Turning 50

Terry Teachout turns 50 and reflects a bit:

Here's how old I am:

Ӣ This is what my home town looked like fifty years ago.
Ӣ My maternal grandmother canned fruit and stored it in her root cellar.
Ӣ My mother was baptized in a river.
Ӣ My father witnessed a lynching.
Ӣ Milk used to be delivered to my family's back door.
Ӣ We used to leave that door unlocked.
Ӣ When I was a boy, I read Li'l Abner and Pogo in the paper every Sunday. . .
Ӣ I used to send telegrams.
Ӣ I saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. . .
Ӣ I watched the first moon landing on TV.
Ӣ I cast my first presidential ballot in 1976. (Don't ask.)
Ӣ I saw Star Wars and Animal House when they were new. . .