Talkin' 'bout My Generation

 

by Pa Rock

Boomer

I washed into this not-so-funny, never-ending sitcom of modern life as a part of what is commonly referred to as the "baby boomer generation" (1946-64).  I don't think it was common practice to label generations before that time, but the sex-plosion following World War II produced such a wave of new humanity in newly modern world that my generation was earmarked as being something novel, or special.  From the earliest days after the war when the country still turned to home radios and movie theatres for the primary forms of family entertainment, we were referred to as the baby-boomer generation, or simply the boomers.

In researching this piece I did come across one notation crediting babies born from 1928 to 1945 being known as the "silent generation."

After that it became more common to slap labels of different eras of children.  As of now we have gone through Gen X (1965-1980), Millennials/ Gen Y (1981-1996), Gen Z/iGen (1997-2010/2012), and Gen Alpha (2010-2024/2025).

I actually heard Gen Alpha referenced for the first time on a newscast this morning in a piece that talked about children born in that era who were forming strong friendship attachments to AI chatbots.  Perhaps that generation will eventually be known as "Gen AlphaAI."

But I have wandered far and wide and am only on the fifth paragraph of this exceedingly aimless (at least to this point) essay.  My intent at the outset was to talk about my generation:  the boomers, and in particular the boy role models that I grew up with.

Many in my generation lived in households where both parents held down jobs, something that was basically new to society, and time for childcare was essentially reduced.  Household televisions also came about during my generation, and parents soon discovered that they could create more precious time at home for themselves by parking the kids in front of the television.  Consequently, some of us got to where we identified with television families almost as much as with our own, and quite a bit of what we learned about family interactions and even life beyond our own families came from observing our television siblings.

One of the first that I remember identifying with was Tommy Rettig who played Lassie's master, Jeff, of the original "Lassie" television show.  Jeff was the all-American boy's boy as he romped through the countryside having adventures with his very brave and smart collie.  Tommy was born during the early years of World War II and was actually a young teenager when his three seasons on "Lassie" (1054-57) were being filmed.  Tommy had some drug issues as a young adult, including one charge of trying to smuggle cocaine out of Peru, but he went on to become a successful software engineer.  He died at the age of fifty-four in 1996.

Rusty Hamer was another of my early childhood television brothers.  He played Danny Thomas's wise-cracking son, also called "Rusty," on Thomas's television show "Make Room for Daddy."  Rusty was on the show from 1953 (at age six) until 1964 (at age 17).  Rusty died very young in 1990 at the age of forty-two.

I had two television brothers who were known as "Little Ricky."    One was Ricky Nelson who played himself on the radio show and later the television show ("The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett") based on the life of his Hollywood family.  The Nelson's had two sons, David who was the oldest, and Ricky, the younger one who was a bit of a smart aleck.  Little Ricky, born in 1940, started on the radio program in 1949 and moved with it to the television version in 1952.  In 1957, after learning to play the guitar, Ricky's father, Ozzy Nelson, a former big band leader, purchased an original rock-and-roll song from singer/writer Gene Pitney called "Hello Mary Lou" for his singing son to record, and Ricky Nelson went on to be a massive, pre-Beatles, rockstar.  Ricky Nelson died in a plane crash on New Years Eve in 1985 at the age of forty-five.

The other Little Ricky was Little Ricky Ricardo, the televison son of Lucile Ball and Desi Arnaz in their hit television comedy, "I Love Lucy."  He was played by Keith Thibodeaux whose stage name was Rickard Keith.  He is the only surviving member of the original "I Love Lucy" cast and is currently seventy-five years old.

Both Little Ricky's, Nelson and Ricardo, had the market cornered on cute and talented.

Jay North, the actor who played the lead role in the television series "Dennis the Menace" from 1959-1963, was also a fun friend to have around.  Dennis was the bane of his next door neighbor, Mr. Wilson, and he kept the neighborhood and his own family stirred up as well, but he was stoked with good intentions.  Jay North went on to become a prison guard in Florida and died last year at the age of seventy-three.

And then there was Opie Taylor, the son of Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, North Carolina, in "The Andy Griffith Show."  Opie, played by Ron Howard, was entertaining and mischievous and always fun to have around.  Ron Howard went on to star in another hit television series, "Happy Days," and then became famous as a film director.  He is currently seventy-one years old.

Those were just some of my male childhood role models from the 1950's and early 1960's.  They were all good friends to have around while my parents were busy working and trying to build the American dream.  I didn't have any brothers in real life, but I'm sure I picked up many valuable life lessons from those guys.  I know they felt like good friends at the time, and it's always good to have good friends in your life.

I watched television, lots of television, and my grandchildren are on their computers, or phones, talking to chatbots.

Are we advancing into a brave, new world, or sliding into a technological abyss?

Now I have truly wandered.  Send out the Neighborhood Watch to walk me home.