Real Time 1960s

Here is a promotional concert film for The Dave Clark Five, a British rock group formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark is the group's leader, producer, and co-songwriter. In January 1964, the DC5 had their first U.K. top-ten single, “Glad All Over,” which knocked the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top of the U.K. Singles Chart. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 29, 1964 - The United States put into orbit today the heaviest spacecraft payload in history, surpassing the Soviet Union for the first time. A huge Saturn, its untried upper stage loaded with liquid hydrogen fuel that is a key to accomplishing the planned manned trip to the moon, was launched at Cape Kennedy at 11:25 a.m. EST. Ten minutes later, the entire upper stage, minus expended fuel, was in orbit. It was ranging, at last report, from a low point, or perigee, of 164 miles to a high point, or apogee, of 471 miles. The nation’s embarrassing inferiority to the Soviet Union in spacecraft-lifting capacity has, for the time being, been overcome and then some. The weight of the payload, or cargo, orbited today was about 20,000 pounds. The top Soviet payload of 14,292 pounds, was reported on two unmanned flights. Propagandistically, then, the latest Saturn launching was everything the nation could have wanted. And to underscore how far the nation has come, NASA officials noted that the first American satellite had been launched just six years ago this Friday and had weighed a meager 31 pounds. But outdoing the Russians was only a by-product of the essential purposes of the flight, which were: First, to prove the workability of the two-stage 560-ton booster in anticipation of the first flights of dummy moon-flight capsules. And second, to increase the nation’s knowledge of the vital liquid hydrogen technology. Today’s launch was carried live on television. Tomorrow, the U.S. will try to make it two spectaculars in a row. It plans to launch a Ranger spacecraft to the moon with a battery of television cameras to take pictures of the lunar surface as they plunge to destruction. President Johnson hailed the Saturn launch as a “giant step forward for the United States space effort.” He watched the launching on a television set in his office. “On behalf of a grateful and proud nation,” he said, “I warmly congratulate the scientists, technicians, managers, and employees of the space team for their contribution to peace and progress.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 27, 1964 - Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine today said she would run for President. Before revealing her decision, she said the arguments against her candidacy were “far more impelling” than those for it. “So, because of these impelling reasons against my running,” she said, pausing dramatically, “I have decided that I shall enter the New Hampshire Presidential preferential primary and the Illinois primary.” Her announcement was greeted by the applause and sympathetic laughter of several hundred women and a scattering of men attending a luncheon of the Women’s National Press Club at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. For several months, Mrs. Smith has been expected to announce she would enter the Republican Presidential primary in New Hampshire. But as the moment of decision neared, even her best friends did not know what she would do. The Senator carried with her two statements — one saying she would run, the other that she would not — to read at the end of her 45-minute speech. Disclaiming any desire to be a running mate on somebody else’s ticket, Mrs. Smith said “only time will tell” whether she would enter any of the 14 other primaries, including California’s on June 2. “California seems a long way off, in distance and time,” she said. Mrs. Smith said her campaign would be a lean one, with little or no money and no paid workers. She said she would not purchase political time on radio or television or advertisements in newspapers. Her campaigning, she said, will be limited to times when the Senate is not in session. And she said she would not have campaign headquarters. Such an austere campaign raised the question of how much of a threat she would be to the other Republican candidates, Governor Rockefeller and Senator Barry Goldwater, who are waging active campaigns in New Hampshire. But Mrs. Smith’s vote-getting power has been demonstrated repeatedly in Maine, next door to New Hampshire. If she campaigned actively in New Hampshire, observers conceded, she could expect a sizable vote, perhaps preventing a clear-cut favorite from emerging from the primary. Mrs. Smith conceded that the odds against her would be heavy. No woman has ever been named either Presidential or Vice-Presidential nominee by a major political party. Mrs. Smith said it had been argued that “no woman should ever dare aspire to the White House — that this is a man’s world and that it should be kept that way.” She said others had argued that women would not have the stamina to endure a Presidential campaign. She is 66 years old. Despite all such arguments, Mrs. Smith said, “I welcome the challenge, and I look forward to the test.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Enjoy this Rice Krispies commercial with music by The Rolling Stones. Brian Jones co-wrote the jingle with the J. Walter Thompson ad agency. It was only shown in England in 1964. Vocals by Mick Jagger. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 21, 1964 - Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson of Canada arrived today for talks with President Johnson. The two men hope to develop a rapport like that between Mr. Pearson and President Kennedy. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 21, 1964 - In this interview, Evelyn Lincoln, personal secretary of John F. Kennedy from 1953 until his death, describes the assassination of President Kennedy from her vantage point. When President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, Miss Lincoln rode in the motorcade a few cars behind Mr. Kennedy with his personal physician, George Burkley. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 20, 1964 - In Dallas this afternoon, Melvin Belli, lawyer for Jack Ruby, discussed testimony by a psychologist and explained why this testimony was offered at a bail hearing. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 19, 1964 - On the Ed Sullivan Show tonight, Bobby Vinton sang a medley of songs including his hit, “Blue Velvet.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 19, 1964 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy wept quietly at a Memorial Mass for President Kennedy today in a Boston cathedral where his ancestors worshiped a generation before. Richard Cardinal Cushing offered the Solemn Pontifical Mass of Requiem at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, and a 180-voice choir performed Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor. Mr. Leinsdorf said earlier in the week that he had chosen Mozart’s Requiem because, as was the work of President Kennedy, it was left unfinished by premature death. Some 1,800 invited guests joined members of the Kennedy family at the mass, which was telecast nationally. More than 2,000 persons lined the street opposite the cathedral to glimpse family members and guests as they arrived. Mrs. Kennedy sat in the front row. Sitting with her were President Kennedy’s mother, Mrs. Rose Kennedy; his brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.); Sen. Kennedy’s wife, Joan; the late President’s sister, Mrs. Eunice Shriver; and the former First Lady’s sister, Princess Lee Radziwill. Mrs. Kennedy and other members of the family received Communion during the mass while others in the church were asked to wait until the end. The Cardinal spoke briefly after the service, saying: “The day has a special meaning for all of us by the presence of the late President’s wife, valiant Jacqueline, who has taken herself from her sorrow for a few hours to pray to God with us in sacrifice and song.” He also called the President’s mother “a symbol of maternal strength and absolute confidence in God.” At the close of the service, Cardinal Cushing escorted the President’s widow and his mother into the sanctuary to meet Mr. Leinsdorf. Both women also shook hands with Henry B. Cabot, who conceived the idea of the memorial service. Mr. Cabot is chairman of the board of directors of the Boston Symphony. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

“It's All Over Town” is a 1964 British musical film starring Frankie Vaughan. The film features includes songs performed by The Hollies, The Springfields, Clodagh Rodgers, the Bachelors, Acker Bilk and Frankie Vaughan. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

This newsreel covers the 10th Annual International Surfing Championship in Makaha, Hawaii in January 1964. The first annual Makaha International Surfing Championship was held in 1954, and before decade's end the contest was known as the unofficial world championship. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 18, 1964 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy left Japan for Korea today after a two-day visit in which moderate progress appeared to have been made in damping down the Malaysia crisis. Mr. Kennedy met in Tokyo twice with President Sukarno of Indonesia to express U.S. concern over the possibility that a major conflict might erupt in Southeast Asia. At the end of today’s meeting, he said he was encouraged that the three parties to the dispute — Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines — would “sit down at the conference table and work out their differences in a peaceful manner.” Mr. Kennedy addressed students at Waseda University in Tokyo later in the day and received a warm welcome. He eulogized his slain brother as a “leader of the young people of the world” and urged the students to carry on “the efforts and ideals” of the late President. The Attorney General is interrupting his special peacemaking mission for a one-day visit to South Korea where, he said, he wanted to visit some servicemen there. After short visits to Manila and the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, he will go to Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, on Wednesday for further talks with President Sukarno. Mr. Kennedy said the chief purpose of his mission was “to take this controversy out of the jungle, out of the warfare that is now taking place, and put it around the conference table.” Speaking at Waseda University, where he was heckled by leftist students two years ago, the 38-year-old Mr. Kennedy told the warmly responding students: “I think you and I as young people have a special responsibility.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 14, 1964 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy voiced thanks today to the 800,000 persons from all over the world who have sent her and her two children messages of sympathy and grief. It was her first public statement in the 53 days since the assassination of her husband. She delivered it before television cameras in the office of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who has been Mrs. Kennedy’s constant comfort since the day of his older brother’s death. The Attorney General’s younger brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, sat with him on a bright red sofa facing the former First Lady. She perched on the edge of a deep leather chair. At several points in her talk, Mrs. Kennedy faltered slightly and forced back tears. Her voice was barely audible throughout to those standing a dozen feet away. She was dressed in a collarless black wool suit. Her gold wedding band was her only jewelry. “The knowledge of the affection in which my husband was held by all of you has sustained me, and the warmth of these tributes is something I shall never forget,” she said. “Whenever I can bear to, I read them.” “All his bright light — gone from the world,” she said, speaking more slowly. “All of you who have written to me know how much we all loved him…” Mrs. Kennedy hesitated, her eyes brimming, “…and that he returned that love in full measure.” All three television networks picked up the statement live. After the broadcast, Mrs. Kennedy made public a sampling of the hundreds of thousands of letters she had received from every section of the country and from many foreign cities. “I know this letter will probably never reach your hands” was a typical opening phrase. A secretary at the University of Alabama whose husband is a graduate student there told how she heard the first news of the assassination: “The Negro maid and I were in the kitchen of the building where I work when we heard the heart-shattering news of the shooting of your husband. We clung together, praying that he would live. Lolina, with tears running down her face, cried, ‘He’s the only one who has really tried to help us. Oh, please don’t let him die.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 12, 1964 - On the Ed Sullivan Show tonight, 20-year-old Frank Sinatra Jr., who was kidnapped last month but emerged from the ordeal unscathed, performed "Nancy with the Laughing Face." Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 12, 1964 - On the Ed Sullivan Show tonight, New York Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle was called up from the audience. The baseball star discussed his recent knee surgery with Ed. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 9, 1964 - Massive rioting broke out in the Canal Zone over flying the Panamanian flag tonight and spread to other points along the vital waterway. The Panamanian Government recalled its ambassador to Washington, charging that American police had shot down unarmed Panamanian students. Santo Tomas Hospital reported that six Panamanian students had been killed and at least 91 other persons injured in rioting that broke out there and spread to other border points as far as 200 miles away. Martial law was declared in the Canal Zone. U.S. Army Lieut. Gen. Andrew O’Meara, commander in the Zone, ordered U.S. Army tanks and armored cars to positions and armored cars to positions on the Thatcher-Ferry Bridge and along the border between Panama City and the Canal Zone. A mob of about 400 marching on the U.S Information Service in Panama City was reportedly dispersed by Panamanian national guardsmen. Buildings belong to Pan American World Airways and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. were set afire. The rioting began soon after Panamanian students had tried to run their flag up on a U.S. high school in the Canal Zone. American students ripped it down. A report spread that the flag had been trampled and defiled, and angry crowds of Panamanians repeatedly tried to storm into the Zone. The Acting Governor of the Zone, Col. David Parker, called on Lieut. Gen. O’Meara to take over. U.S. Army armored cars then moved in. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 8, 1964 - President Johnson fixed his fiscal 1965 budget at $97.9 billion today and hurled Congress a challenge to enact an expanded New Frontier legislative program by summer. The new budget is a half billion dollars less than the current spending rate. Disclosure of his budget was a startling innovation in Mr. Johnson’s first State of the Union message, delivered before a joint session of Congress. The President, in a dramatic move toward disarmament, also announced the long-expected shutdown of four plutonium plants and a 25% cutback in production of enriched uranium for nuclear explosives. He called on Russia “to do the same.” The President was applauded heavily at his repeated pitches for approval of the civil rights bill. “Today,” he said, “Americans of all races stand side by side in Berlin and Vietnam. They died side by side in Korea.” The President’s voice was gentle at the punch line: “Surely they can work and eat and travel side by side in their own country.” The President received perhaps the greatest of the 78 outbursts of applause interrupting his address when he gave the back of his hand to the Russian threat. “We intend to bury no one,” he said. Then there was dead silence during a deliberate pause. The President continued softly: “And we do not intend to be buried.” The House chamber echoed a roar of spirited cheering. “We can fight if we must,” Mr. Johnson said, “as we have fought before — but we pray we will never have to fight again.” The name of John F. Kennedy was evoked three times in Mr. Johnson’s speech. “Let us carry forward the plans and programs of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, not because of our sorrow or sympathy, but because they are right,” he urged. Referring to military power, Mr. Johnson said: “We must continue to use that strength, as John Kennedy used it in the Cuba crisis and for the test ban treaty, to demonstrate both the futility of nuclear war and the possibilities of lasting peace.” Then, at the end, Mr. Johnson said: “John Kennedy was a victim of hate, but he was also a builder of faith.” Afterward, President Johnson shook hands out of the chamber and through a corridor (including a kiss for the outstretched hand of May Craig, correspondent for Maine papers) until he reached the Speaker’s dining room, where he was the guest of the Texas delegation at a meal of Texas sirloin. The President’s wife and his daughter, Lucy Baines Johnson, had kin from both sides of the family in their gallery box. There were Huffman Baines, the President’s uncle, and Mrs. Baines; Mrs. Josefa Saunders, an aunt of the President; and Miss Susan Taylor, a niece of Mrs. Johnson. Sixteen-year-old Lucy Baines wore a dress that was described as “hot pink.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

This newsreel covers the creation and delivery of President Lyndon B. Johnson's first State of the Union address. In the address, delivered on Jan. 8, 1964, President Johnson declared "unconditional war on poverty." Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Please enjoy this Jan. 4, 1964 episode of “American Bandstand.” Host: Dick Clark. Guests: The Trashmen and Shirley Ellis. An ABC-TV production. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is a quick video summary of the Cleveland Browns' 1963 season. Fullback Jim Brown led the league in rushing for the 6th time in seven seasons. As a team, the Browns gained an NFL-record 5.74 yards per carry and finished with a record of 10-4. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is a quick video summary of the Chicago Bears' 1963 season. The NFL team finished with an 11–1–2 record to gain their first Western Conference championship since 1956. The Bears then defeated the New York Giants in the championship game. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is a quick video summary of the Dallas Cowboys' 1963 season. The NFL club failed to improve on their previous output of 5–8–1, winning only four games. The Cowboys also missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is a quick video summary of the Baltimore Colts' 1963 season. Under new coach Don Shula, the NFL club compiled a record of 8-6. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is televised coverage of the ball drop in Times Square, as New Yorkers and visitors to the city ring in the new year of 1964. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s