FOLLOW THE LEADER
A fad is defined as something that becomes very popular for a defined group of people over a relatively short time period. We young boomers did have our fads. Things were going on that you just had to have, or do. While I don't fancy myself a follower, I was drawn to many a fad.
Two early school yard fads were jacks and marbles. Both would kind of come and go, as fads are prone to do. Jacks was played with ten or so small, metal, six pointed stars and a small rubber ball. You'd throw the ball up, grab a jack, let the ball bounce once, and try to catch it before it hit a second time. You would progress to picking up two jacks, three jacks, etc., until you were trying to grab all ten. There were variations of the game, some of which I recall to be double bouncers, pig in a pen, and flying Dutchman. Jacks was pretty much a girls game, since the guy hands were usually too large and clumsy to be very effective, but I do remember challenging the girls. I forgot who usually won. Marbles was another school-yard game. A circle was drawn on the ground, or made with chalk on the asphalt. You attempted to knock the opponents marbles out of the circle with a shooter, which was a slightly larger marble, usually made of glass. I remember there being some beautiful and prized marbles. Some of the kids had big marble collections, and there was usually a lot of trading going on. In a serious game of marbles, you kept the opponents marbles that you shot out of the circle, and the winner got the other persons shooter. This was serious business.
Another early fad I recall was making colored sand. This was accomplished by buying white sand, generally a nickel or dimes worth, and adding grated, colored chalk. Putting it in jars of various shapes and sizes, you would layer the white sand and chalk-colored sand, making an appealing, rainbow like arrangement. With just the right amount of shaking, which was an art, you could get a wavy, zig-zag configuration going. Some of the kids became very good at doing this, and their colored sand jars became highly prized. The vary best might bring a quarter, which at the time could buy you a double scoop, chocolate and marshmallow sundae, complete with whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry. Needless to say, we worked very hard at creating something appealing. I recall relatives being the best customers. Mainly mom and dad.
I remember collecting matchbook covers. Just the other day I learned a person who collects matchbooks is called a philuminist. I never knew I was a philuminist. Anyway,early on, matchbooks were the primary source of advertising for many businesses. While there were various types of matchbooks, the most popular was the twenty strike. There were literally an unending variety of advertisements, so that one usually had to specialize, say in tavern, service station, tobacco, beer, railroad, specific states, or political matchbooks. Hometown matchbooks were always prized. The matchbooks were displayed in albums. I must have had twenty or thirty. I'm not sure what ever happened to them. I'd like to have them, if for no other reason than the memories.
Raising pigeons was another odd fad that swept our town. I remember an old gentleman who seemed to be an expert on pigeons, so I'm assuming he started the fad. Pretty soon, me and my buddies all had to have pigeons. I'm not sure what the sense of it was, but we pursued collecting and raising pigeons with a vengeance. Building the coop was the first move in establishing your dominance. Next came the purchase of matching pairs, which were highly sought after. And finally, the ultimate in pigeondom, if they mated. From the start, I had something of an advantage, since there was a large, cement block, chicken coop left on our property. Converting this to pigeons was fairly easy. I probably had 25-30 pigeons at any given time. Oh, the glory.
High school brought with it a whole new set of fads, which I'll talk about on another day. I hope some of these early fads jog your memory. Or what's left of it. They say early memories stick around the longest. Maybe you can think of other fads, some you participated in. Feel free to share them. If you can remember.
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