Saturday Morning Magic

It’s 1973. The house is calm and quiet except for the quiet rustling of cartoons on TV. Saturday mornings were sacred—a special time, just for us kids. Mom worked part-time during the week and Saturday mornings, so she took my baby sister to Grandma Meister’s house. I was easy to entertain. All I needed was the TV and a lineup of Saturday morning cartoons. It was the only day of the week devoted entirely to children, where the shows were designed for us and our interests, and nothing else mattered.

While Grandma drank her hot, black coffee and read the paper, I was glued to the screen, lost in the world of “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” and the wacky, larger-than-life adventures of “H.R. Pufnstuf.” “Schoolhouse Rock” did more than entertain; it sneakily taught me lessons about conjunctions and how a bill becomes a law.

Just as mesmerizing as the shows were the commercials in between. Ronald McDonald danced across the screen, making me crave french fries, warning me not to let the “gobbler” steal them. Tony the Tiger’s deep voice told me his cereal was “GRRRrrreat!” while a giant Kool-Aid pitcher burst through walls, always there to quench my thirst.

Around 11:00, the spell would break. The magical world of Saturday morning cartoons slowly faded as the networks transitioned to more grown-up programming. “CBS Children’s Film Festival” would air, signaling that my carefree cartoon marathon was over. The foreign films, often with subtitles, felt strange to me. I remember thinking, “This is weird”—like I was suddenly thrust into a world I wasn’t ready for.

Looking back, Saturday mornings were pure bliss, a ritual that felt like it belonged to me alone. Today, I find myself pulling away from the allure of TV and screens, resisting the pull that once captivated me for hours. It’s funny how something that once felt like magic can now feel like a distraction. Yet, I’ll always cherish those early mornings at Grandma’s house, with nothing but the sound of cartoons and the smell of her coffee filling the room.

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