Middle Aged Memories
Comments
-
Every year we had a different person handing out the gifts
0 -
The Santa gifts were wrapped, but always in a distinctly DIFFERENT wrapping paper so, if questioned, mom could always say "But I don't have any wrapping paper like THAT." I used the same line on my own young interrogators and it worked like a charm.
----------------------------------
NM, I had the same thought about that product name being similar to the Mary Poppins word/phrase. Now you are making me remember when my elementary classmates all learned that antidisestablishmentarianism was the "longest word in the dictionary." Was it? Who could fact check that back in the day??? Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious is longer and in the dictionary, but considered a "nonsense word." Ha, as if antidisestablishmentarianism made sense!
In case you all are wondering what passes for the longest word these days, I'll spare you the trouble of the search:
The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.
Now if you like gibberish as much as I do, please control your sudden urge to run out and start sniffing volcanoes.
0 -
Oh wow - great word. I just have to figure out a way to use it in conversation. But because of Covid it's not urgent.
0 -
Elimar--LOVE IT! I think I can almost pronounce it, even!
0 -
MOmmyof2, I just re-read about your winter hat, with pom-pom. Then, I remembered back to he 60's when a "stocking cap" was THE FASHION. Good thing too, as I had to appear in a classroom rendering of The Night Before Christmas, and that cap became part of my costume.
(Related...)
You know how we are all old here? But you know how you can still learn something new every day? Here is what I learned today:
My line in the classroom production was "And Mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap."
Well, in reality, the actual text is, "...had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap."
WTH? Did my school just have a cheap and spurious copy of the poem? Did they not want little kids to talk about brains? Settle our brains? How? They didn't have Ambien back then, so was it a reference to chugging some laudanum, or what???
Anyway, let's take a look at the actual first half of the handwritten poem (sold for $280K in 2006, so this is $140K worth!) That old Clement Moore had some pretty good penmanship, didn't he?
Happy Holidays to All, my BC Lady-girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
0 -
WOW!
0 -
Wow
0 -
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.
0 -
Eilmar - I had forgotten all about the red pistachios. You're right - they were better. Thanks for the memory jog.
0 -
Baking and making candy with my mom for the holidays. I used to be her ingredients gatherer and prep person.
0 -
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.
0 -
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.
0 -
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.
0 -
I don't remember the Bravura, but I do remember, and still love, the smell of Old Spice!
0 -
My dad also wore Old Spice. I remember the ceramic-looking bottles.
0 -
Ahhhhh - the first boy I fell in love with at 16 wore Old Spice. My Mother didn't think men should wear any scent.
0 -
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!
0 -
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.
0 -
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!
0 -
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.
0 -
Remember how upset you would get when the President came on the tv and was on every channel!
0 -
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.
0 -
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!
0 -
“New” Coke was never as good as “Classic” Coke
0 -
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.
0 -
Most major brands of lipsticks have removed SPF from their formulations. I preferred the older ones.
0 -
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.
0 -
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.
0 -
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.
0 -
The Jello
0
