BOMBSHELLS Book

If “Mad Men” Characters Vacationed in Florida…

teresa — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:11:45 +0000

Season five of AMC’s “Mad Men” is underway, exploring the summer of 1965. We’ve seen Sally Draper lounging at her new step-dad’s house, and Megan has nagged Don to spend a day on Fire Island with her friends. I started thinking, what if Don, Meghan and the kids hit Florida for an all-American road trip during the summer of 1965?

In the ’50′s and ’60′s Florida was as popular for vacations as it is today. Even before Disney World, Sea World and Busch Gardens, Florida had dozens of beautiful, natural attractions and quirky offbeat sites for tourists to enjoy. Because the state was less homogenous, a road trip through Florida was more exciting then. Each region had something unique to offer.

Here’s the itinerary I’ve planned for Don and the family.

The Drapers fly to Miami, rent a car and check into the ultra-chic Fontainebleu on Maimi Beach. If the Fontainebleu is hip enough for James Bond in “Goldfinger” (1964) it’s hip enough for Don and the gang. After an afternoon on the beach and in the pool, a hotel babysitter would be summoned so Don and Megan can dine and dance in the elegant nightclubs on the strip.

Next the Draper’s would hit Highway US 1 and A1A heading up Florida’s east coast toward Cape Canaveral, stopping along the way to buy cigarettes, Coca-Colas and Nehis at roadside attractions where they might see talking Minah birds, wallowing alligators, slithering snakes, Florida black bears or black panthers in cages alongside the gas pumps. At Cape Canaveral they’ll check into a beachside motel where the kids will swim in a pool that has an underwater window into the bar where they will wave at their Daddy while he downs a quick old-fashioned before heading poolside to rejoin Megan and take baby Gene for a dip.

The next morning they’ll take in a rocket launch beachside and head inland to visit Cypress Gardens, made famous by swimming movie star Esther Williams. Southern belles in hooped skirts will greet them, and the Drapers will enjoy strolling through the gardens with dripping ice cream cones, and then watch the exciting water ski show.

By now their pasty New York complexions have burned to an uncomfortable shade of lobster, and they’ve resorted to wearing straw hats and zinc oxide on their noses. Thank goodness the famous glass-bottomed boats at Silver Springs have canopies and the oaks surrounding the springs are shady, dripping Spanish Moss.

After a day cooling off in the shady springs, Don motors the family back to the coast. From their beachside motel they’ll visit the famous Daytona Beach boardwalk at night where Don will have his future revealed by the fortune-telling chicken. The whole family takes a ride on the giant ferris wheel, where Bobby will toss his cookies from the very top.

For the enrichment of the kids, a visit to both St. Augustine and Marineland is a must. While standing on the ramparts of the Castillo De San Marcos, Don gazes at the masts of moored sailing yachts andwonders what it would be like to sail to the keys and do some nice quiet fishing. But for now, there’s a horse drawn carriage ride through the old city and cotton candy to be dribbled down the kid’s clothes.

As their return flight lands at La Guardia, Don is counting the minutes until he can return to work.

Soundtrack – October 20, 1962

teresa — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:18:44 +0000

Here’s another dance party! You’ll need a free Spotify.com account to check out these tunes.

Listen to the entire playlist, or each track individually below.

It’s like 1962 without the good music

teresa — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:56:48 +0000

Recently, I’ve wondered if we’ve somehow entered a time warp. Even though the calendar says 2012, many of the headlines I’ve been reading and many of the conversations I’ve been hearing could have taken place in 1962.

For example, are we really debating birth control in 2012? One would think the Pill had just been introduced.

What about Cuba? Fifty years later and the island is still a political hot potato, even though not many Cubans on the island have potatoes to heat.

Nuclear threats? Op-ed writers use the Cuban Missile Crisis to explain the dangers of Iran’s nuclear growth.

Women’s roles? Anne Romney is criticized for “never working a day in her life” and Sarah Palin is taken to task for running for office after giving birth to her fifth child, who happened to have a disability. While Hillary Clinton is busy as Secretary of State, folks still find a way to criticize her hair style. Didn’t we fight this battle years ago? It seems to me the outcome was that women-and men-could make the choice of working or not as best benefits their family, right?

I came across an article for The Columbus Dispatch by Doug Caruso about predictions citizens of Columbus made in 1962 to be revealed during the city’s bicentennial celebration in 2012. Right on target were predictions for electronic debit cards, organ transplants and rental movies (with no ads!) for home television.

But they were a bit off base in predicting interplanetary travel, buildings that float in the air and closets that clean clothes with sound waves. (I’m thinking the clothes-cleaning closet should be followed up on. How about you?)

Caruso interviewed David Staley, an adjunct history professor and futurist at Ohio State University. Staley points out, “There’s nothing in there about social and cultural changes, mainly about women. They missed the whole notion that women would have active public lives and roles in the public sector. We see the values that people hold at the time reflected in their predictions.”

If Columbus, Ohio is indeed the ideal cross-section of America as recently revealed on CBS’s 6o Minutes, we’ll be reading the same headlines on the future version of our iPads and still wondering how things can change so much and still be the same.

Sigh. At least I’ve got a solid selection of ’60′s music in my iTunes library.

Soundtrack – October 19, 1962

teresa — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:30:28 +0000

Here’s a soundtrack for the chapter for October 19, 1962. You can listen to the entire playlist here, or click the individual tracks below.

Remember, you’ll need a free Spotify.com account to listen to these tracks!

The Big Ape in Jacksonville

teresa — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:38:45 +0000

In 1962 radio played a big part in everyone’s life. While television was garnering a big audience share and sales of TV sets were booming, radio remained an important tool of communication. Televisions were costly and large, even the portable.

Radios were less expensive and ranged in size from the shirt pockettransistor radio to the modern table top model. Even the old style floor console that was popular in the 1940′s remained. In the early ’60′s it wouldn’t be unusual to find each radio model in the same home. After all, the floor console model still operated even if it was playing that raucous rock ‘n roll.

In Jacksonville during that time the airwaves were dominated by two main players: WAPE 690AM and WPDQ 600AM. While WAPE went on to become the Voice of the South in the late sixties and early seventies with a twenty-four signal that reached from South Carolina to Miami, Melanie and Stephanie had to listen to their favorite tunes during the day because the Big Ape signed off at sunset in 1962.

Though the APE’s air time was short, it’s playlist was big. WAPE played rock ‘n roll all the time, unlike it’s main competitor WPDQ, which mixed rock with easy listening and cross-over appropriate country-western tunes.

In 1962, I didn’t have my own radio. Even the shirt pocket radio cost about $20, equivalent today to $140. It wasn’t until the late ’60′s that Japanese imports flooded the market and prices were dramatically reduced. My parents tuned in WPDQ at home and in the car. In fact, we lived in the shadow of WPDQ’s broadcast towers that were once located on Normandy Boulevard. Needless, to say reception was always good.

690 AM’s call letters were a radio marketers dream. Who could fail to be creative with WAPE? The station signed on and off every day with a quick rendition of the Star Spangled Banner followed by a bull ape yell. The image of the Ape was used in all marketing materials, from billboards to the company’s bank checks. Of course, there was the man in the Ape suit, seen at live broadcasts and roaming around the studio.

Aside from the highly recognizable Ape logo, WAPE used its studio building as a marketing tool also. A modern (at the time) studio, built with a contemporary design out of white limestone with a swimming pool in front, it was like something out of a James Bond film. Owners, the Brennan brothers, had a hidden private apartment with a light wall designed to flash with the tune being broadcast at the time. Very hip.

This is postcard with an image of the station. Though I was too young to attend, the station hosted pool parties on the weekends with people traveling from all over the Southeast to have fun and join in live broadcasts.

Throw a BOMBSHELLS Party for Your Book Club!

teresa — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 22:58:21 +0000

You’ve heard of the “Mad Men” parties where everyone dresses in vintage clothes, drinks too much, and fogs the air with cigarette smoke. Oh, and let’s not forget the rampant sexism.

Your Bombshells party will be so much better! If you want the cigarettes and the bottomless cocktails, go right ahead. But, let’s forget about the sexism, okay?

Remember “Mad Men” happens in New York and Bombshells takes place in Jacksonville, Florida. That means the food will be very different.

Deviled Eggs were a staple of any ‘60’s party. So let’s start there.

Then you’ll need something that uses frilly toothpicks. How about skewering some good old Vienna Sausages (halved) along with a cube of cheese and an olive.

Of course, you’ll need some dip to go along with your Charles Chips. You know, the ones sold from door to door in the big speckled can.

Popular dips from the early sixties were blue cheese (my mom made the great recipe below).

If you’re drinking a lot, you’ll need something substantial. Try some pimento cheese finger sandwiches. Trim the crusts from thin white sandwich bread (sorry, it much be white bread), spread with pimento cheese and cut into triangles.

Of course, you’ll need lots of good music. Check the Bombshells Playlist for a great selection of music so you can twist the night away! Send us a picture of your Bombshells party and we’ll put it on the website.