It's as if I hopped in the DeLorean, flux capacitor in place, and set the time for the spring of 1965.
OK, so maybe instead I have a minivan with a neon green air freshener, but you get the idea.
All I know is that between writing articles about the Monroe basketball championship of that year, followed a few weeks later by the Palm Sunday tornado of which I've researched and chronicled for a special section to run Saturday, I totally feel like I've gone back in time.
And I was surprised at what I saw. Here I always thought 1965 was a time of the long-haired hippies running wild, but instead every picture showed kids in crew cuts looking downright dapper.
Things appeared much more Buddy Holly than Charlie Manson. Monroe might as well have been Mayberry R.F.D.
Maybe a small town like Monroe took a bit longer to roll with the changes, but on a national level, those changes soon did come and they came in a hurry. And that's what makes 1965, in my estimation, an interesting year of transition. A look at 1966, for example, was so much different.
That was the year that saw the first college-campus Vietnam protests, a huge influx in race riots, and some awful murderous rampages - a sniper atop a bell tower in Austin killed 13 and a lunatic in Chicago named Richard Speck killed eight nurses.
Back then, the Beatles seemed to be the ultimate barometer for change. In 1965, they were asking for "Help." By the end of 1966, they not only had they stopped touring but they had a "Revolver."
Typically, change moves a bit slower than this. My senior year of 1982 looked a lot like 1986. Is 2015 much different than 2011? But compare 1965 to 1969 - no resemblance whatsoever.
Yes, the mid-'60s appeared to be the exception. Was 1965 the last year of purity before 15 years of cultural chaos broke loose?
Matt Figi and Larry Phillips both became Monroe High School seniors in the fall 1965, soon to take on a new world. Coincidentally, both are historians today. Doesn't that fact in itself vouch for their era being an ultra unique and memorable one? So, fellas, what was it like to be on the cusp of such a progressive time?
"I really don't remember it that way," said Figi, who grew up south of Monroe on a farm. "I just remember working a lot on the farm and going to school - not much more. There wasn't time for much more.
"We didn't know a lot about what was going on in places like Madison. In Monroe, we were pretty insulated from all of that."
Phillips agreed.
"We were all pretty normal - it was the occasional kid who wore the long hair and the beads that the media would pick up on," he said. "I remember Life magazine had a cover that read "The New Generation Breaks Out.' Here, the most rebellion you'd see was a kid sitting on his porch smoking a cigarette.
"The change seemed fairly slow. Of course politically, on the college campuses, it snowballed."
OK, so maybe I too got a bit carried away with buying into the stereotypes of the 1960s. Still, I chuckle to know that most from this era would indeed grow out their hair, Figi included.
Anyway, for those of you who weren't around in 1965, here's what you missed:
• Making their debut: Diet Pepsi, canned Spaghettios, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Cool Whip, the TV show "Green Acres," Bill Cosby's acting career ("I Spy"), a man walking in space (the Soviets), U.S. airlifting of Cubans who wished to live here, the respirator (replacing the iron lung), the optical disk (now called the compact disc), health warnings on cigarette packages, the mini skirt, T.G.I Friday's and Subway sandwich shop.
• Vietnam: By year's end, nearly 200,000 U.S. troops were there, and Australia began sending troops of its own.
• Assassinated: Human rights leader Malcolm X.
• Academy Award: "My Fair Lady."
• Emmy for outstanding comedy: "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
• Top-selling song: "I Got You Babe," Sonny and Cher.
• Costs: The average household income was $6,450, a gallon of gas was 31 cents, bread was 21 cents, the cost of a house averaged $13,660 (new homes averaged about $21,000), new cars cost an average of $2,650, a postage stamp was 5 cents, a payphone call 10 cents, a Hershey bar was 5 cents.
• Parking: Monroe's shiny-new municipal ramp celebrated its one-year birthday.
That list tells us this: Yes, those sure were simpler times.
My exploration of Monroe's good old days goes back even further, thanks to an upcoming series of history-inspired feature stories debuting in the April 6 edition. The project has given me an appreciation for those who have lived rich, fulfilling lives. And many are from the era we call the Greatest Generation - an era like none other.
One interview I did, with local treasure Martha Bernet, stands as one of my favorites in my 25-plus years of journalism.
So I'll leave you with this: Interview someone older, even if it's a parent, about their lives. I did this with my father recently, regarding his time in post-war occupied Europe, and I was fascinated. And to think I've known the guy for 50 years.
And now I'm back to my time machine, changing the setting from 1965 to 2065. Why 2065? I hear the Monroe Common Council is ready to decide on what to do with the parking ramp, and I've just got to be there for that.
- John Morton covers the city beat for the Monroe Times and can be reached at jmorton@themonroetimes.com or by phone at 608-328-4202, ext. 50. His column appears Mondays.
OK, so maybe instead I have a minivan with a neon green air freshener, but you get the idea.
All I know is that between writing articles about the Monroe basketball championship of that year, followed a few weeks later by the Palm Sunday tornado of which I've researched and chronicled for a special section to run Saturday, I totally feel like I've gone back in time.
And I was surprised at what I saw. Here I always thought 1965 was a time of the long-haired hippies running wild, but instead every picture showed kids in crew cuts looking downright dapper.
Things appeared much more Buddy Holly than Charlie Manson. Monroe might as well have been Mayberry R.F.D.
Maybe a small town like Monroe took a bit longer to roll with the changes, but on a national level, those changes soon did come and they came in a hurry. And that's what makes 1965, in my estimation, an interesting year of transition. A look at 1966, for example, was so much different.
That was the year that saw the first college-campus Vietnam protests, a huge influx in race riots, and some awful murderous rampages - a sniper atop a bell tower in Austin killed 13 and a lunatic in Chicago named Richard Speck killed eight nurses.
Back then, the Beatles seemed to be the ultimate barometer for change. In 1965, they were asking for "Help." By the end of 1966, they not only had they stopped touring but they had a "Revolver."
Typically, change moves a bit slower than this. My senior year of 1982 looked a lot like 1986. Is 2015 much different than 2011? But compare 1965 to 1969 - no resemblance whatsoever.
Yes, the mid-'60s appeared to be the exception. Was 1965 the last year of purity before 15 years of cultural chaos broke loose?
Matt Figi and Larry Phillips both became Monroe High School seniors in the fall 1965, soon to take on a new world. Coincidentally, both are historians today. Doesn't that fact in itself vouch for their era being an ultra unique and memorable one? So, fellas, what was it like to be on the cusp of such a progressive time?
"I really don't remember it that way," said Figi, who grew up south of Monroe on a farm. "I just remember working a lot on the farm and going to school - not much more. There wasn't time for much more.
"We didn't know a lot about what was going on in places like Madison. In Monroe, we were pretty insulated from all of that."
Phillips agreed.
"We were all pretty normal - it was the occasional kid who wore the long hair and the beads that the media would pick up on," he said. "I remember Life magazine had a cover that read "The New Generation Breaks Out.' Here, the most rebellion you'd see was a kid sitting on his porch smoking a cigarette.
"The change seemed fairly slow. Of course politically, on the college campuses, it snowballed."
OK, so maybe I too got a bit carried away with buying into the stereotypes of the 1960s. Still, I chuckle to know that most from this era would indeed grow out their hair, Figi included.
Anyway, for those of you who weren't around in 1965, here's what you missed:
• Making their debut: Diet Pepsi, canned Spaghettios, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, Cool Whip, the TV show "Green Acres," Bill Cosby's acting career ("I Spy"), a man walking in space (the Soviets), U.S. airlifting of Cubans who wished to live here, the respirator (replacing the iron lung), the optical disk (now called the compact disc), health warnings on cigarette packages, the mini skirt, T.G.I Friday's and Subway sandwich shop.
• Vietnam: By year's end, nearly 200,000 U.S. troops were there, and Australia began sending troops of its own.
• Assassinated: Human rights leader Malcolm X.
• Academy Award: "My Fair Lady."
• Emmy for outstanding comedy: "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
• Top-selling song: "I Got You Babe," Sonny and Cher.
• Costs: The average household income was $6,450, a gallon of gas was 31 cents, bread was 21 cents, the cost of a house averaged $13,660 (new homes averaged about $21,000), new cars cost an average of $2,650, a postage stamp was 5 cents, a payphone call 10 cents, a Hershey bar was 5 cents.
• Parking: Monroe's shiny-new municipal ramp celebrated its one-year birthday.
That list tells us this: Yes, those sure were simpler times.
My exploration of Monroe's good old days goes back even further, thanks to an upcoming series of history-inspired feature stories debuting in the April 6 edition. The project has given me an appreciation for those who have lived rich, fulfilling lives. And many are from the era we call the Greatest Generation - an era like none other.
One interview I did, with local treasure Martha Bernet, stands as one of my favorites in my 25-plus years of journalism.
So I'll leave you with this: Interview someone older, even if it's a parent, about their lives. I did this with my father recently, regarding his time in post-war occupied Europe, and I was fascinated. And to think I've known the guy for 50 years.
And now I'm back to my time machine, changing the setting from 1965 to 2065. Why 2065? I hear the Monroe Common Council is ready to decide on what to do with the parking ramp, and I've just got to be there for that.
- John Morton covers the city beat for the Monroe Times and can be reached at jmorton@themonroetimes.com or by phone at 608-328-4202, ext. 50. His column appears Mondays.