December 11

Betty Grable had been working in Hollywood for nearly a decade, starting as a chorus girl and dancing for $50 a week. She had nearly given up on the dream of success. But after ten years of hard work, Betty finally got some breaks and made some news. One of these breaks came on December 11, 1939.

It was on this day in 1939 that Life Magazine featured Betty Grable and her million dollar legs on its cover.

In 1943, this photo of Betty Grable made its way into the hands of millions of GIs fighting WWII and became for them the symbol of “back home”. Wholesome and beautiful but sexy, for them she represented what they were fighting for.

The old song says, “No, they can’t take that away from me” and that is certainly true for Les Loken, a 94-year-old World War II veteran. He has been recording his memories on video and putting them up on YouTube.

YouTube is one of those new-fangled things on the internet, essentially a library of all kinds of videos that people can add to and others watch. It is the latest thing with the young, of course, but Les has shown that it’s for older people too.

His series of videos deals with his early life, the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, the war in the Pacific and the occupation of Japan. As eye witness accounts, they are both interesting and revealing, as well as being a potentially rich source for historians. In fact, so interesting are Les’ videos that young people have found them and begun to respond in videos of their own. There is still some respect for the past, it seems.

If you have a broadband internet connection, I recommend that you click on the links below and enjoy Les and his memories.

Les Loken - Part 1 (Pearl Harbor)

Les Loken - Part 2 (War in the Pacific)

Les Loken - Part 3 (Occupation of Japan)

Les Loken - Part 4 (Friendship with Namikawa)

Les Loken - Part 5 (Occupied Japan)

Les Loken - Part 6 (Earliest years)

Les Loken - Part 7 (The Great Depression)

Les Loken - Part 8 (Military career)

Les Loken - Part 9 (More WWII experiences)

This year is the 80th year of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Originally started by Macy’s largely immigrant employees in 1924, the parade has become an American tradition. The parade has gone on every year except during the early 40s as the nation conserved rations and dealt with the seriousness of WWII. Macy’s donated the balloons to the war effort as the rubber was a much-needed resource. The parade resumed in 1945.

The 1947 film, Miracle on 34th Street brought the parade to the attention of the public outside of New York City and with the advent of televised parades in the 50s, the entire country was able to watch and enjoy the spectacle. Over the years more balloons and musical acts were added, the collaboration with Walt Disney leading to the addition of many character balloons.

The parade always goes on, rain or shine and always features great music, marching bands, stars of Broadway and television and of course, Santa Claus.

For information on this year’s parade route and entertainment, check out the official Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade website.

Jack Benny was one of the most beloved stars of both the Golden Age of Radio and the Golden Age of TV. Born Benjamin Kubelsky, he underwent a couple of name changes in his career. By the time he became “Jack Benny” he was established in the comedic character that millions of Americans would come to know and love.

In reality, Jack was nothing like the character he played on stage - vain, self-important and the ultimate skinflint. Much of the humor in sketches on both radio and television centered on these less than admirable qualities. But Jack didn’t mind that the jokes were usually on him. He was known to say that he didn’t care who got the laugh as long as the show was funny.

Jack never aged past 39. He had celebrated his 39th birthday on his show and didn’t want to celebrate 40. He didn’t think 40 was a very funny age and so he continued to be 39. It became another one of Jack’s running jokes and trademarks.

Another was his violin. In reality, Jack started playing the violin at age 6 and was accomplished enough to make his living at it in his early days.

Perhaps Jack’s greatest talent was his ability to get a laugh by saying nothing. With pregnant pauses, facial expressions and hand gestures, he cracked up the audience and the laughs were sustained and even increased with the length of the pause.

Possibly the best-known pause and subsequent punch line came when a mugger demanded of Jack “Your money or your life”. Jack paused and looked at the studio audience. Getting no response after a few moments, the mugger rasps again, “Look, pal! I said your money or your life!” to which Jack snaps back, “I’m thinking it over!”.

If you have a yen to return to the days of genuinely funny comedy, then I have found some great clips for you to watch.

You can watch an entire Jack Benny program by clicking on these links in sequence:

JACK BENNY & LIBERACE PART 1 Watch for a guest appearance by Bea Benederet as a telephone operator

JACK BENNY & LIBERACE PART 2 Hilarious look into the home life of Liberace

JACK BENNY & LIBERACE PART 3 Watch Jack play violin in concert with Liberace

These links will take you to a film of Jack, Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson and Eddie Anderson as Rochester as they broadcast Jack’s radio show:

Jack Benny from Camp Haan 1942 Part 1

Jack Benny from Camp Haan 1942 Part 2