Jeepers! : Cool Is Hot, Ralph Kramden Is a Folk Hero and Business Discovers There’s Money to Be Made From Reviving the ‘50s

Dinah Shore’s rendition of “See the USA in your Chevrolet” made her commercials among the most remembered in television during the mid-1950s.

Thirty years later, the 66-year-old Shore is coming back in a 1955 red Chevy convertible as Chevrolet banks on the past to sell the future.

She will be highlighted in new Chevy commercials to be seen in movie theaters this month. It is all part of a new campaign to show more homey Americana from the ‘50s, an idea surfacing daily in print advertisements and commercials.

Grown-up baby boomers are looking for the comforts of their childhood in everything from doo-wop tunes to mom’s home cooking, and consumer-oriented businesses of every variety say they are responding by reviving nearly everything that was the Atomic Age.

And it isn’t happening by accident. Companies are cashing in on the ‘50s because “they’ll have to in order to remain profitable,” said Faith Popcorn, chairman of BrainReserve, a Madison Avenue marketing consulting group.

“We didn’t know it then, but in the ‘50s, we were happy,” said Popcorn.

“Now things are so unpredictable and out of our control, we’re demanding the security back. Look at Bill Cosby--he’s the Ozzie and Harriet of the ‘80s. Everything is a rerun.”

Advertising agencies are using “oldies” soundtracks to sell cars and beer. Meat loaf is served in the hundreds of ‘50s-style diners emerging around the nation.

Marilyn Monroe’s image appears on dozens of products from clothing to jigsaw puzzles. Furniture stores are selling turquoise vinyl couches to people who want to re-create their parents’ living room.

But it isn’t just the baby boomers’ memories that merchants are trading on. Businesses say that by recycling the past they are also attracting a new, younger batch of consumers.

The people who weren’t yet born to watch “The Honeymooners” on television and to drink malts at the corner drugstore are finding the 1950s a great novelty.

“To some people, this ‘50s kind of stuff may be old, but my friends and I think of it as brand new,” said Dennis Sherman, a Torrance high school senior who frequently takes his date to eat at Ed Debevic’s, a ‘50s-style diner built in Torrance in 1984.

They call it The Fifties. But most trend-watchers peg the end of the postwar era of security in the early 1960s.

The simplicity and innocence of the period ended by 1964, they say, as the Beatles were coming in and Elvis was fading out. As tail fins shrank and McDonald’s replaced the independent malt shop. As Vietnam began and President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

As times have become more complicated, it is the ‘50s optimism that people want back, according to Thomas Hine, author of “Populuxe,” one of many books capitalizing on the period’s current popularity.

“In the ‘50s, everybody had access to luxury. Everything was geared toward the future. Now we look back to it, because this stuff tells us how we used to look forward to progress.”

Despite evidence that indicates consumers are buying the 1950s (Hine’s book alone has sold 15,000 copies at $29.95), some businesses have been cautious about entering the nostalgia market for fear it won’t last.

Said Bill Lane of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency’s San Francisco office: “What’s going to happen when the 35- to 45-year-olds become 65-year-olds? There’s no way this looking-to-the-past thing can last that long.”

Right now, however, the ‘50s are hot. Here is just a sampling of what used to be “out” that businesses have suddenly brought back “in” to meet the demand.

CARS

Pink Cadillacs with tail fins have returned to cruise Sunset Boulevard, not driven by greasy-haired teen-agers but by executives who would rather rent a convertible than a four-door sedan when in town on a business trip.

Dreamboats, a Beverly Hills car rental agency that deals exclusively in convertibles made between 1959 and 1964, has placed its hopes on the fact that middle-aged adults are looking for breezy memories of their teen years. Most of the 15 cars on the lot, ranging from a red 1960 Chevy Impala to a pink Buick Electra, are rented at $69 a day or $369 a week.

Some are rented as movie props or for ‘50s parties, but most are reserved weeks ahead of time by business travelers from out of town, said Dreamboats Manager Peter Hyams.

The Long Island, N.Y.-based company was founded because the convertible represents a colorful, fun time.

“In the early ‘60s, it was cool to have a convertible,” Hyams said. “Driving was great, it wasn’t so smoggy. You could put a surfboard in the back and drive out onto the sand. People want that easy feeling again.”

And if they don’t rent convertibles for that “easy feeling,” they buy them. Between 1974 and 1982, no new convertibles were produced in the United States. But consumer demand brought them back four years ago, and production is now higher than ever.

More than 100,000 ragtops are now sold in the United States each year, according to auto makers who can’t keep new convertible models in stock. Ford Motor Co. produced 23,000 1986 Mustang convertibles, up 8,000 from 1985, and sold every one at a base price of $13,000 to $15,800. Dodge, Chrysler and General Motors produced from 10,000 to 15,000 convertibles each. Imports accounted for about 30,000, and Toyota hired a custom body shop to sheer the tops off of 4,000 cars once they arrived in California.

“Convertible buyers are vociferous in their belief that convertibles are the only way to go,” said L. R. Windecker, a Ford analyst who has studied the group and found most to be middle-aged, with higher-than-average educations and incomes. “Those cars sell like gang-busters.”

ADVERTISING

In its annual pitch to shoppers this Christmas, Warner Bros. Records ran a ‘50s-style ad to promote ‘80s-style music. Seen in magazines such as Rolling Stone, the black-and-white ad featured a ‘50s family gathered around the Christmas tree and exclaiming “Jeepers!” as they open albums by Madonna and the Talking Heads.

“On the surface, it’s a real warm and fuzzy feeling,” said artist Steve Vance, who designed the ad. “But it’s a whole new graphic approach that is attractive to the young as well as the ones who lived through it. We let them laugh, and they remember the ad.”

Using the same technique, J. Walter Thompson’s San Francisco office recently completed a commercial depicting the “Sprint Generation” versus the “AT&T; Generation.” The spot, which has not yet been aired, relies on 1953 clips from the Howdy Doody and Ed Sullivan shows “as a creative clock,” said the agency’s creative director, Bill Lane.

“Nostalgia establishes time firmly and quickly,” said Lane, who also uses older songs to lure viewers into a commercial. “If a guy fell in love with his girlfriend while dancing to the Four Tops, the Four Tops will be his favorite, even in a commercial.”

Lincoln-Mercury, California Cooler and Michelob beer have all used oldies soundtracks to bring back memories to the 25- to 45-year-old market with large amounts of disposable income. Maxell is running advertisements featuring ‘50s idol Buddy Holly to promote “the tape that lasts as long as the legend.” The 1959 Chordette’s hit “Lollipop” highlights Fotomat commercials.

Says Lane: “It’s no hocus-pocus. We’re just following where the money is.”

MUSIC

Like advertisers, radio stations are using the music of the ‘50s and ‘60s to attract a larger listening audience. According to Billboard magazine, in less than a year, the number of oldies radio stations jumped to more than 500 operating today from 350.

“It’s been the saving grace of dozens of dying radio stations,” said Fred Jacobs, a radio consultant who has converted ailing pop radio stations to successful classic rock and oldies formats in cities from Kansas to California.

“This format, this classics thing, came at a time when most radio stations didn’t know where to go,” said Jacobs. “The older audience was disenchanted with the newer music. With the older songs, more people identified. The stations very quickly become a button on car radios.”

KLSX in Los Angeles and KFRC in San Francisco, both stations that recently made the switch to oldies formats, are also reporting that they have attracted younger listeners than they had expected.

“We were surprised to find that our response hasn’t just been from the 25- to 45-year-old crowd we’re aiming for, but from 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds,” said Tom Yates, program director of KLSX, which replaced the adult contemporary station K-BEST in September. “By going back to the roots music, we’re playing stuff the younger people haven’t heard before.”

Younger listeners are also catching an earful of older tunes in motion pictures that are using the songs to create a mood. “Peggy Sue Got Married” has caused several top-40 stations to bring Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” out of storage and onto the turntables.

The film “Stand by Me” has rejuvenated the career of Ben E. King, who originally recorded the song “Stand by Me” in 1961. It is currently No. 9 on Billboard magazine’s chart of best-selling singles. King has a music video in frequent play on MTV, and Atlantic Records released a “greatest hits” album for the Christmas season.

Other musical stars from the ‘50s, such as Frankie Avalon, are also enjoying a comeback of sorts in concert performances around the nation. A live performance by the Lettermen, who decided to return to the music scene in 1986, was among the top-grossing concerts of October and November. More than 10,000 fans turned out to see them at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, with more than $150,000 in box-office receipts.

Avalon has been touring with the Golden Boys of Bandstand tour, which includes Fabian and Bobby Rydell. The trio draws as many as 5,000 fans a night at state fairs and concerts. Most of the women who turn out to see them are the same ones who pinned the boys’ pictures on their bedroom walls 25 years ago, say friends of Avalon.

TELEVISION

Jackie Gleason, as Honeymooner Ralph Kramden, is once again moaning and groaning in living rooms around the country. So is Beverly Hillbilly Jed Clampett. And Raymond Burr is back as Perry Mason, not just in his original hourlong black-and-white episodes but in made-for-TV movies.

NBC’s fourth Perry Mason remake, “The Case of the Shooting Star,” shown in November was a top-rated movie-of-the-week this season. And last season, the Andy Griffith show remake, “Return to Mayberry,” was the highest rated TV movie. Viacom Entertainment Group, which produced the shows, has a contract to make at least two more Mason movies and a second Mayberry.

Aside from remakes, reruns of classic sitcoms are being bought by independent stations and cable networks in record numbers. Syndication in more than 60 markets was once considered “remarkable” for an old sitcom, but many shows produced in the ‘50s are now seen in more than 100 markets.

The original “Andy Griffith Show” is in 147 markets, “The Beverly Hillbillies” in 128 and “I Love Lucy” in 127. Industry experts say this is due in part to the 100 independent stations added to the market since 1982, which see reruns as a cheap way to attract viewers. But most say it is due to the “simple humor” of shows made during the ‘50s.

“People know what to expect from these shows,” said Betsy Vorce of Viacom Enterprises, which distributes 160 old shows. “The new stations could easily subscribe to “Welcome Back Kotter,” but they go for the old stuff. The situations may not be very cerebral, but they bring back a whole genre, reminding us of a life less complicated.”

“Leave It to Beaver” reruns have been popular among kids that today are Beaver Cleaver’s age. They wear T-shirts bearing “the Beav’s” picture and carry lunch boxes bearing quotes such as “Gosh, Wally!” to school.

“The Honeymooners” is a typical example. Seen in 111 markets, the show is attracting a large following of baby boomers. About 300 of them--stockbrokers, advertising executives and writers--have formed the Ralph Organization, the Royal Assn. for the Longevity and Preservation of the Honeymooners. The group is “religiously spreading the Honeymooners fervor,” Vorce said, by holding conventions and writing books on the show and its cast.

Not all the old names are successful when brought back to the screen, however. ABC dropped a new Lucille Ball sitcom. Says Vorce: “Not everyone can compete with ‘Miami Vice,’ ‘Dynasty’ and the modern age.”

‘50s STYLE

Vinyl chairs, boomerang-shaped coffee tables and chrome-legged sofas--things that could have filled Lucy Ricardo’s living room--are sought-after items in furniture stores around the nation. And neon, just five years ago considered so gaudy that cities created ordinances banning it, is now prevalent on most upscale boulevards.

Once viewed as merely ‘50s-kitsch, the furniture and styles that were the ‘50s are now often considered desirable art forms, and a growing number of businesses are capitalizing on their return to popularity.

“People are recognizing the energy in the Moderne Design period,” said Harry Segil, owner of HarRy, a ‘50s furniture store on La Brea Avenue. “Every family lived in a tract house and wanted to fill it with furniture of the latest materials. They never used wood, but wire and Formica, vinyls and plastics. There was no other period like it, and up until now it wasn’t repeated.”

Segil, and several others around the country, are now designing new furniture in a ‘50s fashion to be reproduced and sold in furniture chains later this year. Now, most of the ‘50s furniture items sold are older pieces bought in garage sales and refurbished with respect to the era. At HarRy, one can find pink and white living room sets, couches upholstered in leopard patterns and wire chairs--all starting at $300 for each piece.

To accompany their new ‘50s decor, many people are buying jukeboxes. The Antique Apparatus Co., a Torrance-based jukebox manufacturer, has sold hundreds of neon-styled Art Deco models. At $7,200 each, they sold out for Christmas in October, and the company will be filling back orders through February.

The neon sign-making industry has seen a 200% increase in business in the past two years, according to Den Blazek, neon expert and owner of the Northern Wisconsin School of Neon. “Companies that had shut down their neon departments are now back into it,” Blazek said. “It creates an ambiance from the past. Everybody is using it, from yogurt shops to Levi Strauss.”

CLUBS and DINERS

Any night of the week, folks in Southern California can attend a hop.

The Hop, a nightclub that claims to have recreated the atmosphere of a sock hop, features live music by bands such as the Lettermen in a “decorated gymnasium” complete with basketball hoops.

“For about a decade, you didn’t hear the good rock ‘n’ roll, the stuff that a whole generation grew up on,” said Mark Vasu, a nightclub consultant who is working on franchising plans for the Hop. “Now everyone from about 30 to 50 years old is out there shakin’ and boppin’ and loving it.”

Owned by the Righteous Brothers, there are two Hops, in Fountain Valley and Lakewood. Two more are to open this spring, in Riverside and Puente Hills, and there are plans to bring the nightclubs to eight more locations in 1988. Vasu is hoping the Hop will have the same success as Studebaker’s, a Texas-based ‘50s nightclub chain that is in 20 locations nationwide.

The oldies nightclub fever has even spread to Wall Street, where a group of bankers and financial planners opened the Baja in November. It replaced a punk rock club that Baja founders said had “fallen out of favor with professionals on Manhattan’s west side.”

“New York clubs were too trendy. We wanted something that reminded us of our college days,” said Mike Kelly, a sales analyst for the Salomon Bros. investment firm and a member of the Baja’s investment group. “By getting away from the glitz and back to rock ‘n’ roll, we hope to get instant recognition.”

Meat loaf, pot pies and crinkle-cut French fries abound at more than a dozen ‘50s-imitation diners that have joined the ‘50s clubs in Los Angeles and Orange counties in just the past two years. There is Ruby’s on the Balboa Pier, Johnny Rocket’s on Melrose and Heaven Pop Cuisine, which has franchised up and down the coast.

Even Patrick Terrail, owner of the closed-for-now exclusive Ma Maison restaurant, has joined the diner phenomenon. Last fall, he opened the Hollywood Diner on Fairfax Avenue with valet parking and a menu that mixes French cuisine with short-order cooking.

Although a common complaint about the new diners is that the stainless steel counters, old signs everywhere and ‘80s prices are not truly “authentic,” they are rarely lacking for customers. At Ed Debevic’s in Torrance, people wait hours for a chance to occupy one of the 212 sparkling vinyl seats and eat Atomic Burgers, frozen vegetables and Piggy Pudding. Part of the attraction: Nothing on the menu costs more than $4.95.

MARILYN MONROE

If she were still alive, Marilyn Monroe would be 60 years old. But she has remained forever young. Her face graced the covers of at least eight magazines in 1986. And her image has been preserved by the growing numbers of companies vying to use her name and by women trying to imitate her look.

“Marilyn has become a marketing strategy,” said Roger Richman, a licensing expert who handles Monroe’s estate, as well as those of Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich and the Marx Brothers. “For the people who grew up with Marilyn, she is their contemporary. Teen-agers see her as someone to look up to.”

At least 49 companies have bought licenses to use Marilyn Monroe’s face or name. Max Factor has her in magazine cosmetic advertisements. Marilyn Monroe shoes, boots and handbags will be carried in Thom McAn shoe stores. Her face is on bed sheets and pillow cases. Hallmark Cards has put her on a puzzle.

Companies looking for a Monroe endorsement are charged a licensing fee of 7% to 12% of the total cost of the advertisement. Most of the money goes to the Monroe estate. Her mother, Gladys Baker, now in her mid-’80s, receives $5,000 a year. A large percentage goes to the Anna Freud clinic in London for child therapy. About 35% stays with Richman.

Richman turned down a group that wanted to sell the dried flowers from Monroe’s grave and is trying to stop some unauthorized biographies of the star. But there is little he can do about Monroe imitators.

The 28-year-old Madonna, a singer and 1980s idol to teen-age girls, has copied the Marilyn Monroe look on her most recent album cover. In her first music video, “Material Girl,” she wore a Monroe gown and danced in a set from “How to Marry a Millionaire,” a film featuring Monroe.

The Sharper Image catalogue has used Monroe on its cover twice in 1986. The issues were so successful that it is now selling lithographs of the star for $199 to $399. Author Gloria Steinem has written a new book called “Marilyn,” a sympathetic reassessment of Monroe from a feminist perspective.

CLOTHES AND HAIRSTYLES

This spring, executives can expect women to show up to board meetings in lace collars and petticoats, according to fashion analysts who say that the ‘50s are back in fashion with a vengeance, especially for working women.

“The whole garment industry is being affected by nostalgia,” said Carol Coleman, a partner in Inferential Focus, a trend forecasting firm. “Women want to look feminine again, like they did in the ‘50s. Waistlines are back. The bustline is back. Pearls are back as accessories.”

Bullock’s reports that 60% of its spring offering will be clothing based on the ‘50s look. “It’s not a teeny-bopper look, it’s very sophisticated for career women,” said Karen Weiss, a merchandise manager for the chain. “It’s the whole Marilyn Monroe feeling. Full skirts. Lace collars. Bare shoulders.”

In case the younger crowd doesn’t find their ‘50s fashion at Bullock’s, a whole line of Marilyn Monroe clothing is being carried in 1,000 Limited Express stores nationwide. It features characteristic Monroe sweaters as well as denim jackets emblazoned with her portrait on the back.

For men, the fashions are narrow ties, straight-legged pants and the old standby blue jeans. Lettermen’s jackets are also the rage. For those who no longer have them, stores around the country are stocking them en masse--for as much as $250 each.

Ducktails, flat tops and the “greaser look” are also back. And sales of the stuff to keep these hairstyles looking slick are soaring. Styling gels and glazes, the 1980s equivalent to Butch Wax, created a new category in the salon market last year, with more than $23 million in retail sales, according to Modern Salon magazine.

Short hair is back too, and salons and barbers report a 15% rise in hair-cutting business alone in 1985 from the year before.

Some things do change, however. The cost of a haircut in the 1950s was about $1.50. The average price today: $8.