Flashback to Summer of 1970 Joe Cooper aka Gary Mitchell aka Joey Gee aka Joe Giannunzio

Iron Mountain native Joe Giannunzio,

using the professional name Gary Mitchell,

attended the Goose Lake International Pop

Festival in 1970 while working as a disc 

jockey at radio station WGRD.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Rock n Roll Graffiti

Rock n Roll Graffiti is a weekly column spotlighting engaging music personalities. The column stresses not only rock 'n' roll, but blues, jazz, country and folk. Stories feature a nostalgic look at Michigan's stars, local musicians and beloved rock legends, all from a personal, Upper Peninsula perspective. Music memories are recalled with an entertaining presentation of facts, a dash of opinion, and a bit of humor, all meant to bring a smile or nod of acknowledgment from the reader.

Looking for something to talk about on his WGRD radio program in Grand Rapids during the summer of 1970, Upper Peninsula native Joe Giannunzio approached the station's promotion department with a proposal.

Giannunzio, then working under the pseudonym Gary Mitchell, asked for and received permission to visit the Goose Lake International Pop Festival, scheduled for Aug. 7-9, at a specially-constructed site near Jackson.

So it was that Giannunzio, who was born in Iron Mountain, became one of an estimated 200,000 people who attended the event, described as Michigan's version of Woodstock.

Festival-goers were entertained with some great rock music, but alcohol and drug use were also prevalent, while some people expressed themselves with nudity. Despite the size of the crowd, there was no violence.

More than 38 years later, many spectators retain fond memories of Goose Lake, while deejay Giannunzio observed the proceedings from a reporter's unique perspective.

"I got in free and they let me go where ever I wanted, even backstage. I talked to a few of the artists, but most were concerned with the show. I saw a lot of the groups perform within 20 feet.

"The ones I remember the most were Rod Stewart, Chicago and John Sebastian. I think Chicago stole the show with their loud horn section," Giannunzio recalled.

"One thing that did feel odd and a little military was the tall barbed wire fence that surrounded the place. Many holes were cut in places so I'm sure a lot of folks didn't pay.

"What surprised me (guess I was still a U. P. country bumpkin) was the amount of girls and guys walking around nude. I kept my clothes on, but had a number of conversations with people who were totally naked. I strolled down to Goose Lake and saw many young people swimming, with no clothes on. I was tempted to go in myself, but I was there to get the story, so I didn't," Giannunzio said.

"I didn't notice anyone drugged out, but I'm sure there were some.

"A fun time seemed to be had by all and I never witnessed any altercations with police," Gianunnzio told me.

Since I first published a piece on Goose Lake on July 26, 2007, detailing the planning of the event, the entertainment, and subsequent political ramifications, more than 20 people have contacted me with their personal experiences at the festival.

Folks who shared their Goose Lake memories hailed from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Colorado.

"This concert was better than Woodstock in many ways. I hitchhiked up from Chicago with my friend Marlene and lost her within an hour," said a blog reader named Cranzie. Cranzie met a Vietnam War vet who spent the day helping him look for her. 

Indiana resident Mitch recalled his experience. "We left Evansville, three guys on a mission of discovery, and wow did we find it at Goose Lake. We brought nothing. For food I visited the Hare Krishna tent twice a day to listen to their message in exchange for a cup of peanuts and raisins."

Festival participant Peter Hanson hitched to southern Michigan from Boulder, Colorado. Hanson said he was "flat broke, but able to get through the razor wire in the back of an empty dump truck with a dozen others. The weekend left him "starved but spiritually sated."

Blog reader Muffy said, "They had a bus bringing people in for free if they were willing to work. My ex and I got on the bus and jumped out and took off into the crowd. Shame on us looking back on it, but we did it." After sleeping in a makeshift tent across the road from the festival grounds, the pair returned to the concert site through a hole in the fence. "The next day we went for that same hole in the fence and it was guarded by some motorcycle gang charging people to get in. We had no money, but they let us in anyway in exchange for a warm bottle of Sprite.

"That last day, people were taking showers and walking out through that whole crowd naked as jaybirds. I was flippin' out. It was so hot, I was tempted to do it myself, but knew too many people there from our hometown.

"I remember one guy walking through the people, wearing only tennis shoes, holding a small bag in one hand and a sign in the other hand that said 'Acid $1.'"

"We took peanut butter and jelly with us and that's what we ate all weekend," she recalled.

"Goose Lake rocked big time. It was something I'll never forget. I believe it was as big as Woodstock, just a change in band names is all. I'd go back if I could," Muffy concluded. 

A Rockford, Illinois, resident remembered a "superslide that was always busy" and an entrepreneur with a "refrigerated truck full of Boone's Farm wine that he sold for $1 a bottle." Another thirsty participant recalled buying "watermelon to keep from fainting," while a 15-year-old spectator called Goose Lake "one of the highlights of my youth." 

One person remembered having a great time camping with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

A group of college sophomores, including Dale, Bill and Jim, enjoyed performances by Mountain, Joe Cocker, Ten Years After, Alice Cooper and James Gang. 

Four recent high school graduates from Chagrin, Ohio, traveled to the festival site in a station wagon ."We carried in several cases of beer and found a spot close to the stage. I remember Iggy Pop of the Stooges jumping over the wall into the crowd," one of them recalled.

A Galesburg, Illinois, resident remembered going to Goose Lake with his buddy and their girl friends after hearing about the festival from a dee jay, possibly on WLS.

Blog reader Joan recollected, "everyone had a great time and listened to the best music. I hate that people dismiss this incredible event."

Dave, in Angola, Indiana, remembered driving up in a station wagon belonging to his best friend's parents and watching Ten Years After perform.

Another anonymous blog reader, just 13 at the time, recalled catching a ride to Goose Lake with a couple of "motor cycle gang guys in a black 1955 Plymouth who drank Boone's Farm all the way there."

"I was there at Goose Lake with a friend for one day of the madness," said a blog reader known as wildfirex15. "We were able to sneak in after another of our friends who worked putting the fence up around the place told us where we could get in. The first thing we saw was a couple of sheriff's officers and we thought we were in trouble but they did not seem to care about unpaid admissions. We were back aways from the speakers but I still remember the music being so loud. Great bands playing great music gave us great memories of our teenage years." 

When the three-day festival ended there were a number arrests for drug possession, but most of the 200,000 participants went home happy, although Goose Lake was widely criticized by conservatives. 

On Monday, Aug. 10, 1970 Giannunzio, the U. P. native and radio personality, was back on the air in Grand Rapids, telling listeners about his Goose Lake weekend. On 

Aug. 12, Giannunzio was pictured at Goose Lake on the station's weekly top 30 survey, under his professional name, Gary Mitchell. 

Retired from a lengthy career in radio, Giannunzio also cut two 45's as a young man under the name Joey Gee.

"I have talked about Goose Lake to many of my friends and I have never met anyone else who was there, or even heard of it. It was big, but didn't get much publicity at the time," 

Giannunzio, now a resident of Redmond, Washington, observed. "I'm glad I was there and have a picture to prove it," he added.

And the Beat Goes On

Look how fast things have changed...when I worked radio, the station (King Radio) had a van that we used for promotion. The neighbor kids would rush to look inside to see the telephone when I drove it home in the cul-de-sac...

...they thought it amazing at the time in the early 80's.

When  cell phones became popular I remember reading that "We haven't seen anything, yet"!...They were right...tablets, I-pads where we can get just about everything.

Encyclopedias you can't give away. When I go to the library hardly anyone is reading...all on their electronic devices....That's just the way it is now days.

No use to worry...like I said at the beginning "We haven't seen anything, Yet..."  

And the Beat Goes On (Sonny and Cher)   ---Joe  Sonny and Cher -- And the Beat Goes On

Most readers will find this a fascinating discussion as to where we have been and where we are now with future projections. A highly recommended read.

Interesting…

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide.

Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt.

What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people didn't see it coming.

Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again?

Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975.

The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law.

So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became superior and mainstream in only a few short years.

It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs.

Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Welcome to the Exponential Age.

Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.

Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world.

This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected.

In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs.

Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.

So if you study law, stop immediately.

There will be 90% fewer lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain.

Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 times more accurately than human nurses.

Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans.

In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self-driving cars will appear in public.

Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted.

You don't want to own a car anymore.

You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination.

You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving.

Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car.

It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% less cars for that.

We can transform former parking space into parks. (1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide.)

We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km.

That will save a million lives each year.

Most car companies might go bankrupt.

Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels.

I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.

Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper.

Their car insurance business model will disappear.

Real estate will change.

Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.

Electric cars will become mainstream until 2020.

Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on batteries.

Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean: Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact.

Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil.

The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025.

With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water.

Desalination now only needs 2kWh per cubic meter.

We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water.

Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year.

There will be companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breath into it.

It then analyses 54 bio-markers that will identify nearly any disease.

It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.

3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years.

In the same time, it became 100 times faster.

All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes.

Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports.

The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.

At the end of this year, new smart-phones will have 3D scanning possibilities.

You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home.

In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-story office building.

By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.

Business opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: "In the future, do you think we will have that?" and if the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner?

If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea.

And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed to failure in the 21st century.

Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years.

There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.

Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future.

Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all day in their fields.

Aeroponics will need much less water.

The first petri dish-produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow-produced veal in 2018.

Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows.

Imagine if we don't need that space anymore.

There are several startups who will bring insect protein to the market shortly.

It contains more protein than meat.

It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you are.

Until 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying.

Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.

Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.

Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year.

Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years.

The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more than one year increase per year.

So we all might live for a long, long time, probably way more than 100.

Education: The cheapest smart-phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia.

By 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smartphone.

That means, everyone has the same access to world class education.

Super Bowl "Drop Kick Me Jesus"

I send this every year on Super Bowl Sunday.

I get a "KICK" out of this song, I think? 

Drop Kick Me Jesus (through the goal posts of life) by Bobby Bare

I don't believe any Priests, Rabbis or Ministers are going to be saying prayers for your favorite team. 

I won't be watching with baited breath today,because neither the Seahawks nor Packers are one of the teams. 

You might not agree with my prediction:

Broncos 24-Panthers 21. 

Send me your prediction and may your team win (if you have a favorite).

Joe

P.S.  I do have one prayer to ask that you could say for me:  

"Please allow Joe to make all his putts, no balls in the sand, trees, water or grass when I golf of Tuesday. The weather has finally turned nice; highs in the lower 60s with sunshine.

Growing Old

All depends what one believes what getting old is. 

I tell my granddaughters this story.

When I was in a rock and roll band and turned 24 I thought I was too old to be doing that so I quit.

When I was about to turn 30 I kept it a secret because at that time the younger people were saying..."Don't trust anyone over 30" and I was an on-air DJ at the time.

When I turned 40, still  doing radio, record hops (sock hops, disco dances, etc) I thought maybe I am getting beyond my years to be doing this. Of course, it didn't help when some young kid said, "Wow, I have never seen a DJ with gray hair before!"  (I only had a few streaks but it bothered me) .

Even at 60, building houses, framing, trim work, insulation, siding etc...mostly by myself...neighbor lady stopped by the house I was building at the time. I told her I was looking for another lot to build on. Her comment?  "Joe, you are way to old to be building houses."  i never listened and kept doing it. Does take a toll on one's body, however.

I never was or wanted to be a politician.  But look at Bernie Sanders -- 74 -- and not giving up his dream even if he does not make it. The difference today is 84% of the young people like and believe in him. Times have changed.

My last living uncle Tony, 93, wrote novels, threw a pitch out from the mound last year at a Chicago Cubs baseball game. He is working on another  book right now.

Hope you don't mind these personal stories.  I am sure many of you can relate to them. 

Health is number one for me and having long conversations about the past and current times.  I reminisce a lot.  In fact, time for my daily exercise -- a mile walk to the coffee shop. I often say, If it wasn't for lifting my coffee cup, I wouldn't get any exercise at all.

Speaking of the coffee shop....I'm on my way and the sun is out.

Remember you will never be younger than you are at this very second. When I e-mail this...I will already be older. Time waits for no one.

Have great day, youngsters!

Cheers, 

Joe

Radio as a career and Harry Chapin sings W.O.L.D.

Radio, a fun career but not stable.

Those of us that were in radio felt the late Harry Chapin was singing our life stories in many ways.

 I remember being in my rock and roll band, going from town to town peddling our records, stopping into radio stations so the on-air jock could play our latest record, and they did. 

I would sometimes say, "You know, I like music so much I am going to become a DJ." 

The answer most of the time would be, "No you don't, unless you want no security and to become a radio gypsy through no fault of your own. Format change, new manager or PD thinking you made too much money" etc."

I never listened to their advice and instead became that DJ. 

I am glad I did it but the truth they talked about came to be.

I did mornings in Grand Rapids, nights in Detroit and on-air in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. 

In the 1990s, I decided to build houses, one-at-a-time and do on-air DJ at the same time, so I had something to fall back on. Only slept a few hours a day.

If you listen to the words of this song you will understand.

 Harry Chapin, a great song writer and performer ( Taxi) another excellent down to the raw bone was killed in a car accident on the way to a free concert he was going to do. 

Harry's wife said that he did so many free shows they barely had enough to live on.

 Wish he could have stayed with us longer. I am sure he would be performing even today.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l0fH0dRUow&feature=em-share_video_user

Give a listen, 

Joe

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Song by Dion "Abraham, Martin, and John"

This is a sad song but we should remember the good.. Still shocking how all died at the hands of guns. Yes,  the song tells how MLK saved a lot of people and he would have continued. Robert Kennedy would have been President and JFK would have continued with doing good for Americans.

Let's pray it never happens again.

Remember Martin Luther King Jr., today and forever.  He is dearly missed.

 Joe

Abraham, Martin and John by Dion

Snyder requests FEMA’s help with Flint water crisis - Personal Story

 A true story to go with this.

I was working radio in Lansing, Michigan, WJIM 1969....got a call from WTAC, big radio station in Flint. The program director heard me and offered me an on air job at double the money I was making. It was a union station and paid well. I got the job.

 Son Joey was just a few months old. Kathy and I took a drive around the city and didn't like what we saw....it looked run downed and not a place to raise a family. I had given my notice but after that changed my mind and stayed at WJIM. That never worked out either. I was there a year and went in to ask for a yearly raise. I had good ratings. The program director says:" Didn't you know? The owner, Hal Gross (fitting) name does not like DJ's and will never give you or any of jock (dj term) a raise!! I\

I wondered over to t he new rock and roll station in town, WVIC to see if there was an opening...there was and got the afternoon show. ( Got to see the late John Lennon at a peace rally and feel lucky for that)

  Oddly that same PD at WJIM hat the nerve to call me a couple of years later and asked if I wanted to come back because of my ratings being so good. Not being a vindictive person I just said..."Sorry, I enjoy doing the morning show in Grand Rapids at WGRD and the DJ's do get raises.

 So sometimes things do work out for the better. Sorry to hear of the drinking water being filled with led etc. Hope this is solved and the people (especially the kids) are not harmed for life.

 Joe

Washington Post article re: Flint water crisis

2016 New Year's Greeting from Joe Cooper Giannunzio

Let's start out  2016 by seeing the beauty of nature.   

My, time is flying, seems like yesterday I was saying, "Wow!  We are now in the Year 2000."   

Enjoy the attached YouTube video from National Geographic.

Happy New Year...may good health stay with you....more important than material things. 

--Joe

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hodomt6bBOw

Iron Mountain Kids ski jumping...late 40's, early 50's "High Flying Doug Nord"

Those of us that grew up in the U.P., northern Wisconsin did this when were kids....started on the lower jumps then graduated to the big man made scaffolds...some over a 100 feet high...I loved doing it...felt like flying on the bigger jumps when the air caught under your skis' and body...the landing had to be just right or one could be hurt badly....glad I did it then...if I tried it now, I would be in serious trouble.

 In this video I went off these same jumps....I don't recognize myself in any scenes. Some went on to Olympics fame like Willie Erickson.

 

 Mel Allen, sportscaster from the 40's and 50's did the narration....Very rare footage.

 Most of manmade artificial ski jumps have been torn down due to insurance...not sure if the kids still do this.

 Pine Mountain, scaffold 176 feet high still has a tournament every year...sometimes over 20,000 people attend the weekend event.

 

Happy Jumping, 

Joe 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYTbtjbyfww&feature=em-share_video_user

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High Flying Doug Nord by veryfitt

Vintage footage of big smiling, high flying, ski jumping protege, Duggy Nord in Iron Mountain Michigan, narrated by fabled voice, Mel Allen

Heartfelt Christmas Song and Personal Story - The Carpenters

  In 1972, we were living in Portland, Ore., I worked at KGW radio and had the honor of introducing the Carpenters at a sold-out show.

  After it was over we went to the dressing room area to meet Karen and Richard.

 Had a good conversation with Karen's brother, Richard, but Karen ran past us, into the dressing room without stopping and locked the door. 

  Her brother said she had problems, but did not say what they were. 

  Sadly, Karen Carpenter passed away years later. She was anorexic.

   Her voice was so sweet and she played the drums while she sang. Even in  the photo she looks too thin.

   Still this song will live forever. A story below on who wrote it and why.

 Merry Christmas, Joe

Merry Christmas, Darling - The Carpenters

Merry Christmas, Darling - The Carpenters by SharonTG

Karen's sweet voice singing the sweetest Christmas song. Richard Carpenter composed the music for this song in 1966 when he was 19 years old. Frank Pooler wrote the lyrics twenty years earlier, in 1946, when he also was only 19 years old. The song Pooler had written was to be a Christmas gift for his girlriend, whom he was missing while being away from her during a visit with his parents at Christmas time. However, their relationship ended before he could present it to her. Twenty years later, Pooler was the choir director at California State University in Long Beach, when both Karen and Richard Carpenter were members of the choir. Richard and Karen were performing locally and had tired of playing the usual Christmas fare. Richard asked Pooler, their favorite professor, if he had any ideas for different Christmas songs. Pooler remembered the Christmas song he had written many years before and mentioned it to Richard, adding that he didn't think much of the melody anymore. Richard said he would try his hand at writing new music for the lyrics. Within about 15 minutes he was finished creating a song, written by two teenagers who were a generation apart, that was destined to become a Christmas classic. The song was first released as a single (yes, a 45) on November 20,1970, and earned gold record status. This song sparked the idea of a Christmas album by The Carpenters, and on October 13, 1978, "Christmas Portrait" was released with this newly recorded version of the song. Karen re-recorded her vocals for the album version as she felt that she could give the vocals a more mature treatment. This newly recorded version was presented on their TV Christmas special in 1978, as seen here, and became a hit all over again.

When our grandparents and great-grandparents were welcomed: Neil Sedaka, The Immigrant

My grand parents came over from Italy in the early 1900's.  I would not be in America if not for them. 

The bands don't play, the welcome signs are not out...not the same anymore.

Neil Sedaka tells how it is in his song. ...Joe  

Neil Sedaka - The Immigrant

At Seventeen - Janis Ian

  I think back to the days when some girls and boys were left out in high school....maybe because of looks, shyness, being poor and ignored.....This song by Janis Ian sings of that. I do believe it is a personal story of hers. 

  Not in self-pity. but I do think back to those days...some of the kids that made the high school basketball team got on because their family was more prominent in small towns.

Janis Ian - At Seventeen

After my father died my mother married a no-good guy. We moved several times and lived in rented shacks....one of the houses did not even have a floor...just dirt...and it got cold in the winter with below zero weather in the U.P.

 In 10th grade we moved to another town. Not bragging...but I was a very good basketball player. I tried out for the team...each day the coach would put the list up of the players that were still in the running. We started out with 31 and only 10 were to be selected. I got to number ten, congratulated by others,  bought new basketball shoes with the little money I had from setting pins at the bowling alley.

 The next day I looked at the bulletin board and my name had been crossed off...and a high school classmate that had not gone out for the team decided at the last minute he would. His name was put there. Mine with just a line crossed through it.  I never went out for basketball again. I would play intramural and score lots of points...others would say...Why are you not on the basketball team.?...I never answered.

  I think of this now and then...how we had so few chances in high school. Maybe that is why I leaned to be in a R and R band and radio?   

  Still enjoyed high school...but was real shy. Years later at class reunions most classmates could not believe I was in radio.

  Hope your times were better. ...Joe

Pearl Harbor 74th Anniversary

Not born when it happened, but I do remember my parents talking about how shocked everyone was when it happened. 

Neighbors walked out of their homes to console each other..no Facebook , e-mail, TV...just radio back then. 

Not much coverage of it...and not many alive that were there when it happened. 

We need to remember.  ...Joe

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/remembering-74th-anniversary-pearl-harbor-photo-134056560.html?soc_src=mediacontentphoto&soc_trk=ma

Lost Words from Childhood

  A lot of these are before our time. When I use a couple of these with younger people...they have no idea what I am talking about. 

  Even when I was growing up I wondered when my late Uncle John would say...."Don't take any wooden nickels". 

  A few years ago I read how at one time, during World War 2, to save the metals for war machinery...the government made wooden coins for a short time. As time when on they were considered obsolete...but some people would pass them off with out you being aware...that's at least how I heard it..

  For the heck of it ...keep this list with you...see how others react when you use them.  Cheers, Joe

PS...About 30 years ago my daughter was with me (she was 7 or 8 at that time) riding down this bumpy road...I said...Washboard Lane...she said: "Dad, What's a Washboard"?

Lost Words from our childhood 

The other day a not so elderly (65) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her quizzically and said, "What is a Jalopy?"

So they went to the computer and pulled up a picture from the movie "The

Grapes of Wrath." Now that was a Jalopy!

I hope you are Hunky dory after you read this and chuckle...

*WORDS AND PHRASES REMIND US OF THE WAY WE WORD*

by Richard Lederer

About a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become

obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology. These phrases

included "Don't touch that dial," "Carbon copy," "You sound like a broken

record" and "Hung out to dry." A bevy of readers have asked me to shine

light on more faded words and expressions, and I am happy to oblige:

Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We'd put on our best bib and

tucker and straighten up and fly right. Hubba-hubba! We'd cut a rug in some

juke joint and then go necking and petting and smooching and spooning and

billing and cooing and pitching woo in hot rods and jalopies in some

passion pit or lovers lane. Heavens to Betsy! Gee whillikers! Jumping

Jehoshaphat! Holy moley! We were in like Flynn and living the life of

Riley, and even a regular guy couldn't accuse us of being a knucklehead, a

nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China!

Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when's the last time

anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the

D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes and pedal

pushers. Oh, my aching back. Kilroy was here, but he isn't anymore. 

Like Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle and Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim,

we have become unstuck in time. We wake up from what surely has been just a

short nap, and before we can say, I'll be a monkey's uncle! or This is a

fine kettle of fish! we discover that the words we grew up with, the words

that seemed omnipresent as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice

from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards. 

Poof, poof, poof go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind. We

blink, and they're gone, evanesced from the landscape and wordscape of our

perception, like Mickey Mouse wristwatches, hula hoops, skate keys, candy

cigarettes, little wax bottles of colored sugar water and an organ grinder's

monkey. 

Where have all those phrases gone? Long time passing. Where have all those

phrases gone? Long time ago: Pshaw. The milkman did it. Think about the

starving Armenians. Bigger than a bread box. Banned in Boston. The very

idea! It's your nickel. Don't forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a

grasshopper. Turn-of-the-century. Iron curtain. Domino theory. Fail safe.

Civil defense. Fiddlesticks! You look like the wreck of the Hesperus.

Cooties. Going like sixty. I'll see you in the funny papers. Don't take any

wooden nickels. Heavens to Murgatroyd! And awa-a-ay we go! 

Oh, my stars and garters! 

It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions.

We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeful times. For a

child each new word is like a shiny toy, a toy that has no age. We at the

other end of the chronological arc have the advantage of remembering there

are words that once did not exist and there were words that once strutted

their hour upon the earthly stage and now are heard no more, except in our

collective memory. It's one of the greatest advantages of aging.

See ya later, alligator!