Monday-Friday, October 10-14, 1960: LBJ's whistle-stop tour

Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for vice president, begins a 5-day, 8-state, 3,500-mile campaign tour by train, starting in Culpeper, Virginia, and ending in New Orleans, Louisiana. He gives some 60 speeches along the way. (The photo at left was taken in Greenville, South Carolina; click to enlarge). The train, which the campaign called the "LBJ Victory Special," is dubbed "The Cornpone Special" by some reporters.

The day before, during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Johnson had shown a barbed sense of humor about his own running mate when talking about the Democrats' efforts to cut federal spending. He deadpans, "And I predict, if I know anything about Senator Kennedy, that he'll continue that policy. All you have to do is go to a drugstore with him and buy a sandwich and see how long he shuffles trying to get the money to pick up the check ... find out, if he handles the government's money like he handles his own, why, we're going to have a pretty good fiscal policy."

* Photos from Greensboro, North Carolina: @

* Johnson atop "The Big Chair" in Thomasville, North Carolina: @ and @ (photo courtesy of Thomasville Times)

* Article by only black reporter on the train: @

* Account from Time magazine: @

* More about presidential campaign trains from "Safire's Political Dictionary": @ and @ (origin of word "whistlestopping")

* "Meet the Press" footage: @

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Sunday, October 9, 1960: National Historic Landmarks

The U.S. government's National Park Service launches the program by recognizing 92 sites for their historical significance. Among the sites: the Erie Canal, representing the Advance of the Frontier, and Boston's Faneuil Hall (left), which, according to the official Statement of Significance, "served as a focal point of Colonial protest against British rule and later as a center of the abolition movement in Boston." The October 9 list was quickly expanded, first on December 12 and then again on January 20, 1961. The number of National Historic Landmarks (currently less than 2,500) is far fewer than the number of sites on the National Register of Historic Places (some 80,000).

* National Historic Landmarks website: @

* History: @

* Current list by state (as of June 2010): @

* National Register of Historic Places website: @

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Undated: Life in 1960 (as imagined in 1939)

The New York World's Fair of 1939-1940 included an exhibit/ride called Futurama, envisioning what the United States might look like in the year 1960. It was sponsored by General Motors and designed by Norman Bel Geddes (the father of actress Barbara Bel Geddes). The ride carried passengers past miniature landscapes laid out along a vast, sophisticated highway system (including 7-lane, one-way highways, with cars kept at a safe distance from one another by radio control).

* More about Futurama: @ and @

* Watch Futurama video "To New Horizons": @

* Futurama photos: @

* ExpoMuseum (website on world's fairs): @

* More about Norman Bel Geddes: @ and @

* "Magic Motorways" (book by Norman Bel Geddes): @

* "The Dream of an Automated Highway" (from Federal Highway Administration): @

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Undated: Disneyland

The theme park in Anaheim, California, is now 5 years old. Apart from the rides, the Tomorrowland exhibits (many of which were sponsored by corporations) include Crane's The Bathroom of Tomorrow.

* More about Bathroom of Tomorrow: @

* More about Tomorrowland: @

* Park photos from 1960: @

* Aerial views from 1955 and 1960: @

* 1960 souvenir program: @

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Undated: Josef Mengele

Called "The Angel of Death" of Nazi Germany, Josef Mengele flees Argentina after the arrest of Adolf Eichmann (see post of May 11). He will make his way to Brazil, where he lives until his drowning death in 1979. Mengele and other doctors performed grisly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

* "Israeli ex-agent: We allowed Nazi doc to escape" (news report from 2008): @

* More about Mengele: @ and @

* Entry from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: @

* Entry from www.trutv.com: @

* "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race" exhibition: @

* "Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account" (book): @

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Monday, October 3, 1960: 'The Andy Griffith Show'

The comedy depicting small-town life in the American South debuts on CBS. The first episode has Aunt Bee coming to live as housekeeper for the widowed Sheriff Andy Taylor and his son, Opie. Much of Mayberry's look and feel was based on Griffith's hometown: Mount Airy, North Carolina.

* Show summary (from Museum of Broadcast Communications): @

* Show summary (from Learn NC): @

* Episode guide: @

* Fans' website: @

* Books: @ and @

* TV listings for October 3, 1960: @

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Saturday, October 1, 1960: The Climatron

The first geodesic dome to be built for use as a greenhouse, the Climatron opens as part of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. The structure, covering a half-acre, incorporates the pioneering principles of inventor-engineer-futurist R. Buckminster Fuller.

* More about the Climatron: @ and @ and @

* Videos from Missouri Botanical Garden: @

* More about geodesic domes: @

* "The Birth of the Geodesic Dome": @

* More about domes in general: @

* More about R. Buckminster Fuller: @

* Buckminster Fuller Institute: @

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Undated: 'We Insist! Freedom Now Suite'

The powerful song cycle by jazz drummer and composer Max Roach centers on racial injustices throughout black history. The songs -- with Abbey Lincoln singing lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr. -- were recorded in August and September. The cover photo echoes the ongoing sit-ins of the civil rights movement (See posts of February 1, July 25 and August 27); its staged image of a white man serving three blacks was meant to be as provocative as the music within.

* The album and its political impact: @ and @ and @ and @ and @

* Performances from the album: @

* More about Max Roach: @ and @

* Roach discography: @

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Friday, September 30, 1960: 'The Flintstones'

The cartoon about a "modern Stone Age family" debuts in prime time on ABC. The main characters -- Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty -- closely resemble those on "The Honeymooners," the popular comedy from the mid-'50s starring Jackie Gleason. The familiar theme song would not be part of the show until 1962. (This image is from the first episode; it's the moment when Fred says "Yabba-dabba-doo" for the first time.)

* Show summary (Museum of Broadcast Communications): @

* Watch the first episode, "The Flintstone Flyer": @ and @ and @

* More about the first episode: @

* Early reviews of show (most were not positive): @

* Flintstones and Hanna-Barbera website: @

* Watch ads for Winston cigarettes: @ and @

* Other new shows from fall 1960: @

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Wednesday, September 28, 1960: Ted Williams retires

One of the greatest hitters in baseball history hits a home run in his final at-bat for the Boston Red Sox. Williams missed nearly five seasons worth of playing time while serving in the military -- during World War II and again during the Korean War.

* Timeline: @

* Career statistics: @

* Boston Globe coverage: @

* "Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu": (story by John Updike for The New Yorker): @

* Slideshow from Life magazine: @

* Official website: @

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Tuesday, September 27, 1960: Travolator

Europe's first "moving platform" opens to the public, as part of London's subway system. (The world's first such system dates to 1954 in New Jersey.)

* More about Travolator: @

* Newsreel: @

* Photo from first day: @

* "Conveyor Belts to Move Crowds" (Popular Science magazine, 1954): @

* "Passenger Conveyors" (book): @

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Undated: Surf rock

With its catchy, signature sound of jangling, reverb-heavy electric guitars, surf rock starts to take its place on radio stations and singles charts. Early surf rock songs were usually instrumentals.

There's no consensus on the very first surf rock song, but typically on the short list are Duane Eddy's "Movin' 'N' Groovin' " (1958), The Ventures' "Walk, Don't Run" (1960), Dick Dale's "Let's Go Trippin' " (1961) and The Belairs' "Mr. Moto" (1961).

The genre's first big hit was "Walk, Don't Run," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard charts for the week ending August 29, 1960 (sandwiched between Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" and Chubby Checker's "The Twist").

* Surf rock primer: @ and @

* Top 100 surf rock songs: @

* www.surfmusic.com: @

* surfguitar101.com: @

* Listen to "Walk, Don't Run": @

* More about "Walk, Don't Run": @ and @

* Listen to "Movin' 'N' Groovin' ": @

* Listen to "Let's Go Trippin' ": @

* Listen to "Mr. Moto": @

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Tuesday, September 27, 1960: 'Ten Years of TV'

Look magazine assesses the state of American television in a cover story titled "TEN YEARS OF TV: How it's better / How it's worse / A forecast of the season ahead." The article reads: "Intellectuals complain that so potent a medium will undermine our values with its escapism, materialism and repetitiousness. ... Others look upon TV as primarily an entertainment medium, whose purpose should be to act as a giant tranquilizer."

Also in the issue, which featured actor Robert Stack on the cover: "How 'The Untouchables' Hypoed TV's Crime Wave."

* Text of TV article: @

* More about "The Untouchables": @

* "Eliot Ness and the Untouchables: The Historical Reality and the Film and Television Depictions" (book): @

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Saturday, September 24, 1960: 'Howdy Doody' ends

The last episode of the children's show "Howdy Doody" airs on NBC. It ends with the only words ever spoken by the clown Clarabell Hornblow: "Goodbye, kids." (Photo shows the first person to play Clarabell: Bob Keeshan, who went on to become Captain Kangaroo.)

* Footage from last episode: @

* Footage from show's opening: @

* Entry from "Encyclopedia of Television": @

* Show summary (from www.tv-pop-cult.com): @

* Characters and assorted facts: @

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Saturday, September 24, 1960: USS Enterprise

The world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is launched from Newport News, Virginia. At the time, "The Big E" was the biggest ship ever built.

* Summary: @

* Navy site: @

* Federation of American Scientists site: @

* History through present day: @

* Other sites: @ and @

* Footage of christening (without sound): @

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