dailyprompt-2161 | Spirit of Cecilia

by Richard K. Munro

Thomas Munro, Jr and Richard Munro at Camp Watonka circa 1967 with our dog Albert II.

WINSTON CHURCHILL DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE UNITED KINGDOM The Prime Minister Winston Churchill poses outside 10 Downing Street, London, England Churchill retired in 1955.

famous scene from 1955 film THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH

Hank Aaron’s 1955 baseball card. Ironically it mentions Babe Ruth under the T/F

Richard K. Munro (That’s me!) was born in New Jersey, Dec 12, 1955 just after midnight. I was named after Richard Strauss, the famous composer and one of my mother’s uncles whose name was Rickard. As a boy I was often called Rickard, Ricardo or Ricky Ricardo. My sisters had both been born in Brooklyn. We moved to Livingston, NJ in 1958.
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers won their first and only World Championship against the Yankees. My mother was pregnant with me and my grandfather (Auld Pop) said, “Ruthie, it’ll be a boy for sure!” (all my cousins and siblings were girls). I went to Ebbets Field in 1955 in utero.
1955 was Hank Aaron’s 2nd year and first big homer year (27HR, 106 RBI and .314 average). He later became my favorite player. I first saw him play at the Polo Grounds vs the Mets in 1962.
1955-D quarter was fairly rare. Mintage at Denver was only : 3,182,400 I know this because in the 1960s in order to complete a Boy Scout project I had to have all the coins of 1955. I tried all summer to find a 1955 D but in the end I bought an uncirculated one. I have all the years of silver quarters from 1932-1964 but lack some of the 1932 S and D coins. I lost interest in coin collecting when they switched to cupronickel coins. After 1966 it became harder and harder to find old coins in circulation. I still like silver coins but do not actively collect coins in a serious way anymore but I give half dollars as gifts or tips for fun.
Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger…this I know from history books.
I know Eisenhower was the US president in 1955. In 1955, President Eisenhower planned the interstate highway system. It would begin in 1956. Initially planned as a way of moving troops and military hardware from one end of the nation to the other. Gas was very cheap less than 30 cents a gallon.
In April 1955 Churchill retired as Prime Minister. The leaders my parents and grandparents praised and talked about the most were FDR, Churchill, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and John F. Kennedy. My father met MacArthur in the war and my uncle served under Eisenhower in ww2 and met Ike while Ike was president of Columbia University.
The St. Lawrence Seaway opened I always loved maps and geography and this was always mentioned by my elementary school teachers just like the Panama Canal or Suez Canal.
The USS Nautilus became the first operational nuclear-powered submarine I know this because I made a plastic model of it as a boy. I also know the name because it was the name of Captain Nemo’s submarine in the 1954 film 20,000 Leagues under the Sea based on Verne’s work. One of my favorite films as a boy.
Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine is declared safe and effective I was inoculated with the polio vaccine in elementary school.
The Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies signed the Warsaw Pact I know this because NATO was founded in 1949 and I taught World History for many years. Every year we made maps of the Warsaw Pact/ Nation and East and West Berlin. I know it ended in 1991. I know Germany became fully independent in 1955 and joined NATO in that year.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became a leader in the first major event of the U.S. civil rights movement, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. I heard a lot about him as a boy and remember his assassination in 1968 and Robert Kennedy’s famous speech.
World War II Allies signed a treaty restoring Austria’s independence.
Murder of Emmett Till This I did not know until many years later, It was never mentioned in school or in AP US history as far as I know. I was aware of JIm Crow and lynchings in the Old South, however. A horrific tale really.
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK with Spencer Tracy was a notable 1955 film.
The Desperate Hours by William Wyler Humphrey Bogart and Frederic March
THE LADY and THE TRAMP was one of the great Disney musical cartoons
12 Angry Men and Inherit the Wind were famous plays that opened in 1955. I later saw the film versions.
Lord of the Rings by Tolkien was published.
Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis was published.
The Wasteland was published by T S Eliot
Mister Roberts (John Ford) starring Henry Fonda was a notable film one of Jack Lemmon’s early films
“Seven Year Itch” was a notable Marylyn Monroe comedy by Billy Wilder one of my favorite directors. Marilyn Monroe famously appears in a scene where her white dress is accidentally blown up around her legs when she walks over a subway grate in New York City.
I know I LOVE LUCY was one of the top TV shows in 1955 because my parents mentioned that was their favorite TV show of the 50s. Later I saw it in re-runs.