It doesn’t take too much effort to understand why, in 1961, a pair of shows on two different networks would feature handsome characters of Irish descent in roles where they diagnose and treat patients, fixing and problem solving while the country watched from their living rooms. Although he narrowly won the 1960 election, John F. Kennedy’s presidency marks the beginning of a youthful and youth-powered “New Frontier” that was to be the 60s.

The record itself is a product of a consumer culture that existed across a good part of the country’s demographics in the 1960s, in that shoppers at grocery stores would recognize the set of symbols used in Ben Casey ‘s opening, and the shape of the television on the record cover, and grab up the item because it was inexpensive and familiar. An easy gift for a fan of the shows or just a keepsake to go along with one’s media collection. And said media collection was growing by leaps and bounds in the era as television, music, print, movies and more were producing as much as they could to be taken home and be forged into individual and household identities.

Eric Salmonsen, EPS