1940: AT THE MOVIES 75 YEARS AGO ON MARCH 23!

What memories these movie pages from the Trenton Times and Trenton State Gazette bring! Here's what was playing 75 years ago when I was a 5 year old and hadn't yet experienced the thrill of going to a real movie theater; and did Trenton have movie "theatres!"

1938: THE VERY CONTROVERSIAL AND SCANDALOUS MOTION PICTURE "ECSTASY"

I remember the outrage expressed by many of the population back in the 1930's when the motion picture "Ecstasy" was brought to the screen. It was the talk of the town when the scene shows the very beautifil Hedy Lamar swimming completely in the nude with ripples of the water blurring out any details. There was just enough to be seen to make the movie the talk of the town....(especially with the guys.)

1943: THOSE WONDERFUL MOVIE SERIALS!

I am told that more and more senior citizens over the age of 60 or 65 are getting into computing. A few years back it was common knowledge that many if not most senior citizens didn't want to get involved with this incredible technology. This post and others to come are presented especially for the aforementioned over 60 fellow members of "wrinkle city." Enjoy and remember!

1930's - 1940's: WHEN MUSIC WAS MUSIC

Listenable and singable music: It was with us right up to around the last quarter of the 20th century when America's musical taste yielded to the younger generation who, even though they retained a number of easy listening "Barry Manilow" songs,  opted for the more modern, perhaps a bit noiser music. My 30 year crusade to keep that music alive resulted in my many appearances at local senior citizen clubs as we sang along to the great music of the eras from the 1930's to the early 1950's, before "Be-Bop," " Rock 'n Roll," "Acid Rock," non melodic "Rap," which is rhythmic poetry minus musical accompaniment. The above graphic shows a young Bing Crosby in 1933., and again in the WWII musical "Here Come the Waves."

1944: JUNE 6 AND JULY 6, 1944: D-DAY AS IN "DOOMS DAY"

 

The graphic above is the mast head for the Trenton Times as it appeared on D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944. I was only 11 years old but clearly recall the excitement and at the same time fear, that the adults who had boys in the fight experienced. Prayer is schools was a given back then, and I clearly recall a school auditorium assembly and Miss Emily Reynolds, Principal of Kuser School, leading us in prayer for the safety of our boys. This morning when I awoke I said a prayer for them, and this evening when I go to bed, there will be a prayer for those brave fighting men who gave their all on Normandy beach. The graphic below the Times header is an ad 1 month later on July 6, 1944 when Americans everywhere flocked to the movies to see the latest Movietone, Pathe' or Universal Newsreel for graphic movies of the conflict. The featured movie at the RKO Capitol on July 6, 1944 featured an incredible cast of Hollywood stars in the movie, 

"Follow the Boys."