All Things Vintage: Oh! My Papa! AprilA2Z

Good-morning, kittens and dawgs! This week three of All Things Vintage and I couldn’t let allow today’s alpha prompt to not include, Oh! My Papa!

 


This is a cover song of Fisher’s from 1958. The original was first recorded in 1938 (the year after my daddy was born) as O Mein Papa by Erna Lenser, but I couldn’t find it on YouTube. Now, that one would’ve been really vintage stock.

This is my daddy in the early 50s in southern West Virginia. He's holding his niece in the photograph.
This is my daddy in the early 50s in southern West Virginia. I’m not sure how old he is here, but if I had to guess then I’d say he’s around 14-16 years old. He’s holding his niece in the photograph.

Age is a relative term as one gets older and I definitely don’t think my pops is vintage material, but Oh, My Papa-in-law would fall more into that category. He celebrated his 93rd birthday last month. What do you think?

1944 WWII soldier on leave posed in front of car.
1944 in southern West Virginia. My father-in-law was on military leave. He sure looks handsome!

Do you know what this is?

notox opener


How about this?

soda pop opener


Okay, if you don’t know what the previous two pictures are, then this will clinch it for you!

coca-cola opener

All of these gadgets open bottles. When DH and I were first married we had Pepsi-Cola opener similar to the Coca-Cola one above, but when we moved from the rental property to our house we lost it. DRATS! I loved that opener and it would be so cool to  have it.

There’s something magical about nostalgic moments through music. I’m winding up with more classic vintage hits from the 50s.

From 1954, The Platters with Only You

Singing Only the Lonely Frank Sinatra from 1958. 

 

Another hit from the same year, Over and Over by Bobby Day. 

Applauds and special thanks to the incredible A2Z Team:

Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Heather M. Gardner
Jeremy @ Hollywood Nuts
AJ Lauer
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian
Damyanti Biswas @ Daily Write
Zalka Csenge Virág @ The Multicolored Diary
Joy Campbell @ The Character Depot
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

mewsic moves me Monday music

This is a quick & painless way for others to find good tunes in Blogosphere by joining my no strings attached music hop, just add your music post URL below and WHA-LAH, instant traffic directed to your site.

Now, I invite you to hop with me in checking out some of the amazing A2Zers playing along this year and I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for Pretty things.


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14 comments

  1. Just catching up on some posts i missed during the A to Z and stumbled across this. You’ve made my day and brought a smile to my face with the Eddie Fischer song. My grandfather used to bust out in, “Oh my papa! To me…” …all the time! So, this reminded me of him…thank you 🙂
    ~Katie
    TheCyborgMom

  2. Oh wow, Eddie Fisher with “Oh, my papa” my mother loved that song… the others I know too. My mama loved music was always playing her stereo. My big brother too he was six yrs. older than me. I know them all. Great choices Cath… thanks for sharing. I haven’t heard these in so long.

  3. I still wonder how one used a can opener. I’ve never actually seen one. I mean, not like that. I’m use to the one with the crank on the side.

  4. We used to have a coca- cola one like that nailed right to the side of the barn kitchen. I can still remember grabbing those old glass Coke bottles that fit perfect in your hand and guzzling one down on a hot day. Back then they were not the big 500ml ones of today! Just enough for a taste of sugar and quench your thirst.

  5. I knew what the second one and, of course, the third one were, but I wasn’t so sure about the first one.

    Those are great family photos. I love the car in the picture of your father-in-law. I bet he could sure tell some stories. I hope that you’ve interviewed him and recorded his stories in some fashion. 🙂

    Thanks for another great post. Have a great night!

  6. I think Jim Nabors sang “O My Papa” on “Gomer Pyle, USMC” once. The story was that a gangster type liked the way he sang it and made him sing it again and again… nice song, though…

    I remember when they would have those bottle openers similar to the Coke one in hotel and motel rooms, usually attached to a bathroom cabinet, for when they sold soft drinks in bottles. You could always tell how old a hotel was by whether or not you found one in the room.

  7. Oh I remember those bottle openers! I have a few still. Too bad there aren’t many pop bottles anymore but there sure are beer bottles so mine still get used 🙂
    Great oldies…

    Michele at Angels Bark

  8. I knew right away they are bottle openers. I still have a couple of them and they are used:) one forgets that Eddie Fisher had a good voice and wasn’t just an idiot husband to Debbie Reynolds and Liz Taylor. These are great pictures and love seeing them. Your dad is in his 90’s? That’s great and I hope he is healthy and in good spirits

  9. I did recognize all three as bottle openers. I had to stare at the first one for a few minutes for it to register, though. It sorta looks like a broken wrench… no? I love the old pics you’ve posted here. Some mighty handsome fellas…:)

  10. I knew from the first image it was a bottle opener, having seen them around in my youth. 🙂
    I LOVE The Platters! I still have the vinyl album from my mother’s collection. And, didn’t know who did “Over and Over,” but I definitely remember it! And Oh Eddie Fisher!
    It’s a delight when I see your posts. Days of Yore, oft feel so sublime. Thank you.

  11. Oh, I remember bottle openers, and probably had/used both of those many many times. Remember making pop-top chains too? Lol, talk about vintage. I have a few pictures of my “papa” when he was young; so hard to believe our parents were ever young. Now I’m no longer “young” to my kids. They ask how I made popcorn before microwaves. Sad, sad.

  12. Hi, dear Cathy!

    You dug up some excellent relics for your O post! Eddie Fisher’s cover recording of “Oh My Papa” is one of my earliest musical memories. I was age 4/5 when my parents bought the 45 and I listened to it often. I really got excited about Eddie a couple of years later when he started getting into rock ‘n’ roll and waxed “Dungaree Doll.” Thanks for showing us pics of your handsome father and father-in-law. Yessum, young people today would probably be scratching their heads trying to figure out what those strange looking metal gadgets were used for. We called them “church keys.” I enjoyed the O songs you posted. The mellow ballad “Only You” was a monster hit for the Platters. I never heard the one by Sinatra but I am familiar with Bobby Day’s “Over and Over,” successfully covered in the 60s by the Dave Clark Five.

    Thank you very much, dear friend Cathy!

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