IT WAS AS PLAIN AS BLACK AND WHITE THEN

Years ago, my oldest son asked me what life was like during the old days in black and white, and how it felt when the world turned into color. As usual, he was testing my gray matter.

Of course, he meant the days before color TV. He wasn’t around but I was and could give him the perfect insight. I explained that one morning everything turned to color, and the world had to make changes quickly to accommodate the new and colorful world.

First thing was the flag; it went from the good old gray, white and gray to the good old red white and blue. The gray peril of Grey China became the yellow peril of Red China, as did the changing of the Grey Russians to the Red Russians.

The young man had an addiction that he came upon from his old man called: Baseball. Baseball had a tremendous changeover to colorful uniforms from the dingy gray. The Cincinnati Greys became the Cincinnati Reds, as the Boston Grey Sox became the Boston Red Sox. Some things didn’t change like the Chicago White Sox and the Black Sox scandal.

Whole human races had to adapt, the Asian gray race suddenly became the yellow race, which made it difficult to understand why Grey China didn’t become Yellow China.

Mother Nature was greatly improved when a gray cloudless day suddenly became a bright sunny day, with blue skies but still kept the white clouds.

The music world was turned on its collective G-clefs when the song titles of many popular hits were changed. The ever popular “I want some gray roses for a gray lady” suddenly had a new feel, as did “Grey skies, nothing but gray skies”, and of course the ever popular catchy “The gray rose of Texas.”

Movies overnight changed. Not only was the celluloid turned gray to color, but also “How gray is my Valley” suddenly had a new and exciting twist. Again, some titles didn’t, for instance, “Black Beauty”, and "The Long Grey Line."

Interestingly, when I view old photos from the turn of the century, I can’t help but notice how people looked and behaved in their posing in the photos. They all stood squarely facing the camera, hands at their sides, looking older than their years. The children all looked like they just got a good spanking, the women looked like they were really sore at the old man next to them who was only in his mid-twenties. But all the people in the photos looked like they were poor, and not one looked like he or she was gray with envy. And never, ever did anyone ever look gray with embarrassment.