LISTEN TO BOOMTOWN RADIO!

Make sure you're "hep to the jive" by staying up-to-date" with the latest dance craze. Learn the Batusi now!

Maybe you remember Bazooka Joe. But who remembers Pud?

We must never forget the contributions made to American pop culture by our animated brothers and sisters.

Fresh-Up Freddie got his big show biz break in 1957 when he was selected as the spokesbird for 7-Up. Exactly what kind of bird was never made clear.

The campaign was hatched by the Leo Burnett advertising agency and the design of the character as well as the animation was done by the Walt Disney Studios. Freddie made his debut on Walt Disney’s Zorro TV series, which also debuted in 1957.  His voice was provided by veteran voice artist Paul Frees (best remembered as the voice of Boris Badenov as well as the narrator for “The Haunted Mansion” at the Disney theme parks).

The formula for nearly all of Freddie’s commercials began with Freddie asking a hypothetical question that began, “Right now, you’re probably asking yourself…” Of course, the answer to every one of the questions somehow involved using 7-Up. The commercials all ended with Freddie singing a sort of nonsensical jingle that sure sounded like “Beet-en, Beet-en, Beet-en/Nothing does it like 7-Up!” (You can watch one here.)

Alas, as we moved into the 1960’s, 7-Up morphed into “the Un-Cola” and Freddie’s contract was not renewed.

But there was a time when there were actually Fresh-Up Freddie toys, buttons and of course, lots of magazine ads!

Boomtown America is proud to salute this plucky animation icon!

If you were a Baby Boomer who got up at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings, poured yourself a big bowl of Sugar Smacks and plopped your self down in front of the family TV, you were up early enough to catch The Mighty Mouse Playhouse, which opened the kiddie programming for CBS.

Among the supporting players on that show, were the unusual comic teaming of a goose and cat named Gandy & Sourpuss. In case you were wondering whatever became of them after CBS cancelled the show...

Alas, Lum’s Restaurants, purveyors of those beer-steamed dogs is no more. A shame,too. At their peak they had 450 stores across America and threw off enough cash that the corporate owners were able to purchase Caesar’s Palace in Vegas.

That’s where the problems began. Once they acquired the resort, they sold off the Lum’s chain to the guy that was running KFC. He got the company moving in the wrong direction and then sold it to Weinerwald, which completely ran Lum’s into the ground many years ao.

Beyond the hot dogs, many of us fondly remember their hamburger, the Ollieburger. Invented by Oliver G. Gleichenhaus, a restaurateur himself, who sold his recipe to Lum’s. The burger proved popular enough that Lum’s also spun off a smaller chain of Ollie’s Trolleys that also served the burger.

If reading this has you jonesing for an Ollieburger, there is a company in Port Richey, Florida that claims to sell the original seasoning for it and other Lum’s delicacies. We have not sampled their products so we are not endorsing them, but simply making you aware. You can find them at: hosting.conquest.digital/ollieburgerspices/  

Makes you wonder what else DuPont gave her besides cellophane!

Or at least that's what they wanted for their hair. So, they started ironing it!

Today, of course, there are much more efficient appliances for straightening hair, but this is the way we did it back in the 1960's!

Ask anyone under 40 about a fast-food chain named Burger Chef and you’re likely to get a puzzled expression. Or maybe, if they’re a fan of the TV series Mad Men, they might recognize the name as an account Don Draper and Peggy Olsen were pitching in one of that series’ episodes.

But Baby Boomers should remember Burger Chef as the chain that was challenging McDonald’s for fast-food supremacy in the 1960’s!

The chain started in 1954 in Indianapolis, IN. Two brothers, Dave and Frank Thomas were working on a flame broil system for Burger King (another franchise that had recently started). The brothers decided not to sell their flame broiler, instead opting to go into business for themselves.

Besides flame broiling, the chain also created a couple of other innovations:

• The “Value Combo” that included burger, fries and a drink for one, lower price
• The “Fun Meal” with a toy for kids (Yep, just as McDonald’s ripped off Big Boy when they “created” the Big Mac, the Happy Meal was a rip-off of Burger Chef’s kids meal.)
• The “Self-Serve Works Bar” where you could add your own toppings.

At their peak, Burger Chef had 2,400 locations across the country. So, what happened?

In 1971, the chain was sold to General Foods and that proved to be their undoing. While General Foods knew the grocery business, they didn’t really know the burger business.

General Foods actually charged their franchisees too little in royalties. That left them underfunded when it came to national advertising, marketing and developing new items for their menu.

McDonald's began adding things like salads, breakfast sandwiches and more to their menu. Burger King used their “Have It Your Way” advertising campaign to stress their ability to deliver a custom-ordered burger quickly. That helped establish them as the main alternative to Mickey D’s. So, Burger Chef moved from second to third place in most consumers’ minds.

Eventually, General Foods decided they’d had enough of the fast-food business and sold the chain to Hardee’s.

And that’s the way the burger flips!

Remember when all the girls were trying to look like grannies?

Now, many of you ARE grannies!