The Brighter Day 1955. CBS Network.

The Brighter Day 1955. CBS Network.

Blog 3426 – 03.21.2025

The Brighter Day

When I was a boy, seventy years ago, most nineteen fifties moms were stay at home moms and watched the daytime soap operas on TV. They were called soap operas because their sponsors were the popular washing detergents of the day often called “soap powders.” Most of the programs were thirty minutes long with almost a third of that being commercial breaks, but there were two soap operas back to back on CBS in the middle of the day that were just fifteen minutes long. One was called The Guiding Light and the other The Brighter Day.

One of my favorite comedians back then had a prime time evening TV program also on CBS called The Red Skelton Hour. Red enjoyed getting his guest laughing so they would mess up their scenes and he often laughed at his own jokes. Much of his humor was self-deprecating. One running joke that Red had was that his first job on TV was pumping the organ for Brighter Day and that if he failed at his job as a comedian that they would have him back pumping that organ on Brighter Day.

The soap opera programs were melodramas meant to entertain housewives across the country and get them to buy their products. I often wondered why my mom always used Cheer detergent till I watched the clip above.

We all experience dark days and difficult times. Over half of the country believes we’re are going through some pretty dark times now. One of the most comforting phrases in the New Testament of the Bible is the four word phrase, “This too shall pass.” And as the song When You Walk Through A Storm says “At the end of the storm is a golden sky and the sweet silver song of a lark.” In addition to the hope we have of a brighter day there are light houses along the way to guide us safely through the storms to safe harbor. Bon voyage.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TFeMFUZoryqzNOSt2bQ4-5n6r62tX71g/view?usp=drivesdk

When You Come Back To Me Again