Four standard issue ranch houses share the intersection of Sunnyside and Utley in Elmhurst but one of them secured its place in history when its owners bought the first color television set in our ‘hood in the 1950-somethings.

Also distinguished by a massive car the color of raw salmon in its driveway, this house and its girl child Patty, who was my age, represented my earliest brush with fame.

One summer afternoon, three kids and myself, who had declared ourselves Patty’s best friends after we learned a color television shared her company, were allowed in to sit on the living room floor to watch a cartoon show, “Clutch Cargo.”

Somehow, I can’t understand how it was done, the animated characters had human-being mouths. Forget seeing color for the first time. These were cartoon people with human mouths. Red, purply lips with teeth in between.

Patty’s mom seemed dissatisfied with our giggliness, which, really, was just nerves. Patty looked bored. I was terrified.

I still am.