"Dennis the Menace" Comic Strip Celebrates Birthday

Today is the birthday of the comic strip Dennis the Menace. The inspiration for the comic strip came from the real life son (named Dennis) of Hank Ketcham.

Unable to find a suitable name for his comic strip depicting the antics of his four year old son, it was "one" day that Dennis at four years old, refused to take a nap and went about messing up his room.

It was on this day that Dennis' mother (Alice) exclaimed to his father, "Your son is a menace!"

On March 12, 1951, the precocious yet lovable, freckle-face boy in comic strip form made its debut in sixteen syndicated newspapers.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

During a phone conversation early this morning from my daughter in Baltimore it occured to me that our children may have never seen snow of any great depth. There are 24 inches of snow so far in Baltimore and that is the most my daughter has ever seen. A lover of snow, she was laughing at the fact she had to dig a path to walk the dog. UGH!

Alot of us that have children that have never witnessed the "great snow storm" probably have some fond memories inches upon inches of snow. I am sure someone out there has a memory or two left of life when snow storms were snow storms. Years ago there was no doppler radar, no weather man on every channel and certainly no up to the minute updates.

I can remember a time where there was no "modernization" with winter. Most folks years ago used the almanac or weather (slight at that) once, maybe twice a day. And if the winter storm came, it did just that! It came. And being children of that generation, we waited.

We waited at the window watching the snow fall and waited for the clearance from good old mom telling us we could go out and play. Twenty-four inches of snow years ago was no big deal. We needed the snow drifts because it made it that much more "explorable".

Since this is a snow day for most big people too I hope you will share some of your fondest memories of snow when you were a child. One of the things about snow that tickles me (and sledding) are the plastic sleds. Do you remember when they were all wood? And if your sled broke or you didn't have one you'd beg your mom for a cookie sheet?


What do you remember? Or if you want to just comment on this storm. Let us know what you have been doing.

A Simpler Time

Back in the Day . . .

A simpler time

By Silver Planet Staff

What some might call the “old days” are pleasant memories for lots of us. How many of these do you remember?

• All the girls had ugly gym clothes.
• It took five minutes for the TV to warm up.
• Nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got home from school.
• Nobody owned a purebred dog.
• A quarter a week was a good allowance.
• You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
• Your mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
• All your male teachers wore neckties, and the female teachers had their hair done every day and wore high heels.
• You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all free, every time. You didn't pay for air, and you got trading stamps.
• Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes, or towels hidden inside the box.
• It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.
• Schools threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed—and they did.
• A ’57 Chevy was everyone's dream car.
• No one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car ignition and the doors were never locked.
• Kids played baseball with no adults around to “help” with the rules of the game.
• Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.
• Being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home.
• Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Laurel and Hardy, Howdy Doody and the Peanut Gallery, the Lone Ranger, the Shadow, Nellie Bell, Roy and Dale, Trigger, and Buttermilk were popular.
• Summers were filled with bike rides, baseball games, Hula Hoops, bowling, swimming, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.

With all our progress, don't you wish, just once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace, and share it with the children of today?