Same Thing, But Different

Friday, April 15, 2005

I remember...

Now that I am firmly planted in (early) middle age, I feel I have earned the right to reminisce, openly and in public, on useless things of my (mostly misspent) youth. Perhaps someone could shed light on the whereabouts of these things:

* I remember Quake cereal
* I remember metal lunchboxes and glass-lined Thermoses
* I remember G.I. Joe before he had that Kung-fu grip and that Commie beard.
* I remember when turntables (!) had a 78rpm setting (I don't remember any 78rpm records, though)
* I remember when Mad magazine was funny
* I remember when National Lampoon was a magazine (and wildly hilarious)
* I remember double-features
* I remember soda (& coffee) machines that dispensed the soda (or coffee) in the cup
* I remember the Mr. Bubble jingle
* I remember when disco showed up and, more felicitously, when it departed (although,
herpetically, it never really leaves.)
* I remember the day it dawned on me that girls were not icky and to be avoided (which, oddly
enough, coincided with my being at an all-boys school)
* I remember life before The Official Preppy Handbook
* I remember the jingle which stated the composition of the Big Mac
* I remember my first ice cream cone (Dairy Queen in Oak Park, MI)
* I remember owning (not many!) 8 track tapes
* I remember the full gamut of Wham-O products
* I remember all of General Mills' Monster cereals
* I remember the scent of Wella Balsam shampoo and also of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific"
shampoo
* I remember The Big Wheel
* I remember when Donkey Kong--a name with a vaguely lurid undertone, if'n you ask me--
came out
* I remember "I can't believe I ate the who-o-o-o-ole thing."
* I remember real-live adult males walking around in leisure suits
* I remember the REAL Banana Republic
* I remember the REAL Metropolitan Home magazine
* I remember the REAL GQ magazine
* I remember life before Bailey's Irish Cream
* I remember when finding shrink-to-fit Levi's 501 jeans was no big deal...and when they only cost $7.99 (adjusted for inflation they should only cost $16.43 today)
* I remember floppy disks..and I remember them as being REALLY floppy
* I remember the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy airing on PBS
* I remember Star Wars before it became "Episode 4" (and, naturally, before all those ::cough, cough:: enhancements)
* I remember CB radios
* I remember Dave Letterman doing stand-up
* I remember Steve Martin doing stand-up
* I remember Woody Allen doing stand-up
* I remember Albert Brooks doing stand-up
* I remember life before the Sony Walkman
* I remember Apple Computers before the Macintosh
* I remember big-ass reel-to-reel tapes
* I remember filmstrip--boop!--presentations
* I remember Bicentennial mania (in fact, my parents' attic still has a surplus of junk therefrom)
* I remember home Atari games
* I remember the original IBM PC
* I remember digital watches
* I remember $1000 calculators
* I remember finding the "old" Prodigy

Dammit, I'm old.

-J.

Posted by Joke at 8:33 AM

5 Comments

Poppy Buxom posted at 12:35 PM, April 15, 2005
That's nothing, you whippersnapper.

I remember what our bank balance was this morning before I wrote the checks for our state and federal taxes.

Now, that's nostalgia.

--P.

jujube posted at 2:45 PM, April 15, 2005
I remember David Letterman's morning talk/variety/entertainment show.

I also remember "The Bobby Darin Show". But that's because I'm 723 days older than you.

jujube

Joke posted at 12:24 AM, April 16, 2005
Jujube: I remember the daytime Letterman Show also...the very last episode they had a wedding and the couple got showered with rose petals which had been preserved and then a choir of kids came out holding lit sparklers, which set the petals on fire which sent the NYFD on stage on live TV.

Poppy: I see the Goldwater gene is beginning to peep out. Consider the dowry dropped by at least 3%.

tablesetter posted at 8:13 PM, April 25, 2005
2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion, on a sesame seed bun??

Joke posted at 9:47 PM, April 28, 2005
But can you sing it?