One of you dear readers suggested I do a blurt now and again, rather than a BIG MOTHER OF A BLOG POST.
So here goes.
I read a prompt recently about a slice of news of the day that was the first which stuck in your mind when you were a child.
Here's mine.
It was 1952 and I was 9 years old. And every night we were all glued to the radio listening to the updates on a capsized boat, the Flying Enterprise and its captain, Captain Carlsen who was alone on board, not deserting his sinking ship even though he had shepherded his crew to safety on the rescue boats.
I was thrilled to see a wee film on this on Youtube. And it evokes the tension we all felt for this brave soul who would not leave his ship.
Can you remember what news you heard that first grabbed your attention as a child?
I am not sure but suspect it was the excitement of the moon landing...
ReplyDeleteNews when I was child? I don't remember it at all!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I can remember my parents painting my bedroom when the news came on the radio that Marilyn Monroe had committed suicide. I was about seven and I'm not sure why this stuck with me, maybe because I didn't know what suicide meant?
ReplyDeleteI think it was tbe Cuban Missile Crisis. I would have been 10, I think. I wasn't clear on what was happening, but I knew it was important and s are. I watched President Kennedy's speech with my Dad, who was impressed with my interest. His approval was enough to keep me watching!
ReplyDeleteBut before that, Kennedy's election to the presidency was so exciting! As a Catholic family, it was a very big, joyous event.
And going back further, the movies they showed us in school about the "RedThreat" and having to practice sheltering under our desks in case of a nuclear attack certainly prompted serious and dramatic conversations with my sisters.
What a story. Carlsson was quite a hero. The first gripping news for me was the Korean conflict. It was 1950 and I was seven years old. It gave me bad dreams for some time.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember this, but my parents said I would stand on a footstool after seeing Diefenbaker on TV, and shout "And now we will have ... OPPosition!" -Kate
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I remember taking any notice of was the Moscow Olympics. I was 9 at the time
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child I took no notice of the news, but I did hear kids at school talking about the moon landing, does that count?
ReplyDeleteLike EC for me it must have been the Moon landing. I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch, (I had just turned 8), but I do not remember the landing itself. First news I am surely remembering is the mishap of Apollo 13. Else news was not an item of interest for me for many years. I remember movies and musicals on TV from long before the Moon landing, though, as we had a TV from when I was around 4. Still now I only watch the news now and then.
ReplyDeleteI was still in school when Reagan was shot. I remember my mom and dad sitting glued to the television.
ReplyDeleteThe Hungarian Uprising in 1956.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason as an 8 year old I was furious with Russia!
I wrote inside my bedroom cupboard - "I think Russia should not be so unkind to Hungary"
Me and my friend wrote on the road HELP HUNGARY and because her father worked at The Irish Times we were briefly mentioned!
One of my earliest memories is of the Harrow and Wealdstone train crash near our home in North West London. It was in 1952 when I was five. It was especially shocking as it was in the morning rush hour and the death toll was 112.
ReplyDeleteI clearly remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor and my family glued to the radio (one of those big stand-up radios with the small orange dial). It was very clear that this was a major event for all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments and your own recollections of the news that first struck your child consciousness. I remember a few of these events.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Possibly the assassination of JFK when I was six. We didn't have television until the following year, so it must have been from the radio or newspaper front pages. I was very much an eavesdropper on adult conversations (what does this word pregnant mean), so it may have just been heard by me.
ReplyDelete