ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

My involvement with collecting nostalgia actually began long before it was termed nostalgia. In fact the word nostalgia was not at the time in general use. Probably because the things we call nostalgic today, were in vogue then. The then, was 1953 and I was 8 years old. Comic books, Roy, Hoppy, Gene, Mickey Mouse, Coca Cola, Howdy Doody, Saturday Morning TV Kid Fare, these were just some of the great adventures of the time. The Saturday Afternoon Matinee graced the local theaters. There you could see a serial chapter, cartoon, newsreel, short subject and the feature film, not to mention those wet your appetite for next week coming attractions. All this while you munched on popcorn, candy and your favorite soda pop. All for two bits. That's one quarter bub, 25 cents for them that don't know two bits. Plus often you got about two pennies in change.

Through the years my interest broadened to include old radio, music & vintage advertising. Having been lucky enough to spend almost a decade in radio as a D.J. when there was no music hotter than Top 40. I gained an appreciation of Rock N' Roll as well as other types of music and those are great memories as well and after all, memories are all a form of history, often a personal history that is stirred after exposure to a song, a film, an article, an object or just engaging in casual conversation.

During the publishing years of Memory Lane I acted as a consultant on publications ranging from Buddy Holly to the B Western. My publishing efforts have included Ronald Reagan "From The Silver Screen To The White House", which dealt exclusively with Ronald Reagan as an entertainment figure, giving coverage to each of his films and touching on his radio career.

I was publisher of Yesterday's Saturdays for two volumes # 17 & # 18. On these last three projects it was my pleasure to work with Les Adams, an outstanding editor and most knowledgeable historian of film with special expertise in the western genre. His Yesterday's Saturdays is a must for any devotee of the American original, the western film.

When Memory Lane began, it was a publication ahead of its time. Classic film on the ole home VCR was in its infancy. Now thanks to cable, to satellite, to DVD's you can view or purchase cinema treasures with titles that run into the thousands from the classics to the not so classic.

Having been born in 1945, began collecting at age 8, to save the math that makes me 62. The hobby of collecting still keeps me active. I suppose the love of collecting is what led me into publishing in '79. Thanks to the computer age that enables communication virtually worldwide, Memory Lane comes full circle and can be revisited and expanded. Both nostalgia and I have aged somewhat. As I've said I'm 62 and nostalgia is ___, well that's the point, nostalgia just is. Like all history and nostalgia i-s history, we cannot change it, only study it and learn from it. Nostalgia has the uniqueness though that allows us to be re-entertained if you will. That's why we still 'Love Lucy.'

It is for this reason that here in 2008 I have decided to revisit Memory Lane Magazine and invite you along for the stroll. It was fun the first time and nostalgia like a fine wine only gets better with age.

By vocation, in my home state of Texas I, am an endangered species, a relic of the past, in that I am a Master Barber for almost 38 years now. Barbers in Texas are few these days and Master Barbers are almost part of the nostalgia of another time, which is what began the journey of Memory Lane Magazine and continues with Memory Lane Magazine The Web Site.

To all who worked on all the radio shows, toured the nation honky tonk after honky tonk, labored in front of and behind the camera in the glitter of Hollywood, the pioneers of early TV, comic book creators, producers of the images from vintage advertising, the makers, producers and writers of music that we still hear the echoes of. I salute you with a line I borrow from Bob Hope. I give him credit because the words are his but are greatly applicable here.

THANKS! FOR THE MEMORIES!

Rob Tucker