Earl & Ginger



Earl & Ginger at the Bar

Grandma & Grandpa always had a dog.  There was FeFe the chihuahua the mother of my first dog Tootie who grandma gave me when I was 6 months old, Chita the mean chihuahua, and the one that was Grandma's favorite Ginger.  Ginger was just as her name suggests a  ginger brown little chihuahua with a big personality.  Everyone loved her.  Grandpa would take her everywhere; on his bicycle in a basket; he loved when people would stop and talk to him about this little dog.  He was like a celebrity when he had the little dog with him, especially when he went into the bar.  The bartender sometimes would even poor Ginger a small glass of her own.  I witnessed this myself going to the bar with him when I was about 20 years old. But in the evening she was always sitting by Grandma watching TV.  All this came to a disrupt end when she got away from Grandpa and got hit by a car.  Losing her was very devastating to Grandpa, Grandma, and Kim.  How did Grandpa replace Ginger?  With Becky the crippled chihuahua.  He still got a lot attention from people but usually more like sympathy; they would say ohh that poor little dog.

Color TV - 1960s

TV Odd Shaped Screen

In the 1960s Grandma and Grandpa were the first people I knew who had color TV.  At that time there were not many programs were telecast in color and NBC was the only network, everything else on TV was in black and white.

NBC Famous Peacock

So it was major event when a color program was going to be on TV.  On Sunday Night everyone would gather around the TV to watch Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom and right after the main event of the evening; Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

 

Us kids always looked forward to any cartoons but Grandpa loved the shows about animals or Daniel Boone, whereas Grandma liked the shows such as Pollyanna (she really enjoyed the family being together more than anything).  Grandpa would sit in his chair and did not like if people would talk during the programs.  It seems odd today that something like color would be so exciting when now there is High Definition TV with hundreds of channels to choose from.  Now it is an oddity to watch a show in Black & White.  This simplicity is what makes memories so special.