Middle Aged Memories
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One of my favorite Christmas decorations was a molded paper Santa figure. Allegedly a "candy holder," it was hollow and could be opened by twisting it apart at the middle. What was so great about this decoration, you might wonder? NO, it was not filled with candy, guess again. It was filled with PISTACHIOS! They came from Iran, the RED(*) ones that stained your fingers, and that tasted about 12 times better than the bland California jumbo ones that you see around today. The nut of those pistachios were really GREEN, and looked very Christmas-y in the red shells. They were a treat that we got once a year from the import store, and only at Christmas.
We had a snowman, just like the Santa. Guess what was inside? Did you say un-dyed (natural) pistachios? You are right. So when I say the red ones were 12 times tastier, you can believe me because I had a side by side comparison going on. My family loved pistachios. My friends did too but, strangely (I thought,) none of them ever had pistachios at their houses and they would pointedly ask about ours when they came over, and inquiring hands would twist the Santa and twist the snowman with hungry expectance.
(*) Footnote: I don't think the dye used was the toxic Red Dye #2, but if it turns out that it was a carcinogenic coating, then the mystery of my BC might finally be solved.
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Eilmar - I had forgotten all about the red pistachios. You're right - they were better. Thanks for the memory jog.
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Baking and making candy with my mom for the holidays. I used to be her ingredients gatherer and prep person.
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I've thought of this once or twice in the past 50 years. If you bought the men's cologne, you got a free 45 rpm record. If you need to hear the tune to jog your memory, the link is below.
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When my Dad got into his late 80's and 90's, one of his most favorite things was the old original yellow "Peeps". Once upon a time, Peeps were only available at Easter, so I had to stock up a big supply. But the next time I went to visit him - no matter how long it had been - they were all gone.
Edited to say - nice to see you Eli. Hope all is well.
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As a kid, I remember my maternal grandfather wearing Old Spice whenever I visited them and he was dressed up for special occasions. Always loved it, now I buy it for my hubby.
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I don't remember the Bravura, but I do remember, and still love, the smell of Old Spice!
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My dad also wore Old Spice. I remember the ceramic-looking bottles.
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Ahhhhh - the first boy I fell in love with at 16 wore Old Spice. My Mother didn't think men should wear any scent.
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My teen years reading all of the paperback romance novels my step-grandmother would bring me when she was done with them. At least when my parents grounded me for something and restricted me from watching tv or the radio I had something to do besides homework!
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I may have mentioned these before. If I haven't, then I am truly remiss. Parke Davis Throat Discs. If you ever had one, you will remember it forever. The flavor? Oh, I don't know, they had that certain something. It was was a weird cross between industrial strength anise, a touch of wintergreen maybe, oh, and some chloroform.
They didn't exactly fizz, but they could put a kind of stingy-burn on your tongue and lining of your mouth. They came in a charming medicinal-looking slimline package, with a slide out tray, making it easy to take with you to school in order to challenge classmates to eat six at a time. If teacher saw them, well *hack-kack* they were for that nagging cough, weren't they?
If all you ever had was Sucrets back in the day, then you really missed out on a flavor that is no longer of this Earth.
While those throat discs did actually provide some soothing to a sore throat (the chloroform, no doubt,) I also loved what you could find at the other end of the spectrum...Pine Bros. Cough Drops. Back before anything else gummy was fashioned for human consumption, these delicious glycedrine drops could be found. Go through a little box of Assorted Flavor just like you might eat a Haribo snack pack. There was also one that was just Honey flavor. Yum! Again, this was how every kid I know brought "candy" to school.
These can still be found in the retail world, but do they taste the same? You tell me. It has been decades since I had one.
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I haven't run across either of these in ages! I remember the Parke-Davis throat discs being very effective, the Pine Bros, not so much, but tastier. I can just imagine the faces the kiddos would make today if they got one of the Parke-Davis discs!
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I remember the Parke-Davis. Seems I remember a licorice taste. And I remember Smith Brothers - supposedly the first cough drop in America.
The legend of the first cough drop in America begins in a family-owned, small-batch candy store in 1847 and continues with soothing relief that has remedied sore throats and coughs for generations. Smith Brothers Cough and Throat Drops are a great tasting way to find comfort when you need it.
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Remember how upset you would get when the President came on the tv and was on every channel!
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The Parke-Davis throat discs were flavored with peppermint, licorice, anise, cubeb (a peppery flavor) with a small amount of chloroform. Ultimately, the chloroform had to be removed in 1976. The newer formulation is still available.
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Oh, I tried that new Parke-Davis formulation long ago and it just never had that original ziiiiinnnnnnnng.
I'll put forth a challenge along those lines: List anything you can think of where the "new" formulation was better than the original. O.K., go!
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“New” Coke was never as good as “Classic” Coke
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Oh goodness Eli - I think that question must be oxymoronic. I've never found the new stuff to be as good. Ditto Mommy on coke. Even Absorbine Jr. used to work better on mosquito bites. I'll have to think REALLY hard to see if I can come up with something.
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Most major brands of lipsticks have removed SPF from their formulations. I preferred the older ones.
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Hmm. Wracking my brain, not coming up with anything that was better when "reformulated" or "new and improved". Except maybe twist top bottles for wine! But that's packaging, not a product change.
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I asked that question so innocently, but you know I was just baiting all of you to see if I was the only curmudgeon out here. I feel a little better that I was not the only one that could not think of something that actually did get a new and truly improved flavor. Back when I really had a sense of humor, I remember playing a game with my friends where we thought of products that we could give "new, buttery flavor" to. I thought of new, buttery flavor toothpaste...you'd buy that, wouldn't you?
Well, just look at these items below that I found.
O.K., I am messing with you, because only ONE is a real product. Care to guess which one?
HINT: I wished all day long that it was Tide Pod Hot Pockets but, no, as of this writing it is not. Never say never.
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Well I'll guess the Jello Shots. Not because I like espresso, but because I've enjoyed many alcoholic jello shot combinations over the years.
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The Jello
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I'm going to say the Jello, too. But I wonder about the Mustard Beer, people will mix beer (which I never have developed a liking for) with all kinds of strange things. . . .
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I won't keep you in suspense...the Mustard Beer is a real product, when French's partnered with some microbrewery. I know the Jello shots seemed very real, but it has not been made into a boxed product YET. I was being tricky with that one.
NM, I am going to guess those Pringles are sold in Asian countries. I have had shrimp and seaweed crisps from Asian Import stores. Does not take too long to acquire a taste for them. I'd probably try the Mac & Cheese candy canes, IF they came out with a "new buttery flavor" version. ;-)
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Old people smoking pipes with smoke that would waft by in waves of vanilla-y tobacco. I know it was terrible for us, but the smell is still nostalgic for me.
Being given the chance to clap school erasers outside to clean them.
The excitement and anticipation the rare times we were going to get to go to a movie theater and see a MOVIE!
The snap of Dolly Pops coming together, the innocence of books of paper dolls and their outfits, the smell of a brand-new My Little Pony, or Herself-the-Elf, or SeaWees. (Modern-day MLPs do not smell the same.)
Stringing high-low "ropes" together out of elastics with friends, trying to stay warm in fall and winter by testing our athleticism and proprioceptive abilities on the schoolyard blacktop. I seriously can't believe they let us do some of the stuff we did...meanwhile kids in my son's preschool and kindergarten classes were constantly warned not to run during recess, or not to run to their parents out of sheer joy at the end of the day...because they might get hurt.
Haw flakes being the popular candy, and spending dimes on bouncy balls dispensed from a gumball machine in the florist's at the bus stop, with everyone hoping to get one of the rare, pretty translucent ones instead of an opaque swirled one.
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Saltmarsh--you'll be glad to hear that at my school (I'm a school nurse) we encourage running around at recess, for all ages--run off some of that energy, get some movement in!
I can remember playing King of the Hill on top of, what to us were, HUGE snowbanks at recess. Even us girls, and this was back in the day when girls could not wear pants to school, but could wear pants under dresses for recess and waiting for the bus/walking to school.
Never heard of Haw Flakes. Gonna have to look that one up!
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saltmarsh, I have never heard of Haw Flakes before, but after doing a search, I have to say they sound intriguing. Since they used a dye that was banned in U.S., do the ones available now still taste the same as you remember?
NM, It was somewhere around my junior high school time that they "let" girls wear pants on Fridays. Before that, all a Northern girl had for Winter protection were those cable knit acrylic tights. (The alternative was mini skirt with knee socks and a 6" zone of bright red frozen leg above the knee and, oh my, how that would sting when that frozen section of leg started to thaw!)
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Those tights reminded me of "window pane" fishnets. So 60's! (Also, nothing says 60's like models in a pidgeon-toed stance...hahaha.)
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