Monday, December 22, 2014

The Ghost of Lawrence Welk


While trolling Craigslist, I dropped the remote and what to my wondering eyes should appear ...... Lawrence Welk. The show, not the man. He must be long dead. He was old when I was a child.

My mother loved this show and forced it upon us with great regularity. This was back in the day when each household had only one TV and few viewing choices. You either endured the show or left the room. Mother would clap along and tell us all how very talented all the singers and dancers were and bubbles would appear behind the band. She loved it.

I stared in fascination as a grown man was dancing with a little girl of about 5. She was decked out in an emerald green triple ruffled dress and ankle socks with lace. I could almost swear that my Mother had cut the child's hair. Short, straight little bowl cut with extremely short bangs. I know the style well, since I wore it on my own head until I was old enough to object.

The little girl heel-toed all around the man as held her hand, then he swooped her up. Looked like he was going to plant her on his shoulders and at the last minute decided to perch her on one shoulder. Unfortunately she landed askew and her much ruffled stiff little dress was above her waist in the back, easy to see as the man twirled around in time to the music. Finally, he lifted her down. The dress, however stayed up. Lawrence Welk would never have let that happen! 

3 comments:

Kathy G said...

I watched way too much Lawrence Welk as a child, too. In my case it was my maternal grandma (who lived with us) who made all the TV choices.

Anonymous said...

Lawrence Welk shows are shown here every Saturday evening on our PBS station. Every so often I catch one and am amazed how popular it still is. Most of those entertainers are long gone to paradise or wherever the bubble machine was sent.

Joanne Noragon said...

I think our PSB station has quit subscribing to Lawrence, after who knows how long. 7pm Saturday night, you knew what mom was watching. And anyone else in the room.