Peace in Our Time. (Meaning the Late 70's.)

There may not be much peace in our time overall, but experts seem to agree that the treaty between Egypt and Israel, signed forty-five years ago this week, has held, unabrogated. There have been small challenges along the way, but it is considered a success, and a feather in the cap of Jimmy Carter and his largely maligned, single-term presidency. Of course, the war in Gaza may complicate matters, but your humble Non-Parader is not the man to ruminate on such a intricate topic. No, I am here with the nostalgic take, and unsurprisingly, it takes the form of an old newspaper.

My collection of old papers includes the Tuesday, March 27th, 1979 Newsday, Nassau Edition. Newsday was (and is) the key newspaper for residents of Long Island, delivered in the afternoon rather than the morning (their slogan was “What Are You, in a Hurry?”), with Nassau being the county where I grew up. That paper contained extensive coverage of the previous day's event at Camp David, where Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the accord. There is a 24-page supplement included, which appears to be titled "Shalom. Salaam. Forever."

First I'd like to explain that these pics were taken with my phone, so margins and proportions are skewed way more than if I had flat-scanned them. It's just so much easier than trying to place a newspaper on the glass, particularly the full-page ads. I've tried to ensure legibility (and don't forget to click on pics to enlarge them).

I’d also like to explain that I own the rights to nothing you are about to see. I haven’t perused the Blogger terms lately, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t even own my own words.

Here are the covers of the newspaper and the supplement, and then the many ads from that special section. Maybe I'm just getting more sentimental in my encroaching dotage (I had been ten for less than a week when this event took place), but I find these messages of congratulations and hope to be moving--even if they were just quick solicitations for advertising purposes. I mean, should I really get all choked up over a bank ad, no matter how noble the purported intention? In any case, some of them are really lovely, so enjoy and then I'll get to other stuff from the main section.

The first ad is from Suburbia Federal Savings.

"The Peace Medal." Odd that David Cross gets a mention.

Raisins in Westbury, Jericho Cider Mill.

Island Recreational.

Barnett, Roslyn Savings Bank, Rapco, Montauk Rug & Carpet.

Joe Franklin's favorite, Martin Paint.

Merchants of Cedarhurst.

Hempstead Bank.

Harrison Radio, Northstage Theatre, Frame King, Porch & Patio, Party Factory Outlet.

Care-Free Swimming Pools, Genovese, Modell's.

North Shore merchants.

Merchants of Westbury and Carle Place.

Sea Jack in Deer Park, Michele's of Huntington, Saber in Bellmore.

P/J's Dance Charisma of Bethpage, Yale/V.I.P. bedding, Adwar Video.

Another medal, Stella Ristorante of Floral Park, Ben's Kosher Delicatessen of Baldwin, United Ceramic Tile of East Northport, Nelson Varon Organ Studios. (See Nelson himself, and read about his song/poem reprinted in the ad, from just a few years ago—right here!)

Kosher Meat Farm in Plainview and Wantagh, Green Acres Shopping Center in Valley Stream.

UniTEL Communications of Hauppauge, Cohen's Fashion Optical.

Hicksville merchants.

Plainview Kosher Meats, Super Stuff Records in Levittown, Aliyah Center of Forest Hills, American Custom Mirrors of Bohemia.

Jast of Jericho, ABC Swimming Pools of Bay Shore.

Last, a ton of small, business-name-only ads.

Onto the main section, with ads for stores and movies, plus the TV and radio listings.

Dial-a-Joke, a service (?) of New York Telephone, was changing the exchange of its phone number. To commemorate this, on April Fool's Day, they gave comedians their own hour-long slot to showcase their yocks (usually a couple minutes, not the full 60). Participating were: George Jessel, Bob Shaw, Phyllis Diller, Jimmy Walker, Soupy Sales, George Gobel, Jack Carter, Pat Carroll, Jan Murray, Marilyn Sokol, David Letterman, Rocky Graziano (?), Don Imus, Joey Adams, Gary Owens, Marty Brill, Kermit Schaefer’s Bloopers, Lenny & Squiggy (Michael McKean and David L. Lander), Gene Baylos (not "Balos" as it appears here), Sandy Baron, Jackie Vernon, Joey Villa, Will Jordan, and Jim Backus.
I love the idea that somewhere in the metro area, some nostalgic Soupy fan set their alarm for 4am, hoping to get a Pookie fix.

Here are the TV listings--and hey, if you dig Long Island TV schedules from back-in-the-day, check out THIS!

The Kidsday section includes a feat of strength by my hometown's Lisa Brown.

An article about a book detailing a man's incarceration in a Soviet gulag features this haunting Gary Viskupic illustration.

My one-time penpal, the late Bill Kaufman, caught Lena Horne and Marvin Hamlisch at the Westbury Music Fair. He offers his opinion, right after I offer the ad.

Another Plainview resident, Lillian Dubsky, who "escaped from Hitler's Austria under a load of hay," created a short documentary, "We Must Never Forget."

SIDETRACK! Let's make a quick flash-forward here, to May 29th, when WLIW aired "We Must Never Forget." This was the only showing I could track down, and I just happened to have the Newsday TV Book for that week. (10pm, channel 21.)

And finally, Marvin Kitman lambasts the aforementioned Soupy Sales as "inane" (and his new show as painfully unfunny), and also rips the "programming geniuses" at WPIX for... cancelling him?

That's it for now! Leave a comment, unless you're inclined to write something anti-Semitic (in which case go piss up a rope instead). Until next time, Mazel Tov!