Eisenhower Babies: Growing Up on Moonshots, Comic Books, and Black-and-White TV

by Ronnie Blair

Eisenhower Babies takes readers on a journey to a time when World War II memories were still relatively fresh, space exploration was becoming more than just fantastical subject matter for science fiction, and television had barged its way into American homes, taking up permanent residence in a hallowed spot in front of the living room sofa. Among the millions of Eisenhower Babies who burst on the scene from January 1953 to January 1961 was Ronnie Blair. His memoir of growing up in a Kentucky coal-mining community from the late 1950s to the early1970s weaves history, popular culture, and geography into a nostalgic journey interspersed with tales of coal-strike tensions and humorous family adventures. Eisenhower Babies is a celebration of the eccentricities of 1960s small-town life, where a police officer might promise to give a four-year-old his gun once the officer ran out of bullets, a neighbor could return from a Florida vacation with a live baby alligator as a new pet, and the children of World War II veterans waged imaginary battles against Hitler’s treachery in their hillside backyards.

176 pages, Paperback

Published January 3, 2023

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read this book, I could see the author’s words come to life in my imagination. At times it was serious but when it turned to humor, I thought of the movie “A Christmas Story” as I read. I enjoyed this book very much!

[C.G. Twiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lighthearted romp through the childhood of a boy growing up in the late 50s-mid-60s, possibly the last "innocent" (at least for white boys) time in America, just after WW2 and right before the Vietnam War, Kennedy and King assassinations, hippie era,, and massive social upheaval. While there wasn't much that was "innocent" about author Ronnie Blair's father's time in the Kentucky coal mines, Blair's loving nostalgia for a time when he and his sister were enthrall to black and white television, shows such as Roy Rogers and Space Ghost, to playing outside with no supervision until sundown, and innocent mischief such as convincing his neighbor to lend him a pony make for an entertaining romp through the Eisenhower era. The author writes with much fondness for his unprivileged childhood, a refreshing change from the current trend for devastating and abusive pasts. I kept waiting for the dad to suddenly turn violent or for his mom to suddenly have a breakdown, but nope. They aren't Cleavers but they are caring parents who make do with what they have.

For fans of Growing Up by Russell Baker or A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd. Thank you NetGalley and Ronnie Blair for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I just reviewed Eisenhower Babies by Ronnie Blair; Ronnie Blair; Ronnie Blair. #EisenhowerBabies #NetGalley

[JoAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir set in the immediate decades after WWII is a portrait of white, working-to-middle-class America from a cultural and social perspective. While Blair touches on some of the political history of this moment, they stop short of delivering an analysis or deep commentary on the upheavals of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. These decades saw the beginnings and rise of social movements that challenged gender norms, race and racism, notions of equity and so on, but this memoir confines itself to a more modest objective: the texture of growing up and coming of age in rural, white America.

Blair’s memoir begins with himself and his community, a small rural town in Kentucky, but expands to cover the whole of white, working class American life across the upper South and Midwest. Chapters take on the subject of roadtrips and church-going, Halloween, the thrill of television, Little League baseball, high school, and living in a small town, among many other things. Interspersed with larger historical moments are Blair’s singular experiences: having an alligator live next door, or a church named after the family, for example. Each chapter is a capsule of the moment and Blair’s own family history and life; his experience serves as the prosopographical platform on which they comment on the cultural past. This is a so-called “boomer” memoir, highlighting a shiny, seemingly golden moment in American history.

This memoir records one aspect of American Identity with well-crafted prose. The tone is humorous in some chapters, yet possesses gravity in others. Like the ebbs and flows of life, some episodes warrant a light approach, others require seriousness. Blair segues from one to another with ease. The result is a smooth and immersive read.

Blair succeeds in delivering a landscape of their experience of the American Past. Its pop culture references and highlighting of (some) common American experiences in public schooling, Judeo-Christian holidays and celebrations, and working-class struggles offer a fleshy sense of how people experienced life in these decades.