The morning after Christmas Day 2004 found me relaxing at my mother's house in Pittsburgh reading Sunday's Post Gazette when I came across a small item in the paper's "World News Roundup" section. It was just one paragraph, about a tidal wave that followed a very strong underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia. It wasn't until that evening that the enormity of the disaster was communicated to the West. And for the next week horrifying first-person accounts and videos appeared (see below), bringing the year to a sobering end.
The tsunami struck the shores of eleven countries and caused an estimated 230,000 deaths (including 9,000 foreign tourists). It ranks as the deadliest tsunami in history and joined a 1976 earthquake in China and a 1970 cyclone in Bangladesh as the deadliest natural disasters in my lifetime. Less than a year later the U.S. would experience one of its worst natural disasters when Hurricane Katrina produced deadly flooding in New Orleans. However, Katrina was tame by comparison to this cataclysmic wave of water.
Until this year my hometown Pittsburgh Steelers had a long history of losing. This season, however, they finished with a solid winning record (11-3) and made it to the playoffs. On this Saturday afternoon the Oakland Raiders were in Pittsburgh playing the Steelers in the AFC Divisional Playoffs. While the game was being played I was out collecting payment from customers of my morning paper route (the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Since it was Christmas, instead of the usual 25-50 cent tips, I was collecting tips in the stratospheric $2 to $5 range.
When I returned home the game was on the radio and it didn't look good as the Raiders had a 7-6 lead late in the game. Then in a flash the tables were turned as a pass by Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw bounced off the intended receiver and landed in the hands of Steelers rookie (and NFL Rookie of the Year) Franco Harris just before it reached the ground. He scooped it up and scooted 60 yards for the game winning touchdown with less than 20 seconds remaining. However, it took five minutes before Harris' catch was confirmed by officials as a legitimate reception. It was even more confusing if you weren't watching on TV as was our case since the game was blacked out in Pittsburgh.
Even today it seems unbelievable that this catch happened. And although the Steelers season ended the next week when they lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins it was the beginning of the Steelers becoming one of the most successful and widely followed teams in the nation. (To immerse yourself fully in "Steelers Nation" lore the book The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Pittsburgh Steelersis a good starting point.)
I heard the news of Walt Disney's death on the car radio as my family and I were driving home after doing grocery and Christmas shopping. He was only 65 years old but since I was just 9 that seemed pretty old to me. You might think a young child would be disturbed by this news, especially coming so close to Christmas, but I don't recall being upset. Perhaps it was because I was excited by the weather forecast for the next day predicting a snowstorm for the Pittsburgh area. Alas, it didn't materialize but further east the Mid-Atlantic states got a good amount of snow.
3 days after Disney's death my attention shifted to Dr. Seuss whose animated holiday special How the Grinch Stole Christmas aired for the very first time on CBS. Like A Charlie Brown Christmas (which had its first telecast the year before) The Grinch would also become a holiday classic for the ages.
(The book Walt Disney: Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler is one of a number of in-depth biographies of Disney, but Gabler has the distinction of being the first writer to be given complete access to the Disney archives.)
It was early Saturday afternoon when I brought in the afternoon paper (Pittsburgh Press) from the front porch and saw the headline about a bridge disaster in nearby Point Pleasant, WV the night before. The Silver Bridge fell into the Ohio River during evening rush hour, killing 46. It still ranks as the nation's deadliest bridge collapse.
Although I was just 10 at the time the tragedy resonated for two reasons: 1) It was incongruous to my young brain that such a tragedy could occur at Christmastime and 2) Because of its famed three rivers Pittsburgh was a city of bridges and every Sunday we traveled over one (the Wind Gap Bridge) to pick up my grandmother for church. For some time after the Silver Bridge disaster I'd become nervous whenever we'd be stopped on the bridge because of traffic.
All disasters are unfortunate but those that occur during the Christmas season are particularly tragic. Some of the more high profile in the past 50 years include: 1960 - On 12/16 two planes collided over Staten Island killing 134; 1975 - A bomb exploded in a locker at LaGuardia Airport on 12/29 killing 11 and injuring 75; 1988 - Pan Am flight 103 bound for NYC exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on 12/21 killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground; and 2004 - The great Indian Ocean tsunami (pictured) killed 230,000+ the day after Christmas.
Nine months after the war in Iraq began and 4-1/2 months after his two sons were shot dead (which I heard about while on vacation in Iceland), Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was found by U.S. forces hiding in a hole on the grounds of a farmhouse about 80 miles from Baghdad. On him was an AK-47, $750,000 in cash and some chocolate.
Although his capture occurred on December 13 it wasn't until the next day that the news was made public. I was in the midst of doing holiday-related chores that snowy afternoon (i.e. shopping at Union Square's Christmas fair, writing Christmas cards, sending checks to favorite charities) when I turned on the TV to check football scores. Instead, a news report was on showing video of the capture. On Monday the NY Times ran a scary/unflattering photo of Hussein front-and-center on Page One (pictured).
Three years later, on New Year's Eve, he was executed by hanging. The capture (which was the real reason for the war) served as a diversion for the Bush Administration from the fruitless search for the non-existent WMDs.
If you were a kid in the 60's historical events of that decade may not be easily remembered - but what Santa placed under the tree Christmas morning is probably still etched in your mind. Here are some of the presents I remember most fondly.
Deluxe Playmobile (1962). This ranks as my all-time favorite present. It was a full dashboard of a car with working windshield wipers, turn signal indicator & ignition which made a purring motor sound when the ignition was turned on. Little did I know back then as a 5-year old that this would be the closest I'd come to owning a car (I've lived in Manhattan for my entire adult life and haven't needed one).
Linus the Lionhearted Lion stuffed animal (1963). "Krispy Kritters" was a new breakfast cereal with the manic tagline of "The one and only cereal that comes in the shape of animals!" as an array of animated creatures from the savannahs of Africa scooted across the TV screen in a stampede. Linus was the spokesanimal and his stuffed likeness was a premium with box tops.
Kenner's Give-a-Show Projector(1964). The projector showed slides of various Hanna Barbera cartoon characters. I got a kick out of projecting the images on the ceiling of my darkened bedroom or on my pillowcase and playing around with the focus band to show the images as huge or tiny.
Hands Down (1964). This was a game that required hand-slapping action onto one of 4 plastic hands (called the "Slam-o-Matic"). Suspense was created when a player picked a card from the deck and the other players wondered if he/she had two-of-a-kind, which would instigate slapping down of his/her assigned hand. The last person who slapped was penalized. Fun came when someone faked and got others to foolishly slap their hands. Because of the vigorous slapping action I worried about the plastic hands breaking off.
King of the Hill (1965). Using marbles as playing pieces, the route to the top of the hill included detours/holes that could lead your marble to reappear far away. If your marble made it to the top a crown would pop up. This game brings back a nasty memory. On Christmas night we drove my grandmother home and upon arriving at her house I got out of the car to let her out and stepped in a large puddle of dog excrement. On the drive home we kept the car windows rolled down and I hung my shoe out the window. It was one of those "we'll laugh about this later" moments.
"Lost in Space" pullover (1965). This long-sleeved pullover jersey was in the style of the outfits worn by the male characters of the new CBS show Lost in Space. I think it was the first time I was excited to get clothes for Christmas and I couldn't wait to wear it to school. My brother also got one; his was blue, mine black.
Battery powered TWA airplane (1968). It made separate sounds for taxiing and for flying and had flashing red lights. It was about 12 inches in length and made out of metal. I'd walk from room to room imagining routes the plane was travelling to all over the world. That Christmas was made memorable by the Hong Kong Flu which was raging throughout the country. Because everyone in my family had a touch of the flu we didn't go to Christmas mass. Also, the first space mission to orbit the Moon, Apollo 8, took place during the holiday.
Spirograph (1968). This arts/crafts kit enabled aspiring juvenile artists to make beautiful, somewhat psychedelic images through a selection of colored pens, pins and design templates. It was a safe way for a child coming of age in the "Age of Aquarius" to experience mind expansion without using pot or LSD.
Skittle Bowl (1970). I spent many a weekend in the winter of 70/71 in heated competition with my parents & older brother playing this variation of bowling. We'd place the board on the kitchen table and each of us took a turn pushing out the billiard-sized wooden ball (attached to a post by a chain) in an arc. The ball would strike miniature bowling pins. Mom & I were rather mellow players but my dad & brother were hyper-competitive which sometimes led to tension that occasionally lasted beyond the match.
My gushing over these cherished toys is not meant to slight the myriad other wonderful gifts I've received over the years, such as Lincoln Logs, Matchbox cars, the games Operation, Yahtze & Mousetrap, a miniature Lionel train set and many more. To immerse yourself in even more toys you may want to consider the DVD Classic Toy Commercials of the 60's or the book Classic Toys of the National Toy Hall of Fame.
On a Sunday evening in early December 1971 I was watching a long forgotten Christmas special. But what I remember was a commercial for Coca Cola in which a group of young people of various ethnic backgrounds was gathered on a hill singing a song called I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke. It was also released as a single which became a top-10 hit for the New Seekers. However, because of radio overplay I came to despise this treacly song (akin to Disney's It's a Small World).
Some holiday commercials can be very cloying, especially the plethora of those for cars with big red bows on top (how many people really give cars as gifts?) However, I don't want the theme of this post to take on a negative tone since there is a bounty of wonderful Christmas ads to celebrate. For instance, some of those by the GAP are delightful. I dare you not to smile or have the desire to do some toe tapping ...
Target ran a beautiful dreamlike series of ads during the 2006 Christmas season that combined ethereal white and blue hues with soft techno music by British duo Goldfrapp.
In 1999 Amazon ran wonderfully kitschy ads that were take offs of the Sing Along with Mitch TV show from the early 60's. But despite the acclaim this campaign received Amazon put its account up for review the following year and the ad agency that created these ads, FCB San Francisco, resigned the account.
Magazines also have their share of stylish holiday-oriented ads. Here are three from Smirnoff, Tiffany & Co. and Absolut:
This ad for Smirnoff is from the early 1990's. It was before the flavored vodka craze hit so if you wanted a taste of peppermint back then you'd need to dip a candy cane into your drink. Perhaps the candy cane in this ad was a subtle way of enticing kids (or kids that read The New Yorker)?
Befitting its image, Tiffany's holiday ads are classy and stylish - and, of course, they always display the famous Tiffany box.
Absolut's venerated all-print campaign has been running since 1980 and was chosen by Ad Age as one of the 10 best campaigns of the 20th century. Close to 2,000 ads have been created using clever wordplay, names of cities and designers, holidays and creative depictions of the iconic Absolut bottle. This lovely holiday ad is from the early days of the campaign. (If you like ads you may enjoy a coffee table book titled Absolut Book which includes 500 of the ads.)
Many thanks to my mother for filling in for me to recount her memories of the day Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, an act that drew the U.S. into World War II.
Sunday, December 7 was a mild early winter day in Pittsburgh. After going to morning Mass and having lunch Mom went visiting at a girlfriend's house where their socializing was interrupted by a news bulletin on the radio reporting on Japan's surprise aerial attack of the U.S. Navy base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii shortly after sunrise. Shortly afterward her friend Ginny's brother-in-law, who was home on military leave, received a call ordering him back to base immediately. (The book At Dawn We Slept is one of many on the subject of this sneak attack.)
Because Pittsburgh was one of the centers of U.S. military production there were fears about it being bombed as well. This led to regular blackout exercises whereby residents were required, upon hearing air-raid sirens, to switch off all lights and pull down window shades. The goal was to make streets and landmarks harder to pinpoint in the event enemy bombers were overhead. Mom's brother, my uncle George, was a senior in high school at the time and after graduating was inducted into the Marines and sent to Paradise Island for training. He then spent the next three years in the Pacific repairing planes. And Mom, then a junior in high school (her "sweet 16" birthday was the following week on December 14), helped with the war effort by distributing ration coupons. After she graduated in 1943 she got a job documenting and tracking supplies of ammunition being put on supply ships sailing to Europe.
Although it was a time of great worry Mom didn't recall feeling fearful but instead there was a sense of purpose and solidarity with neighbors and schoolmates as each made contributions to the war effort.
