Been blank in here the past few days. Had errands to run, a scare that turned out to be okay, and was doing more rearranging in the den (moved a media bookcase and finally transferred a blanket chest upstairs to sit at the foot of our bed).

Had a wave of nostalgia tonight while doing some mending: watched a DVD of four Make Room for Daddy episodes I'd bought awhile back. These are the early episodes, with Jean Hagen, and to my surprise included the original commercials. The sponsors at that time (1955) were Dodge and the American Tobacco Company, who made Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, and Herbert Tareyton cigarettes. (The cigarettes advertised seemed to be mostly Pall Mall, but I was interested by the "Herbert Tareyton" appelation. I remember Tareyton cigarettes, but not by that name.) The cigarette ads seem so funny today. They were the conclusion to a romantic dancing date, or were companionable around a campfire. Danny Thomas even pushed smokes at the end of one of the shows.

(Incidentally, one of the shows featured the Williams' family dog Laddie. I'd completely forgotten they even had one!)

It's funny how things turn around--at least this one is for the better. Everyone smoked when I was growing up. The air at weddings was blue with smoke. I once even saw my mom smoke a cigarette at a wedding. Afterwards, I said, astonished, "I didn't know you smoked!" She said, "I don't, but it's polite to say yes when someone offers you one." Wow. Utterly different world altogether.

Once the DVDs were over, the Oscar hoopla had started. I'd quit watching the Oscars in the past few years, because there were no or few movies that I really cared about, but I want to see if Return of the King and Peter Jackson hit the jackpot this year.

It's just not as fun watching the stars arrive anymore. For one thing, it's full daylight out--the glamour just isn't there in the glaring Los Angeles sunlight. I understand why they've pushed the time of the Oscars forward; I remember watching the show when it began at 10 p.m. and staying up until the very end in the wee hours of the next day. (I seem to remember it being on Monday nights originally.) But it's still not the same as watching the stars glide up in limos in full darkness, their expectant faces lighted by flash cameras and spotlights.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:19:00 PM

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