Things I wish were available again

Last week I went on Microsoft Explorer (I usually use Yahoo or Google), and I saw a “top-ten” style list of “Things I wish were available again” (or some such wording - I just checked and I can’t find the link now, but it was an interesting list on MSN followed by a fun discussion). There were comments such as “Oh wow, I remember those”, and much bemoaning the loss of one item in particular, Planters Cheeze Balls. Another thing I remember being mentioned were Tato Skins (usually a vending machine snack item). And just to prove the list wasn’t entirely about snack foods, the 1957 Chevy was listed too.

Maybe we can have some fun with this topic here on The Porch. Think about things you wish were still around, or that you could have again, as you read my list. I did a little research putting this together, and it turns out that a few of these items can still be had with some difficulty, or in new versions, or only in certain regions of the country…or in one case have started to make a comeback (tube socks with colored stripes). So I’m going to title my list…

Bob’s list of things I wish were still readily available

(I’m sorry the Planters Cheeze Balls and the Tato Skins are gone, but those have already been mentioned so I won’t go on and on about that. Here’s my list of 12 other items, more or less in order.)

12. 1957 Chevy

I remember when my Dad bought a ’57 Chevy Handyman Wagon for my Mom for a Mother’s Day gift in 1957. It was a very stylish car, with lots of chrome and big tailfins. Ours was the light blue color with some white; we called it Bluebell. A great car with plenty of room inside for the family and whatever luggage we wanted to take with us on vacation trips. As the years went by the car sat idle next to the garage, until Dad fixed it up for my 21 st birthday, and I loaded it up and drove back to college.

Our '57 was a Handyman wagon,
Like Jay Leno's, shown here...


...except it was the shade of blue, like this Bel Aire.


I still kind of wish I had that car back again – or maybe a different style of the ’57 Chevy – but there’s a reason this isn’t higher on my list. There are a lot of things we take for granted in today’s cars that just weren’t standard then. If I had a ’57 now, the first thing I’d do would be to have seatbelts installed. I’d get used to the manual transmission, no problem. The lack of power brakes would take some getting used to, but that would be do-able. But what I think would bother me most would be the lack of power steering. Those old steering wheels were a beast to crank around to turn corners – though I guess that built up the arm muscles. Again, it could be done, but it would take some of the fun out of it. And I’d miss not having air conditioning in the summer. I guess I’ve gotten a bit soft over the years.

11. Tube socks with colored stripes

After many years of boring plain white socks, the ones with the colored stripes are starting to become available again and can be ordered online. My plan is to buy an assortment, that way my son and I can divide them by color code to simplify the sorting process as they are washed and dried.

10. Fizzies

Admittedly these didn’t taste that great, as they used whatever artificial sweetner was available at the time. But they were sure fun to make, just drop the tablet in your glass of water for instant pop (or soda, for you easterners). Rumor has it that they’re coming back on the market.

9. Silver dollars

Nothing had quite the heft of the old coins. But I might as well dream of a sound economy first.

8. Coalgate Irish Spring shaving cream

A good foamy shaving cream, like the Coalgate aloe I use now. But the Irish Spring version had my all time favorite scent, and I wish they’d put it back on the market.

7. Cheezits White Cheddar Popcorn

The best microwave cheese popcorn, just delicious. Unfortunately I discovered this not long before it was discontinued. For a while you could still buy it already popped in a bag, but that soon went away too. I’d like to have this again.

6. The Monster Cookie at Carlos Murphy’s restaurant

Carlos Murphy’s no longer exists, but in the 1980’s it was a restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. I never did find out if it was part of a small chain, or just one of a kind. Their specialty Monster Cookie was huge, a freshly made chocolate chip cookie almost the size of a dinner plate. Topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge, it was outstanding. Healthy…well, no. But you made the order knowing that ahead of time, and expected to work it off later. One of the little joys in life, and now I wish we’d made the trip for a monster cookie more often. That’s hindsight for you.

5. Certain discontinued model rocket engines

Of course I’d get around to a tie-in with my favorite hobby. We actually have more model rocket engines (or more properly, motors) to choose from now, but I’ll mention a couple of out-of-production motors I’d like to use again. (And I promise to keep the jargon short and to the point.)

The B14’s from Estes and Centuri were among the best of the early model rocket engines. The center of the propellant grain was cored, allowing a stronger thrust spike after ignition. You could make a heavier model rocket really get up and move, and these were great for lifting decent payloads, or for the B egg-lofting competition event. You could also use the B14-0 booster in a good sized two-stage rocket for a fun flight, particularly for launching a two-staged Delta Camroc, the first model rocket camera.

E and F black powder motors from Flight Systems, Inc. There were two basic varieties, a series of long burning altitude motors, the E6 and the F7 with an amazing 9 1/2 second burn time; and the powerful E60 and F100 motors for lifting the heavier big scale rockets FSI sold when they were in business. There are more powerful composite motors on the market today, but the FSI motors gave awesome flights for less cost. And since there were -0 booster versions, they could be directly staged.

4. Team Flakes cereal

This was the first, great multigrain cereal. They had a great flavor, and stayed crisp in milk all the way to the bottom of the bowl. They were my favorite for years. Nowadays I really like Honey Bunches of Oats (or the generic equivalents), but if they were to bring Team Flakes back on the market, I’d put them back in my breakfast rotation as quickly as I could get to a store while keeping my car on the road.

3. Transformer strings of 20 C6 size Christmas twinkle lights

For those of you born in the late 1960’s or after, I’m sorry; you missed out. The immature – er, sorry, miniature lights common today are better than nothing, and they have their uses (I use a couple of strings of these on my Christmas tree and the fireplace mantle to power some Hallmark lighted ornaments). I also like the new LED lights for outdoor use, they’re bright and colorful and the savings on the electric bill is considerable. You can leave them on every night without denting the budget.


GE D25 (C6 size) Twinkle Lights

But nothing tops the effect of randomly twinkling lights on the tree; in the good sense of the word they really are magical. You may have seen the slightly larger C7 size twinkle lights where the string plugs straight into the wall without a transformer. The C7’s are my second favorite, but I only use one string of them on the lower branches. They seem a bit bright to crowd together near the top of the tree; kind of overwhelming, I think. You can still get the steady burning C7 cool lights, but the C7 twinkle lights will become collectible, as they ceased production two years ago.

On the other hand, the C6 twinkle lights have been quite scarce and collectible for years now; the last time I saw those in a store was in 1966. Like it said on the box, “They twinkle like stars”.

Best. Christmas lights. Ever. What else can I say?

(These would be at the very top of my list, except that I’ve managed to collect a supply. Heh heh.)

2. Oroweat Australian Toaster Biscuits

These were kind of like an English muffin, but with a finer texture, and I thought, a better taste; they were melt-in-your-mouth good. Australian Toaster Biscuits might be at the top of my list, except that in theory and with difficulty, you can still get them. Costco shows online that they still sell packs of 18 as a “Business” item, but I’m not sure how an average consumer would go about making the purchase. Anyway, they aren’t in the stores like they used to be. However, there is a recipe that shows up in a few places on the internet…

1. Polly’s Pop

A wonderful local item, and part of everyone’s childhood in the K.C. metro until 1968. Bottled at the Jackson County Bottling Company in Independence, they originally used spring water; but they changed to city water (just as good, here in Independence) before my time. It was what I like to think of as flavored pop (not cola), and the recipes were great. The one I remember best was the orange flavor. It was sweet enough, but not too sweet; it actually tasted like oranges. All the other orange pops I’ve tasted since then have been a bit too candy like; none have come close to Polly’s. The bottles are collectible, and can be found on eBay occasionally. You gotta love the parrot.