Scary cosmic monsters and other happy childhood memories.

I recently told Sam a couple of stories from when I was a kid and he thought both would make excellent material for the Howdygram. So here they are. I won’t mind if you’re not interested, but maybe you can pretend just for the hell of it.

Story number one concerns First Man Into Space, a 1959 movie about the very first astronaut coming back to earth that scared the living crap out of me when I was eight years old. I remember running from the Skokie Theater screaming and then having ongoing nightmares about this crusted, disfigured monster for MONTHS — actually, YEARS — afterwards. The worst part was his one huge oozy eyeball and his huge cockeyed teeth, apparently the result of radioactive cosmic dust.

Looking at these pictures now it all seems really lame, but trust me, that monster was too much for my brain to process at eight years old. And his eyeball was just HORRIBLE.

I’m also pleased to include a photo of the aforementioned Skokie Theater (circa 1962), which was really teeny with one screen, very good popcorn and a 10¢ soft drink machine that dispensed syrup and carbonated water into a paper cup in separate streams with a clump of crushed ice at the end. This was fabulous and my favorite flavor was Green River.

And now for my television debut, which is story number two. “Lunchtime Little Theater” was a Chicago children’s TV show in the mid-1950s starring Uncle Ned, Uncle Bucky and Aunt Jeannie. (I wouldn’t joke about this.) In 1956 mom got tickets for my sister and me to be in the audience ... I was five, Robin was three. Three years old probably pushed the envelope a little, because Robin had a shrieking fit when they seated her with me in the peanut gallery so she got exiled to sit in back with all the mothers. And although I have almost zero recollection of “Lunchtime Little Theater” that day, I remember walking up and down the sidewalk in front of our house when I got home — still wearing my party dress — because I was positive everybody would recognize me. Oh my God, isn’t that the cute little girl we just saw on TELEVISION?

Trust me. “Lunchtime Little Theater” did NOT launch my career and thank you for reading this.