Thursday, May 3, 2012

1962 Ohio Edison Ad

I haven't posted our old buddy Reddy Kilowatt for a while, so here he is in a public service ad about kite safety for Ohio Edison that ran in the Lorain Journal dating from April 5, 1962 – 50 years ago.

I like Reddy's jaunty cap, and the kids' Barney Rubble eyes. The lad almost looks like a blond Dondi.

Courtesy mycomicshop.com
Anyway, I remember several years of kite flying when I was a kid. Maybe I got the idea from those Peanuts reprint books we had, where Charlie Brown was always trying to fly a kite without any success.

All I know is the traditional, diamond-shaped homemade kites that I made out of newspaper (and decorated) never got off the ground – much like Charlie Brown's. Store-bought ones were a little easier to get airborne.

The ones that looked like manta rays that were made out of a plastic material flew even better. I can still see mine, waaaaaaaay up in the sky, before the inevitable, gut-wrenching snap occurred, and the kite sailed away to freedom, never to return (at least in this millennium).

We also had a box kite as well. I don't remember it flying very well. I remember it more as a pile of broken sticks and fabric.

I wonder if kids still fly kites today?

at

1 comment:

  1. KenMay 5, 2012 at 8:29 AM

    Kids still fly kites-- grown up kids, I mean. Last time I was in Edgewater Park a few years ago there were kite flyers, but it has turned into a high-dollar sport where the flyers lay on their backs and manipulate two wires to make them flip and turn. The real kids are home playing video games. Maybe there is a game where they fly virtual kites.

    ReplyDelete