Missing the Little Things

Roberta- I don't know what was going on in the Bronx, but in Brooklyn, spring meant two things. The first was the annual migration of the robins. The second was the guys from Duncan yo-yo who would demonstrate their wares, and hold contests for the kids, between the double feature.

Yo-yo's, they were big in what, '53?

I miss root beer Popicles, and Dreamsicles.

I miss feeling rich returning pop bottles for deposit. I think we got three cents per bottle. Finding a pop bottle was a little treasure. Free money! Whoo-hoo!

Now, forty years later, I get five cents per bottle but you have to practically put a gun to my head to get me to take them in. Half the time I just leave them in front of the machine for someone who thinks a few dollars is worth all the effort.

Phoenix, The Duncan yo-yo guy did his demo in the street in front of the Hobby Shop, our corner candy/toy store. Never could get the hang of the baby in the cradle.

osso, Rootbeer Popsicles? Not ringing a bell. In fact, neither are Dreamsicles. Where were you?

boomer, Boids of a feather. Just like you I used to feel rich when I could get the penny or two from a soda bottle. Now I leave them in the street for the homeless people. Too lazy to take them all the way back to the supermarket.

I miss Kaslo, British Columbia.

More info here.

I grew up there in a formative part of my life (1960-1964). I have many fond memories of friends and things that happened.

I'll never forget the movies for 25 cents. I can remember seeing 'Psycho" when it was originally released.

Of course, we had the famous S.S. Moyie.
S.S. Moyie, built in Nelson, British Columbia in 1898, is the oldest surviving vessel of her type

osso- It must have been in the early '50's.

Anybody remember milk boxes? Those were insulated metal boxes that you kept outside your door. The milkman would leave the milk (in bottles, not cartons) every day.

Anybody buy butter that was chopped off a big block?



This is from New Jersey, so I suppose it is close enough.

Anybody remember the big nickel pickles that you fished out of a big barrel? They were so sour that your face screwed up when you bit into it.

I can remember iceboxes, where you would get a huge block of ice delivered for it to put in the box.

It looked something like these:

I miss the almonds that used to be on top of a Mars candy bar...

I miss the real Dr.Pepper soda which had a flavor that defied description.

I miss Dondi in the comic strips.


I miss soda in cans where you had to use a can opener...

I miss the old Swanson t.v. dinners in aluminum trays and the crappy vegetable soup that some of them would have,



I miss a lot of things but am trying to be happy with the new things which keep coming along.

I think what we have in common here, folks, is a certain attention to things. I freely admit to linking things...

Rootbeer popsicles were unusual. I think we only got them at Sarkisian's Corner Store on Asbury and Washington.

Dreamsicles were vanilla ice cream on the inside and sort of orangey ice on the outside..

Early 50's, phoenix, but I'm not sure how early. Duncan's rings a bell, I suppose I'll have to google it.

http://www.yo-yo.com/NOVEMBER.HTML#

osso- If you check the history page on this link, you will find that Duncan has been around a lot longer than we have been!

Oh, good, finally some or something older..

that's funny, osso, that no one else seems to remember root beer popsicles or dreamsicles-- because I had both when I was a kid, but I'm only 25!

Well, maybe they show up in 35 year cycles...

that must be it... or else my dinky little hometown had them left in the storeroom for 35 years.

Reyn, I'm not sure that a small town counts as a little thing. But I'm sure that you miss it and have fond memories of it. Yes, the 25 cent movie. I remember seeing the first run of Psycho too. I was the only one of my group who was able to look at the screen the whole time. Movies don't usually scare me. It's the news I can't look at. As for ice boxes, I may have a vague recollection of them. But I'll take an electric refrigerator any day. You used the present tense in your comment about the SS Moyie. Is she still around.? I wouldn't mind a ride on such a beauty of a boat.

Phoenix, Yes, I remember the milkman delivering milk in bottles. I remember the early morning clunk outside the door as the empty bottles were picked up and the new ones dropped off. We didn't have the metal boxes though. Just milk bottles outside the door. I miss that. Also delivered to the door was seltzer in those wonderful blue glass bottles.

Sturgis, Of the things you miss, the one I relate to the most is the old Swanson TV dinners. They were high tech in their time. And I agree that the little sectioned trays were appealing. I don't remember that they had soup. What a mess that must have been.

Osso, What you describe as a Dreamsicle was known in these parts as a Creamsicle. I miss them. I loved them. Delicious. A friend and I used to make our own in a Chinese restaurant. One of us would order vanilla ice cream for dessert. The other would order orange sherbet. Then we'd split each portion in half. Voila. A Creamsicle (without a stick). And Duncan yo-yos are still around. I have three.

cyphercat, You can get Creamsicles in my supermarket, but they're not the same as they used to be. You can get Fudgesicles too. In my neighborhood we called them Fudgicles. Why? I have know idea.

I also have no idea why we called little pink rubber balls Spaldeens. I know why we didn't call them balls. (Too incendiary a word.) But how Spalding became Spaldeen will forever remain a mystery to me.

I just remembered something else I miss. The boing-oing-oing that was created when a boy would use the bottom rung of a fire escape ladder as a basketball hoop. The boing worked its way up to the top floor. Haven't heard that sound in ages. Boing.

many things i miss, but one that springs to mind is Cracker Jacks in boxes with real prizes.

Reyn -- one of my best friends was there last month -- her sister lives in Nelson. Gorgeous area, she says. You grew up there? Lucky man!


Yummmm... old-fashioned "fudgicles." (Funny name, Roberta.) They used to be made twice as thick as they are now and there was a different texture so that you could bite off chunks, leaving glacial cleavers on the remaining bar.

I remember the milkman and the breadman and the egg man and the huckster who traveled in a red truck and sold fruit and vegetables.

ossobuco
We called Dreamsicles 50-50 bars. Sherbert on the outside. I too miss the milkman. Milk (like beer) always tasted better in a glass bottle. In So Calif I miss the Helms Bakery man. They drove these weird little trucks and made neighborhood deliveries with a distinctive sounding horn.