I bought a copy of Newsweek Magazine last week because it was a special Beatles 50 Year issue. Fifty years?!!!! When I was a kid fifty years was half a century. When the Beatles first made themselves known to me in 1964 fifty years ago meant 1914. That was the year World War One started, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was waging war in Mexico, Charlie Chaplin made his film debut, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Mother's Day proclamation, future baseball legend Babe Ruth made his major league debut with the Red Sox and the last known passenger pigeon "Martha" died in the Cincinnati Zoo.
1914 was ancient history to me even though in 1964 there was still a lot of history still alive. There were still stars from the silent era of movies such as Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton still alive, and in the case of Keaton, still working in Beach Movies. There were people alive who had personally known Western heroes such as Buffalo Bill Cody and Wyatt Earp and World War Two heroes such as Winston Churchill and Douglas MacArthur were still alive. There was even a woman who married a Civil War veteran in 1920 still around (she died in 2004 at 97 years old).
But in 1914 the average person didn’t have a telephone, access to air travel or electric appliances such as washing machines or dish washers. Compared to 1964, 1914 was the Stone Age.
Although things have changes since the Beatles first arrived on the scene the changes have been subtle, mostly improvements. We already had an electric oven so a microwave oven was faster but not revolutionary. We had phones that used a rotary dial rather than push buttons but the concept stayed the same and cars, arguably, have declined in style since the days of Southern California Custom Car Culture but have become more reliable, cleaner and safer. It’s been an interesting ride since 1962 and it makes me glad I didn’t die before I got old.
1914 was ancient history to me even though in 1964 there was still a lot of history still alive. There were still stars from the silent era of movies such as Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Buster Keaton still alive, and in the case of Keaton, still working in Beach Movies. There were people alive who had personally known Western heroes such as Buffalo Bill Cody and Wyatt Earp and World War Two heroes such as Winston Churchill and Douglas MacArthur were still alive. There was even a woman who married a Civil War veteran in 1920 still around (she died in 2004 at 97 years old).
But in 1914 the average person didn’t have a telephone, access to air travel or electric appliances such as washing machines or dish washers. Compared to 1964, 1914 was the Stone Age.
Although things have changes since the Beatles first arrived on the scene the changes have been subtle, mostly improvements. We already had an electric oven so a microwave oven was faster but not revolutionary. We had phones that used a rotary dial rather than push buttons but the concept stayed the same and cars, arguably, have declined in style since the days of Southern California Custom Car Culture but have become more reliable, cleaner and safer. It’s been an interesting ride since 1962 and it makes me glad I didn’t die before I got old.
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