"Double Sugar Double Cream"

"How do you take your coffee officer Gannon?"
"Double sugar double cream".

I heard actor Harry Morgan utter this phrase when I was a young boy watching Dragnet reruns. The words boldly and eloquently rolled off of his tongue, almost quickly with no pause. His pronunciation made it seem as if all four words were joined as one.

It was then at the tender age of twelve, that I vowed to take my coffee with double sugar and double cream when I grew up. In the 1970's and 80's, a lot of parents would not allow kids to drink coffee, out of fear that it would stunt their growth. My how times have changed.  My teenage daughters and their friends all love their mocha latte's and cappuccino's, both of which I never tasted until I was well into my twenties.

The phrase "Double sugar double cream" has stuck with me all of my life. As a kid, I thought it was so cool, that I immediately started repeating my newly learned catch phrase whenever the opportunity arose.  For instance, whenever I was at a friends or relatives house for breakfast and was asked how I liked my eggs, I'd say in my best Officer Bill Gannon tough guy voice.. "Double sugar double cream", and waited for the laughs to ensue.  The comment would usually result in blank stares or half cocked grins from everyone in the room. No one ever got it, or even knew what the reference was related to, but that didn't curb me from using it.

When I was an adult and my bride and I started socializing with other married couples, the opportunities to fire off my signature retro catch phrase increased ten fold!  It was usually after an evening of socializing or playing cards when our hosts would start brewing a pot of coffee.  I'd sit back and patiently await the question, "Darrin, how do you take your coffee?" and then BOOM! I'd deliver those four words with a finesse and style that would make officer Bill Gannon proud. No one ever recognized the phrase, or offered as much as a giggle. I eventually dropped the impersonation and simply asked for double sugar double cream. Twenty years later, my hopes of anyone recognizing this obscure phrase ingrained in a minuscule corner of pop culture, had all but burnt out. But not for long..

I only drink brewed coffee, and don't care for cappuccino, machiatto's, latte's, etc. Therefore, the birth of drive through coffee houses, and fast food drive-thrus that offer to add sugar and cream to your coffee, resurrected my hopes of someone recognizing this phrase. Every time I get asked the question "Would you like cream and sugar?" I quickly pop off.. "Double sugar double cream". Doing so catches most folks off guard and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe they're expecting a specific number of sugar and cream packets, or maybe I'm just too quick on the draw. Maybe I'm subconsciously impersonating officer Bill Gannon, and it freaks them out.. I dunno.

I'm laying in wait hoping that somewhere, someday, when I utter the phrase "Double sugar double cream", someone on the other end of the intercom, table, or counter will say "Ahhh.. just like the way officer Bill Gannon drank it". When that happens.. I'm not only buying that person lunch, but will share a lighthearted story with them that will hopefully make them smile.


Fact or fiction? Men never throw away their old clothes.

by Darrin Vindiola


I've got to say that I'm leaning towards "fact" on this topic. Many of my friends wives often complain about their hubby's see through underwear, toe-less socks, and t-shirts that no longer fit.  I'd like to clear the air, and say that I'm not one of those cats that refuse to throw away their hole-ridden socks and underwear.  I can't deny it though.. I definitely posses the male "clothes hoarding gene".

As a general rule, I try to throw out or pass along clothes that I haven't worn in over a year.  However.. I have been known to hold onto t-shirts years after they probably should have been cut up into rags for waxing the family car.  Case in point, my Disney World Tee that is older than my thirteen year old daughter..


I bought this tee at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, back in 2000.  I fell in love with the tiki print on the front of the shirt, and didn't think twice about buying it.  Have you ever owned a shirt that looked and felt so good, that you wished you could wear it very day?  This was one of those shirts.  I wore it often over the next few years, until little holes started forming on the front of the shirt.  I'm no slob, so once this started happening, I stopped wearing it out in public.  I continued wearing the shirt at home, but the it continued to wear thin until I was bothered enough by the dozen or so small holes to stop wearing it entirely.

I haven't wore this shirt for close to a decade now, but I can't bring myself to throw it out and I'm not entirely sure why.  It's not as if I can repair it or anything, but I guess it does have some great memories attached to it.  The Tiki shirt is currently the only worn out shirt I currently possess, and don't think I haven't looked high and low for another one either.  There are numerous resources on the web where you can buy old Disney shirts and overstock items, but I've yet to come across a twin to my prized Disney Tiki shirt.

I guess the next time I come across another "perfect tee" I'll just have to buy two of them. 



Are you ready for a Boy George and Culture Club comeback?

80's music always garners some major play time on my i-pod.  I couldn't help but smile when I heard a couple of Culture Club songs on my 80s playlist this week.  The fresh soulful Caribbean sound that was infused into their music was a style I always admired.  And what a ruckus these guys (more specifically Boy George) caused back in the 80's!  To many, Boy George was a mystery wrapped in an enigma.  Whether you loved him or hated him, there was no denying that the cat could sing.

To those who weren't totally oblivious, Culture Club was an emblematic thumbing of the nose to bigots and partisans.  The band consisted of an Irish homosexual singer, a Jewish drummer, a black bass guitarist, and an English lead guitarist.  I remember Culture Club winning a Grammy for best new group, and people (mostly over the age of 30) being outraged.  Even at the age of thirteen, I viewed the disgust and anger as utter foolishness.  If nothing else, the group helped spur an in your face movement, and helped to bring several social issues to light which could no longer be ignored by the close minded.


Time (Clock of the heart)
I know they had bigger hits, but this song struck a chord with me early on, and is still my favorite Culture Club song.





It's a Miracle
A tidbit of trivia.. this song was originally entitled "It's America" based on Culture Club's first trip to the states, but was changed for fear of how Americans would perceive it.  The chorus of the song is "It's a miracle, where dreams are made of emotion".  The lyrics make perfect sense now don't they?






The group reunited in 1998 after twelve years, and even released an album titled "Don't mind if I do".  The album has some pretty good music that did pretty well on the UK charts, and it went platinum overseas.  The first single off of the album was titled "I just want to be loved" which only had modest success in America.   Here's the video below..





The band also reunited in 2006, and briefly in 2011.  Now in 2014, the band has once again reunited and are currently putting together an all new album due out this fall.

 I'm curious to see how the band has grown and evolved since we last heard from them.   Boy George battled personal demons which were well documented in the media and tabloids, but it seems it seems as if he's finally got his life under control, and the future is wide open for him.

You can see the band now, and listen to their thoughts on the new album below..






70s Mickey Mouse Bank

by Darrin Vindiola


One of the many pieces of my childhood I've managed to buy back over the years, is this little fella you may recognize.  It's a Mickey Mouse bank!  Remember waaay back in the day when everyone used cash and coins?  Wasn't it nice to have somewhere to store your spare change?  A bank just like this one did that for me for upwards of 30 years.  Here's some background info..  


I've always loved Mickey Mouse and all things Disney, and as a child I was nearly obsessed.  In fact, the nickname my father affectionately gave me at the age of five was "Mickey".

As a wee young lad living in southern California, my room was basically a shrine to Mickey Mouse and Disneyland.  I had Mickey Mouse sheets, blankets, pillow cases, curtains, books, a Mickey bubble gum machine, a Mickey AM radio, and the pride and joy of my collection, a Mickey Mouse bank just like the one above, that sat on my night stand. On nights when I was scared from listening to spooky radio shows with my brother, I would lie in my bed next to Mickey as he watched over me until I fell asleep.

I actually remember the very day my mother bought me my Mickey bank. It was around 1976, because I remember playing with a J.J. pull string doll from the TV show 'Good Times'.  I'll give you one guess as to what J.J. actually said when you pulled the string on his back.

My Mickey bank was one of those items from my childhood that for some reason was really special to me. It remained a constant in my life for close to thirty years. I would use my Mickey bank to house my silver and paper money throughout my entire youth. During my brief stint as a bachelor, the Mickey bank graced my dresser. He followed me to three different states, and when his nose got broke in one move, I carefully glued it back in place. As I got older, it was like my Mickey bank was a link back to the past for me. He allowed me to still hold on to a little bit of my youth and helped me to not take myself so seriously. It must have been somewhere around the age of thirty that I realized he was gone. I believe he got lost in a move from Virginia Beach to Colorado.

Fast forward to August 2009. While on vacation in Florida, I had the pleasure of visiting an exhibit at Disney's Hollywood Studios that focused on Walt Disney's life from beginning to end. Among the numerous displays showcasing Disney antiques and artifacts, was a glass case that displayed a variety of old toys marketed towards children over the years. Guess who was in the glass case staring right back at me? An old Mickey Bank identical to my old bank!!

I honestly can say that my Mickey bank hadn't even passed through my mind for almost ten years. I quickly grabbed my wife and kids and showed them the bank and started reminiscing about my youth. As they moved on, I stood there for a few more minutes, getting as close to the glass as I could to examine the thirty some year old bank.

A few weeks passed and the Mickey bank weighed heavily on my mind. One evening I got on eBay to look at Disney memorabilia and decided to do a search for Mickey banks. Lo and behold there were several auctions for my the exact same bank I possessed for all of those years! I put in a bid, won the auction, and was reunited with my old pal Mickey less than a week later!!

It's amazing what kinds of information your brain can store and recall when triggered. I unpacked my Mickey bank and immediately recognized the smell of the plastic, the feel and texture of the paint, and even the markings underneath the base.  It's like we were never separated.  I suddenly felt reminiscent, giddy, almost like a kid again.  And go figure.. it was all because of a little mouse.



The entrepreneurial spirit of a Retro Dad's kiddo

As my kids get older, I often sit back and reminisce about their younger years.  Back when my daughter was eight years old, she ran quite a successful business from her bedroom.  Behold the sign that used to hang from her door..


Yes, my daughter ran a veterinary clinic for "Stuft Animals, and American Girl Dolls".  Out of the goodness of her tender little heart, all services were even offered pro bono!  That being said, imagine my surprise when I came across the following sign later in the year..



Darn it!  Yet another casualty to the lousy economy that we were deep in the midst of a few years back!  I couldn't stand by idly, so I offered the veterinary clinic a bail out to keep the doors open.  I threw some business their way in the form of a few old action figures that needed rehabilitating, and paid handsomely for said rehabilitation.  

In the end, I'm happy to say that my little one decided to tough it out and run her clinic for a considerable amount of time thereafter.  I guess in a way.. I ended up reforming the Stuft Animal and American Girl doll healthcare system in my home, and it felt great!


My new site..

Hello and welcome to "The Retro Dad".   This new site will in a short time be replacing my other blog.. DadsDish.com.  Not much will be changing in the way of content, other than there will be a little more focus on anything loosely related to retro style, living, life & leisure, and more.

In the weeks to come, I will be archiving retro content from Dad's Dish, and adding all new articles for your retro viewing pleasure.  Thanks for visiting, and make sure to stop by soon!