Saturday, May 21, 2011

Today In History...

...May 21, 1819…Bicycles were first seen in the U.S. in New York City. They were originally known as "swift walkers."

I have two memories of bicycles that I had.

The first bicycle was when I was 9 years old.  We were living in Poquson, Virginia and when we moved into this home out on the island, I discovered an old men's bicycle.  It was old and rusted and didn't even have a seat, but it didn't stop me from riding it.  I would to park it up side the steps or a tree truck or some high object to be able to climb on board.  I would just sit on the bar and peddle around the yard happy as could be.











The second bicycle was when I was about 12 or 13 years old and we were living on base at Johnson Air Station.  It was my pride and joy because I had saved up my allowance and bought this bike similar to the one in the picture below.  It was painted blue and had a pink plaid seat and I even purchased me a white woven bicycle basket that was decorated with a flower similar to the one shown below.  Because of that basket, Mom would send me on errands for her which I loved because as long as I could ride my bike, I didn't care what the reason was.


This was our on base housing.  My family lived in the left hand side of this duplex.

May 21, 1990

…The last episode of "Newhart," starring Bob Newhart as a Vermont innkeeper, aired on CBS-TV, one of the most memorable series finales in television history. At the end of the show, viewers saw Dr. Bob Hartley wake up in bed saying, "Honey, you won't believe the dream I just had." Then Emily (Suzanne Pleshette, Hartley's wife from The Bob Newhart Show) rolled over to speak with him. The bedroom was a recreation from "The Bob Newhart Show," and the entire "Newhart" series was revealed to have been a dream in the mind of Bob Newhart's 1970s character.


This was one of my favorite television during the latter part of the 1980's.