Readers Remember

I had just proudly finished putting together my Heathkit stereo amplifier, replacing the needle cartridge with the just-released stereo cartridge with which I could play the new hot stereo albums on my Webcor phonograph, when my aunt said: “That stereo stuff is just a fad that will be gone and forgotten in a couple of months.”

It was 1956 and I had Elvis Presley blasting out of two sets of speakers. I’ve thought about her comment many times over the years as my “gadgets” kept increasing in number while decreasing in size.

HARVEY H. ROSEN

Marina del Rey

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In 1953, I was a 10-year-old Cub Scout in Oyster Bay, N.Y., when President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited to dedicate Theodore Roosevelt’s home as a national shrine.

I was one of many Scouts chosen as part of an honor guard. At one point, we found ourselves approximately 10 feet from a man we had only seen in newsreels and newspapers.

As the president entered his open-top car, I yelled, “Hey Ike!” He looked at me with that famous grin and yelled back, “Hiya Sonny!” I’ve been a cop in L.A. for over 29 years and have been around a lot of high-profile people, but Ike’s sincere response is one of my fondest memories.

Sadly, I doubt if any young kid will ever get that close to a president today without going through a security check.

JOHN AMOTT

Agoura

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In 200 words or less, send us your memories, comments or eyewitness accounts of the 20th century. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com. We regret we cannot acknowledge individual submissions. Letters may be edited for space.