“...What must it have really been like for a boy growing up in the 1950’s to be known as “The Beaver”?”
In the 1950’s a beaver was an amphibious rodent with prominent front teeth. Oh how times have changed!
When I was in high school in the mid 1960’s, `beaver’ referred to a girl seated in a car with her miniskirt riding up until her uh, ahem, ahem, was visible (and all girls wore panties in those days).
Oh, those summer jobs pumping gas at the local Gulf station, the summers of 1965, ‘66, and ‘67. Girls driving Volkswagens offered the best possibilities. I got one gal’s address off her credit ticket and we dated for awhile.
(Sigh)