Ah, it was the new decade, 1960. Let’s see what was happening:
In national news, General MacArthur may have seemed like an unlikely candidate to be honored by Japan, but he was in June 1960. For his great contributions to the rebuilding of post-World War II Japan, MacArthur was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia flowers, Grand Cordon. Things in Cuba are heating up as Congress gets word that Russia is seeking to set up bases in Cuba. Pepsi introduces a new single size drink that is 8 whole ounces. This is well before 7/11 invented the 32-ounce Big Gulp. In international news, Nobusuke Kishi, the Japanese prime minister, announced his resignation.
In sports, the commissioner of the NFL, Pete Rozelle, criticizes the new AFL for playing college undergrads before their class graduates for fear that it will ruin college football and cause boys to not finish college. In kid’s literature, Dr. Seuss is hot! You can get One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat, or The Cat in the Had Comes Back for $1.95 each.
Poor Bette Davis! She fell down a flight of stairs in her house because she didn’t realize the basement door was there. David broke her back and spent several months in the bed. Claiming she was never informed about the door and it was obscured by another door, she sued the owner and she was awarded $65,700. Lana Turner’s boyfriend, Fred May, tussled with columnist Mike Connolly (Hollywood Reporter) at an after-party because Connelly criticized the way Turner was raising her daughter Cheryl. This comes two years after courts ruled Cheryl was justified in killing Turner’s former mobster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato in defense of her mother.
What was on television the summer of 1960? ABC offered up “Coke Time” with host Pat Boone. It featured such pop stars as Paul Anka, Franke Avalon, Anita Bryant, Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, and Bobby Darin. Over on CBS, on Sunday night’s you could take in “Lassie” followed by “Dennis the Menace” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.” NBC was serving up “Overland Trail,” “Music on Ice,” and “The Loretta Young Show.”
Popular hits of the day was “Cathy’s Clown” by the Everly Brothers, “Swingin’ School” by Bobby Rydell, “Paper Roses” by Anita Bryant, and “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee. At the theater, you could see Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment, Tony Randall in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds in The Rat Race.