There are four glass bowls Decorated with farm items Each a different size Allowing them to stack nicely inside each other in the cupboard
It is Saturday night Popcorn night Time to watch a movie on television Dad makes the popcorn
There is clanging in the kitchen as Dad gets out the metal popcorn popper He adds a dab of oil and pours in some popcorn Then he adds the lid
We wait and wait and wait
Slowly we hear the kernels explode Throwing other kernels against the sides The intensity increases until it is an avalanche of sound The popcorn is done!
Mom fills the smallest bowl first It is mine I am the youngest Bowl size is determined by age
Then Mom fills the next largest bowl For my weird brother He likes to read instead of play outside But he likes popcorn night
Dad starts another batch We take our places in front of the TV I hope there is a good movie on tonight
We have to wait until everyone has their popcorn to start eating Finally, Mom and Dad return from the kitchen
I hope Dad isn’t too hungry and has some leftovers I can eat tonight or sneak some in the morning out of the bowl
Sometimes Dad makes a third batch I like that It means I get seconds I like Popcorn Night
Television at the time had five channels. Three networks channels: ABC, NBC, and CBS. A local station (Channel 50) that played old movies (Bill Kennedy At The Movies) and reruns. And because we lived close enough to Canada to get it (Ypsilanti, Michigan), we got “the Canadian channel” (Channel 9 CBC), which showed hockey, curling, and BBC shows. And some Canadian kid’s shows like The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dressup.
There were no recording devices or streaming. You watched a show when it was broadcast, or you missed it. How times have changed.
Every generation (and family) has unique childhood memories. I would love to hear one of yours.
Every once in a while we’d go to the video rental store in town for a movie night. I used to love watching the popcorn pop on our stovetop before we started the movie. I can still see the metal bowl clearly in my mind, and how we’d scoop handfuls into our smaller bowls. Good memories! Family game night was always fun, too. 😊
I grew up in Chicagoland in the 1960s and 70s. We had CBS (channel 2), NBC (ch5), ABC (ch7), WGN (ch9, at that time still a local station), and PBS (ch11). Sometimes ch32, but not usually, since UHF was iffy then. Oh yeah, there was VHF (lower channels, 2-13 [there was no channel 1]) and UHF (ch14+) and they needed different antennas. Antennas, they were these metal things that connected to the TVs, sometimes directly, sometimes through wires that went to weird contraptions on the house roof or attached to towers attached to the side of the house.
Re: popcorn, I learned at a young age that the unpeopled/semi-popped kernels at the bottom of the bowl were edible, but took more effort. Since nobody else in the family liked them, they were always mine.
I have to say, CKLW was the best radio station in my youth. Better than the local US stations. I loved the mix of "top 100" at the time. Everything from Led Zeppelin to The 5th Dimension to Sammy Davis Jr. to Alice Cooper to America to Roberta Flack to Mac Davis. Radio is too segmented into genres today. I loved that variety back then. It is probably why I have wide tastes in music.
As for old TV, my sister and I took turns holding the television's antenna to enhance the signal.
🤣 We had a roof antenna. But when I got my own B&W (tube) TV as a teen, I had to use the old rabbit ears.
Every once in a while we’d go to the video rental store in town for a movie night. I used to love watching the popcorn pop on our stovetop before we started the movie. I can still see the metal bowl clearly in my mind, and how we’d scoop handfuls into our smaller bowls. Good memories! Family game night was always fun, too. 😊
Oh yeah. My kids would remember renting videos. My grandkids will remember streaming movies and air popping popcorn.
I grew up in Chicagoland in the 1960s and 70s. We had CBS (channel 2), NBC (ch5), ABC (ch7), WGN (ch9, at that time still a local station), and PBS (ch11). Sometimes ch32, but not usually, since UHF was iffy then. Oh yeah, there was VHF (lower channels, 2-13 [there was no channel 1]) and UHF (ch14+) and they needed different antennas. Antennas, they were these metal things that connected to the TVs, sometimes directly, sometimes through wires that went to weird contraptions on the house roof or attached to towers attached to the side of the house.
Re: popcorn, I learned at a young age that the unpeopled/semi-popped kernels at the bottom of the bowl were edible, but took more effort. Since nobody else in the family liked them, they were always mine.
We didn’t have one of those fancy rotating antennas. Too expensive. 🤣
I do remember getting our first color TV. That was awesome.
Yeah, I ate the half popped ones. And the popcorn crumbs my dad left at the bottom of his bowl were a good treat on Sunday morning.
I remember Bill Kennedy at the movies. We got the same TV channels as you over the air in Windsor. Memories...
My friends like to tease me that I'm gonna wind up like Bill Kennedy, showing old movies with brief scenes or glimpses of me.
Not a bad gig.🤣
It would have to be a podcast now.
I have to say, CKLW was the best radio station in my youth. Better than the local US stations. I loved the mix of "top 100" at the time. Everything from Led Zeppelin to The 5th Dimension to Sammy Davis Jr. to Alice Cooper to America to Roberta Flack to Mac Davis. Radio is too segmented into genres today. I loved that variety back then. It is probably why I have wide tastes in music.
Exactly. CKLW had a very powerful antenna and reached a lot further than most am radio stations at the time.
I spent my high school years in Detroit at Cobo hall and the Ford auditorium. Saw all the concerts. So 🍀 lucky.
Cobo Hall was a great place to see concerts. Saw lots there myself.
🤣 I never thought of that. You got the "American channels." How cool.
I saw a lot of movies on Bill Kennedy at the movies. But it was 10 minutes of movie, then ten minutes of commercials. 🤣
Thanks for reminiscing, Paul. 😀