Thanksgiving For the Horror / Sci-fi fan of yesteryear
Thanksgiving for me as a youngster always had a special feel and memories.
It wasn’t a holiday for children and us young ones always found it boring. Moms had their Hostess of the Home fanfare and Dads had their sports. It was the Holiday for adults.
Being the child I was, I managed to carve out a niche that got me through the day.
The day started with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Aside from the big balloons it was usually a snoozer. But immediately following on WPIX in NY, March of the Wooden Soldiers (aka: Babes in Toyland) was aired.
From their I would turn to W-OR, which for many years would air a few Kong films for the day. It would start with the classic, King Kong (1933) at 1:00. About 3 o’clock they would air Son of Kong (1933). And they would finish at 4:30 with Mighty Joe Young (1949). For breif reviews of these films, check out my post: The Legacy of Kong
It turned my Thanksgiving day into a fun day of Fantasy Adventure!
Not a lot of cousins, then? That’s what I remember–getting to see other kids in my extended family. (In my family I was a straggler-child, who was much younger than my siblings, and a loner when I was at school.) Thanksgiving was fun for me because I got to spend some time with other kids. There was even a kids’ table.
No, no cousins my age and after I was about 6 there was a family fall out and, well, that’s a long story…
I associated March of the wooden soldiers with Christmas because one of our local channels would always show it on Christmas morning. So now I always watch it around Christmas. I wished we’d had a Kong marathon when I was a kid.
It’s strange how we associate things now, just because of what we saw on TV when we were younger 🙂
Oh man. I LOVE these movies. Always so nostalgic for me. Loved catching them on WPIX and WOR back in the day. I recall having the flu one season and staying in bed all day watching these awesome flicks. Now my kids dig them…
Great post, Mike!