Exploring the Magic of Childhood in an Era of Discovery and Change

Eisenhower Babies takes readers on a journey to a time when World War II memories were still relatively fresh, space exploration was becoming more than just fantastical subject matter for science fiction, and television had barged its way into American homes, taking up permanent residence in a hallowed spot in front of the living room sofa.

Among the millions of Eisenhower Babies who burst on the scene from January 1953 to January 1961 was Ronnie Blair. His memoir of growing up in a Kentucky coal-mining community from the late 1950s to the early 1970s weaves history, popular culture, and geography into a nostalgic journey interspersed with tales of coal-strike tensions and humorous family adventures. Eisenhower Babies is a celebration of the eccentricities of 1960s small-town life, where a police officer might promise to give a four-year-old his gun once the officer ran out of bullets, a neighbor could return from a Florida vacation with a live baby alligator as a new pet, and the children of World War II veterans waged imaginary battles against Hitler's treachery in their hillside backyards.