching old TV shows and especially the holiday editions. Old shows didn’t used to routinely put out Christmas episodes like they do now so it’s terrific to see Ozzie and Harriet Christmas or Father Knows Best Christmas. You can watch these holiday episodes free on the internet on Retrovision.tv

Last year I subscribed to Retrovision’s newsletter and they send me emails with new shows they’ve added to their free viewing. Here are some nostalgic holiday episodes available:

Bob Hope Christmas in Korea from 1955 Comedian Bob Hope was known for his visits overseas to US military personnel. Here’s an episode from one of his holiday visits.

Ozzie and Harriet Busy Christmas from 1956. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet aired from 1952 to 1966 and this family show starring the real life Nelson family are often held up as the perfect family standards from the 1950’s. I watched this one nostalgic episode this morning and it was great! It’s very strange to see families talking about putting up lights and getting a tree just a few days before Christmas.

Lou Grant Christmas from 1978 - Ed Asner starred in the Lou Grant show, an off shoot of the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

A Sweathog Christmas from 1975 - This comedy starred Gab Kaplan as a high school teacher and it’s where John Travolta got his start!

Three Beverly Hillbillies Christmas Shows. These aired from 1962 to 1964. The Beverly Hillbillies, starring Buddy Epsen, aired from 1962 to 1971.

Daniel Boone, A Christmas Story - Daniel Boone, starring Fess Parker aired from 1964 to 1970.

Check out Retrovision.tv for more nostalgic Christmas TV shows and movies, like Jetson’s Christmas, Father Knows Best, Alf and lots more. Fun for the whole family.

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1950 TV Shows - More Free Shows on the Internet

Posted by JE Jones on May-13-2009

1950 TV Shows - More Free Shows on the Internet

Want to watch not only 1950’s TV shows free in the internet but also old TV shows from the 1940’s and 1960’s, plus old and new movies? Retrovision Internet Television has hundreds of great TV shows from the 1950’s -plus many from other decades. Here are some new additions to Retrovision Internet Television.

Danger Flight (1939)

Tommy Thompkins is a pilot who’s not really a superhero, sometimes takes bad advice, falls into stupid traps, and fails to win any fights he’s in.

Bewitched (1969) on Hulu

One of my all time favorite “old” TV shows. I love Samantha, Darrin and the Bewitched crew. Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972. The show stars Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York (1964-1969), Dick Sargent (1969-1972) and Agnes Moorehead.


Billy the Kid Trapped (1942)

After Billy, Fuzzy and Jeff are rescued from a hanging by mysterious strangers, the countryside if terrorized by three men, posing as Billy, Fuzzy and Jeff. Sheriff Masters puts Billy and his pals.

Star Trek has been in the news lately with the release of the newest Star Trek movie. Watch old episodes of this great science fiction classic, which aired from 1966-1969.

Stage Fright (1950)

Jane Wyman was always one of my favorites. In this movie from 1950, she plays Eve Gill, an aspiring young actress, who shelters a fellow acting student, Jonathan Cooper (Richard Todd), from the police. He is suspected of murdering the husband of his mistress.

Subscribe to Retrovision and receive email updates on new TV shows from the 1950’s and other decades, movies from all eras and old radio shows. New old shows and movies are added daily.

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The soap opera, Guiding Light, got it’s start on January 25, 1937 as an old time radio show, and in September of this year will leave the air after 72 years of continuous story-telling. Think how many changes the world has seen since 1937! I was a kid growing in a small Oregon town in the 1950’s and loved staying home from school to watch the “soaps.” At that time, Guiding Light was only 15 minutes each morning but the lives of the Bauer family in Springfield was as real to me as my own daily life.

The changes in Guiding Light reflected the changes in society as I grew up. The Guiding Light of the 1950’s centered on the Bauer family, old “Papa” Bauer and his three children, Bill, Meta and Trudy. Life centered around the activities in Bill and his wife Bert’s kitchen, with Papa dispensing advice.

Even now, the Bauers are woven into the fabric of the show, though Rick Bauer’s occasional appearance, is the only real Bauer representation left.

Guiding Light is woven into the fabric of my own life in small ways. I watched it religiously all through college, making sure my class schedule didn’t conflict with being available at 2 pm each day so I could see what was going on with Roger Thorpe and Holly Norris. It was during those years too that Alan Spaulding and his clan made their first appearance and Kevin Bacon played an alcoholic teen.

When my daughter was young, I spent about 10 years with my own home daycare. Part of what kept me sane during that time was NAP TIME. All the kids took a nap from one to three each afternoon. I put on As the World Turns and Guiding Light, worked on my latest craft project and relaxes for two brief, wonderful hours.

When we got our DVR last year, I decided to try recording Guiding Light every day to watch while I was fixing dinner and it was easy to pick up the thread of the tale again. Many of the characters, Alan, Reva, Josh and Buzz, were still there, just older, heavier and grayer like me.

As the years went by, life in Springfield changed just as society changed. Women went out to work and had less and less time to spend with the Bauers in Springfield or watching any soap, for that matter. The fact is, life has become so rushed that even PBS’s Masterpiece Theater no longer makes a series that lasts 12 weeks because they don’t think the viewing public will commit to any show for that long.

These days, a TV series can air one or two episodes and suddenly disappear from the airwaves, Most viewers are afraid to get to liking a new show too much until it’s in it’s second year, at least, because their favorites can be gone overnight.

Imagine any network now days committing to a television show like Guiding Light for 72 years!

Life has changed all right but many times I miss Bert Bauer’s comfortable kitchen and Papa Bauer’s advice on family problems. Many young people have never known a warm, loving, close knit family like the Bauers or Don and Nancy Hughes’ family on As The World Turns.

For several years, the Guiding Light fans who are still loyal have been threatened with cancellation of the show. The actors were recently asked to take pay cuts and a couple of long-time Springfield residents jumped over to All My Children. I, too, felt the quality of the stories on Guiding Light had suffered in recent years and this probably didn’t help the declining viewership either.

I read this morning that the replacement for Guiding Light may be a new version of $25,000 Pyramid. Does the world really need another cheaply produced game show?

However, even with all it’s problems, if something that has been an institution for 72 years can disappear from the airwaves, what’s next? If all the soaps disappear, daytime TV will be a barren wasteland of game shows and more talk shows. Nothing worth setting the DVR for there.

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1950’s TV Shows - Where to See Them on the Internet

Posted by JE Jones on Dec-19-2008

Do you love TV shows from the 1950’s? I used to love Father Knows Best. The plots were simple and all about moral dilemmas, nicely resolved in 30 minutes. I was born in the 50’s and looked up to Betty as the teen I wanted to be. Father Knows Best presented a simple world where mom stayed home and dad was always learning life lessons from the kids. I didn’t realize until lately that I could revisit 50’s nostalgia any time I want to, entering the world of the Andersons and Father Knows Best.In fact, I found several great Internet sites where TV shows from the 50’s can be viewed for free.

If you’d like to see old episodes of Father Knows Best or other great 1950’s TV shows, you can view them free on Hulu.com. There are 26 episodes of Father Knows Best in all, including a great Christmas episode. In the 1950’s most TV shows didn’t film special holiday episodes like they do today. I just watched it and Jim wanted to know “why can’t we celebrate Christmas the way it used to be?” He wanted simpler times. Now that’s nostalgia for you! What would Jim think of Christmas today?

In the Father Knows Best classic Christmas episode, Jim wants to go cut their own tree, instead of the fancy flocked trees popular in the 50’s. Remember those? Of course, the Andersons, get lost in the snow drifts, find someone named “Nick” and find the true meaning of Christmas in those minutes.

What’s your favorite of the 1950’s TV shows? Hulu.com probably has them. How about McHale’s Navy (105 episodes) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (117 episodes)? Hulu.com does even better with nostalgia from the 1960’s, with 60’s TV shows like the Dick Van Dyke Show (64 episodes) and I Dream of Jeanie (51 episodes).

Who doesn’t remember Twilight Zone from the 50’s? You can see highlights on YouTube. Remember the episode, “To Serve Man” where the spacemen came down to help mankind but their masterplan “To Serve Man” was really a cookbook?

If you’d like full episodes of Twilight Zone, they are still available on CBS.com. There aren’t too many 50’s TV shows available on CBS.com but there are some later shows like Dynasty and the original Star Trek.

Another great place to see 1950’s TV shows is Retrovision.com. There are fewer episodes of each, for instance Bonanza, which got it’s start in 1959, has 6 episodes. There are 3 episodes of the Burns and Allen Show, beginning in 1950, and 13 episodes of The Cisco Kid.

Have you been missing The Great Gildersleeve? This show lasted only 39 episodes (quite a success by today’s standards, where some shows are cancelled after one or two episodes) but the radio show it originated from, ran from 1941 to 1957. Some of these radio shows are also available on Retrovision.

Would you like to know “What to do on a Date” in the 1950’s? Retrovision has a great little 50’s TV show to instruct you.

Retrovision also provides links to 50’s TV shows where they are shown elsewhere. The old Have Gun Will Travel is still shown on CBS.com. All of season one is available on CBS.com.

On Hulu.com, they interrupt every once in a while for a commercial but it’s only about 10 seconds long or less so it doesn’t disrupt like the commercials on television that we all zap through with our DVRs.

One other place to view nostalgic TV shows is on Netflix. Although Netflix is a subscription site, many of the 1950 TV shows are play on demand so they don’t count against the number of movies you have shipped to you each month. Leave It To Beaver, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and Burns and Allen are just a few of the view on demand classic TV shows available from Netflix.

One thing I love about many of the TV shows from the 50’s is that they are still great shows. The stories and the acting has stood the test of time and watching these shows is like a trip down memory lane, with a peep into the past. You remember the clothes, the way people thought and acted, the simpler times we sometimes wish we had more of in today’s modern world. Watching those old TV shows from the 1950’s turns back the clock of our lives like nothing else.

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