“Oh, my sweet Saturday, I have been waiting for you for six long days.”
Today is sunny and warm. It is 60°. It is the first weekend in a while that it isn’t raining. I have a couple of household chores I choose to ignore. The sloth in me is holding sway.
When I was a kid, Saturday was the best day of all. The morning was dedicated to sitting in front of the TV watching all the kid shows, munching cereal and slurping milk. The rest of the day was set aside for roaming. Sometimes I even biked to one of the towns around mine. I loved the railroad station one town over and would sit on a bench for a while hoping for a train. Supper on Saturday was always the same, but I never minded. I was and am a fan of hot dogs. The Saturday bath after supper was a ritual. I remember my sisters crying when my mother combed the snarls out of their newly shampooed hair. That too was a Saturday ritual. We got to stay up later. TV back then was filled with westerns like Sugarfoot, for which I can still sing the theme, The Roy Rogers Show with Happy Trails to You as the closing song which I can play on my uke, and my favorites like Maverick and Have Gun, Will Travel. I used to read in bed until my mother yelled up the stairs for me to turn off the light. Saturday was the perfect day.
When I lived in Ghana, Saturday was the day to go to town to pick up essentials in the market. I had my favorite egg man and my favorite vegetable lady from whom I bought onions and tomatoes. I used to roam the market hoping to find surprises like that watermelon, the only one I ever saw. From the kiosks lining the street, I’d buy canned goods like margarine and evaporated milk. From small girls carrying their goods on their heads I’d buy bread and bofrot aka puff puff which looked like donut holes only a little bigger and better tasting.
Saturday night was entertainment night at my school. There was tribal dancing and once in a while a movie. I remember Great Expectations and my students having no idea what was happening with the quick dialogue. My favorite was a cartoon about keeping flies off food. The movies and cartoons came from a USAID guy who occasionally dropped into town but whom I seldom saw.
I have an entirely empty dance card this weekend for which I am grateful. I’m going to loll.
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November 4, 2023 at 2:42 pm
Hi Kat,
Today is another gorgeous day with a high of 76°. This morning was foggy.
Yes, Saturday mornings was the time for kids shows. In those days there were only three networks and maybe one or two local broadcast stations. The shows were designed to sell kids unhealthy and sugary cereals. These were the days before cable TV and streaming wasn’t even a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye.
My mother warned me of going blind by sitting on the floor within a foot of the monochrome screen. I don’t remember the TV show, “Sugarfoot”. However, everyone knew, Roy and Dale singing, “Happy Trails”. While growing up in Texas, I never saw nor heard of a singing cowboy. I couldn’t understand how yodeling went from Switzerland to the old west. Maybe, there was only Gene Autry and Roy Rogers who rode horses while they sang and played guitar at the same time. 🙂
As a kid I never thought about what kids in other countries did on Saturday mornings. I just assumed they watched the same shows as we did. I also assumed that they all spoke English. We grew up at a time when we thought the entire world revolved around the U.S. However, I did think that the Cisco Kid was probably bilingual. 🙂
November 4, 2023 at 10:29 pm
Hi Bob,
We stayed in the high 50’s all day,and it is now in the low 50’s. It will be about the same tomorrow.
I ate Rice Krispies which weren’t that high in sugar. My brother ate Cheerios which are fairly healthy; however, I do admit I put sugar on my cereal! There was plenty on TV to keep us glued to the set all morning. We were always up early and got our own cereal.
My mother never warned us about going blind so we sat where we wanted. We just couldn’t block the view. I knew Gene Autry who was nicknamed the singing cowboy, and I watched Roy sing in movies and on his TV show. I also knew Tex Ritter who sang the theme to High Noon. Cowboy yodeling was pretty common. Both Gene and Roy yodeled.
I also never thought about kids from other countries and their Saturdays. I think maybe in Europe they didn’t watch TV but still had Saturdays similar to ours. In Ghana Saturday was similar to every other day except Sunday.
I agree about the Cisco Kid.
November 4, 2023 at 11:10 pm
Regardless of what cereal you and I may have eaten, the kids shows were usually sponsored by cereals such as, The Cisco Kid, which was brought to you by Sugar Pops – Shot From Guns. Another was sponsored by Frosted Flakes. It’s true that Wheaties featured athletes on their packaging but I don’t think it was really healthy. I find it interesting that the cereal companies have renamed the kids cereals to make modern mothers to think their cereals are healthier for the kids.
November 5, 2023 at 1:43 pm
I remember The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles were also sponsored by Sugar Corn Pops as they were called back then and were also shot from guns at the start of the show. I didn’t remember The Cisco Kid. I looked up the first athlete on Wheaties. It was Lou Gehrig. Wheaties are actually healthy. Low Fat Shredded Wheat is the healthiest. I never eat it. I always think it resembles horse feed. I actually think many mothers keep watch on the cereal. Healthy seems big these days.