Opinion: Test recalls 'thrilling days of yesteryear'

The radio introductions for “The Lone Ranger” and “Superman” were so well-known that they were used in the later TV versions. I remember them and others that were not so well-known.

The one I am most often asked to perform is from a show called “Grand Central Station,” an hour-long radio drama that was heard on Saturday mornings. I can barely remember my Social Security number, however these things pop out of my long-term memory bank at the drop of a hat.

Grand Central Station’s intro began: “As a bullet seeks its target …” It dramatically describes the final leg of a train’s journey into New York City, concluding with the “… gigantic stage on which are played a thousand dramas daily.” The plot of the story would begin at the famed New York City railroad terminal.

“You must have a good memory,” is invariably the response to my performance. I don’t know why. I made no effort to do so, but the intros are firmly embedded. It’s like memorizing lyrics of old songs without trying.

Do you have a good memory? As a public service, the Rusty Saber will help you find out if you do.

On the subject of railroads, you have a good memory if you remember when elegant trains were the chief means of cross-country travel. If you do, you probably remember how pleasant rail travel was. You may also remember that, like Grand Central Station, many cities’ railroad stations were architectural marvels. The renovated stations in St. Louis and Kansas City are good examples.

Before leaving o1d time radio, anyone who remembers it has an excellent memory. Actually, it takes a pretty good one to remember pre-color TV. It may be hard for some to believe that there was a time when TV was only in black and white. Reception depended on the quality of your TV antenna; only three or four channels were available.

Get this: There was no remote control. You had to get up and walk to the TV set to turn it on or off and change channels. Take that, couch potatoes! If they believe it actually existed, youngsters must think pre-color, pre-remote-control TV is something from the Ice Age.

You also have a good memory if the iceman, milkman and paperboy mean anything to you.

One brought ice into the homes of those without those new-fangled electronic gadgets called refrigerators. Milk was once delivered in glass bottles to front porches early in the morning. (A popular song was ‘’Milkman, keep those bottles quiet.”) The paperboy rode a bicycle and tossed the newspaper onto the same porch where the milk was delivered.

Some may remember when smoking was thought to be super cool. In movies, the character of highly sophisticated women was established by having them smoke cigarettes in elegant cigarette holders. Male actors were characterized as macho by the way they smoked their cigarettes.

A man lighting a lady’s cigarette was the romantic thing to do. An even more romantic atmosphere was created by a man putting two cigarettes in his lips, lighting both and passing one on to his lady love. Imagine that being done today.

Those with long-term memories may know that there was a time when having a heart attack was usually fatal.

Medical science has increased by leaps and bounds the odds of cardiac survival. And in the memory of many, polio and tuberculosis were ominous words. They conjured up images similar to cancer today. Hopefully, medical science will again come to the rescue, leaving only those in the future with good memories to remember cancer as an ominous word.

I suppose the only way to score well on my memory test is to be old enough to have been around back when these events took place. I should have warned you.

Sorry, I forgot.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

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