3/31/14

Ramona Lou and Pete thought that little Lorri's expression was a result of the bliss that came with spending the weekend at their house, but in reality she was reacting to the permeating scent of Little Kings Cream Ale that oozed out of each one of her step-grandparents' pores.

Allison's birthday was permanently marred when she dropped one of her party favors under Esmerelda the Magypsian's skirt and happened to look up.  The entertainer was wearing thigh-highs and nothing else, which baffled the heretofore sheltered birthday girl...

The more she thought about it, the more disgusted Juleann became at the thought that, before she'd had his kid, she was the one who got to help open Bo's presents, not Missy...

Everyone liked to take Willa spelunking with them because not only could she fit through the slimmest of crevasses, but she also could sometimes merely step over some of the more treacherous sections of ground and help find a better way across the terrain.

The rest of the Rosenblums scoffed when Irving declined to gather in so close to the prize-winning family flower, but they later realized how bright he'd been when he was the only one among them to not have his poly-knit trousers irrevocably snagged on thorns as they broke apart from the pose.

While Kimberly's friends were watching her open all her presents, Dick thought it might be a good time to slip away and relieve himself in the cabana.  Unfortunately, he'd forgotten to wear his glasses, resulting in quite a little puddle on the rec room floor!

3/28/14

A snapshot taken of Valerie and Melody by Josie Jones during a get-together to mark ten years since the disbanding of Josie and the Pussycats.

At least once a month, Howard requested that his wife Tootie make her famous Broccoli Bran Cauliflower Casserole, a decision that sat well with some members of the family more than others....

The entire Slippenphall family was excited by the arrival of the new stereophonic console radio, but none more than Tammy, who turned the dial right to her favorite station and dove into a dance routine.

Valerie Geeson was one of Gainesville's most renowned female entrepreneurs and her dedication to beauty helped Crystal Neenocher reach fifth place in the Plum County Regional Junior Miss Pageant.

Folks traveled from a fifty-mile radius to look for car parts at Wilma Sue's Backdoor Barn, not only because she had every bolt, wire and sprocket imaginable, but also because she wore a mean set of coveralls and wasn't afraid to show 'em off!

Just as many people could recall where they were at the moment of the Kennedy assassination, Jerry and Cliff could pinpoint their whereabouts the very second that the Hindenberg exploded.  Sadly, the bull was so startled by the melee that it ran off with them for close to a mile away from their car!

3/26/14

Although it had been a full three months since Brett had rescued Stacy from her captivity with the Iroquois, her two and a half years of forced assimilation made it difficult to adjust back to life at their home in Bluegrass Apartments.

It all started out so wonderfully at Kay Lynn's festive bridal shower... until she opened the sixth set of place mats from her registration and realized just how chintzy some of her close pals really were.

Mamaw June had been so excited that Leroy had finally brought her grandsons out to see her in Serenity, Georgia that she, literally, couldn't contain her excitement. She wished, however, that Janet hadn't left the evidence in the snapshot...

A rare shot of the singing debut of Kris and the Kringlettes, a little-known music act that scored two Top 90 holiday hits until jealousy between Angela and Carol tore the act asunder.

And so big shot Melanie decided to get cute and "smoke" one of her birthday candles, resulting in a quick trip to St. Jude's where the physicians had to remove the wax from her esophagus.

Marcella learned the tough way how childish pranks can torment one when the kids at the vacation lodge replaced her Jergen's Cherry Almond lotion with Elmer's glue.

3/24/14

Little Celia Ravenscroft couldn't care less if her movie biz parents' house was located along the route of so many of the city's "See the Homes of the Stars" tours.  She wanted privacy was getting darned tired of having to live and play under a microscope!

Since she'd been a tiny toddler, Delores would climb onto her grandpa's lap and lovingly whisper into his ear exactly what she had in mind for Easter, Christmas, her birthday and other occasions, but after her first semester at Ball State, he wonder how many more of these encounters the pin in his hip was going to be able to withstand!

Having celebrated two whole years in her new house, Peg Dullardson could take pride in the fact that it now had that cozy lived-in feel to it...

With Randy getting so worked up after merely pulling in the driveway and finding Amelia hanging clothes on the line, she began to wonder if she hadn't gone a little too far in ordering that 4 ounce bottle of My Fascination perfume from the Montgomery Ward catalog.

Donna wasn't sure that cooking brunch with her mother-in-law Ramona was going to be such a great idea since Ramona was already beginning to tear up before she even started to dice the onions!

It took months and months of trying, but Denise finally came up with an ensemble that successfully shifted the focus back to where it needed to be, from the peacock feather wallpaper to her!

3/21/14

Archie was devastated by Lovett County's new law requiring a helmet while driving or riding a motorcycle, not because he didn't wish to be safe, but because he knew that there was no readily available helmet that could fit over his coiffure...

Johnny had always been told that leaving an apple on the teacher's desk was a good way to win favor, but he preferred a far more direct and personal approach.

Their portraits were never known to be the most frolicsome or heartwarming shots, but since Olan Chills was the only studio in a 55 mile radius, many of the folks in Mockingbird Grove patronized the establishment anyway.

And so just as Elaine had finished what she thought was the last of the dishes, Sally brought forth a huge stack from the temporarily-forgotten kiddie table...

Annalee had never really wanted the hair bauble that her mother-in-law had given her for Easter anyway, so she let Claudette wear it that Sunday, to the acclaim of the whole neighborhood.

Mary Jane loved being Carol's bridge partner at Carol's home because there Pierre would sit on Carol's lap, often indicating better cards to lay down than his owner did otherwise!

3/19/14

Melanie's birthday get-together had been swell until Linda Sue lit the birthday candles, which caused the creeping ivy to catch fire, which then led to the window shade being scorched, followed by smoke damage to the drapes.  All of that was nothing, though, compared to Melanie's mom's reaction upon arrival in the dining room!

As much as Renee enjoyed having people over for dinner, there was only room in her small kitchenette for her and her house plant.  Visitors could wait in the breakfast nook and have their fill of beer nuts until the main course was ready.

The bad news is that Myron's visit to The Fullerton's for supper found him lacking a place to sit after the meal.  The good news is that after witnessing that family resting on the couch, he was able to inject new enthusiasm into his selling of the Titanium Furniture line, which happened to be offered at the department store in which he worked.

One of the forerunners of Avon and Mary Kay was the brand Painted Lady Cosmetics, in which Desiree Addams would pedal through suburbia demonstrating her wares to all the unglamorous housewives in a given neighborhood, much to the relief of their otherwise bored husbands.

Proud of his hot new wheels, Porter made it clear to Nila that under no circumstances was his Corvette to be parked underneath their basketball net.  Sadly, he hadn't counted on how poorly the nearby telephone pole had been set into the ground...

At about the third go round of listening to Raymond sing and play "Dream On" on his new electric guitar, Andrew began to look forward to night-night so he could move on to some better dreams!

3/17/14

Stacey adored her Talky Tina doll, but Tina sought greener pastures, where her owner wouldn't have tights that wrinkled at the knees and so just a week after this photo was taken, Stacey suffered a non-fatal fall down the stairs and Tina was never seen or heard from again...

Chudney did not like to get his paws dirty and Fern accommodated him to this end, though sometimes, such as when he wanted to do his business on top of the hill in their backyard, it could be more than a little challenging!

The 4th Annual Beer Barrel Boot Hop was one of the highlights of that summer at Camp Chesterfield, but Jeff wasn't about to join in the festivities until Lola and her two girlfriends showed up.

And so it was in this sudden, nerve-wracking moment that Arthur realized his new babysitter, the nearsighted Miss Velma Sprinkle (who'd forgotten her glasses that day), was headed his way with a tube of Comet cleanser in lieu of the Johnson's baby powder he'd been counting on!

Julie's parents had insisted upon an alcohol-free reception for her marriage to Gil, but the happy couple was fortunate enough to slip out back with Randall, Taunja and Doug for a quick highball to help allay the onset of boredom during their special day.

Happier times for Tsetina and Ivanka, The Amazing Bicyclettes, just prior to Ivanka mastering incredible feats of derring do on the unicycle, which ultimately split up their act for good...

3/14/14

Altovise's concerns about climbing atop a cold bike seat for her morning sojourns to the corner market were alleviated when she chose to keep her cycle in the living room overnight between October and April.

Frank's happiness at the sight of all his grandchildren was carefully guarded by his wife Carolyn, for only she knew from poring over his discharge papers from the coast guard that he had actually been sterile since before WWII and in actuality was not related to even one of the kids on hand... Carolyn kept this to herself for both her and Frank's benefit!

Suzanne lived to regret telling everybody that the only way she'd kiss Wally was with a gun to her head.  Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get a good look at the "weapon" that Joe was aiming at her.

And so another spring break for Marc was spoiled when he dove into the pool without first checking to see if the hotel owners had filled it up with water yet!

Birthday or not, Jessamyn was becoming increasingly irritated at hearing from Donetta over and over again about how she once sang backup on two of the tracks for one of The Flirtations' albums.  After all, neither song was released as a single anyway!

It was only as Duane was pulling into the driveway that Florence realized she'd picked up the wrong incense for their evening together.  Somehow, Spring Dawn was going to have to take the place of Jasmine Candlelight in setting the right mood.

3/12/14

Though they'd been planning it for more than three weeks, reactions were mixed among Rupert, Theo and their friends when they finally bored through the ventilation panel in the dressing room at Rosie's Taxi Dance and Sarsparilla Bar...

Everett always had the most peculiar way of checking on whether or not he'd remembered his wallet on any given day!

Until Howard could remember to put the toilet seat back down after usage, Rowena decided that not only could he stay in the garage apartment until further notice, but also any chance of outdoor contact between them would be prohibited by her newly installed rose trellis!

For a hot minute in 1971, Barbara Hartland knocked the reigning romance novel queen off the best seller list with her slim tome "Gwendolyn and the Prince," but her follow-up book "Nyota the River Woman" only sold 42 copies, resigning her to obscurity thereafter...

And so Michelle was shown, with her sister Mary Ann as an example, just what happened to little girls who hid their lima beans in their napkins instead of finishing their plate.

With the ladder MIA ever since Ernie had painted some shutters over at the CO's house, Jesse needed to call upon three close friends to help him get the windshields on the fighter jets cleaned in time for inspection!