1950s Favorites

My childhood spanned the decade of the 1950s, a period of post-war exuberance expressed in two products I loved: the Esterbrook J fountain pen and the TV dinner.

I began first grade in 1953 with an Esterbrook fountain pen. Its interchangeable nibs spanned a variety of widths and flexibilities, making different kinds of strokes possible. Bottled inks included many colors beyond blue or black (green, brown, and turquoise were among my favorites). Pen barrels could be solid colored or marbleized. My neighborhood drug store, Airial's, sold the pens and their nibs at the prescription counter in back. I often wandered there to admire tha beautiful instruments in the wood-framed glass case set atop the counter. I purchased numerous pens and 25-cent nibs with my saved weekly allowance.The Esterbrook J required pumping for filling, but by the end of the decade a cartridge pen appeared. Although more convenient, I never took to them and still prefer a fountain pen for correspondence and writing that matters. Convenience never trumps grace.

Swanson invented the TV dinner in 1953, at roughly the same time my family purchased its first (of only two through my college years) TV, a boxy black-and-white. Served ideally on TV trays also invented for the same double phenomenon of meal and television, the TV dinner consisted of a meat and vegetables separated into their own little pockets in an aluminum container. We did not often eat TV dinners because my parents insisted, happily, that we eat dinner together at the table in the breakfast room. On special occasions, however, mostly when our parents were not going to be home for dinner, we got to have TV dinners. I loved them and begged for them -- frequently.There was a time, not long ago, when I ate frozen dinners because I had a long commute. Now, though, I rarely eat them since I have the time and energy to cook again.

Why have I been thinking about these childhood loves? Late this afternoon, my friend Boo gave me some frozen dinners and vegetables. Somehow,driving between her house and mine, I found my mind wandering to the time when pre-packaged meals were treats and fountain pens were the norm. Now I avoid them except when gifted. Convenience is pleasurable, occasionally, as it was for my mother. But good things take patience and encourage beauty.Tonight, I thank Boo for her generosity and Mother for teaching me the difference beween novelty and true value.