"Now I just have to figure out who Julia Child is..."

[Phentex]

I was in a cooking class and somebody said something about age. The instructor said, "I just want to outlive Julia Child and I'll be happy." Then someone else replied that in that case, it would put her into her 90's. The instructor said no, she thought Julia made it to about 84 or so. People started talking all at the same time guessing how old she was and what they had heard. I turned to a younger person next to me who had been on her cell phone on and off throughout the class and said, hey google it. She did and announced to the class that Julia was 91 when she died.

Then she turned to me and whispered, "Now I just have to figure out who Julia Child is." She read a little more on Wiki but I was trying to tell her the names of some earlier chefs and she looked at me like I was speaking another language.

Later, when I mentioned this to a friend, she said with all of today's celebrity chefs and shows, it's probably likely that many people have never heard of Julia Child.

What do you think?

[NYC_SKP]

1. A diminishing number of us remember Julia Child and Graham Kerr...

Another of the handful of TV chefs, numbering perhaps three or four?

I give you the Galloping Gourmet!

[CherokeeDem]

5. My first favorite chef....

I was glued to the TV when he was on.....

[Phentex]

14. Too old not to know them...

shows were limited. We watched what we could.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. It happens. Celebrities in all fields come and go...

with the times, with very few of them making it into the common history.

Just for fun, see how many under a certain age know about Milton Berle, Liberace, or even Lucy. Sinatra.

[Phentex]

15. True...

Hell, there are people who aren't familiar with The Beatles.

[cbayer]

3. I would give her a pass except for two things.

1) She's in a cooking class, which would seem to indicate that she has some interest in the culinary arts.

2) There was a rather popular movie just a few years ago about Julia Child that you would have had to have been in a cave to have missed.

Exactly how young do you think she was?

[rsdsharp]

6. I agree. Plus

Julia may no longer be with us, but her work is. My local PBS station is currently airing Julia Child with Master Chefs. Before that it was Baking with Julia, and sometimes, it's the show she did with Jacques Pepin, or classic episodes of the French Chef. Her books (especially the cookbooks) are still in print, and there is a muti DVD collection of cooking episodes from various shows over the years.

She's been a legend for more than 50 years.

[cbayer]

7. And she was highly entertaining.

Has this person never watched SNL reruns.

Anyway, it saddens me to think she could be lost down the wormhole so soon.

Perhaps your fellow student would enjoy some of the reruns you mention.

[Phentex]

18. That's what my husband said!

Too funny. He mentioned SNL skits. Of course, this is a man who loves to play Jacques Pepin AND Julia Child in the kitchen. I think it's the only reason my kids know who they are.

[Phentex]

16. She seemed to be in her early thirties...

hard to say. She mentioned kids and home schooling. I always ask how newbies hear about the class. She said it was a gift from her husband since she cannot cook.

Funny, I mentioned the movie but she wasn't familiar with it. I told her she could learn some interesting stuff about the early days of Julia from that movie.

[cbayer]

19. It's possible she just lives a really isolated life.

Hope she learns to cook!

[Neoma]

4. I'm 25, in college classes with a bunch of 18 year olds...

They didn't know who MacGyver was. That was a sad, sad day.

[cbayer]

8. Now you've gone and done it.

Made me think of MacGyver just when I had managed to completely erase him from my brain.

[pscot]

9. Imagine the blank looks

if you mentioned Peter Gunn.

[Neoma]

10. You're getting one from me. :)

[pscot]

11. My work here is done

[Phentex]

17. LOL!

I thought MacGuyer became a verb at some point when someone figures out an alternate use for something.

[pinto]

12. I was a big Julia Child fan. She got me interested in cooking. Loved it when looking for her glasses

they were pushed up on top of her head. "Oh, there they are!" and have a little laugh at it.

My mom was a so-so cook. Dad basically made chili dishes or fried chicken.

[Phentex]

20. I remember the way she improvised...

yes, she was great but when something didn't go as planned, she could laugh about it.

[SheilaT]

21. She's been off the air for about twenty years now, dead for ten.

Someone in her early thirties would have been about 13 when Julia Child was last regularly on TV. It doesn't take very long for knowledge of someone to be lost to a younger generation.

I recall only rarely, if ever watching Julia Child's show. I wasn't that interested in cooking shows back then. I should perhaps see if they are available on the internet as I do much more cooking these days, although I'm personally not much for complex recipes and techniques.

I have a story I tell about Ella Fitzgerald, but have learned not to bother if the person I want to tell it to is under forty.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

23. Not just Ella Fitzgerald, but her whole generation is slipping by the wayside

Here are Ella and Louis Armstrong singing "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (George and Ira Gershwin are also unknown to a lot of people)

[Phentex]

24. Does no one watch Jeopardy?

Thanks for posting this. I love it.

[Phentex]

25. Oh, you're right...

guess it was one of those moments of How old am I?

[jtuck004]

22. I think you are correct. I was at the meat market the other day and said something to

the guy (late 20's?) behind the counter about the show "taxi", who I kinda know by sight, and we get to talking.

I tried for a moment to explain why it was funny when Ignatowski said "What are you supposed to do when the light turns yellow"... but it was clear that he was struggling with the whole concept of 80's humor...

The lady next to me said "Honey he won't get it. He's only about 4, it was before his time." He still looked puzzled, so I let him off the hook.


Too much good stuff lost.

[Phentex]

26. Well, there it is...

to be expected I guess.

I do find myself saying to a young co-worker, "Well, you weren't even born yet but WAY back before the internet..."

[locks]

27. How old do you need to be?

My precious great granddaughter was 3 going on 4; we were having a "conversation" at supper (which she is allowed if she is eating her veggies) and talking about her coming birthday when she said "I'm not old, GGMa, I'm young." I said, That's right. How old do you think GGMa is?" She thought quite a while, then said "Probably 4 or 5." If you remember Julia Child you might have to be 5 or 6.