Episode 63 starts with a trip down memory lane. For more than four decades The Paddock in Hyannis was home to great food and great music. Whether it was in house singers and musicians, or celebrities filtering in from the neighboring Cape Cod Melody Tent, there was always something going on there.
Our Road Trip segment takes us to the Green Mountain State and Brattleboro, Vermont. Covered bridges, farms, farmers markets, beautiful scenery, and more make us this charming New England town.
We go way Back In the Day and learn the struggles of being a kid in the 1980's and 1990's and needing to use the telephone. Personal smartphones were a long way off. Back then it was typically one phone, mounted to the wall, with little to no privacy.
A brand new Top 5 showcases the movies that remind me of my sisters. We all grew up in the 1980's and 1990's so nostalgia will be high on this list.
There's a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule as well.
Be sure to watch for my livestreams called Without A Map Friday's at 8pm on Instagram which serve as a sort of postgame show for the podcast. Find them on IGTV after they've finished.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 62 here.
Episode 63 starts with a trip down memory lane. For more than four decades The Paddock in Hyannis was home to great food and great music. Whether it was in house singers and musicians, or celebrities filtering in from the neighboring Cape Cod Melody Tent, there was always something going on there.
Our Road Trip segment takes us to the Green Mountain State and Brattleboro, Vermont. Covered bridges, farms, farmers markets, beautiful scenery, and more make us this charming New England town.
We go way Back In the Day and learn the struggles of being a kid in the 1980's and 1990's and needing to use the telephone. Personal smartphones were a long way off. Back then it was typically one phone, mounted to the wall, with little to no privacy.
A brand new Top 5 showcases the movies that remind me of my sisters. We all grew up in the 1980's and 1990's so nostalgia will be high on this list.
There's a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule as well.
Be sure to watch for my livestreams called Without A Map Friday's at 8pm on Instagram which serve as a sort of postgame show for the podcast. Find them on IGTV after they've finished.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 62 here.
Intro
Hello World, and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 63. This week we're gonna kick off with a trip back to one of Cape Cod's icons of food fun jazz entertainment. The paddock restaurant in Hyannis, we're going to cross the border into the Green Mountain State of Vermont and take a road trip up to Brattleboro, we're gonna go way way back in the day and look at some old school telephone problems that kids of the 80s and 90s had. There's going to be a brand new top five these are the top five movies that remind me of my sisters. And there'll be a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule all coming up right now on episode 63 of the in my footsteps podcast. How's everybody doing this week? It's the end of March. We're into April now. Oh man, Spring is in full effect. I am so thrilled. Thank you so much to everyone who tuned into last week's special bonus episode 62. The interview with Frank Durant about the lady of the dunes documentary. It has done really well. And I'm so thrilled. We had an interesting day. Obviously, as you heard in the interview, we were on our way to Provincetown and Truro doing a few things that had to do with the lady of the dunes and some of the true crime out in that area. I don't want to spoil too much because I've got videos and such coming out about it that I will share. But for those of you wondering, I believe there are still a few seats available for the premiere of the documentary. If you're listening to this the day that the podcast goes live March 31. The premiere at the Cape cinema in Dennis is tomorrow. I believe there are a few seats still available. The premiere in provincetown on Saturday, April 2 is sold out. That's the one I will be at. But like Frank said, he's working on distribution deals. So there will be a way to see the documentary afterward. And when I find out all that information, I will share it with you for those of you that want to check out the film, and the book, that's a different story who knows when that will come out likely sometime the beginning of next year. It has been an interesting fun, and sometimes kind of scary adventure writing this book. As Frank like he said he's working on he wants to solve the case, at least in the way of giving the lady of the dunes her name. And a lot of times it's swimming upstream. It's like being in a movie with trying to get the information needed to solve a case that's been unsolved since 1974. Moving on from there, though, I mentioned on a lot of these podcasts at the end, I mentioned I do all the housekeeping with links and things like that. And I always mentioned the buy me a coffee one. So I wanted to make sure that I gave a special shout-out to my cousin Eddie, who bought me some coffees last week. All the money that I get for these donations, they go towards advertising the podcast. I always joke it's not like you send me that Oh, like a donation and then I use it to buy Chinese food and stuff. Now it goes back in towards the podcast. But if you go to buy me a coffee.com and find the in my footsteps podcast, if you want to make a donation you can there's no pressure obviously better than a donation is sharing the podcast. That's the thing I always say. And it's true. I would much rather you tell a friend and they listen than you give me a donation. That's absolutely true. And in other book news, by the time you hear this, my seventh book, which is photographers, America, Cape Cod beyond the dunes, the manuscript will have been sent in. I'm so excited to have a photography book. I don't consider myself any sort of a pro. I consider myself a hack that is a writer who got lucky as a photographer. I just happen to have other books that got me noticed as a photographer. The book itself should be out early fall this year. And obviously, I'll keep you all notified about that. But I wanted to take a moment before we jump into the podcast to announce that the book itself I made it dedicated to two people, the two people that taught me everything I know about photography. One of them is Ronald Murphy, who was my high school photography teacher who taught me everything I had to do the darkroom developing film, everything about shutter speed and depth of field and all that. So thank you Murph for giving me so much of my base in photography. And the other one this book is dedicated to you've heard him on the podcast before one of my oldest and dearest friends, Steve Drozell. He has taught me so much about what makes a good photograph and how to see things and frame things and all of that. I couldn't have made this book without the knowledge that those two taught me. And so it's definitely only appropriate and deserved that Murph. And Steve, the book is dedicated to you. And I thank you both so much for giving me all I know about photography. But right now we're going to jump into Episode 63. We're going to start off with the story of an icon of Cape Cod, restaurant and entertainment. Coming up right now this is a story of the paddock restaurant on episode 63 of the in my footsteps podcast.
The Paddock Restaurant of Hyannis
When it came to combining first-class dining and a unique atmosphere, there were few who did it better than this Hyannis icon. The paddock was revered for decades for its combination of a delicious and ever-changing menu. And its Never Ending Party ambiance. This 6000 square foot landmark was located at the west end Rotary, and it was the showcase of legends and the cornerstone of many customer's lives. This was all thanks to the vision and dedication of its owner John Zartarian and the building that housed the paddock for 45 years has its own storied history that dates back to before most of current Hyannis was built. In 1935. The future paddock was constructed as a restaurant for the Dutchland farms chain in its de Dutch land farms was seen as a rival to Howard Johnson's. It began as a real dairy farm and grew into restaurants beginning in 1928 Dutchland Farms numbers would grow as high as 50 before being sold to Howard Johnson in 1940, and then being completely disbanded by 1951. The Hyannis location of Dutchman farm survived a few years before making way for a few other short-term ventures including Newbury’s Capeside before it became the paddock. The paddock originally came to be in 1969 Thanks to a man named Jack Risca. Risca would go on to also open captain's table in Hyannis captain's chair in West Yarmouth, and he operated the East Bay Lodge in osterville. A year later, in 1970, John Zartarian and his wife Maxine were looking for a restaurant of their own and purchased the new establishment. This began their own story of Cape Cod careers. Business for the Zartarians was tough at first, as the couple struggled for money after spending so much simply to buy the paddock. They both agree that if it had not been for the theater people playing at the neighboring Melody Tent who came into their establishment, they most certainly would have gone under in short order. Those initial lean years made the Zartarians appreciate what would come later. Times would change, however, and so too with the restaurant. albeit slowly. The paddock initially had a high-class formal atmosphere, but it did not require jackets or ties. Most customers wore them anyway. shorts were not allowed. And hats were not to be worn while sitting. And a great story is this rule was broken on one memorable evening in 1978. And this is according to John Zartarian himself, he said, ‘we used to sit any well known entertainers way in the back so they wouldn't be bothered. Chuck man Gionee comes in and he was known for his soft hat. He was just coming off a huge hit called feel so good. He was set to play the tent that night. I didn't say anything about the hat policy. While he gets done eating and stands up in the back of the room and begins to play his hit feels so good on his trumpet, which is very well known as he walks through the restaurant to exit 100 People get up start cheering and going wild.’ That's a great story as a side note there one book event I had John Zartarian was there and I actually had him get up and recount that story for everyone because he tells it way better than I. Even my reading His words don't do it justice. Moving on, though, encounters such as the one with Chuck Mangione were common at the paddock as it became a place for entertainers to eat and at times perform. There was the night that Tony Bennett saying I left my heart in San Francisco, while house pianist Jimmy Silverman tried to keep his composure later telling John his knees were literally shaking the entire time. Or there was the time that famed chef Julia Child came in to dine and insisted on meeting the entire kitchen staff and having a photo taken with them. As the 1970s ended, it was becoming difficult to serve everyone who wanted to dine at the paddock. They were having to routinely turn people away. During a trip to Old Town in San Diego, California. The Zartarians were having a meal outside and John got the idea to create an outdoor dining area at his restaurant. In 1980. Backyard at the paddock was created. It was complete with church railings, brass and marble. From this area, customers could hear the shows going on at the neighboring Melody Tent while enjoying their meals. The backyard quickly became the place to be with some waiting as long as four to five hours to get a table outside. It was a stark change from the paddock. The backyard was informal with an eclectic menu, and for eight years it was an excellent alternative to the high-class paddock, but a storm in 1988 damaged the dining area badly. Instead of closing down the backyard became the enclosed garden room, which was used for private parties and rehearsal dinners among other things. The entertainment and beautiful diverse dining settings might have brought some to the paddock, but it was the food that kept them coming back. It helped that the same Chef John Anderson was the mastermind for 35 years. The menu was constantly changing, but there were always fresh fish and steaks to be had. The roast duckling had people raving. Yet the most popular item might have been the big stuff lobster, the key, John Zartarian said it was never running out of lobster ever. Even if it meant driving down the street to one of the competing restaurants and borrowing a few lobsters. Zartarian did it to make his customers happy. Time passed and the Zartarians opened a pair of new ventures Aqua grill in sandwich and Del Mar and Chatham. As they approached their fourth decade at their West End locale. John and Maxine stepped back and allowed their sons to take over John Jr. at Del Mar and Jeff at the paddock. In the end though it was difficult to maintain such a high standard of quality at the paddock. The product was expensive, as the Zartarians used only the highest quality meats and fish. In 2014, the paddock was sold to Gary Roy who created the Nor'easter restaurant, which then closed in late 2016. Today, the former paddock building is occupied by a restaurant called the West End which has been doing pretty well it survived the pandemic so hopefully, it'll create its own legacy. John and Maxine Zartarian still live happily on Cape Cod and have nothing but fond memories of their 45 years owning the paddock. John said, ‘It was a party every night. We loved our business. We loved going to work. We had beautiful people working with us and beautiful clientele and quote and to finish it off.’ When I interviewed John and Maxine Zartarian for my historic restaurants book. They were so nice. They couldn't have been better to me and more accommodating. I was able to literally go to their home and sit at their dining room table with them and listen to them for a couple hours telling stories of the old days of the paddock. It didn't hurt that the Zartarians were very good friends with my grandparents, John and Rosemarie Sullivan, due to their connections with the jazz scene of the Cape in the 70s into the 80s. That's how I knew of the paddock was my grandparents specifically my grandfather would sing there constantly. So it was only fitting when I reached out to the Zartarians and I said I was doing a book about historic Cape Cod restaurant and they at first were willing to do questions via email. Then when I said who my grandparents were. John Zartarian said no, no, no, we can't do this over the phone or email you need to come here so we can sit down and talk. And that little bit of hospitality shown towards me who was a stranger even though I was the grandson of their friends, it's easy to see why the paddock was so successful for so long in Hyannis. And for those of you that visited there, those of you that remember it, I'm sure the memories are still strong, even now, almost a decade after it closed. But that's a story of one of Cape Cod's biggest and best combinations of food and entertainment that has ever been seen on Cape Cod, the paddock restaurant in Hyannis.
Road Trip: Brattleboro, VT
It's road trip time again. And here we are in the spring. Everything is starting to bloom everything is going to get green. So it's appropriate that we go up north to the Green Mountain State of Vermont and take a trip to the town of Brattleboro. This is a beautiful town so much to see and do. It's right across the Vermont border. Essentially, it's on the New Hampshire border as well. Right on the Connecticut River. You're looking at about 115 miles northwest of Boston to get you there to kind of give you an idea where you got to go. It's interesting for me being on Cape Cod, where Vermont seems the furthest away in New England as far as places to get. But Brattleboro itself for me is just over three hours away. So honestly, it's not that bad. But let's take a little look around and see why you need to go check out Brattleboro now that the spring is here, rattle burrows, a small town. As of 2020, the population was 12,184 people. So it's not that big. It's got a nice small-town feel to it. For me, when I go to places like this, I look for the out-of-the-way places first. Obviously if you're listening to the podcast, you know I'm a big fan of history and photography. One place that combines all of those is the creamery covered bridge. It's that 500 Western Avenue meet if you get on Western Avenue and just follow it you'll find the bridge. It was originally opened in 1879. And now because it's on the list of the historic places, it's close to traffic. It's the last surviving covered bridge in Brattleboro. And it's a town lattice trust bridge that crosses Whetstone Brook just south of Route nine. It's 80 feet long. It's a deep red in color. And it's got so many excellent photo opportunities. I mean, there's nothing better than a photo of the bridge inside with it kind of extending away from you into the light. But that's just my opinion. You just need to go and see it. If you head up there later in the spring into the summer and early fall up in Brattleboro you need to check out the Brattleboro Farmers Market, which happens every Saturday, this year from May 7 to October 29. It's at 570 Western Avenue and farmers markets just in any small town. We have them on Cape Cod. It's just a different slice of life that you don't get everywhere. You get the local artisans selling different foods and jewelry and everything. It's great. You get lost in it. You could be there for an hour, two hours just looking at everyone's booths visit Brattleboro area farmers market.com to get more ideas of what it's like their pictures, lists of vendors so that you might know what you want to see who you want to see when you go there. But just imagine a warm late spring, early summer day. Everything's in bloom, you go to the creamery covered bridge, you go to the farmers market, then you can just go there's more there's farms in the area. Besides farmer's markets, naturally, there should be farms and there's a couple that you should check out. There's the ROB family farm at 822 Ames Hill Road, or Robb family farm.com Robb with two B’s. It was first established in 1907 by Thomas and Christine Vetterli, who are the grandparents of Herman rob the current owner. They offer farm-raised beef maple syrup, and then there's retreat farm at 45 farmhouse square or retreat farm.org. They're a nonprofit organization located on 500 acres of forest farmlands, trails, waterways. It's free and open from dawn to dusk, they have events there that highlight the local native tribes like Abenaki kids can visit the animals or visit the forest playground. It's a lot of fun for the whole family there. And like I say, with a lot of these places to go to on these road trips. If you want to do a day trip, that's great. But if you want to see and engross yourself in everything that the communities have to offer, you might want to spend the night there. And if you're going to Brattleboro, you can stay at one of the chains they've got a Holiday Inn comfort in Hampton Inn. But to really feel like a member of the town of Brattleboro, you might want to check out the latches Hotel, which is the most well-known as far as non-chains go there at latchis hotel.com. That's la t c h i s. They're in the heart of the downtown area of Brattleboro just beautiful small town downtown. You have to see it go to their website and see what it looks like. They try to make themselves like a town within a town. They've got a four-screen theater in the hotel, they've got a pub. different rooms have different views, some are of downtown, some are of the greenery. You can have weddings and events, their business meetings. They're they're dog friendly, so anyone with dogs can go. For those folks like me and older, they even have record players in every room with a vinyl library, you can borrow records and play records in there. I mean, that right there is just mind-blowing in a good way. The hotel first opened in 1938. And that's where they kind of have that link back to their history with things like I mentioned with the record players. So it's a lot of fun to go and stay there. And if you don't want to be in the town within a town and go to the pub inside the latchis hotel, you want to venture out to eat, you should check out Peter havens restaurant at 32 Eliot street, or Peter havens.com. They have been open 20 years. It's kind of a small, intimate high-class restaurant. There are only 10 tables in there. So it's really important to get there early. They've got fine dining entrees a wine list. You can also check out TJ Buckley's uptown dining. They're located in a restored 1925 Worcester dining car at 132. Eliot Street. They've also got fine dining and the small town charm unique atmosphere. Visit them at TJ Buckley's uptown dining.com. To see for yourself, I could describe menu items for this spot, and for Peter havens restaurant, but it's better for you to go and see for yourself. All you'll want to find and more is located at Brattleboro chamber.org. That's kind of the centerpiece where you just go. Because there are things I'm not going to have time to give you here on the road trip. So it's best for you to go find your own way. Like I say, when I do my road trips on my own, point the car and let it kind of take you somewhere farms and farmers markets and the covered bridges. I can point you in those directions. But there's probably different things, different views, different places that are going to appeal to you. And that's the fun of doing all the travel is you can go to a place and have recommendations. But it's usually the stuff you find on your own that is the most rewarding. So it's got that historic small-town charm farms, farmers markets, Connecticut river views, and it's only 115 miles northwest of Boston. Brattleboro, Vermont was this week's road trip. I know I'll be taking a trip out there at some point this summer to experience it again. And hopefully you all go and find some stuff that you can recommend for me. But I'll be back next time next week with a new road trip to go somewhere else in the beautiful six states of New England and beyond.
This Week In History
This week in history we're going back 52 years ago, to April 1st 1970. This is the day that all cigarette ads were banned from both television and radio. The legislation was signed by then-President Richard Nixon and would go into effect about a year later in 1971. Ironically, Nixon was a pipe smoker, smoking as many as eight bowls of the pipe in a day. But he agreed to sign the legislation to increase studies on public health with cigarette smoking and tobacco smoking in general. For me growing up in the 1980s and never seeing ads for cigarettes anywhere. It's weird to imagine that they used to be really prominent on TV, especially in the 1950s, where smoking was glorified on TV and in movies. The one that really gets me is the commercial for I think it's Winston cigarettes from the mid-1960s, where Fred and Barney are smoking cigarettes. It's a cartoon. I mean, granted, it was in prime time. So it will be kind of similar to The Simpsons or family guy doing that type of ad. But still, it's striking to see these beloved cartoon characters smoking in a commercial. The dangers of smoking had started to come to light as early as 1939. By the end of the 1950s, sales of cigarettes to minors have been banned. And in 1964, the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission had agreed that companies needed to warn about the dangers of smoking with their ads. After a study in 1969, released by the surgeon general contributed Cigarette smoking to low birth weight and children. Congress signed the cigarette smoking Act, which made companies put warning labels on packs of cigarettes. To wrap it all up the last ever cigarette ads shown on television was on January 1 1971, at 11:50pm on the Johnny Carson Show. And that was a commercial for the Virginia Slims company of cigarettes. But the signing of the banning of cigarette ads on television and radio took place 52 years ago this week in history. And now it's time for a brand new time capsule. We're going to stick with the day that cigarette ads were banned. We're going to stick with April 1 1970. The number one song was Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel. This was the second single off of the album of the same name Bridge Over Troubled Water. It topped the Billboard charts for six weeks and won five Grammy Awards. It's one of the most famous songs of the 20th century and it's been covered by some of the biggest names in the history of music, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Johnny Cash. Bridge Over Troubled Water would end up being the final album from Simon and Garfunkel as they split up not too soon after the song came out. Although they would reunite including the huge central park concert in 1981 that was attended by about half a million people. The number one movie was Patton. This is a biographical war picture about General George S. Patton from World War Two. It starred George C. Scott and Karl Malden, it clocks in at almost three hours in length. This is routinely seen as one of the greatest war movies ever and one of the greatest movies ever won seven Academy Awards has a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In total, it made just under $62 million on a budget of just over $12 million. The number one TV show was Marcus Welby, MD. This medical drama starred Robert Young James Brolin, Tom Selleck, and William Shatner. In total, it ran for seven seasons from 1969 to 1976 and had 170 episodes. Dr. Welby, the family practitioner with the kindly bedside manner that made house calls made his debut in an ABC movie of the week in March 1969. And the TV show soon followed. And if you were around back then April 1 1970, spring is starting in the air, you want to be outside. And maybe you want to picnic, there's nothing better than stopping to get some fast food at McDonald's and going and sitting in the park. If you wanted the classic meal from McDonald's, you could get a Big Mac for 65 cents, or about $4.75. Now, a large fries for 46 cents, or about $3.36 now, and a large Coca Cola for 20 cents, or about $1.46. Now, those prices are actually surprisingly close to what they are now. So inflation has not gotten too out of control and McDonald's. But that's gonna do it for this week in history, and a time capsule. I'll be back next week with a brand new one of each. But right now I've got a special top five coming up. These are the top five movies that remind me of my sisters. So it'll be up to them to let me know how accurate I am with my choices coming up right now.
Top 5: Movies That Remind Me of My Sisters
This week's Top Five is going to be an interesting one. Because a lot of what I'm going to share is in my mind, I think accurate, but the only way to know will be to ask the actual people that it pertains to. So we're doing top five movies that remind me of my sisters. And so this is going to be interesting because I think I'm almost positive that they love to watch all of these movies, but who knows, they'll have to let me know if I'm right or not one way or another. These all remind me of them whether they watch them or not. Like I always say the top fives go in no particular order because the list itself causes enough debate. And when coming up with these lists, there are always a couple of honorable mentions. So this will kind of give you the idea of when my sisters grew up and the era they are from just based on these honorable mentions. The Honorable Mentions for movies that remind me of my sisters they include hocus pocus and death becomes her. So those are both early 90s movies you kind of get the idea where we're going. So here we go. The actual top five. Number one is labyrinth. This is one of those kinds of fantasy movies. It started a young Jennifer Connelly. It starred David Bowie. It came out in 1986, Jennifer Connelly asked to go into this fantasy world and save her baby brother, David Bowie played Jareth And there's a lot of songs in the movie. I remember I made a playlist for my sisters a few years ago that included a lot of those songs. And there are a lot of creepy Muppet-type creatures in there. I definitely remember my sisters watching this repeatedly. So much so that I know they recorded it on a VHS tape. And that tape was probably worn out by the time the 1980s ended. It's got a 74% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though, so I guess it was pretty good. I've watched it maybe once all the way through. Number two is the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now this specifically, my youngest sister, Ashley, I mean, this is like her life. She loves that movie. She can recite it front to back side to side. But I'm almost positive that all my sisters used to watch this. It's a cult classic. It's from 1975. It's a horror musical which you don't see many of starring Tim Curry, and Susan Sarandon. He got meatloaf in there. And it was a huge success. It's 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and made $226 million back then on a budget of just over $1 million. So I mean, that's a huge hit. It has annual screenings, Halloween time where people go and cosplay as characters from the movie. They had their own trading cards. I even found an old video from my high school days from 1995 Halloween and there's Rocky Horror on the TV with my sister Ashley watching it. So I know they always watch that movie. Number three is Dirty Dancing. The ultimate chick flick from the 80s 1987 Patrick Swayze Jennifer Gray about the exploits in the 60s at a summer resort camp. There are all kinds of famous songs from it. It made over $214 million on a budget of just over $4 million. and the soundtrack had you know, hungry eyes. She's Like the Wind, the I've had the time of my life song. The album, the soundtrack went to number one in the US and has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, which I cannot believe when I looked it up like that can't be real, but I've had it verified by a couple of sites. It's one of the best-selling soundtracks ever. Number four on the countdown of movies that remind me of my sister's is Mannequin, which is just when I think of it, I was not a big fan. It's Kim Cattrall. It's Andrew McCarthy and it's a mannequin that comes to life and kind of the exploits that go along with it. Very much 80s cheese, a somewhat romantic comedy. The featured song was nothing's gonna stop us now by starship, the former Jefferson Starship, former Jefferson Airplane. The movies 20% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I mean, it's definitely a movie more for girls than guys. But they watched it all the time back when we had HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime. And then obviously I think they must have recorded it at some point and just watched it repeatedly. And finally, we come to number five on the top five movies that remind me of my sisters. And it's just one of the guys. This movie is from 1985. It stars Joyce Heiser and Billy Zabka. From the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai fame. The main character feels discriminated against ad her job at the Sun Tribune. So she gets a haircut dresses like a guy and goes undercover basically, she basically has to get lessons from her brother and how to act like a guy and it's all the shenanigans from that. It's another slice of 80s cheese that I know my sister's washed a lot. It's 50% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. So it was like a minor flop but I don't think that mattered to my sisters watching it. I just know when coming up with this list for the top five that all of these movies I remember seeing on the TVs at home many times as I was growing up and that's what reminds me of them. I'm trying my best not to rag too badly on these movies. Because a couple I mean Rocky Horror I know was a big hit Labyrinth was pretty good. But the other one that's like Dirty Dancing I never wanted to watch. But I know that they meant a lot to my sisters. So I'm doing my best to not get on them too bad. But did you watch any of these movies growing up? Or are you gonna go watch them now, Labyrinth, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dirty Dancing mannequin are just one of the guys. They all remind me and my sisters, and my sisters along with my brother, the best friends I got in the world. So it's always a good thing to find things that remind you of them. And I'll be back next week with another new top five that will be just as random as this one probably totally different.
Back In the Day: Old School Telephone Problems
Today, if you're looking to make a phone call, the vast, vast majority of people can just take their phone from out of their pocket, grab it off of a desk or a counter and just make their phone call. The ease and accessibility of making telephone calls today is something that is far different from 30 years ago and as a child of the 80s, a teenager of the 90s I felt it was only appropriate to go way way back in the day and share a little bit of the trials and tribulations that went into making phone calls when you were growing up in that era. Cell phones in their first incarnation. I mean, they came around in the late 90s, and early 2000s. That was when people started to have them. Granted, they were around in the 80s, late 80s When people had those huge brick phones that they would have in their cars. But as far as them being available to the masses, it was more within the last 20 years. Before then you had a landline phone and most people I mean, some people still have landline phones now almost like a throwback. But back then in the late 80s, early 90s. Most houses had one phone, either on a table or attached to the wall, you are lucky if you had a phone in your room to have you had a couple of phones in the house, you were privileged. I think at one point, we had two phones in the house, I grew up big family of five of us kids, there's seven years difference between me the oldest and the youngest kids in the family. So obviously there came a point in time when we all had friends that we needed to talk to on the phone. So imagine that five kids plus parents needed to use the phone. And for the most part, the phones that we had had cords. So if you needed to make any sort of private phone call, you had to like go around the corner of the wall that was your privacy, you couldn't take your smartphone and go into the corner or go off into the woods or something and speak where there was no one around you or around everyone. But of course, we would yell at the other kids like to leave us alone, even though we're like in the middle of the living room. One big thing I remember about back then, is the fact that I knew everyone's phone numbers. So currently right now, if I was to have, you know, feet to the fire, I don't know if I could name anyone's phone numbers because they're all in my phone in my context. So it's not a necessary thing for my brain to remember. And I don't know if it's just me or if there are others of you out there from the same era that can remember old phone numbers from back then, but can't remember any today. Like I know my own phone number. But I can remember my Nana's phone number 775-6642. I can remember my home phone number from 25-plus years ago 394-6173. But ask me what my mother's phone number is now or any of my siblings and I draw a blank. It's interesting how the brain changes with the convenience of a cell phone smartphone with contacts in it. In the days of the early 1990s, early to mid-90s There was a comedy group comedy duo maybe they were called the Jerky Boys. And what they would do is these elaborate prank phone calls. I think they were in New York they sure sounded New York ish to me. And naturally being from that era, it seemed like something fun to emulate. And that was a thing back in the day like that. Most people didn't have any way to identify who was calling it was just a ring on the phone. That sounded the same for everyone not like a smartphone today where you can have designated rings for certain people. So you could grab the yellow pages, the phonebook, I know there's another antiquated thing, and pick out numbers and make prank phone calls. Now granted, the vast, vast, I mean, they were innocent, my friends, and I didn't call and threaten to kill people, it was more just stupid 13, 14 year old boy humor. And that may be a segment for another podcast where we dive a little deeper into that real mature action. But the thing was because it was in my head, and my friends and I did it, other people did it as well. So we would get every now and then just random phone calls at the house. So my mother and stepfather decided to get caller ID. And that was another big achievement in the early 90s. It was this little white box with a digital screen on it. And people would call and you would see the number and typically the name that was registered to it so you'd know who was calling. It made it easier to know who to avoid picking up the phone for. But as some of you know, from that era, obviously, as caller ID started to gain traction, people started to keep their numbers blocked or restricted. So that even if they called you, you couldn't see it happening today. Although smartphones have gotten to the point where I get calls that say either spam risk or telemarketer. But one way to combat restricted or blocked numbers was obviously to let it go to the answering machine, just like you do today. And you can screen your calls and call them back if you want. But another way, if people tried to prank phone call you if you didn't have caller ID, the big weapon to get back at them was something called Star 69, which I'm sure it's still around today. But literally, you would after they called or if they hung up, you could just press star 69 It would call back the number that just called you. So you could surprise people and be like I know you just called me. Of course this wasn't free. It costs you something every time you did star 69. So I remember my mother saying you know, don't do that unless it's absolutely necessary. Here's one that affected me a lot when I was in high school especially, we had landline telephones where you could just like with a cell phone, turn the ringer off, except with a cell phone you it gets on vibrate. So you can still hear the noise it makes it just doesn't ring. But with the landline phones, either the rectangle ones or the box phone that had the receiver on top. If you shut the ringer off, it did not make a noise. So if you didn't have caller ID, you had no idea anyone would call. So with five of us kids, there were times that one of us will be doing something watching TV doing homework, and the phone would ring and it would be annoying because it was that loud old telephone ring. And they would go and shut the ringer off and forget to turn it back on. So then I would have friends coming over on their bikes or something. And I'd be like, What are you doing here and they're like, We called you but you know, no one picked up. And it was the ringer would be shut off. So it'd be a fight with all of us kids with who shut the ringer off. And just imagine it's I'm naming all these different things, the caller ID the no privacy, turning the ringer off. This is all stuff that could be done to you. I mean, if you have a smartphone and you shut the ringer off, that's your fault. So there were many fights in the early to mid-1990s When all of us kids I mean, when I graduated high school, my youngest sisters were 12. So I mean, there's all of us right there in that age group with having all friends and needing to use the phone. And in that time period, my senior year of high school was when we finally got internet and got our gateway computer with a box it looked like a cow with cow spots on it. But back then you had dial-up internet, which meant that if you were on the phone and wanted to use the internet, you had to get off the phone and vice versa. If you were on the internet, and someone needed to make a phone call, you had to get off the internet so they could call. Just imagine that. I literally am recording this podcast, I've got my laptop in front of me. I got my smartphone with my notes next to me. If this was back in 9095 96, I could not do both. It's one of those things where I'm young enough that I can appreciate all this technology, but I'm also old enough that I can remember what it was like not to have any of it. I can firmly remember having the telephones that were attached to the wall with the cord and God help you if you wanted to call a girl or call a boy and talk to somebody you had a crush on, you had to have your sibling standing there watching you. Having a phone with no privacy is not part of going back in the day that I long for I will tell you that I am so happy to have my own smartphone that is mine and not having to go in the kitchen and take the phone receiver and try to talk to people in secret with everybody around. So you out there that are my age, am I bringing back flashbacks for you of high school or grade school and having no privacy with the phone? And the younger folks out there? I'm talking to those of you in your 20s to maybe early 30s. At most does this all sound like it's just out of history class that oh my god, you had to use a phone with people around how old are you, but it's true. So enjoy the technology you have. Because it could always be worse when you've got to remember phone numbers, get off the phone for the internet. Worry about sibling shutting the ringer off, or caller ID being able to tell people who you are, or having to basically wait in line to use the phone at your own house. I'll have to do a second part of this with old-school telephone problems that have to do with phone booths and stuff like that, because this was definitely a lot to put in one segment. So there'll be a part two coming up at some point.
Closing
That's going to wrap up episode 63 of the in my footsteps podcast. Thanks to everybody who has been tuning in and checking out the podcast. I really appreciate it, especially those of you that take the time to share the episodes let other people know. So they come and check it out too. And we kind of grow this spider web that grabs more people to check it out. March was a huge month for the podcasts as far as downloads and just the content in general with the lady of the dunes interview with producer Frank Durant. April's going to be just as big. So make sure to continue to check it out. rate subscribe review if you want on any of the platforms. If you want to buy me a coffee, you can go to buy me a coffee.com Find the in my footsteps podcast, any donations, go to advertising for the podcast. So it all goes right back in Friday nights at 8pm the live streams without a map comm and check them out. They're kind of like an unofficial sister podcast. Very free-flowing, but it's a lot of fun and I enjoy doing them and having a lot of friends and family and then loyal listeners all coming together. It's a lot of fun. Find me on social media, Twitter, Instagram, obviously YouTube, all those places. Check out the in my footsteps podcast blog, visit my homepage, Christopher setterlund.com. It's got links to all six of my books. Book Seven photographers, America, Cape Cod beyond the dunes likely will be out sometime in the fall. So there'll be a seventh link up there too. So I can't say for sure when this episode is going to air but I will post a link to the reform podcast. I recently did an interview with the host Kimberly Dudik, it was her interviewing myself and Frank Duran about the lady of the dunes. It was a great interview, I'm psyched. I just don't know when it's going to be out and I don't want to say it because this podcast is being recorded a little bit in advance, but the link will be in the description. And obviously if you follow me on social media, I will share it everywhere. But Kimberly is a great host. She's a former lawmaker, Assistant Attorney General, Deputy county attorney and registered nurse and she does a great True Crime podcast so even if the episode that I'm on isn't up there yet, go and check out the reform podcast.com Give her a listen. Give her a rate, and subscribe. It's very much worth it. Even though it's still a work in progress go and check out Cape kettlebell.com That is the sister gym to mind body spine chiropractic where I work along with trainer KO TKO, Dr. Michael Singleton, and our super glue that holds us together Heather, the gym will be opening likely in May, but go and check it out. Now. There's a lot of great stuff coming with Mind Body spine and Cape kettlebell that dips more into my day job as a certified personal trainer and medical fitness specialist. And even though I do this podcast, it's a lot of stuff that goes around that if you ever have any questions about fitness and such, you can always ask me that too. But as far as the podcast goes, next week is episode 64. I'm going to share the interesting story of Cape Cod's target ship the SS James Longstreet. We're going to take a road trip up to Bangor, Maine. We’ll dive deep into the death of iconic Allison chains grunge frontman Layne Staley, 20 years later, there's going to be a brand new top five that are the top five product busts of the 1980s. And this list is going to be good. There'll be a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule all coming up next week on episode 64 of the in my footsteps podcast. But now with spring in the air, the warm weather returning, make sure to get outside and get that vitamin D to enjoy the sun and enjoy life. Over the last few years, there's been way too much bad in the world, I mean, beyond the pandemic. So just enjoy what you can lean into the things that make you happy. That's what I do this podcast does it. Just being outside taking a walk in the sun, any sort of exercise at all gets the endorphins going. So in this time, in this day and age, lean into what makes you happy. And of course, remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps. Create your own path, and enjoy every moment you can leave the biggest footprint in this world because you never know what happens tomorrow. Thank you all again for tuning in to Episode 63. I will see you all for the live stream Friday and episode 64 Next week, but until then, have a great week. Great weekend. Whatever you do, make sure it's something you enjoy. I'll talk to you all again soon.