Topical Guide 12
Mark Dorset
Studebakers
“NOW DON’T TRY TO SELL anyone a car, Herb,” said Gumma. The group was making its way across the clamshell parking lot behind Whitey’s Tavern. “The last time Herb and I were here,” she said, turning toward Mr. Beaker, who might possibly not have heard the story, “Herb tried to sell Whitey a car, and he—”
If this is “supposed to be” taking place in 1946, this would be the model Herb would probably be pushing all over Babbington and environs:
Music; Records; Audio Equipment
“Wait till you see this jukebox,” my mother said to Dudley, starry-eyed. “It’s real clever. It has these two peacocks on the front—”
This has to be a Wurlitzer Model 850, widely known as “The Peacock.”
And again, if this is “supposed to be” 1946, what might be playing on that jukebox? I think it was the Ink Spots singing “To Each His Own.” According to Wikipedia, “In 1946, three different versions hit number one on the Billboard charts in the United States.” The version by the Ink Spots “remained on the chart for fourteen weeks.” Here it is:
Beaker, Dudley
I have on more than one occasion heard Madeline Kraft refer to Dudley Beaker as “that insidious rascal Dudley Beaker.”
White, Chester “Porky”; Kap’n Klam
“Anyway, it wasn’t Whitey, Lorna,” Guppa corrected her, raising his voice. “It was his boy, Chester.”
“He means Porky,” said my mother. She giggled.
This is the first appearance in The Personal History of the character who will become the enormously successful fast-food mogul whose Kap’n Klam Family Restaurants, “Home of the Klamburger,” circle the globe.
[The Topical Guide continues after Episode 13 of the Personal History.]
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You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide.
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At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of “My Mother Takes a Tumble,” “Do Clams Bite?,” “Life on the Bolotomy,” “The Static of the Spheres,” and “The Fox and the Clam,” the first five novellas in Little Follies.
You’ll find an overview of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy. It’s a pdf document.