They Always Come Back

2010-01-23T05:44:00.000-08:00

Over the past year this blog has, for the most part been silent.
My life has taken me down a path I would never have expected. To be honest, If the 10 year old me met the me of today I would be pretty damn impressed. If the me of 5 years ago met the me of today I would have offered the elder a one way ticket to crazytown.
I have become a paranormal investigator.
Yeah... I know.
It sounds insane but I have been given the opportunity to experience things I previously would have thought were impossible. I am part of a team of investigators who document claims of paranormal activity in historical locations and locations of interest. I feel it appropriate that I mention my absence here on this blog as the theme for this blog is: things that have gone away yet returned in some form or another. Disappearing Americana. That theme is very much the focus of what I currently do... although instead of objects I now focus on... rather intangible things.
I can say this: Over the course of the past year I have investigated quite a few locations. Not all I would consider to have paranormal activity but there are a few that have offered up experiences that I cannot explain. Static objects that move without any possible, reasonable, means of locomotion. Unexplained voices in locations that are devoid of other people with the exception of the team that are all present and silent. Voices heard on recordings that were not present at the time of recording. Shadowy figures moving silently though abandoned locations. I cannot explain this I can only appreciate the fact I have, and continue to, experience these events.
I am very proud of the team I have the good fortune to be a member of. Together we continue to document and report our findings. I'm letting you all know about this as my focus is now on investigations and it will continue to take me attentions away from this blog.
So... now you know.
That is why I have not updated this blog. I appreciate the comments and do read them regularly. It seems I have several posts that get a heck of a lot of attention and I am pleased to see so many people interested.

If you want to learn more about what I am doing please check out Los Angeles Paranormal Association or www.laghost.com or click on the banner at the top of the page.
In the coming months we will be posting evidence from a few investigations that have changed the way I think about the world. At this moment in time... and this is a bold statement for me... I believe there are things in this world that can communicate and are aware of our presence that we cannot see or fully understand.
I know, I know...
Welcome to crazytown population: me.
Unless you experience it for yourself you may find it is impossible to believe. I have, and continue, to experience it.

They Always Come Back: In some instances... "they" never leave.

Underwood Deviled Ham - Family Size - Perfect for Picnics! wrapper - 1970's

2009-08-30T11:45:00.001-07:00

Underwood Deviled Ham - Family Size - Perfect for Picnics! wrapper - 1970's
Originally uploaded by JasonLiebig

The largest permanent laser display in the world

2009-07-23T14:32:00.001-07:00

aa20
Originally uploaded by universalstonecutter

Or at least thats what the tour guides wanted you to believe. Yeah so, it came back in series form.

Shorty Long & the "Happy Fellows"???

2009-06-07T19:22:00.001-07:00

Shorty Long & the "Happy Fellows"???
Originally uploaded by spurmarks

MOS 1950's outtakes

2008-09-25T11:25:00.001-07:00

The aHawaiian aWar chant

2008-09-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Vintage ad.

2008-09-09T20:01:00.001-07:00

Vintage ad.

2008-08-07T07:55:00.001-07:00

or is it?

Dippy Canoes

2008-06-17T15:18:00.001-07:00

Dippy Canoes Can
Originally uploaded by traci*s retro

Vintage ad.

2008-05-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

Vintage excuse.

2008-05-22T22:38:00.001-07:00

Newton

2008-05-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

It does what now?

Yep this was once the future of your home. A garbage can sized rolling bunch of nothing. Check out it's amazing memory and fine voice simulation.

They always come back:
A laundry list of failed CONsumer friendly robot prototypes have since been unleashed on the world. The most anticipated and failed is Honda's Asimo

Vintage Ads.

2008-04-19T16:03:00.001-07:00

Found at the Rose Bowl.

2008-04-14T20:44:00.001-07:00

"WHY" "I DUNNO"
Originally uploaded by scottyferguson

"I don't have any Cash!" Mickey
and
"Whaddaya want for a dollar?" Dopey

Sam's Seafood.

2008-04-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sequoia Sempervirens.: Sam's Seafood.

They Always Come Back:
Sam's is no more. It has now become Kona. The building still stands but the new owners could care less about it's tiki background let alone the history of this establishment.
Update: Kona is no more. It has become Don The Beachcomer's. It's tiki status has been renewed. THEY ALWAYS COME BACK!

Dont mess with futures past

2008-03-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

A Ballad for the Fair (1964)
Uploaded by donaldtheduckie

Future fashion for the year 2000

2008-03-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

Vintage ad.

2008-03-05T17:58:00.001-08:00

Vintage ads.

2008-03-05T15:24:00.001-08:00

Click an image in order to superimbigulate.

Via

Thank you Christy for sharing these fine ads. I'm speechless.
I just want to say that the picture of Joe Conrad is my new favorite image.

Anita Bryant

2008-03-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Family values and Florida go hand in hand. No other person embodied those two things more than Anita Bryant. Anita showed us that with a little vitamin c and a lot of hatred in your heart you too can be a winner.

Bryant was crowned Miss Oklahoma in 1958 and was a second runner-up in the 1959 Miss America beauty pageant at age 19, right after graduating from Tulsa's Will Rogers High School.
In 1960, she married Bob Green, a Miami disc jockey, with whom she eventually raised four children, including Gloria and Robert Jr. (Bobby).
Her three biggest pop hits were: "Till There Was You" (1959); "Paper Roses" (1960) (successfully covered 13 years later by Marie Osmond); and "In My Little Corner of the World" (1960). She placed a total of eleven songs in the Top 100.

In 1969 she became a spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission, and nationally televised commercials featured her singing "Come to the Florida Sunshine tree" and stating the commercials' tagline: "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine". Here she is in all her beauty.

In 1977, Dade County, Florida (now Miami-Dade County) passed a human-rights ordinance that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Anita Bryant led a highly publicized campaign to repeal the ordinance. The campaign was waged based on what was labeled "Christian beliefs regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality and the perceived threat of homosexual recruitment of children and child molestation."
Her view was that "What these people really want, hidden behind obscure legal phrases, is the legal right to propose to our children that theirs is an acceptable alternate way of life... I will lead such a crusade to stop it as this country has not seen before." The campaign was called 'Save Our Children', the start of an organized opposition to gay rights that spread across the nation. Jerry Falwell went to Miami to help her.
Bryant made the following statements during the campaign: "As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children" and "If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nail biters." On June 7, 1977, Bryant's campaign led to a repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance by a margin of 69 to 31 percent.

The fallout from her political activism had a devastating effect on her business and entertainment career. Her contract with the Florida Citrus Commission was allowed to lapse in 1979 because of the controversy and the negative publicity generated by her political campaigns and the resulting boycott of Florida orange juice.
Her marriage to Bob Green failed at that time, and in 1980 she divorced him, although he reportedly has said that his fundamentalist religious beliefs do not recognize civil divorce and that she is still his wife in God's eyes. Some observers feel that her husband pushed her to get involved in the political activism that eventually led to her downfall and loss of income. Kathie Lee Gifford, who worked as a live-in secretary/babysitter for the Greens in the early 1970s said in her autobiography that Green had a ferocious temper and could be very possessive and emotionally abusive and that Anita was not very happy.
Due to her divorce, many fundamentalist Christians shunned her. No longer invited to appear at their events, she lost a source of income. With her four children she moved from Miami to Selma, Alabama, and later to Atlanta, Georgia. In a Ladies Home Journal article she said, "The church needs to wake up and find some way to cope with divorce and women's problems."
She now lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, and says she does charity work for various youth organizations while heading Anita Bryant Ministries International.

They Always Come Back:
Florida still hates Gay folk. Anita has revived her career. She returned to her high school in Tulsa on April 21, 2007, to perform in the school's annual musical revue.

Colorforms

2008-02-29T18:02:00.000-08:00

Colorforms, invented by Harry Kislevitz, are toys produced by the Colorforms Corporation. Colorforms are paper-thin, die-cut vinyl sheet images and shapes that can be applied to a slick cardboard background board, much like placing paper-dolls against a paper backdrop. The images stick to the background via static cling and can be repositioned to create new scenes. The original box sets began appearing in the 1950s and feature bright shapes and "modern" basic designs, expanding into cartoon character sets. Later Colorforms licensed various properties, producing box sets supporting various TV series and movie releases.

(via wikicrapedia)

They Always Come Back:
Colorforms are now classified as an educational toy. You can fine them here.

I Hop

2008-02-29T17:53:00.000-08:00

Possibly the most infectious jingle ever. Acid induced family fun!

Hell is open for business. Stuck in this commercial hell Timmy gets a plate of offal and shy lil' Suzy gets a cockpot that instantly stirs up memories of inappropriate touching. Mom gets sliced tomatoes and Crisco on a bed of greens as Dad enjoys testicles marinara for all eternity.
Oh those wary faces.
Oh that suspicious food.
I like the way the family is introduced running to Ihop and then, after they see that crap on the table, they are shown running away from Ihop.

Ihop is everywhere man.
Based in Glendale California Ihop has 1,344 locations across the country.

They will be a future subject on this blog. I cant see the number of pancake houses increasing. I'll wait them out. They have to fall out of favor sometime. My favorite is the one near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. I once watched a lovely drunk prom date throw up into a bus-tray and when she was all done she made out with her handsome date. The busboy didn't get to see her throw up but he did pick up the bus-tray a few moment later and gagged as it was full of orange juice glasses and warm Bacardi smelling vomit.

Vintage L.P. cover.

2008-02-29T15:53:00.001-08:00

LATIN DANCE CARNIVAL | al stephano and his trio
Originally uploaded by Max Sparber

LATIN DANCE CARNIVAL | al stephano and his trio

"Vintage" Halloween Costume

2008-02-25T13:11:00.001-08:00

The Dirty Hippy. (AKA Francis Ford Coppola)

"Vintage" Halloween Costume

2008-02-21T15:54:00.000-08:00

You never know what you are going to get when you yell "Trick or Treat" wearing this Village People outfit.

Scopitone classic

2008-02-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

Bosco

2008-02-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Once the rival of Hershey’s, Bosco has virtually disappeared from grocery shelves in California. Bosco, mmmm, Bosco. Chocolaty goodness in a bottle. Add it to milk, pour it on ice cream, take it straight from the bottle for a chocolate rush the makes your elbows pulse with chocotricity. Bosco, poured on zombies for that "just right" blood look in Night of the Living Dead . Bosco, (Not Hershey’s) was poured down the drain when Marion Crane attempted to wash away her sins and head back to Phoenix at dawn... then Mother intervened.

Bosco, the medium of choice for artist Vik Muniz when he decided to paint the last supper. Bosco Bosco BOSCOOOOOO!
Bosco, first created in New Jersey in 1928 survived the great depression, WWII, the Korean war, Vietnam, The gulf war but sadly not the Terminator era. I guess Cal ee for ni ans just dont like chocolate.
Bosco is unique as a chocolate syrup since it has only natural cocoa with no artificial flavors added. No corn syrup is used in the production of Bosco, only cane sugar. Malt extract is added, which combined with Bosco cocoa powder yields the distinctive Bosco taste.
Bosco was once packaged in glass jars, but, more recently sold in plastic squeeze bottles.

One good thing that came out of New Jersey. Bosco!

They Always Come Back:
Bosco is sold in two supermarket chains in California:
How's Markets and Stater Bros . If you cant find either of these stores try Bosco Online.

Vintage ad. Ovaltine.

2008-02-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

The Ditto Machine

2008-02-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

A spirit duplicator (also referred to as a Ditto machine ) was a low-volume printing method used mainly by schools and churches. The term "spirit duplicator" comes from the alternative term for alcohols, which is "spirits." Alcohols were a major component of the solvents used as "inks" in these machines. The spirit duplicator was invented in 1923 by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld. The best-known manufacturer in the United States was Ditto Corporation of Illinois, hence that name.
A ditto machine used a solvent like methylated spirits or ammonia to transfer ink from the master copy (the template, if you will) onto other pieces of paper.

The master copy was a smooth, waxy piece of paper which was thickly inked when printed. The procedure for printing on a master was like the reverse of a carbon-copy; instead of writing on the normal paper and having the carbon underneath, the text and pictures were printed onto carbon paper of varying colours to transfer print to the master. If you want to know exactly how thickly a master was inked, put your printer on the best quality and print about two or three passes onto the same sheet of paper (so that you are printing over the previous printing, I mean).

The master was then wrapped around a drum, and the solvent was applied as the drum rotated. The solvent either softened or melted the ink so that just enough of it would stick to the blank sheets of paper. A lot of the copies produced in this way came out with purple ink because purple “provided the best contrast” As you can see in the following photo Ditto copies were far from easy to read.

Both the isopropanol and the methanol found in ditto solvents are toxic substances. These chemicals can cause a host of medical problems when humans are improperly exposed. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) guidelines recommend the use of personal protective equipment during exposure to methanol, however, most chemists work with methanol and isopropanol wearing only medical exam grade gloves, goggles and a working fume hood as the chief, no-ingested or inhaled reaction with methanol is limited skin irritation.

Ditto machines were popular in schools and churches as no electricity was needed to make quick stinky copies. Nothing smells quite like a fresh slightly wet Ditto copy.

They have gone the way of the typewriter and the dictaphone.
They Always Come Back:
Thanks to the efforts of this site they are not forgotten.

Libbyland Dinners

2008-02-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

Boy the 70's sure were great. Kids got to eat what they wanted. Too bad what they wanted actually tasted worse than school food and left you feeling dirty and ashamed.

Libbyland Dinners were one of the worst meals made for kids. But... as a kid, ya gotta try it. After all, it offers up pirate fun and who eats better than pirates? Oh yea... everyone.
Libbyland Dinners, manufactured by Libby of course, were made in the early 1970's around the time McDonalds had their McDonaldLand campagin. In a time where the HungryMan dinner reigned supreme it was a breath of fresh frozen air to see a meal designed especially for kids. Too bad it offered up some creepy food. Artificial grape flavored scalding applesauce was my favorite! Each meal came with a package of powdered Pink Strawberry Quick-esque mix. Not a meal for the Sabbath but eh... its a meal. These frozen meals featured fantastic pop-up packaging that would provide minutes of fun while you choked down the partialy edible meal. The front pop-up panel featured hidden pictures ala HIGHLIGHTS for Children. This meal distraction was perfect for kids trying to hold back tear of disgust as they chowed down the vulcanized burger or "Fried Parrot" (It was really fried chicken but damn, it was a tough ol' bird.)
Not only did these dinners entertain you while eating they provided motivation to finish the prison-type food by embossing pictures into the bottom of the TINfoil tray. "Eat it all and you'll see the monkey!" If I heard that now I'd call the police and asked to be put in a foster home. It's amazing to think that a simple drawing of an animal actually motivated children to eat. Here, now, in this future we live in, the only way a kid would eat slop is if there was a free download code at the bottom of the tray or perhaps a picture of Pete Wentz's's's wiener.

They Always Come Back:
They are gone forever but crappy food marketed to kids is big.
Libbyland Meals were the granddaddy of Kraft Lunchables. If you want to know just how bad Libbyland meals were just pick up one of these kids meals and enjoy the moment that occurs 10 minutes after you eat it, when your mouth starts stinging and you taste benzine.

Sensurround

2008-02-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

In the history of movie gimmickry, which includes The Tingler Electroshock, Smellovision and 3-D, Sensurround is by no means the least effective or the most offensive. Like its predecessors, it was seriously defined as an attempt to break through film's customary sensory limits. More honestly, it was a means of luring the credulous into paying good money for a bad picture. Sensurround consisted of nothing more than a bank of woofers that emit low-pitched rumbling sounds, causing the theater to vibrate in a mildly alarming manner whenever earth tremors are seen to move, shake and ultimately destroy Los Angeles.(click on the above image to get an idea of what viewing a Sensurround film looked like. Enough to give you a headache eh?)
Sensurround was Universal Studios proprietary system that premiered with the 1974 film EARTHQUAKE. The system did not fair well. During its initial release, with the film Earthquake, theater owners were subjected to a $500.00 a week rental fee plus they has the dubious honor of being guinea pigs in a grand experiment. The low frequency signal produced by the system could not be contained within the theater. During this time many older theaters had been remodeled and it was common for a single screen theater to be split into two theaters. That split meant there were side by side theaters with a common wall. That common wall could never contain the fury that was Sensurround. The Godfather II was released at the same time and was booked into the same houses as Earthquake. The vibration was so distracting that theater owners were forced to make a decision and it was not in favor of the $500.00 a week fee. Theater owners who stuck it out had other problems too. The Gruaman's Chinese Theater had to install a net below the ceiling to ensure bits of the old plaster and woodwork did not rattle loose and fall on patrons. Several theater adjacent stores reported damage from the system. A mall pet store reported that mall bound theater system killed its goldfish. It was a disaster tailor-made to accompany a disaster.

Here is a section taken directly from the Sensurround sound installation manual:
"The Sensurround Model II system developed by MCA Universal brings a new dimension to the motion picture theatre. It is designed to generate special audible and sub audible effects not yet possible to reproduce on presently available systems. The audience will actually be participating in the film. The torso will vibrate. So will the diaphragm. Flesh and auditory nerves will receive the sensations one might feel while experiencing the event depicted on the screen. Rather than the structure-shaking resulting from a natural disaster, this vibrating movement is actually airborne. Although some vibration can be felt - on thin wall surfaces, the amplitude is so small that no appreciable displacement can be measured. Also, the Sensurround effects will not cause hearing damage. The system is composed of high-level electro-acoustic with solid-state power amplifiers capable of up to 1000 watts of audio power. The system develops 100 to 120 dB sound pressure level (SPL) on the "C" scale in the theatre. "

Universal made sure the system would work no matter what type of film you were projecting. 70mm magnetic or 35mm optical, Sensurround worked. It took its cues from markers on the film.

It was a system that could awe but it had its flaws. One man suffered a cracked rib from the system. Other people fell ill. Nausea and vomiting were common.
Also... it seemed that the Sensurround system, if it were on a musical scale, emitted "the brown note." It could rattle your bowels clean. Yet another reason why theater owners frowned on the system.

It was used on only four films Earthquake (which won an Oscar for sound) Midway, Rollercoaster and, its last gasp, Battlestar Galactica.

The only two surviving Sensurround systems are currently at Dolby Laboratories.

They Always Come Back:
There will always be some sort of gimmick added to films. Ride the current 3-d wave if you must. If you want good old fashioned shaky gut rumbles buy the EARTHQUAKE DVD (The one released 2006) and enjoy its SENSURROUND 3.1 technology. You can also check the store for Sensurround products.

Magic Mountain Trolls

2008-01-27T05:15:00.000-08:00

In 1969, the Newhall Land and Farm Company formulated the idea to create a more thrilling alternative to the Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm amusement parks. The company selected Valencia as its location, and construction began that year. The park was a combined effort of Sea World and NLFC and cost approximately 20 million dollars to build. It was also a sneaky way to get people to realize Valencia could be a possible real estate option. With plenty of land to sell and a hot new amusement park in its midst, the town of Valencia was sure to thrive. When the park opened on May 29th, 1971, there were 500 employees and 33 attractions. The admission price in 1971 was $5 for adults, and $3.50 for children between the ages of 3 and 12.

In the 1971 season, Magic Mountain obtained permission from Warner Bros. to use the Looney Tunes cartoon characters. However, the park did not begin using these characters for nearly ten years. Instead, in 1972, they began using trolls as the park mascots.
The trolls Bleep, Bloop, and King Troll, and the Wizard became a recognizable symbol of Magic Mountain. These characters were used until 1985. The trolls (and wizard) were the mascots of change. Disneyland at the time was using the ticket system. You received a ticket book upon entering Disneyland and had to surrender a ticket every time you wanted to go on a ride. The tickets were graded A-E. "E" being the most popular and also the fewest in the book of tickets. You were forced to buy more tickets if you wanted to ride all the good rides. The troll-filled park offered up a new option. One admission price-NO TICKETS. Once you paid to enter the park you could ride all day for free. The trolls represented freedom. Freedom to do whatever you wanted and not be taxed by the mouse. Magic Mountain's admission policy was one of the reasons Disneyland no longer works on the ticket system. The Magic Kingdom had to drop that policy in order to remain competitive. Bless you Trolls (and Wizard.)

They Always Come Back:
The Trolls will never return. They are gone forever. So... it looks like I'll have to force them back. You can get a Troll emblazoned shirt here. The troll shirt contains a very special message.

Vintage Ad."Gee his pipe is so appealing with that Prince Albert."

2008-01-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

Kelbo's

2008-01-20T09:23:00.001-08:00

In the ever shrinking world of Tiki bars Kelbo's was ranked among the best. While it didn't feature any truly original drinks and the food was sub-par the atmosphere was spot on.

The interior was the creation of Eli Hedley. "One of the weirdest businesses in California, where weird businesses are a perfectly normal thing, is run by a 42-year-old ex-grocer ... who makes a living out of things the Pacific Ocean throws back," began a story in Life magazine in January 1946. As his beachcombing decor found favor on Hollywood sets and in the homes of stars, celebrities often dropped by the San Pedro home. "They'd come down there and disappear from Hollywood," Bassham says of the stories he's heard from his mother and three aunts. "The way he was, he'd pull a copa de oro flower off the vine, fill it with champagne and say, 'Here, drink this.' " Actor Raymond Burr was a close friend, who at one point optioned daughter Marilyn Hedley's book, "How Daddy Became a Beachcomber." The business grew, and by the 1950s, Hedley was in demand as a tropical decorator. He worked on tiki-themed Los Angeles nightspots, such as Don the Beachcomber and Kelbo's. The hostess area of Kelbo's featured what could only be described as a glowing Lucite wall filled with crap. Matchbooks, forks, knives, starfish, you name it encased in a glowing wall. A monolith to be discovered by some future civilization lies in a landfill somewhere. The ceilings were draped in fishing nets that held a virtual museum of sea bounty. Yes, Fugu were included. The preserved blowfish with a solitary Christmas light in the belly. The Pico location had a dance hall called the Coco-Bowl. It was a great room, dark, with palm trees and tiki's and a bandstand at the far end. For a while, Kelbo's had Francis Ford Coppola as a dishwasher until he was fired. His mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Kelbo's was the creation of Thomas KELley and Jack BOuck. They opened two locations in Southern California. Kelbo's-Fairfax. 101 north Fairfax Avenue across the street from CBS Television City. (Home of the Twilight Zone series) That location featured an outdoor garden and wishing well. The wells first coin was dropped by Lucille Ball with Desi standing at her side.

The other location was Kelbo's-Pico. 11434 West Pico Boulavard. That location closed almost 20 years ago and is now the home of FANTASY ISLAND Gentleman's club. Nothing remains of the spectacular interior.

They Always Come Back:
Kelbo's sadly will not be resurrected. I wish there was better news. In honor of Kelbo's, They Always Come Back has created some products based on the Kelbo's cocktail napkin logo. You can find them here. (Along with some other goodies.)
If you would like a close approximation of what Kelbo's was like visit BAHOOKA in the city of Rosemead California. The creator of Bahooka learned the Tiki Restaurant business while working at Kelbo's for ten years. Bahooka opened in 1967. It is more nautical than tiki but the spirit of Kelbo' lingers there.
R.I.P. Kelbo's

Mexican Jumping Beans

2008-01-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

In the 70's through the early 80's Thrifty's Drug and Discount Stores would announce the end of summer buy selling Mexican jumping beans. They were a seasonal item that would show up late August just as summer vacation ends. The name is really a clever marketing device as the reality of the bean and its need to hop around is repulsive and quite sad. First off they dont look like beans at all. They are some sort of pod segmented into thirds. Second they dont jump they just move. Third, its not the bean it is the creature inside that is doing all the work.

Lets take look into the sad life of the Mexican jumping bean.

The common jumping beans sold in novelty shops throughout the southwestern United States come from a deciduous shrub (Sebastiana pavoniana.) The jumping bean shrubs grow on rocky desert slopes and along arroyos in the region of the Rio Mayo in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. One of the best places to see this shrub is in the vicinity of Alamos, Mexico, known locally as the "jumping bean capital of the world."

Just as pineapples are not apples, Eggplants are not eggs, and republicans are not publicans, the jumping bean is not a bean, nor is it a seed. It is actually a small, thin-shelled section of a seed capsule containing the larva of a small gray moth called "the jumping bean moth" (Laspeyresia saltitans). After consuming the seed within the capsule section, the robust, yellowish-white larva has the peculiar habit of throwing itself forcibly from one wall to the other, thereby causing the jumping movements of the capsule. Mexican jumping bean capsules typically separate into three parts or sections, some of which contain a moth larva. It is these separate sections (technically called carpels) that are sold as "jumping beans."

The "beans" jump as a survival measure in order to protect themselves from the heat which can cause them to dry out. The ultraviolet rays from the sun stimulate them to jump, even in cool temperatures, but leaving them in the sun for extended periods will dehydrate and kill them.

These creatures are doomed from the start.

They were harvested and packaged, usually in groups of four, placed into a foam-lined Lucite case, and shipped off to Thrifty's so they could be sold to kids. Kids who would toss them about, throw them, keep them in their jacket pocket for months at a time, and then, throw them away. Inside the larva, or as I like to call it, MAGGOT, is subjected to unfathomable abuse. It is just trying to become a damn moth. Now if they were sold with the name "Twitching larva from Mexico" I doubt they would be on the counter at Thrifty's next to the Bubble Yum.
Even though they are a disgusting form of life they still have the right to survive. To me, the idea of the" Magical Mexican Jumping Bean" is horrible. Buying an object with no indication there is a living thing inside is horrible. Imagine buying a punching bag that squeaked every time you hit it. Funny and kinda cute until you realize there is a living thing struggling to survive inside.
Since Thrifty's is now Rite-Aid they no longer sell these "beans."

They Always Come Back:
They are all over the internet. There are sites that never mention or bury the fact there is a living creature inside. If you need to buy some please treat them with the respect they deserve.

Trapped larva baking in the hot sun

Merlin

2008-01-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Merlin was a handheld electronic game made by Parker Brothers in 1978. Merlin is notable as one of the earliest and most popular handheld games, selling over 5 million units during its initial run, as well as one of the most long-lived, remaining popular throughout the 1980s.
Merlin was approximately the size of a primitive cell phone. It emitted beeping sounds that could creep into your nightmares. It was about as much fun as pressing the "No Sale" button on a cash register over and over until your finger calloused.
It was the first multi-game hand-held electronic game. It offered six not so challenging games. Tic Tac Toe, Music Machine, Echo, (a game similar to Simon), Blackjack 13, Magic Square, Mindbender, (a game similar to Mastermind.) Boy oh boy, just image the fun kids had on Christmas morning being able to play Tic Tac Toe with a computer in their very own hand! Imagine the parents horror as they realized the six AA batteries required to play Tic Tac Toe would not last the day. This was in a time where you could get more fun typing in 58008 on your calculator and turning it upside down.
The game does have its place in history.
The Music Machine game functioned as a musical instrument; in this mode each key was assigned a musical note, and sequences of notes could be recorded and played back. This made Merlin one of the earliest sequencers as well as an early consumer-level electronic synthesizer.
If you want a little retro reading material here is a pdf of the manual that came with the game.

They Always Come Back:
No need to scour E-bay to relive those fond memories of this really boring and primitive electronic game. You can play it now with Virtual java Merlin. If you forgot how annoying simple beeps can be, please, play the virtual game and share my pain.

Superelastic bubbleplastic

2008-01-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

Superelastic bubbleplastic was toy product produced by the Wham-O toy company in the 60’s thru the 80’s. It was a very simple toy. It consisted of a toothpaste type tube filled with goo and a wide pink straw. The fun began as you squirt out a pea-sized amount out of the leaded tube and fastened the pea to the end of the straw. You then blew into the straw to inflate the goo, pinched the bubble off the end of the straw sealing in the air and then stared at it, knocked it around for a few minutes and then slammed it between your hands resulting in a spectacular pop that sent remnants of plastic goo into the carpet. The goo was made up of polyvinyl acetate dissolved in acetone, with plastic fortifiers added. The acetone evaporated upon bubble inflation leaving behind a solid plastic film. Acetate has been known to cause cancer and can enter the skin like DMSO and pull other chemicals along with it. Not a nice thing to give to kids but … what do they care, it was fun! The goo was multi colored and came out of the tube in bright red yellow and blue streams. In a time before this idea became commonplace with toothpaste the novelty of one tube producing multi colors was amazing. The bubbles hardened over time and if you were lucky you could have a semi deflated scrotal-like sac of balloon that could last days. The longer they lasted the greater the popping noise when you eventually smashed it.
The smell was something too. I'm pretty sure I was getting high off the stuff. The tube itself was the cause of many a cut finger. The screw top was plastic yet the actual threaded part of the tube was razor sharp. In addition the tube was soft metal that eventually was ripped open to get the last remnants of Bubbleplastic. That torn open tube was a danger as it was supersharp metal.
Superelastic bubbleplastic was taken off the market in the 80's due to concerns it may, MAY, be toxic.

They always come back:
It is still available but not by Wham-O. You can find it at your local .99 store under the name Fun Bubbles. It is made in Mexico and comes in a multi pack. It smells exactly the same and even comes in little tubes that I'm sure are made out of lead.
Good times!

Wham-O does not have one mention of this product in their official revised company history. See the lie by omission here.

Vintage ads.

2008-01-15T15:05:00.001-08:00

Not feeling all too well. Taking a break from everything to get better. In the mean time enjoy these vintage ads via our friends at VINTAGE ADS.

The Automat

2008-01-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Automat is a fascinating slice of Americana. There is a great book on the subject. Buy it Read it.

An Automat was a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drink were served by coin-operated vending machines.The automat featured what appeared to be completely automated food service, like a giant walk-in vending machine. The reality is there were no space "Robits" making your food. People worked at the automats. People like you and me. A cashier (A woman of course, as this was considered women's work) would sit in a glass-enclosed change booth in the center of the restaurant. Usually the booth was lipped by a wide marble counter with five to eight rounded depressions in it. She would serve many customers at once, taking their money from the depressions and dropping nickels in its place. The diner would insert the required number of coins and then slide open a window to remove the meal. The "machines" were filled via the human staff from the kitchen behind. The machines had a locking device that would ensure the food was in place before the front panel could be opened.
Unlike modern vending machines, food was served on real crockery with metal utensils, and drinks were served in glasses made of real honest to goodness glass.
Inspired by the Quisiana Automat in Berlin, the first automat in the U.S. was opened June 12, 1902 at 818 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia by Horn & Hardart.The automat was brought to New York City in 1912 and gradually became part of popular culture in northern industrial cities. Horn & Hardart was the most prominent automat chain. During 1940s and 1950s, there were over 50 Horn and Hardart’s restaurants in New York City, serving about 350,000 customers a day.

The format was threatened by the growth of suburbs and the rise of fast food restaurants catering to cars (with their drive-thru windows and car hop service) in the 1950s; by the 1970s their remaining appeal was strictly nostalgic. Another contributing factor to their demise was undoubtedly the inflation of the 1960s and 70s, making the food too expensive to be bought conveniently with coins. This was way before the invention debit card swiper or bill acceptors that are commonplace on todays vending equipment.
Another form of the Automat was used on some passenger trains, the last United States example being an Automat car on Amtrak's short-lived service to Janesville, Wisconsin in 2001. These were limited by mechanical problems, since the machines weren't necessarily intended for the bumpy ride on the rails, but mainly because state laws that prohibited alcoholic beverages from being sold by a machine.
They are still very common in The Netherlands, but outside of there, few exist. The last real, non-Mobile Automat closed in the United States in 1991. However...

They Always Come Back:
in 2006, an automat opened in New York City's East Village with a very rocky start. Mired in bad blood, and legal problems stemming from a business partners actions, the American Automat struggled to stay alive. One of the partners, Robert Kwak, alleges in court papers that David Leong and "Nobu" Hai Nguyen blocked his access to the store's cell phone and e-mail accounts, tried to "terminate" him, and banned him from the premises. The other side says Robert tried to steal from him. They worked out their personal issues and the Automat survived.

The difference between automats of the past and this new incarnation is the dining space.

None.

Bamn! serves food to go.
Half a concept is not always better than no concept at all.

Visit Bamn!

If you would like your own automat machine contact these people.

If you have a hankerin' for some post depression era food and would like to make Horn & Hardart's Baked Macaroni and Cheese ... click here and go to "Recipies"

Fruit Stripe Gum

2008-01-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

Fruit Stripe was an artificially flavored fruit chewing gum that was notorious for its great, but fleeting, fake fruit flavor. In the 70's the gum was packaged in colorful" zebra wrappers ." Fruit Stripe is the only gum with painted on stripes. Yes the stripes were added after the gum was formed. This gum didn't squirt, sparkle, crackle or fizz. It just had stripes.
Fruit Stripe gum was invented by James Parker, and launched in the early 1960s as an extension of the Beech-Nut gum line.
The line was sold to the Hershey company then in turn sold to the Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc. The mascot for this gum was an animated fruit-striped Zeba that went by the name of "Yipes."
" Yipes the fruit-stripes zebra."

They Always Come back:
Your tastes have changed but Fruit Stripe Gum has not. Aside from the packaging the gum is still the same. It still loses its flavor in a record 5 minutes 27 seconds.
Try it for yourself Buy the bubble gum version on Amazon quick before it goes away.

WHY?

2008-01-12T08:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like an Internet version of Jacques Cousteau. I search the vast Internet sea in search of some sort of long lost rare Americana. I do have to admit there are some subjects that seem to only exist in the polluted Wikisea. I cannot avoid using Wiki as a source as some of the featured subjects simply do not exist in accessible Internet waters. Sometimes my Calypso must occasionally drop it's anchor in the middle of Shamu's tank.
Apparently This is frowned upon by other Internet trollers.
Nuts to you I say. I'm not typing or cutting and pasting this blog for you. I'm doing it for me. I'll do my best to ensure the information is correct and as up to date as possible. Finding something lost from my past is the little bright spot in my now sunless day. I find something and I post it here. I am guilty of cutting and pasting info that I find simply because the info does not need to be rewritten. That apparently is a crime. So I have placed on the sidebar an ugly little disclaimer for all to read. If you feel I have infringed upon you I will remove the post. If you feel I have infringed upon someone else and you feel offended vicariously... I don't know what to say. I appreciate the concern. I will be more diligent in posting links back to reference material.

I welcome all comments and greatly appreciate additional info on the posts. For instance Marko let me know there is a crappy Trader Vic's up in Portland. Thanks! I had no idea! An virtual anonymous poster hipped me to the Naugles commercial and pointed out that it was not Roger C Carmel but Avery Schriber. Thanks! Now that's not to say Roger C Carmel did not do the Naugles commercials. In fact he did them to his death and Avery took over. I'm trying to figure out why I need to do this blog at all. I think my reasoning is to answer the question "what the hell happened to...?" Places like LOVE'S ribs? What the hell? What happened? Once I have an answer I can move on. There is nothing wrong with looking for answers is there?

Love's

2008-01-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

Love's was family friendly chain of restaurants that featured ribs. It was popular in the early to mid-seventies. There were many locations throughout southern California. Love's was famous for their special BBQ sauce. The Hollywood Blvd. location, just a stones throw from Fredrick's of Hollywood, was popular into the mid-Eighties until it became a hang out for drug dealers.The Woodland Hills location was popular despite the fact it was tucked away in a parking lot behind RB Furniture. Love's big Television debut was in the 1979 T.V. movie "Like Normal People" which starred Shawn Cassidy as a mentally challenged man who worked at Love's Pico Blvd. location. A very convenient location as it was across the street from 20th Century Fox. All Love's restaurants featured the same dark wood interior and "Like Normal People" showcases that interior well. Stand-alone Love's locations all features the same unique architecture similar to Pizza Hut's 1980's design. Around that time the parent company of Love's, Butterfield, decided that the dark interior was a drawback. The trend at the time, was lighter meals in an open well lit atmosphere. Far from the dim dark rooms filled with the smell of Barbecue. The chain was sold to Butterfield in 1983 and they simply screwed with it. Trying to reformulate and reinvent the rib house was a losing proposition. Love's, as a chain, closed in the late 1980's. If anyone has any information about the history of this chain please let me know.

They Always Come Back:
The only listed franchised location left on the planet is, get this, WAY OVER HERE.
Love's BBQ sauce is still available here.

Please Stand By

2008-01-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

I am experiencing some blogging difficulties. I will return soon.
In the mean time...
Enjoy this completely random picture:

The Lost Language of Diners.

2008-01-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

It's like Latin, A dying language.

Why did diner slang disappear?

There are several reasons, among them the disappearance of the brassy, sassy waitresses and countermen who made the colorful jargon part of their working routine during its heyday in the '30s, '40s and early '50s.
At several diners around New York, managers said, employees don't use slang, partly because there is no one to teach it, but also because orders to cooks are increasingly complex and thus require more exact terminology.

And some slang has gone mainstream — among it, O.J., BLT, stack, mayo, over easy, hash browns, sunnyside up and blue plate special.

Primarily the loss of these terms is due to the prevalence of fast food chains and the use of computerized order systems has eliminated the need for wait staff to "call" orders. However, the use of restaurant diner lingo is still present in small towns as well as retro-style restaurants and is a colorful part of Americana

The following list is extensive and by no means complete.
Here is your diner slang primer:

A blonde with sand: coffee with cream and sugar
A Murphy: a potato, so called because of their association with the Irish diet of potatoes, Murphy being a common Irish name
A spot with a twist: a cup of tea with lemon
A stack of Vermont: pancakes with maple syrup
An M.D.: a Dr Pepper
Adam & Eve on a raft: two poached eggs on toast
Adam's Ale: water
All hot: baked potato
Angel: sandwich man
Angels on horseback: oysters rolled in bacon on toast
B and B: bread and butter
B.L.T.: bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich
Bailed hay: Hot Pockets
Balloon juice/Belch water/Alka Seltzer: seltzer, soda water
Beef Stick: bone
Billiard: buttermilk
Birdseed: breakfast
Black and white: chocolate soda with vanilla ice cream
Bloodhounds in the Hay: hot dogs and sauerkraut
Bloody: very rare
Blowout patches: pancakes
Blue-plate special: a dish of meat, potato, and vegetable served on a plate (usually blue) sectioned in three parts. This can also refer to the daily special.
Boiled leaves: Tea
Bow-wow/Bun pup/Tube steak/Groundhog: a hot dog
Bowl of red: a bowl of chili con carne, so called for its deep red color.
Break it and shake it: add egg to a drink
Breath: onion
Bridge/Bridge party: four of anything (from bridge the card game)
Bronx vanilla/Halitosis/Italian Garlic: garlic
Bubble Dancer: dishwasher
Bucket of cold mud: a bowl of chocolate ice cream
Bullets/Whistleberries/Saturday night: Baked beans, so called because of the supposed flatulence they cause.
Burn one: put a hamburger on the grill
Burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it: hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion
Burn the British: toasted English muffin
C.J. Boston: cream cheese and jelly
Cackle fruit/Cackleberries: eggs
Canned cow: evaporated milk
Chewed with Fine Breath: hamburger with onions
China: rice pudding
Chopper: a table knife
Coney Island chicken/Coney Island: a hot dog, so called because hot dogs were popularly associated with the stands on Coney Island.
Cow feed: a salad
Cow paste/Skid Grease/Axle grease: butter
Cowboy Western: a western omelette or sandwich
Creep: Draft beer
Crowd: three of anything (possibly from the saying "Two's company, three's a crowd")
Customer will take a chance: hash
Deadeye: poached egg
Drag one through Georgia: cola with chocolate syrup, probably a reference to the fact that the headquarters of Coca-Cola is in Atlanta, Georgia, and dragging anything is likely to get it muddy, i.e., darker, which would be the same result as adding chocolate syrup. Carbonated drinks such as Coca-Cola were originally served by pouring concentrated syrup into a glass and adding soda water, so they could be made to whatever strength the customer preferred.
Draw one/A cup of mud: a cup of coffee
Draw one in the Dark/Flowing Mississippi: a black coffee
Dog and maggot: cracker and cheese
Dog biscuit: a cracker
Dough well done with cow to cover: buttered toast
Dusty Miller: chocolate pudding, sprinkled with powdered malt

Eighty-six: "Do not sell to that customer" or "The kitchen is out of the item ordered". "To remove an item from an order or from the menu". Article 86 of the New York State Liquor Code defines the circumstances in which a bar patron should be refused alcohol or '86ed'. The Soup Kitchen Theory: during the depression of the 1930s, soup kitchens would often make just enough soup for 85 people. If you were next in line after number 85, you were '86ed'. The Eight Feet By Six Feet Theory: A coffin is usually eight feet long and is buried six feet under. Once in your coffin you've been 'eight by sixed', which shortens to '86ed'. Chumley's Theory: Many years ago, Chumley's Restaurant, at 86 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village, New York City, had a custom of throwing rowdy customers out the back door. During Prohibition, Chumley's was a speakeasy owned by Leland Stanford Chumley. When the cops were on the way, someone would shout "86," and they would all exit through the back door.

Eve with a lid on: apple pie, referring to the biblical Eve's tempting of Adam with an apple. The "lid" is the pie crust
Eve with a moldy lid: apple pie with a slice of cheese
Fifty-five: a glass of root beer
First lady: spareribs, a pun on Eve's being made from Adam's spare rib.
Fish eyes or Cat's eyes: tapioca pudding
Flop two: two fried eggs, over easy
Flop two, over easy: fried egg flipped over (carefully!) and the yolk is still very runny. That means the other side is cooked for a few seconds
Flop two, over medium: turning over a fried egg and the yolk begins to solidify
Flop two, over hard: fried egg, flipped and cooked until the yolk is solid all the way through
Fly cake or Roach cake: raisin cake or huckleberry pie
Foreign Entanglements: plate of spaghetti
Frenchman's delight: pea soup
Frog sticks: french fries
Fry two/Let the sun shine: 2 fried eggs with unbroken yolks
GAC: Grilled American cheese sandwich. This was also called "jack" (from the pronunciation of "GAC")
Gallery: booth
Gravel train: sugar bowl
Graveyard stew: milk toast; buttered toast, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, and dropped into a bowl of warm milk
Hail: ice
Hemorrhage: tomato ketchup
High and dry: a plain sandwich without butter, mayonnaise, or lettuce
Hockey puck: a hamburger, well done
Hold the hail: no ice
Honeymoon salad: lettuce alone
Hot top: hot chocolate
Hounds on an Island: franks and beans
Houseboat/Dagwood Special: a banana split made with ice cream and sliced bananas
Hug one/Squeeze one: a glass of orange juice
Ice the rice: rice pudding with ice cream
In the alley: served as a side dish
In the weeds: a waitress/cook that can't keep up with the tables. Refers back to chefs' military roots, where being in the weeds would cause your army to be slaughtered.
Irish turkey: corned beef and cabbage
Jack Benny: cheese with bacon (named after the famed comedian)
Java/Joe: Coffee
Keep off the grass: no lettuce
Ladybug: fountain man
Let it walk/Go for a walk/On wheels/Give it shoes: an order to go, a takeaway order. It’s to go.
Life preservers/Sinkers: doughnuts
Lighthouse: bottle of ketchup
Looseners: prunes, so called because of their supposed laxative effect.
Love Apples: tomatoes
Lumber: A toothpick
Machine Oil: syrup
Magoo: custard pie
Maiden's delight: cherries, so called because "cherry" is a slang term for the maidenhead, hymen
Marry: bring items together for cleaning up, i.e. marry the salt and pepper.
Mayo: mayonnaise
Mike and Ike/The twins: salt and pepper shakers
Million on a platter: a plate of baked beans
Mississippi Mud/Yellow paint: mustard
Moo juice/Cow juice/Baby juice/Sweet Alice: milk
Mully/Bossy in a bowl: beef stew, so called because "Bossy" was a common name for a cow.
Mystery in the alley: a side order of hash
Nervous pudding: gelatin
No cow: without milk
Noah's boy: a slice of ham (Ham was Noah's second son)
Noah’ boy on bread: a ham sandwich
On the hoof: any kind of meat, cooked rare
One from the Alps: a Swiss cheese sandwich
One on the City: a glass of water
Paint a bow-wow red: a hot dog with ketchup
Paint it red: put ketchup on an item
Pair of drawers: two cups of coffee
Pigs in a blanket: a ham (sometimes a sausage) sandwich
Pin a rose on it: add onion to an order
Pittsburgh: something burning, toasted or charred, so called because of the smokestacks once evident in Pittsburgh, a coal-producing and steel-mill city. In meat cookery, this refers to a piece of meat charred on the outside while still red within.
Pope Benedict: an eggs benedict, but fit for a pope
Put a hat on it: add ice cream
Put out the lights and cry: an order of liver and onions, "Lights" is a term sometimes used for the edible, mainly internal organs of an animal
Quail: Hungarian goulash
Rabbit food: lettuce
Radar Range: microwave oven, from the Amana Radarange, whose parent company, Raytheon, was the first to manufacture and market the microwave oven.
Radio: tuna salad sandwich on toast (a pun on "tuna down," which sounds like "turn it down," as one would the radio knob)
Radio Sandwich: tuna fish sandwich
Raft: toast
Sea dust: Salt
Shake one in the hay: strawberry milkshake
Shingle with a shimmy and a shake: buttered toast with jam or jelly, hence the reference to 'shake'.
Shit on a shingle/S.O.S.: minced dried beef with gravy on toast, mostly because it was a reviled standard fare in army messes
Shivering Hay: strawberry gelatin
Shoot from the south/Atlanta special: Coca Cola, probably a reference to the fact that the headquarters of Coca-Cola is in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sleigh Ride Special: vanilla pudding
Smear: margarine
Soup jockey: waitress
Splash of red noise: a bowl of tomato soup
Stack/Short stack: order of pancakes
Sun kiss/Oh jay (O.J.): orange juice
Sunny-side up: the eggs are fried without flipping them, so the yolk looks just like a sun on white background
Sweep the kitchen/Sweepings/Clean up the kitchen: a plate of hash
Throw it in the mud: add chocolate syrup
Two cows, make them cry: Two hamburgers with onions
Vermont: maple syrup, because maple syrup comes primarily from the state of Vermont in the U.S.
Walk a cow through the garden: Hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion
Warts: Olives
Wax: American cheese
Well-dressed diner: codfish
Whiskey: rye bread, as in rye whiskey
Whiskey down: rye toast, the 'down' part probably comes from the action of pushing down the handle on the toaster
White Cow: vanilla milkshake
Windmill Cocktail/Adam's ale/City juice/Dog soup: glass of water
Wreath: cabbage
Wreck ‘em: scrambled eggs
Yum Yum/Sand: sugar
Zeppelin: sausage
Zeppelins in a fog: sausages and mashed potatoes

They Always Come Back:
It's up to you to keep these terms alive. Use them well.

Trader Vic's

2008-01-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Victor J. "Trader Vic" Bergeron packed more excitement, enjoyment and exotica into his 82 years than any other man.
It all started when Victor Jules Bergeron was a waiter at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel (home of the Tonga Room) and owned a grocery store on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland. His son - Victor, (Jr.) - grew up loving the food business, living with the family in an apartment above the store and helping out downstairs. A childhood accident cost him a leg, but left him with a penchant for telling colorful stories.

In 1932, with a nest egg of $700 and carpentry help from his wife's brothers - plus his mother's pot-bellied stove and oven - the ebullient Victor built a cozy pub across the street from the store and called it Hinky Dink's. His pungent vocabulary and ribald air made him a popular host, as did his potent tropical cocktail concoctions and delicious Americanized adaptations of Polynesian food.

Soon one of the most popular watering holes in Northern California's Bay Area, the place attracted sophisticated urbanites like writers Herb Caen and Lucius Beebe. By 1936, when Caen wittily wrote that the "best restaurant in San Francisco is in Oakland," Vic had become "The Trader" and Hinky Dink's had become "Trader Vic's," complete with a showpiece Chinese oven. Its South Pacific theme "intrigues everyone. You think of beaches and moonlight and pretty girls. It is complete escape," Vic said at the time. Among Trader Vic's more tantalizing legacies is the original Mai Tai, the bracingly refreshing rum cocktail he created at the restaurant in 1944 and introduced to the Hawaiian islands in the 1950s. Tahitian for "the very best," Mai Tai became the slogan for his entire operation.

In creating his new cocktail, Trader Vic employed what was becoming the ever-present hallmark of all his food and beverage recipes: a light touch, meant to enhance but never disguise nor overpower the fine original taste of his main ingredients. All of his recipes reflect the man's own personality: distinctive, lighthearted and memorable.

By 1946, the world had beaten a path to Vic's door, prompting Lucius Beebe to write in an introduction to "Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink" published by Doubleday that year: "Trader Vic's is ... more than an Oakland institution. Its influence is as wide as the Pacific and as deep as a Myrtle Bank punch. Vic's trading post is long on atmosphere, and it is possible for the ambitious patron with a talent for chaos to get into more trouble with obsolete anchors, coiled hausers of boa-constrictor dimensions, fish nets, stuffed sharks... Hawaiian ceremonial costumes, tribal drums, boathooks and small bore cannon than the waiters can drag him out of in a week."

The Trader eventually opened 25 Polynesian-style restaurants around the world, and several Señor Pico Mexican restaurants. His son, Lynn Bergeron, eventually took over the restaurant operation and remains Chairman Emeritus of Trader Vic's Restaurant Company.

The Trader's eldest daughter, Jeanne B. Hittell, is retired, having served for many years on the Board of Directors and as Secretary/Treasurer of the Trader's companies. Daughter Yvonne E. Seely, is also retired after decades of dedication to charity work on behalf of Trader Vic's.

Sadly the Bay Area Trader Vic's closed last week. The Beverly Hills location closed last year. Trader Vic's is on its way to becoming just another memory.

They Always Come Back:
Several incarnations of the Trader Vic's Mai Tai formula can be found here.

The Trader Vic's Mai Tai mix is no longer being sold at Von's grocery stores. The entire Safeway chain is affected as they claim it has been discontinued, which is bad news indeed. As of today the mix can be found here.

Pic 'N' Save

2008-01-06T18:28:00.001-08:00

pic 'n' save
Originally uploaded by organdonor

William Zimmerman founded Pic 'N' Save Corporation in 1950 by Culver City, California. By 1985, it operated 90 stores in California and six other Western U.S. states. It later expanded to the Southwest and the South, and left both markets in the late 1990s.

In 2002, Big Lots (formerly Consolidated Stores Corporation) bought out the remaining Pic 'N' Save stores and converted them into the Big Lots brand.

They Always Come Back:
The merchandise is exactly the same. In fact, you can see Pic 'N' Save tags under current Big Lots tags on some of the larger white elephants. (quite literally )

S.S. Adams Company

2008-01-06T14:27:00.001-08:00

Soren Adam Sorensen was born near Aarhus Denmark in 1879 to Hans and Sofia Sorensen, and immigrated to the U.S.A. with his family at age four, and grew up in Perth Amboy, New Jersey where his father operated a saloon. In 1904 Adams found himself employed as a salesman for a dye company. One of the products he sold caused workers to sneeze, and Sam found a way to extract this derivative from the dye and called this new powder Cachoo. He was inundated by requests for this product from his friends and so, he decided to sell his interest in a hotel in York, Pennsylvania, and used the money to launch the Cachoo Sneezing Powder Company in Plainfield, New Jersey.
Within a few years, the sneezing powder craze that swept the country had subsided, and Sam set out to innovating new products. He also changed the name of the company to S.S. Adams Co., to reflect that he was no longer a one product company. The Exploding Cigarette Box , the Snake Nut Can, Itching Powder, the Stink bomb, and the Dribble glass all entered the Adams line in the next decade.
In 1928, Sam invented the prototype of what was to become the Joy Buzzer, a mechanical device placed in the hand, which emitted a loud vibrating buzz, when a button on the buzzer was depressed. This would usually occur when two people shook hands. He took the prototype to Dresden, Germany, where a tool and die maker created the tooling to make small parts for the item, which was now just 3.2cm (1-1/4 inches) in diameter and 1.8cm (3/4 inch) thick. The final item was copyrighted in 1932. The success of the item allowed him to greatly increase his staff and purchase a stately new factory building in Neptune, New Jersey, all during the Great Depression.
Sam and S.S. Adams went on to create many more successful novelties: The Bar Bug in Ice Cube, The Money Maker, The Squirting Nickel, The Jumping Coin, Laughing Tissue as well as an extensive line of magic tricks and puzzles. He claimed to have devised over 600 different items, and patented about 40 of them. He continued to lead S.S. Adams Company until his death in Asbury Park, NJ in 1963 at age 85. Along with super hot candy and soap that turned your hands black Adams novelties were sold throughout the United States with the help of the roadside chain Stuckey's. The SS Adams products were an affordable line of pranks and magical items sold in the magic shop of Disneyland. Children of the 1950's through 1970's were very familiar with the entire line of SS Adams. Today the product line has faded into obscurity.

They Always Come Back:
S.S. Adams products and history are available online.
Disneyland , to this day, proudly features S.S. Adams products.

Orange Julius

2008-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

The drink grew out of an orange juice stand opened in Los Angeles in 1926 by Julius Freed. Sales were initially modest, about $20 a day (over $200 adjusted for 2007 inflation). In 1929, Bill Hamlin, Freed's real estate broker, developed a mixture that made the acidic orange juice less bothersome to his stomach. Freed's stand began serving the drink, which had a frothier, creamier texture. The sales at the stand increased substantially after the introduction of the new drink, going up to $100 a day. People began lining up at the store and shouting, "Give me an Orange, Julius!" Eventually, the new drink would simply be called "the Orange Julius".
During the 1950s and 1960s, Orange Julius was sold at a variety of outlets, including state and county fairs and freestanding Orange Julius stands.This Orange Julius was a fruit smoothie, created by blending frozen orange juice, crushed ice, and a mixture of powdered sugar and dairy creamer.
An Orange Julius restaurant existed in London for a short while in the early 1970s. It was situated in the suburb of Golders Green, but despite its apparent popularity, Orange Julius did not really take off in the UK and the Golders Green branch was gone by about 1976.
Originally, and through the 1980's, a raw egg blended into the drink was offered as an option. This was seen as a good source of protein for body builders. However, the option was later dropped for food safety reasons, and bananas were offered as a substitute.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used the image of a devil with a pitchfork, similar to that of the Arizona State University mascot, Sparky around an orange, with the slogan, "A Devilishly Good Drink". The company later dropped the logo and slogan after threats of a lawsuit from the ASU alumni association. The chain suffered after the loss of its slightly infringed mascot and sales began to drop off.

In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was bought by International Dairy Queen. IDQ, and by inclusion since 1999, Berkshire Hathaway, owns the rights to all Orange Julius stores, and have "expanded" the chain so its drinks are included in many of their Dairy Queen mall stores, called Treat Centers.

An odd bit of trivia:
Orange Julius' were also referred to as Orange Johnson's in the Southeast, specifically Tennessee.

They Always Come Back:
In 2004, Orange Julius launched a line of Premium Fruit Smoothies to compete with smoothie competitors such as Jamba Juice, Robecks, and Smoothie King.

While the name remains...sort of, little remains of the original drink made famous by that little red devilbaby. Try it for yourself and see.
Orange "Really went out of business when we were bought out by Dairy Queen " Julius

Quisp,

2008-01-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

Quisp and Quake were two sugar-sweetened breakfast cereals originally released in 1966 in the U.S. by The Quaker Oats Company and generally advertised together (during the same commercial) as products competing against each other.
The very successful ads were cartoons created by Jay Ward of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame, and used some of the same voices, including Daws Butler as the voice of Quisp (an alien) and William Conrad as the voice of Quake (a miner).

In 1970, a contest was held by Quaker Oats to see whose cereal was the more popular of the two. In 1972, Quisp won, and Quake retreated underground.

Quake, the cartoon character, reappeared in a new cereal called Quangaroos where he obtained an Cary Grant-esque orange kangaroo as well as putting his mining helmet down in favor of an Aussie motif.
In the late-1970s, Quisp was removed from grocery stores due to low sales. It re-emerged in the mid-1980s and was quickly pulled due again to low sales.

They Always Come Back:
Quisp was re-introduced in the 1990s as the "first Internet cereal" and is still in limited distribution. You can buy it direct from their website here.

Chicken Delight

2008-01-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

The company was started in Illinois in 1952 by American entrepreneur Al Tunick a pioneer in fast food franchising. Tunick purchased some deep fryers from a restaurant that was going out of business. He and some friends tried cooking different foods looking for a product other than french fries. At that time, chicken was pan-fried, steamed or oven-roasted. Due to the long cooking times, it was not a good fast-food item. Tunick coated some chicken in a spicy breading and lowered it into the hot oil. The chicken cooked much faster while the juices remained sealed inside. Thus, Chicken Delight was born.

He decided to market his method through small take-out and delivery locations. It was near the end of the Korean War when many women were working outside the home and had no time to cook. The slogan 'Don't Cook Tonight . . . Call Chicken Delight' became a household phrase throughout North America.

Chicken Delight quickly grew to more than 1,000 units throughout the United States and became the biggest fast-food company of its kind in North America. Chicken Delight is one of the oldest, if not the oldest chicken fast-food franchisor in the world. In 1958 a group of local businessmen in Winnipeg purchased the Chicken Delight trademarks and franchising rights for Canada and started the first store in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. In the same year another outlet opened its doors in St. Boniface, a location that is still in operation to this day.

By the mid 60's there were more than 50 units under Chicken Delight of Canada Ltd. About the same time, franchisees across the U.S. challenged the franchisor in court with the practice of requiring franchisees to buy their equipment and packaging from head office. Under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act stating the head office could not sell products above fair market value, the case was won by the franchisees. Consequently, the franchisor's main source of revenue dried up. The number of units declined significantly in the U.S. and the impact was felt in Canada as well.

Unaware of the possible consequences of the case, local entrepreneur Otto Koch purchased his first Chicken Delight franchise in 1969. Seeing the potential of the chain in Canada, Koch built and acquired additional franchise locations and in 1976 bought Chicken Delight of Canada Ltd. A big task lay ahead to rebuild an ailing franchise system. Koch concentrated on revitalizing the system in Canada by updating the stores and recreating the Chicken Delight name and brand image. By providing quality service and cleanliness, the Canadian operation once again began to prosper. This success led to Koch's acquisition of the U.S. and International arm - Chicken Delight International Inc. in 1979. For the first time the total Chicken Delight system was under one roof. Since then, Chicken Delight has continued to prosper under the guidance of past and current President and Owner Mr. Otto Koch. Meeting ever changing consumer demands with system improvements and the introduction of new menu items has led to the long lasting success of the company.
In Canada.
In the lowley United States Chicken Delight has faded from view thanks to chains like Popeyes, Churches, and the Vatican of fried chicken...
K.F.C.

They Always Come Back:
Chicken Delight franchises in the United States are few but they do exist.
If you are in New Jersey you can try your luck with these last known stateside locations:
Dumont
404 East Madison Ave.
201-385-2400

Hillsdale
100 Broadway
201-666-8828

Jersey City
731 Montgomery Street
201-433-3012

416 Central Avenue
201-659-4690

North Bergen
7718 Bergen Line Avenue
201-869-4900

Rahway
1685 Street George Avenue
201-388-3513

West Paterson
McBride Avenue & Rt. 46
201-256-8863

I'd call for you to see if they still exist but... clearly I'm lazy.

Earth Shoes

2008-01-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

She was a free spirit. A child of nature. She turned on, tuned in, and dropped out of Berkley. She ate only natural foods. Fruit from the co-op. She never ate animals. She hated the idea of animals raised to die for her meal. She wore only cotton as it made her feel closer to the earth. Mother earth. She was the world and world was life.

He was a rebel. Out to save the world from destruction. His draft card burned and a pocket full of tabs he headed up the coast eventually settling in on the beach below Mount Tam. That’s where he met her. She was an enigma. Carly Simon hair and lace shawls.

She loved his free and easy spirit. He played the guitar for her for hours. The dropped two tabs each the day they met. Each became a swirling kaleidoscope of freedom.
He just wanted some strange wool and she was it.
They giggled as they made love on top of the serape in the back of his VW van. At one point he said she felt like mashed potatoes and she giggled. Bright starbursts of light appeared as the van rocked and the curtains shifted. The acid now surging through them in waves controlled their lovemaking. They would go at it for a 5 minutes and then get distracted by each other. She fell into his eyes and he chewed her hair. As each surge passed the focus returned and the would go at it again. Finally, after what had been hours they both fell into the universal void of passion he said “We are one now.” He collapsed and wept in her arms. She could only think of how the doctor told her she has a tilted uterus and how that didn’t stop her from enjoying getting banged by a guy who looked like Cat Stevens but sounded like Arlo Guthrie.

In reality the LSD did more than provide a good trip. He released his genetically altered seed into her genetically damaged girly bit.
His albino tadpoles, with their razor sharp fangs, were rapidly moving towards her damaged “grade A” pre-omelets. She lit a joint and passed it to her weeping tunesmith.
Just then a tiny voice yelled “eureka” as a tadpole settled in for breakfast.

8 ½ months later she lay in back of the same van, this time just outside of Monterey. She was bummed that the baby decided to come on the last day of the music festival.
He, a proud father to be, circled the van banging on his ceremonial drum to alert local Indian spirits to the arrival of his new child.
She gave birth on that same serape they conceived the child on. As the baby crowned she yelled “I AM MOTHER EARTH.” And with a grand push the child entered the world. Next to her was a metal cooler filled with Brew102 and ice. The cooler was there to keep the placenta fresh, as she would ingest that later, somehow, because it has a lot of nutrients. She never finished that chapter so she figured she’d keep it on ice until she found out how to prepare it.

These were your parents.

Eventually they wore EARTH SHOES.

Earth shoes are for Hippie Idiots.
Hidiots.

Earth shoes were an unconventional style of shoe invented in the 1970s in Scandinavia: unlike other shoes, the soles were thick and the heels were thin (Negative Heel Technology), so wearing them one walked heel-downward. The advertisements said that it was like walking on the beach, where one's footprints are this way.

The Always Come Back:
Earth shoes are still in existence, and has recently re-introduced shoes with negative heels in a variety of styles ranging from sandals to running shoes.
They actually boast on there website the following:
"We have been manufacturing in China for the past ten years, which allows us to be competitive with the rest of the shoe industry, and to provide you with the very best value. Family members and executives go there frequently to watch operations and working conditions. Our Company operates with the highest standards. We are proud to say we have been a factor in changing the workers way of life. The factory and offices are up to par with many US plants, and our workers enjoy a lifestyle above Asian standards. In short, Earth, and other US companies operating in China's special industrial zones, have created a new life for Chinese workers. We are pushing the envelope and raising the bar; fighting for better living and a better environment. We have and will continue to influence changes to improve people's quality of life everywhere on Earth."

Pea Soup Andersen's

2008-01-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

The area of Buellton California began to change rapidly after the turn of the century. By 1911 Danish settlers were pouring into the area starting farms and businesses. William Budd, brother of Mrs. Emily Buell, opened a post office and it became an official United States Post Office in 1920. When the highway was diverted through Buellton in 1924 and electricity was brought to the valley, Anton and Juliette Andersen purchased a small parcel of land and building from William Budd and opened a restaurant.

Anton, who was trained in exclusive restaurants in Europe and New York, put his tuxedo in mothballs and donned a bib apron, soon to become his personal trademark. He and his charming wife, Juliette, opened a tiny restaurant and named it "Andersen's Electric Cafe," in honor of their prized possession, a new electric stove.

It was a complete about-face for Andersen, who had just come from New York, where he had been associated with world-class establishments such as Marguerey, Voisin, Louis Sherry and other notable establishments and restaurateurs of the day. He helped open the Los Angeles Biltmore until he tired of the rat race (as he put it) associated with city hotels. So, from catering to the gourmet trade, Anton and Juliette began their new venture by serving simple, wholesome everyday foods. hot cakes and coffee, ice cream sodas and such, to highway travelers. Their first customers were the salesmen, tourists and truck drivers who drove the main highway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The cafe was on the road to the fabulous Hearst Castle at San Simeon and as this was the heyday of Hearst's newspaper empire, many of the Hearst writers and reporters, such as Arthur Brisbane and 0.0. McIntyre developed the habit of stopping at Andersen's. Their praise of excellent food and hospitable atmosphere was carried in their newspaper columns throughout the entire country.

In 1928, the Andersen's sank a well and built a hotel and dining room for their now quite popular cafe. They named their new establishment the "Bueltmore," a play on words referring to Anton's days with the Biltmore.

Anton was quite a character, especially famous for his extraordinary capacity to remember faces and names without error. Soon celebrities were stopping for a meal on their way up and down the coast. Apparently the young Victor Borge was among the famous people who visited Andersen's in the early days. When he would enter the cafe the two men, Victor and Anton, would let out a whoop followed by rapid fire Danish at full volume, much to the amazement of the other customers. At the same time, Santa Barbarans and other Southern Californians were discovering Andersen's and learning to plan their outings and trips to enable them to make the stop.

Juliette was devoutly Catholic; she and young Robert attended mass in Solvang at Mission Santa Inez, one of California's original missions. She was a gracious woman, warm and friendly to all those around her. Juliette was from the east of France and an expert cook, so she prepared many of the recipes she had brought with her; the most popular with the customers was her split pea soup. Many special dishes now appear on the large Andersen menu, still the most popular specialty of all and the one which finally changed the name of the restaurant is Juliette's tasty and nourishing split pea soup.

With the demand for their split pea soup increasing steadily, the Andersen's soon had to locate large suppliers of peas far from their area. Just three years after the first bowl was served, they were amazed to realize they needed to order ONE TON of peas! When Anton faced the problem of what to do with one ton of peas, he solved it by putting them in the window, proclaiming the restaurant, "The Home of Split Pea Soup," the slogan it carries to this day.

Though a ton of peas seemed a staggering amount then, Andersen's today "splits" many tons of peas every month, transforming them into the famed soup. ..averaging thousands of bowls a day!

In recognition of the restaurant's pre-eminence as probably the world's foremost pea purchaser, the pea growers of Idaho have named Andersen's the location for the start of the annual "National Split Pea Soup Week" every November, to honor the pea and the delicious soup it makes.

There's no secret about the Andersen's Soup recipe...quite the contrary, for Andersen's even has bags of split peas with the recipe included in their specialty foods department. But, even with the recipe, many find that their soup just doesn't taste quite the same as the restaurant's. Perhaps it's the magical touch that Juliette lent to the cauldrons and ladles so many years ago!

During World War II, the restaurant closed to the public. The hotel rooms were used to house military personnel stationed locally and meals were served to servicemen and their families. Robert Andersen also purchased a small building across the street from the hotel and converted it to a canteen. The canteen was operated by the American Women's Voluntary Services (A.W.V.S.), patterned after a program begun in England. The canteen was called "Co Na Mar Corner," representing all the services: Coast Guard, Navy, Marines and Army. The local Valley members took turns providing meals for the servicemen on weekends.

After the war, Pea Soup Andersen's opened with a flourish. Robert commissioned Disney-trained artist Milt Neil to re-draw the two cartoon chefs to use for promotion and they became Pea Soup Andersen's trademark. The big fellow is shown having all the fun and the easy side of the work, as the little one holds the chisel, looking sad and a bit frightened, always in danger of the big mallet. A contest was held and from thousands of entries the names Hap-pea and Pea-Wee were chosen.

Animator and comic artist MILT NEIL died in October,1997. In the 'thirties and 'forties, Neil worked for Disney on Fantasia, The Reluctant Dragon, Dumbo, Bambi and Saludos Amigos. After World War II he ran his own commercial shop on the East Coast, and he was a long-time instructor at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Art. Anyone who has ever driven Highway 101 between Oxnard and San Luis Obispo has seen Neil's cartoon logo for the omnipresent Anderson's Pea Soup billboards.

Robert "Pea-Soup"Andersen decided he needed a break from the high paced family business and in April of 1965 sold the Buellton restaurant to Vince Evans. The new owner of Pea Soup Andersen's was a larger than life personality, well known and already an established leader in the Santa Ynez Valley. At the end of World War II, Vince began a career in acting and developed a close friendship with fellow actor Ronald Reagan, who later purchased a ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley. Vince and his wife Margery moved to a 900-acre ranch south of Buellton in 1959. They raised cattle, grew alfalfa and operated a feed store. When he purchased Pea Soup Andersen's, he jumped into his newest adventure with the same high energy and enthusiasm that he displayed for many other ventures.

The business thrived under Evans' hand. By then the restaurant was purchasing 50 tons of peas each year, enough for three-quarters of a million bowls of soup! He built an aviary and filled it with parrots, he installed a train for children to ride that went from the restaurant to the area where the motel now stands, and even had a miniature wild animal park for two years. The park was discontinued in 1970 to make way for the addition of a Danish style motel in 1970. The Evans were very active with the renowned Rancho Vistadores, Santa Barbara Symphony and constantly supported the Valley children's 4-H projects. In 1979, Vince purchased an English Pub that had stood for over 100 years at the Liverpool railway station in London. The Pub was reconstructed in Buellton and opened as a bar and entertainment center. The 1970 also brought more locations as Vince added two more by the same name in Mammoth Mountain and in Santa Nella, south of Stockton.

Vince had expansive dreams and the energy to make the dreams a reality. Unfortunately, neither dreams nor energy could change the cards fate dealt him. On April 23, 1980, Vince, his wife Margery and their 21 year old daughter, Venetia, were tragically killed in a small plane crash just minutes from the Santa Ynez Valley airport.

After Vince died, the company fell into the hands of a bank's estate department. In 1982, a fourth Pea Soup Andersen's restaurant was added, along with a hotel, in Carlsbad just off I-5 at Palomar Airport Road. The following year, Pea Soup Properties and PSA Management were formed by a group of financial planners to acquire the estate's assets.

The ill-conceived Carlsbad property was the catalyst for filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1986.

That was the end of the Travelers Special.

However...

They Always Come Back:
The original Location is still open and serving their famous Travelers Special. (Half of any sandwich and a bottomless bowl of Split Pea Soup)

Visit PEA SOUP ANDERSENS

Stuckey's

2008-01-03T19:32:00.001-08:00

If you're of an age to remember tourist camps, Burma Shave signs, and two-lane blacktops — or even gas lines, Pintos, and crackling AM radio — chances are you remember the sprawling Stuckey's empire: A venerable roadside oasis — and a highway heaven of souvenirs, cold drinks, hot snacks, and pecan candy — marked by the pitched roof and teal blue shingles.

Who could forget the pecan divinity, flavored pecans, and most of all the celebrated Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll, a heavenly inspired creation of Mrs. Ethel Stuckey herself? Based on a secret mix of powdered sugar, white molasses, and roasted nuts, that mouth-watering miracle of fluffy white sweetness covered in its own deep coating of crushed select pecans became the soul and spirit of the store and the number one reason for families to stop… well, along with using the restrooms, gassing up the car, and having a snack and a soft drink, of course.

Soon after the founding, however, Stuckey's became more than a pecan log roller. From the late 30's to the early 70's, the teal blue roof was as famous then as the golden arches are today. In 1960, W. S. Stuckey attempted to create a hotel chain called Stuckey's Carriage Inn, but opened only four locations.

Sadly, in the late 70's, the empire began to dwindle when Stuckey's was purchased by the PET Milk corporation and became trapped in a time warp. Of the 350-plus locations operating in its heyday, the number dropped to fewer than 75. But...

They Always Come Back:
It was repurchased by former Congressman W.S. Stuckey, Jr., in 1985. Now, with a Stuckey back at the helm and over 200 franchised locations on the interstate highways spanning 19 states from Pennsylvania to Florida in the east and to Arizona in the west, Stuckey's is hoping to be bigger and better than ever.

Visit a Stuckey's today

Tick Tock Tea Room

2008-01-03T18:17:00.000-08:00

Founder of the Tick Tock Tea Room, Arthur was a native of Norway and he first arrived in California in 1930. With a scant initial outlay of $500, he bought an old house and established the restaurant in 1931. An old clock from his residence provided some initial decoration which later became the theme of the restaurant. The restaurant had a tradition of closing for two weeks each year to give not only the owners but the entire staff a vacation. The restaurant was also renown for its service, with each waiter or waitress having only three tables to look after. Famous for their Sticky Orange Rolls. The Hollywood branch at 1716 N. Cahuenga had an early American design.
Other addresses were 301 N. New Hampshire and Wilcox at Yucca (pre-dates the Cahuenga Restaurant) (also apparently called the Town House Tea Room for a while). Also a branch at 10123 Riverside Dr. in the San Fernando Valley.

Arthur Johnson died at age 84 in 1980.
The Tick Tock remained open as a family owned tea room until the late 80's and then quietly closed their doors.

They Always Come back:
No Arthur is not a zombie.

The famed secret recipie to Tick Tock's famous Orange Sticky Buns and other Hollywood staples can be found in handy book form located here.

Freakies Cereal

2008-01-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

Freakies was a brand of sweetened breakfast cereal produced by Ralston and sold in the United States. The cereal entered the marketplace in 1973 and was taken off the shelves in 1975. That same year Ralston sold the remaining toys that were to be inserted into the now defunct cereal to a company that supplied Dime and Grocery stores vending machines. For years you were still able to get Freakies figures for .25 and the turn of a knob.
The Freakies were made up of seven creatures named Hamhose, Gargle, Cowmumble, Grumble, Goody-Goody, Snorkeldorf and the leader BossMoss.

In the mythology of the Freakies, the seven went in search of the legendary Freakies Tree which grew the Freakies cereal. They found the Tree, realized the legend was true, and promptly took up residence in the Tree which then became the backdrop for all the TV spots and package back stories.

Ralston tried to reintroduce the cereal in 1987. It failed twice as fast as the original.
In the mid-80s, after launching several unsuccessful cereals with different characters
(including Casper, the Friendly Ghost), someone at Ralston Purina remembered the Freakies. And, since Ralston owned the rights to the characters, they decided to launch a new Freakies cereal. Ralston gave the assignment back to the advertising agency that had handled the creation of the original Freakies.
Unfortunately, the person who had created the Freakies was no longer at the agency and so other people were assigned to the project.

No one knows why these people decided to change the Freakies. Maybe it was because they wanted to put their own mark on the new cereal. Or maybe it was because no one was left who really understood what had made the original Freakies so successful.

In any event, the cereal was re-introduced with characters that only barely resembled the original Freakies. Their names were now more simplistic and expected. They had lost the quirky aspects of their personalities. Even the environment they lived in had been changed.
If they’d been able to consult anyone who had been involved with the original Freakies, they would’ve known that the success of the Freakies was based on very specific things. For instance, each Freakie was a basic personality type anyone could recognize - but with added quirks and flaws. This made the Freakies more real and more appealing. And it was the interaction of these personalities that made the commercials and the package back stories so interesting to kids.

The names of the Freakies were important, too.
They were as quirky and specific as the Freakies. For instance, Hamhose liked ham sandwiches and lived in a garden hose so he could take long walks all by himself. Grumble had bad feet and so he’s always complaining. Snorkeldorf had a long nose, so snorkel is part of his name. Goody-Goody – well, we all know about Goody-Goody.

In contrast, the Freakies of 1986 didn’t have distinct personalities at all. And so the plotlines of the TV commercial and the package backs were pretty thin. And their names were changed to simple words that - if connected to the character at all - only highlighted an obvious physical trait. So Hamhose became Hugger because of all his arms. Snorkeldorf became Tooter because once, in the 70s, he had blown his nose like a trumpet. Cowmumble became Sweetie because she’s nice. But then, Goody-Goody, that apple-polisher without equal, mysteriously became Hot Dog. And Gargle, the Freakie who could bore an insomniac into a prolonged and restful sleep, became Ace! And equally mysterious, BossMoss and Grumble kept their names.

Finally, the environment of space, with the Freakies riding surfboards in said space, was completely arbitrary with no relation to the characters or the cereal at all. But perhaps more important than all these differences was the fact that the original Freakies material was written to amuse adults as well as children. And the new Freakies didn’t have that edge.
Ultimately, the sales of this new Freakie cereal were so disappointing, Ralston discontinued it before the year was even up.

They Always Come Back:
Order your Freakies Shirts and autographed "Wacky Wobblers" Here.

Alice In Wonderland. The Musical Porno.

2008-01-02T21:04:00.000-08:00

I know this is a stretch. This is the first film I am posting on this site. All films come and go so what is so special about this one? Its a quirky 70's porn based on a children's story that is an original musical. This is possibly the oddest film ever made. I'm not kidding when I say you'll be singing these songs long after you have gone blind from the porn.

Alice in Wonderland (sometimes listed as Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Porno) is a 1976 pornographic musical film, loosely based on Lewis Carroll's children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It was directed by Bud Townsend and starred Terri Hall, Bree Anthony, and Kristine DeBell. The theatrical release of the film was on December 10, 1976 in the USA. On May 26-27 it was shown at the Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, Washington during Satellites 2000: Screens From Outer Space.
The film initially received a X-rating in 1976 and subsequently, an R-rating a year later with 3 minutes cut from the film. It was later re-released on VHS with a somewhat grandiose title roll preceding the movie noting that quite a bit of hardcore footage had originally been shot, but 'could not be included' at the time. Several reviews opine that the added material actually makes the movie less enjoyable by dragging down its pacing.

Alice (Kristine DeBell) offends her would-be lover William (Ron Nelson) by rejecting his advances. Upset, she falls asleep reading Alice in Wonderland. The white rabbit (Larry Gelman) appears to her in a dream and takes her into a sexual wonderland. The story loosely follows Carroll's original plot, and includes many of his characters, but with considerable sexual license.

The film was produced by adult film mogul Bill Osco, the producer of the first mainstream adult film, Mona (1970), and its sequel Harlot (1971), as well as the comedy/stop motion effects hit, Flesh Gordon (1974). Osco chose to make as his next project a musical soft-core version of the Lewis Carroll novel, finding that the story rights were in the public domain. The result was an X-rated feature which was picked up by 20th Century Fox, who cut three minutes to obtain an R-Rating.
Released at Osco's suggestion by Fox on the same day as Star Wars, Osco having realized that the film was going to be a hit and convinced Fox to book Alice in every venue that played Star Wars. As a result, Alice went on to gross over $90 million dollars worldwide, thus making it one of the most successful adult films ever. Two years later the film was recut to add some reshot hardcore scenes, using some of the original actors, with an added credit scroll explaining the demand for the hardcore version.

Alice was circulated as an R-rated version in VHS format by Media Home Entertainment. The X-rated hardcore version was also available on VHS. Both have long been out of print.

They Always Come Back:
In December 2007, Subversive Cinema released a DVD containing the different versions, fully-restored, and available through mainstream DVD retail outlets.

Astro Pops

2008-01-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

Astro pops were very simple. Hard pointy candy on a stick. That's it. It had a stick. Then it had the candy in it. It also had this creepy wax base at the bottom of the candy. It was thick at the bottom and tapered to a dull hard candy point. They looked like multi-colored hippie candles sans wick. They have been around since the dawn of time and I assumed would be around forever.
I was wrong.

On November 24th 1997, a Skagit County couple has sued a candy maker and a convenience-store chain, contending their young son was hurt by a pointy sucker that punctured his throat.
Tisha and Edward Newman's Superior Court lawsuit for an unspecified amount of money from the Spangler Candy Co. of Bryan, Ohio, and Southland Corp., the Dallas-based parent company for 7-Eleven stores.
The Newmans contend their son Nicholas ``suffered several personal injuries when the Astro Pop punctured his throat, palate and tonsil.'

Spangler, the candy company that makes Astro pops decided to invert the shape.

In 1998 The following Astro Pop changes were made.
The following description is from the one of the many explanation e-mails that were sent from Spangler in response to the new inverted shape:
"...(1) The new shape is inverted and eats better. In the candy industry, this is known as mouthfeel and is an important attribute to the success of candy. Note that product will no longer slip out of your mouth, the larger end delivers more candy (and more flavor) to your mouth at one time.
(2) The flavor profile was improved. We changed the flavor formula to a better flavor note and more impact at first taste. The formula revision to slightly more sugar/less corn syrup also helps to deliver more flavor.
(3) The stickiness was reduced. The new product has slightly higher sugar to corn syrup ratio, therefore making the product less sticky, and able to withstand higher temperatures before meltdown, thus we are able to sell product in hot regions.
(4) The paraffin wax was removed. This edible wax wax not a problem in the U.S., but some foreign countries do not allow it. This opens the product up for more sales in international countries.
(5) The graphics were improved. New, exciting and consistent graphics were applied to all Astro Pops and boxes.

All were important facts in the re-design of the Astro Pop. The new Astro Pop is selling very well..."

Never did they say it was to avoid potential law suits as the candy was sturdy enough to be used as a weapon.

In 2002 Spangler Candy Company announced their newest addition to the Astro Pop® line, a one-ounce lollipop layered with chocolate, orange and vanilla (brown, orange and white) flavors.
The new Halloween Astro Pops were available in a 36-count display box, packed eight per case.
“This is a perfect flavor and color combination any time, but particularly for the Halloween season,” said Jim Knight, Spangler Candy’s Director of Marketing. “This is also a treat that any child will be delighted to receive in their trick-or-treat bag.”
The Halloween Astro Pop was the seventh color/flavor combination to join the Astro Pop collection. The others included Original, Sour, Rappin’ Raspberry, Banana Split, Caramel Apple, and the red, white and blue Astro Patriot Pop.

Unfortunately, sales volumes did not justify the continuation of Astro Pops, and this product is no longer produced as of September 2004.

More likely is the fact it was a hard candy that was very "stabbie."
Spangler continues to make other fine candies including Circus Peanuts and Dum Dums. They are also the creator of the Saf-T-pop, the stickless lollipop made for people who are prone to stick related injuries. Visit Spangler.

They Always Come Back:

Inverted or "ass-up" Astropops can still be found at Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles. Get them now because they are clearly over 3 years old. The above link is for Olvera street and it does not show AstroPops for sale but trust me... they are there. Check the center isle vendors nearest the fountain. You'll see 'em.

Naugles

2008-01-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

Naugles was a fast-food Mexican restaurant chain that existed from 1970 to 1988. It was founded by former Del Taco employee Dick Naugle. The first Naugles restaurant was located in Riverside, California.
Harold Butler bought Naugles in 1971 when the chain consisted of three restaurants. He built it up to 225 restaurants by 1985, when he sold the chain to Collins Food International. Naugles merged with Del Taco in 1988.
However, this meant that Del Taco inherited the litigation that was being pursued against Naugles by former franchisee Vylene Enterprises Inc., run by Debra Vylene Green. The rapid expansion of Naugles had caused the franchise to make a mis-step. Vylene had been running a Naugles restaurant in Long Beach, California, when Naugles licensed a second restaurant to someone else, less than two miles away. A huge court battle was begun which lasted twelve years, until 1996, when a San Francisco federal court ruled that Naugles, now Del Taco, had breached its "covenant of good faith and fair dealing", awarding almost three million dollars to Vylene. This case was very closely watched by the entire fast food franchise industry, and the ruling sent all of the major franchises into deep contemplation of the terms "covenant of good faith and fair dealing." It is common now for franchises to conduct economic impact and viability studies anywhere that a new franchise is proposed.

Despite the legal issues, Del Taco has had no problem recruiting new franchisees. There are more than two hundred new franchises planned over the next two years. Taco Bell has saturated most markets, and Del Taco advertises better returns for franchise owners than Taco Bell restaurants, despite being the smaller of the two chains. Del Taco has most recently made its way into Texas, and continues east across the country at a phenomenal rate, giving closest competitors Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Rubio's a good run for their money.

In the Naugles TV commercials, the character of Señor Naugles was played by character actor Avery Schriber.

They Always Come back:
And then again... Sometimes they don't

Pet Rock

2008-01-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most endearing (if not enduring) fad of the Super70s, this gem of an idea was the brainchild of an advertising executive from California named Gary Dahl.
Not content with traditional pets, which he considered too messy, costly, and misbehaved, he had taken on a clean, cheap and well-behaved rock as his pet. When told of his choice of pets, his friends first thought was that he was stoned. However, they soon agreed it was a good idea and Dahl spent a few weeks preparing a Pet Rock Training Manual.
Topics included: "How to make your Pet Rock roll-over and play dead" and "How to house-train your Pet Rock." Little did he know that fame and fortune was just a... wait for it...
stone's-throw away.

Dahl packaged the rock with his manual in a cardboard box designed to look like a pet carrying case and began selling them at $3.95 each. He introduced them at a gift show in San Francisco in August of '75 and, as an ad executive, was savvy enough to create a press release which he sent out, complete with his picture, to virtually every major media outlet. In October Newsweek carried an article on the fad and dozens of local newspapers picked up the story. Soon even staid Neiman Marcus was carrying them. Dahl's personal 15 minutes of fame culminated with an appearance on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.

Dozens of copycat rocks flooded the market (if you find one that claims to be the "Original Pet Rock," it is actually one of the copies; the one in our picture is an original) and after Christmas 1975, the fad was over. The fad lasted 6 months.

Three tons of stone from Rosarita Beach in Baja, Mexico was used to create Dahl's pets.

They always come back:
I would like to say they are gone never to return but...
Get you own Virtual Pet Rock for MAC OS!

Funny Face Drink Mix

2008-01-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Pillsbury introduced Funny Face Drink Mix in 1964. It was a great kid’s choice and alternative to traditional carbonated soft drinks and fruit juices. It competed directly with Kool Aid which had been around since the 1930’s, and was the clear market leader.
What was unique about Funny Face is that it was originally promoted as a dietary drink, made without sugar, and artificially sweetened. Funny Face, unlike Kool Aid, had a unique character for each flavor making it very appealing for advertising and promotions.

On February 2, 1966, According to the New York times Native Americans lodged an official protest against the Pillsbury company stating the Injun Orange character was an offensive stereo-type.
In 1966 Pillsbury wisely changed the names of two of the drink mixes. Chinese Cherry became Choo-Choo Cherry eliminating the hideous Asian stereotype that had been on the shelves and homes for two years.

At the same time Injun Orange was changed to Jolly Olly Orange.
The packaging also now contained the cryptic message
"Artificially sweetened imitation drink mix." Just what is it then?
The repackaging was not the end to Funny Face's problems. Two years later they would be faced with an entire product redesign.
From 1964 to 1968 Funny Face was sweetened with cyclamates.
In 1968 Funny Face was pulled off of the market as cyclamates were banned by the FDA.
In 1969 Funny Face re-emerged sweetened with saccharine. However, the after-taste of saccharine affected sales, and in 1970 the new Funny Face was introduced in which the consumer had to “just add sugar”. Tastes improved as did sales, and in 1972 vitamin C was added.
Larger packs were later available in which the sugar was included.
It was a good run for Pillsbury as the Kool-aid man was alone in his quest to quench the thirst of American children, Funny Face had a character for each flavor. A virtual army of child friendly flavors. Coupled with extensive mail away merchandise it was an all out war against Kool-aid man. In the end one was left standing. Oh Yeah!
It seemed Kool-Aid Man was no match for the maniacal Funny Face characters nor was the plain orange flavor any competition for Jolly Olly Orange. The line ran out of gas in the last '70s, and was eventually sold to Brady Enterprises in 1980. The Kool-Aid Man had won.

The final flavor was added in 1983 … Chocolate. It bore the repulsive name MOO JUICE. And that was the end of Funny Face.
Brady Enterprises are still in business and are the creators of powdered bar mixes, cranberry stuffing mix and dishwashing powder.

They Always Come Back:
Reborn as Bobbleheads.
You can read all about Funny face and see every pack ever made at this outstanding website.

Sambo's

2008-01-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

ONCE UPON A TIME, not so very long ago, two enterprising gentlemen named Sam Battistone and F. Newell Bohnett decided to combine their talent and experience in order to develop a profitable restaurant business with unlimited potential.
The year was 1957 and the birthplace of the then sleeping tiger was picturesque Santa Barbara on the coast of Southern California.

Wondering about a suitable name for their restaurant, the two men finally came up with a fanciful derivation from their own names – Sam and Bohnett – and thus the future chain of Sambo’s Pancake Restaurants was born.
Shortly thereafter the partners revived the legend of the little boy and the tiger, who have been growing larger and larger dinning on pancakes floating in rare maple and boysenberry syrups, dripping with golden tiger butter. The company still uses the little boy, his parents Mumbo and Jumbo and the tiger for identification of menu items and promotional purposes.
Thus the awakened tiger and his new network of family restaurants grew faster than anyone had imagined possible. In fact, by 1969 Sambo’s had become an enormous tiger indeed, with 113 restaurant units flourishing in 12 states across the country.

Now a restaurant with a name like Sambo's cant possibly survive. Not only the name was a "stumbling block" the design of the interior became an issue. Above the counters were reliefs of the story of lil black Sambo and how he turned a tiger into butter. The reliefs were changed thru the years and Sambo's complexion became noticeably lighter. Oh well... the name had to go. There was an attempt to reinvent the chain in the mid-eighties with a new name and a new image. The chain became "FAMILY SAMS" with Sam the bald eagle as its mascot. The concept failed miserably. In the era of Regan family values this over-patriotic family restaurant reinvented itself into oblivion. These things happen. Most of the restaurants became BAKERS SQUARE then SEASONS then whomever could afford this accursed building.

Part one of MY BREAKFAST WITH BLASSIE filmed at SAMBOS in LOS ANGELES

They Always Come Back:
The original Sambos is still operational as a SAMBOS. Visit it here.
As a bonus here is the mini menu I have been carrying around in my wallet for the past seven years. Sambo is no longer as dark as he used to be. He now wears a turban. I'm sure that's a better image nowadays. Oh Sambos... bad choices since day one.

For some remarkable Sambo's artifacts go here.

Straw Hat Pizza

2008-01-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

It was summer, 1959. Frankie Avalon was at the top of the charts and Sandra Dee played “Gidget” in the very first Beach Party movie. The Brooklyn Dodgers had just arrived in Los Angeles but Surfing was the real West Coast craze. The Pacific Coast Highway was dotted with woody wagons, convertibles and bushy, bushy blonde hairdos and burgers were best served in a wrapper through a drive-thru window. California was legendary American landscape and the first Straw Hat Pizza parlor was about to join the list of California icons.

Opening its doors for the first time in San Leandro, a small town on San Francisco Bay, Straw Hat began serving its trailblazing Genuine California Pizza on July 10, 1959. It was an unrivaled pizza with a layered, flaky crust, the freshest toppings, light sauce, and six kinds of naturally aged cheese. Straw Hat’s California creation was unlike any other pizza. It was crisper and tastier, and it satisfied a left coast appetite for fresher, lighter, and more unique offerings. Little did anyone realize at the time, but Straw Hat was on the cutting edge of a taste trend that would last for decades to come.

The first Straw Hat restaurants were modest but lively hangouts with hard bench seating, bright red carpets and flocked wallpaper, and they were a special place for people of all ages. Along with its unique menu and ice cold beer, each establishment featured old time movies, free Charlie Horse rides for kids, and often showcased local banjo bands. People drove for miles to visit Straw Hat. And every Straw Hat restaurant’s top priority was meeting and exceeding its guests’ expectations the motto was “people pleasing pizza.” By 1969, Straw Hat had added a bountiful salad bar was known as the Straw Hat Pizza Palace with locations up and down the California Coast and throughout Southern California.

In the Seventies, Straw Hat introduced its soon-to-be famous Hot Hat stuffed sandwich. The Hot Hat may have had a strange sounding name at first, but it quickly became a best seller, which to this day, remains a hallmark of the brand. As its menu expanded, so did the chain. In the later part of the decade, Straw Hat took on an entirely new look with updated buildings, colors, and logos. And with this new look, Straw Hat was once again on the cutting edge of the industry and was one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the world. To grow and still maintain its high standards and guest service, Straw Hat, at that time part of the Saga Corporation, introduced a model franchising program. The company developed and implemented some of the best training, quality, service and cleanliness programs which were the envy of the business, and remain in place today. The Saga corporation also owned Howard Johnsons and A&W Rootbeer. Two other places that have virtually disappeared off the planet.

By the mid-Eighties, Straw Hat Pizza was regarded as the dominant pizza restaurant in the Western United States as the Pizza Hut chain was trying to establish a market presence in the same area. Pizza Hut made a move to eliminate a major stumbling block to its own expansion by purchasing all company owned Straw Hat Pizza restaurants in 1987; thus removing its prevailing competition. In reality Straw Hat produced some of the worst pizza on the planet. Its "California style" was a way to describe pizza that was quick cheap and remarkably bland. In the late 70's and early 80's with the pizzerias waining popularity it made its money off the pinball machines and the ever increasing popularity of video games. Pizza Huts ability to simply provide more food for the same price and provide the most current video games ate Straw Hat Pizza alive. The chain is all but a memory.

They always come back:
Today, there are still a few privately owned Straw Hat Pizzeria's. They are totally owned and operated by its cooperative members; its “parent” company is the Straw Hat Cooperative Corporation. Visit a Straw Hat Here or Here.

Pup 'n' Taco

2008-01-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Pup 'N' Taco was a privately-owned chain of fast-food restaurants in Southern California, with its headquarters based in Long Beach, California.
The business was begun by Russell Wendell in 1956. At that time, it was only a drive-in restaurant that served both tacos and hot dogs. At the time Russell owned a chain successful doughnut stores in Los Angeles - Big DoNut - which featured gigantic doughnuts on top of a drive-in bakery.
The first officially branded Pup 'N' Taco was opened in Pasadena, California in 1965.
The menu consisted of tacos, tostadas, pastrami sandwiches, burgers, several varieties of hot dog (the "pup" in Pup 'N' Taco) and french fries. Beverages included R.C. Cola, root beer and a variety of flavored slushes.
Ninety-nine stores were bought by Taco Bell in 1984, effectively ending the history of the chain.

However,

The operations in Albuquerque, New Mexico were not included in the deal and two still exist today as Pop 'N' Taco.

They Always Come Back:
Eat at Pop 'n' Taco Here. The menu has not changed.

Read all about the history of Pup 'n' Taco here.

Space Food Sticks the grandaddy of all energy bars

2008-01-01T08:28:00.001-08:00

There are several classification for food that is sent into space:

Beverages (B) - Various rehydratable drinks.

Fresh Foods (FF)- Foods that spoil quickly that needs to be eaten within the first two days of flight to prevent spoilage.

Irradiated (I) Meat - Beef steak that is specially packaged and sterilized with ionizing radiation.

Intermediate Moisture (IM) - Foods that have some moisture but not enough to cause immediate spoilage.

Natural Form (NF) - Mostly unprocessed foods such as nuts, cookies and granola bars that are ready to eat.

Rehydratable (R) Foods - Foods that have been dehydrated and allowed to rehydrate in hot water prior to consumption.

Thermostabilized (T) - Foods that have been processed with heat to destroy microorganisms and enzymes that may cause spoilage.

More common staples and condiments do not have a classification and are known simply by the item name:
Shelf Stable Tortillas - Tortillas that have been heat treated, specially package in an oxygen free nitrogen atmosphere to prevent the growth of mold.

Condiments - Liquid salt solution, oily pepper paste, mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.

The Pillsbury Space Food Stick is none of these.

Space Food Sticks came into existence as Pillsbury noticed the popularity of the drink Tang. Tang was the orange flavored powdered drink made by rival food maker General Mills. Pillsbury jumped at the chance to make a food product that would travel into space. NASA has previously approached Pillsbury to aid in the creation of an acceptable food energy bar but they declined only to come begging for the job after the apparent commercial success of Tang.
Pillsbury came up with a remarkable name:
Space Food Stick.
It was a chewy, slightly granular nougat shaped into a cylindrical "stick" about 4 1/2 inches long.
Aficionados will recall that the Space Food Sticks came wrapped in special foil to give them a space age look. The front of each pack featured an illustration of an anonymous astronaut happily chomping on a Space Food Stick. The box clarified the important role the development sticks played "in support of the U.S. Aerospace Program."

Space Food Sticks
Originally uploaded by Kiel Bryant

It turns out Pillsbury's "aggressive marketing" ruffled a few a feathers in the nation's capital. One year after Space Food Sticks were introduced, the Bureau of Deceptive Practices undertook an investigation of Pillsbury's claim they were "ounce for ounce" as nutritious as milk. A document issued by the company in response--available at NASA's archives-asserted the snacks were "suitable as total food replacement" in the unlikely chance that no other foods were available.
So is dog and in extreme cases human so I can see how Pillsbury found this claim acceptable.
What was not acceptable was the fact these Space Food Sticks never actually went into space. The early commercials even showed an astronaut eating a space food stick through a special portal made in his space helmet. Pillsbury had to fess up and finally claim the snacks never left orbit but they were designed with space in mind.

When it was discovered that Pillsbury's consumer version of Space Food Sticks never actually went into space Pillsbury was forced to change the name. This name change occurred at the same time the space race popularity was dwindling and the energy crisis of 1973 took the headlines.

And that was the end of that.

The word energy bar hadn’t been invented yet. Inevitably the fabled Sticks disappeared from supermarket shelves.

It turns out that people really wanted to believe they were eating something that had gone into space or was the thought of eating something called simply FOOD STICK mildly repulsive? Pillsbury took the space out of the stick and ruined childhood dreams of being an astronaut for kids everywhere.

They Always Come Back:
Buy Space Food Sticks Here.

Behold! Everything old is new again.

2008-01-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

This blog is dedicated to all things that have passed within the last 50 years. Stop by as often as you like and take a gander at all the things from the past you have forgotten or have chose to forget.