Things I miss seeing

by Darrin Vindiola


Fleeting thoughts of the way things used to be, has got me thinking about things I miss seeing.  Here are just a handful of those things..

Phone Booths
What an invention!  If you needed quick access to a phone and you weren't at home, you simply needed ten cents to make a phone call.  The booth made for a quiet, private area to speak, and it even shielded you from the elements!

Shoe Repair shops
If you have a pair of shoes needing repair, finding someone to fix them for you has become a bit harder to do nowadays. My old man had several pairs of shoes when I was a kid that he would always get re-soled and re-heeled.  Visiting the cobbler in addition to regular shoe shines, kept his shoes usable and good looking for decades!  My how times have changed!

Drugstore cafe's and soda fountains
On more than one occasion, I enjoyed a freshly made soda, or food hot off the grill whilst my mother shopped in Walgreen's or Woolworth's drugstores. What's more.. the food was usually pretty good.  Nothing could compare to a fresh patty melt or grilled cheese sandwich fresh off the grill from one of these places! 

Fix-it shops
My folks recently threw away a thirty year old coffee maker because the burner fizzled out.  They gave in and bought a fancy new coffee maker, because they could find no one who could.. or wanted to repair it.  Over the years, they had the burner replaced on their old coffee maker twice.  Once in the 70's, and again in the 80's.  Now in 2010.. the fix-it shop that performed those repairs has been closed for years.  When asked how she liked her new coffee maker, my mom simply replied.. "It doesn't make coffee nearly as good as our old one".

Drive-In movie theater's
I saw the movies ROCKY,  JAWS, and GREASE all at the Drive-In.  I can honestly say that they were all very memorable experiences before, during, and after the movies!  While Drive-In's may not be extinct, they sure are far and few between.  When I was a kid, it seemed like almost every town had a Drive-In.  On a recent 3,000 mile road trip from Colorado to South Padre Island, I didn't see a single solitary Drive-In theater!  Fortunately, existing Drive-In's in the United States seem to be cherished, and many of them are being refurbished and restored to their former glory.

Yes.. I miss seeing all of these things on a regular basis, but when I do encounter them, it's a moving experience that truly makes me long for simpler times.

Creepy Advertising Mascots

They're out there.. creepy and demented looking advertising mascots.  Everybody has seen advertising campaigns and mascots that make them scratch their heads and wonder.. Why?
Here's a few that bug the heck out of me.

Check out the Burger King's De-evolution into the likeness that so many consumers were freaked out by in recent years. In retrospect.. I guess that the 1980s King was kind of creepy.  But how about the King from the 90's and 2000's?

The most recent incarnation of
"The Burger King"..

Were the new Burger King commercials amusing?  Sometimes.  Do they get your attention?  Absolutely.  But why a soulless dummy? Surely a good actor could bring the mascot to life and make him entertaining (even if he never spoke).  Is employing a creepy, dialogue free King, cheaper than hiring a live action King? Is the creep factor worth it?  Apparently it must've been, because he was the face of Burger King for nearly a decade until they recently put the "King" advertising campaign to rest.  Geez.. makes you wonder what they've got up their sleeve for the next campaign!

In the 80's, I remember going to Burger King and occasionally seeing a big helium bottle that employees would use to fill balloons for kids.  Atop the bottle was the head of The Burger King!  There was a brass nozzle with a black rubber tip sticking out of his mouth that was used to dispense helium into the balloons.  Both kids and adults alike would get a big kick out of seeing the good king tirelessly blowing up balloons.  For better or worse, it's rumored that this very helium head was the inspiration for the King's new likeness.  

The original Ronald McDonald 

The original Ronald McDonald was played by Willard Scott, and was creepier than all get out! If you know anyone that thinks the current Ronald is scary, just point them towards this commercial!

The Quiznos Sponge Monkeys

 I can't even find the words.. just watch it.

The 2012 London Olympic Mascots
"Wenlock and Mandeville"

What "unique" mascots huh?  Makes you want to run right out and buy some official 2012 Olympic merchandise featuring these cats plastered all over it.

So are there any advertising mascots that creep you out.. or will these hold you for awhile?

5 old song titles that have a totally different meaning today in 2014

In this day and age, it seems like more and more folks are becoming ever more efficient in twisting perfectly innocent phrases into double entendres. Case in point.. musical lyrics and song titles. These tend to be big targets for jokers, but also inadvertently manifest double meanings with younger people.

The song titles I've listed below are ones that I've personally seen take on a whole new meaning since their inception way back in the day. I've seen people joke about them, and young people unfamiliar with the songs, being shocked upon hearing them. Enjoy..


"Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver
Since the legalization of marijuana, Colorado is fast becoming the butt for all kinds of jokes and puns nationwide. This song title doesn't help.

"Messin' With the Kid" by The Blues Brothers
A younger co-worker of mine couldn't believe his ears when another Blues Brothers fan and I shared that 'Messin' with the kid' was one of our favorite songs. As his mouth sat agape, we explained it was a Blues Brothers cover of the 1960 Junior Wells song, with "The Kid" being a nickname for Wells.

"Kissin' Cousins" by Elvis
I've heard many a person respond in disgust to the title of this song. Calm down folks.. the term "Kissing Cousins" is an old saying that refers to friends or relatives that one is close enough with, to greet with a kiss.

“Hand in My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette
I've heard guys and girls sing the title of this song in various bawdy ways. I always interpreted the lyric about on hand in her pocket to symbolizing stability while the other hand, or.. the things around her happen to be hectic and crazy.

"Puff the Magic Dragon"
Shortly after this songs release, many tried to say that this song was veiled to symbolize marijuana use. I never thought of this song in that way, even after the urban legend was told to me by friends. I was one of the few kids that refused to believe the story, largely in part to my fourth grade music teacher. While teaching this song to my music class, our teacher explained to us that the song was based on a poem from the 50s about a pet dragon. Group members Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers have all adamantly denied the unsubstantiated claims even to this day.

I could go on and on with this list, but I'm afraid the only other songs that come to mind at the moment, are ones that I've heard countless people twist into some pretty raunchy double meanings. If I can think of some less risque' entendres, I'll make sure to create another list like this one in the near future.

The ginormously huge and king sized action figure craze

Those who know me sometimes refer to me as a "Manchild" or "Kidult", and I proudly wear those badges with honor.  That being said, it should come as no surprise that I peruse the toy aisles every chance I get.  Over the last year, I've noticed a trend of mega sized action figures hitting the toy shelves at an astounding rate.

Below are some snapshots of these action figures I've seen in the wild..

30" STAR WARS Darth Vader

This is the first super sized action figure I saw on toy shelves about a year or so ago.  The figure albeit devoid of a light saber, is incredibly detailed and impressive.

 20" STAR WARS Chewbacca

I'm still troubled to this day that I never owned a 15" Chewbacca action figure back when I was 8 years old.  However, this toy blows the old one out of the water.  It's got a moveable head, removable Bandolier, and the paint is done quite nicely with multiple shades of brown.  The only thing I can find wrong with this figure, is that it doesn't come with a crossbow.  Nevertheless, the figure is so cool.. it's definitely on my "to buy" list this month.

 STAR WARS 18" Figure 4-Pack

I like the idea of a four pack of figures so kiddies can immediately enjoy interactivity with other like scaled characters, but a price point of $79.99 might make these a bit out of reach for some.  Luke Skywalker comes with a light saber that attaches to his belt.  And while Darth Vader also has a saber, I don't believe it's removable.  I really dig the Tusken Raider figure, but if it's not available to purchase by itself, chances are slim to none that I will be buying one for my collection.

18" STAR WARS Darth Maul

Another king sized Sith Lord with amazing detail.  Unlike Darth Vader, Darth Maul comes with a double bladed light saber.

31" STAR WARS Stormtrooper

These are some good looking action figures, and look way cool in a group.  I also like the fact that they actually come with a laser blaster. 

20" DC Comics Batman

This Batman is also impressive, although a couple accessories like a grapple hook, or Batarang that could attach to his utility belt would've been nice.  Now.. if a 20" figure was made and styled after DC artist Neal Adam's Batman, I would be stumbling over myself and and possibly small children to buy one!

 20" DC Comics Joker

The suit on this figure looks great, but I'm not a big fan of the kidsy looking face sculpt.  Again, if there was a Neal Adam's or Batman Animated Series inspired Joker, it would be an instant buy for me.

18" STAR WARS Tie Pilot and Scout Trooper

These are also some good looking figures with great detail.  The Tie Pilot comes with a larger laser blaster, and the Scout trooper comes with a smaller pistol similar to the ones seen in the movie. To me, one thing that was a miserable fail on the Scout Trooper, was in regards to the boot holster for the laser pistol.  It's simply a non functioning molded piece that serves no purpose.  I guess I can overlook that however, due to the incredible attention to the costume detail.

18" Ezra Bridger and Inquisitor figures

These figures stay pretty true to the New STAR WARS Rebels cartoon.  With the series taking off into the stratosphere, I wouldn't be surprised to see more characters from the show hitting shelves next year.

20" Nintendo Super Mario

I love anything Mario related, and I'm seriously considering buying this happy little guy for my collection.

4 foot tall Michelangelo Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

And last but certainly not least, the biggest action figure I've seen in stores to date.  As you can see, the Mikey figure pushing my shopping cart is colossal!  These figures made by Jakks, make great standalone display pieces in themselves, but look like they'd be a blast to play with as well.  The shell even opens up for storage, making it a great receptacle for the kiddies other turtle actions figures and toys.  It's got a price point just under $70.00, and seems like a good value for the money.

Weighing in at 20 pounds, small kids would definitely need to be supervised while playing with this figure (especially around babies, toddlers, or small animals).  With life sized nunchuks included, rambunctious kiddos may need even more supervision.  I believe Mikey is the only Mutant Turtle in the line so far, and am not sure is there are plans for any of the other boys to join the lineup.  

Whether or not other toy lines try and step up their game to catch up with these truly giant sized figures remains to be seen.  I however will be anxiously combing the toy aisles in the months to come, and will make sure to share any new and exciting giant sized finds right here.

70s Fruity Pebbles cereal premiums / in box prizes

Have you purchased any kids cereal lately? If so, have you noticed the lack of cool in box prizes? Being a kid at heart, I certainly have. Kids cereals of today seldom offer in box prizes, and even if they do, the premiums are nowhere near as good as they were back in the day! If you're a kid in this day and age, you hope and pray that your parents buy three to five boxes of the same brand cereal. That way, you can mail away the UPC's along with a check or money order for $5.99 to get a toy. Or, you can enjoy minutes of fun with a maze, or word games printed on the back of the cereal box. I'm sorry, but kids of this generation got the short end of the stick in regards to cereal prizes.

When I was a kid, I used to run to the cereal aisle while my mom was shopping. I would scour the entire aisle to find the boxes with the best toys. Yes, it was more about the toys than the cereal itself. This was the hook that the cereal companies used to persuade buyers (Mothers) to buy their products. It was amazing how an unruly brat could instantly be silenced by being handed a box of unopened cereal. There was always a picture on the front panel of the box displaying the "prize inside" and the back panel usually featured art or pictures of kids enjoying themselves immensely with said prizes.

Back in the 70s and 80s my dresser drawers were literally overflowing with cereal premiums, including everything from bicycle license plates to mini action figures. From what I remember, the absolute best cereal premiums were obtained from Cap'n Crunch, Quisp, Frankenberry, Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Frosted Flakes.

Post Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles were some of my favorite in box prizes. My cousin and I absolutely adored the Flintstones growing up and we made a hobby out of collecting Fruity Pebbles cereal premiums. Here are a few of my favorite Flintstones premiums from my personal collection.  Enjoy...

1975 Flintstones coin purses

 

 

Why don't people use coin purses any more?
Oh yeah.. you can hardly purchase anything with coins these days.


1970 Flinstones Flintmobile

These cars were cast in several colors.

As most in box prizes, they came disassembled.

1974 Fred & Barney pencil holders

 

These were great back when I was in school.
(Back when kids still used pens and pencils)

I still have a couple of shoe boxes full of old cereal premiums. Maybe I'll showcase more of them in a future post. How about you? Do you still posses any cereal box memories from your youth?

Memories of my 1973 VW Super beetle

That's my VW Bug in front of a gift shop in Kissimmee Florida in 1992.  We lived in Virginia Beach Virginia at the time, and my wife and I drove this little bug all the way down to Orlando to take my son to Disney World.

I will never forget that trip in November we took to see ''The Mouse".  Even though we were tight on cash, the trip didn't cost all that much by today's standards.  Back then gas was about $1.20 a gallon, admission to Disney World was under $30.00 per day, and you could get a double room at a decent hotel for under $40.00.

We barely had enough money for gas, a one night stay in a hotel, park tickets, and food.  What's more, it was cold and rained for most of the day that we were at the Magic Kingdom.  We didn't have much money, the weather was less than optimal, and the 1520 mile round trip in an old VW was anything but comfortable.  That being said, it turned out being one of the most memorable and fulfilling Disney trips we ever took. 

I didn't know it at the time, but the early years of my marriage when we didn't have a lot, would prove to produce some of the fondest and most memorable events in my life.  Sometimes I truly do miss the good old days.

Vintage Swingline stapler

Here's yet another example of how things just aren't made as good as they used to be. While there's a very good chance that this Swingline stapler is older than yours truly, it still works as if it were new. Doesn't this look like something you'd see on a desk in the television series Mad Men?

I just used this old Swingline to perform a repair on a handbag for my daughter.  A small square of Velcro which held the flap securely in place fell off, and the stapler had no problem fastening a new piece to the thick plastic material.  I camouflaged the staples with a little black paint, and voila.. the result was a good looking repair that will keep the velcro in place longer than any glue would.

I can't tell you how many staplers I've had to replace at work in the last year and a half.  The staplers I use on a daily basis are constructed with about 90% plastic, and usually aren't used to staple any more than three sheets at a time.

Like my father and grandfather said long before I did..

"They just don't make em' like they used to".

1970s John Deere 10 speed bike rebuild

by Darrin Vindiola

This year I completed a recent bike project.. a 1972 John Deere 10-speed that my old man handed down to me.  These bikes were only made for three years, and were sold exclusively at John Deere retailers.

 At 71 years young, Dad is easing away from tinkering on bicycles a bit, and is making good use of his time cruising around on his Gary Fisher racing mountain bike.  He knew I would restore the old John Deere bike to its former glory, and in turn get good use out of it, so he gifted it to me last year.

As you can see from the picture above, this bike looked more like a mountain bike hybrid than a vintage 1970s 10-speed, and with good reason.  The forward riding posture that the typical road bike requires wasn't conducive to my Dads age and style of riding that he has grown accustomed to.  Therefore, a comfort bike seat and cruiser style bars were added to acquire his desired upright riding style.

I had stripped the bike down and was ready to start going through the bike to clean it up, pack the bearings, etc.  I wanted to add some yellow and green accents to the bike as a nod to the John Deere brand, but was stumped as to what I could do.  I finally decided to remove the white pin-striping from the bike, and replace it with some yellow and green stripes.  I was ecstatic at what I found underneath the striping I removed..

When I peeled the tape back.. I found green and yellow factory striping perfectly preserved under the white tape.

Apparently someone along the way decided they didn't care for John Deere yellow and green, and covered the factory striping with white tape, which helped to keep the original stripes from fading and peeling.

 Brake Caliper fresh off of the bike

 After a cleaning & addition of yellow brake shoes

a subtle nod to the John Deere brand

 Green alloy valve stem caps

I didn't do a full blown restoration on this bike.  The paint was in good enough shape to where I simply had to clean and shine up the frame and forks.  All that was left was to clean, oil, grease, and tune the components of the bike to get it running like new again.  I always prefer keeping bikes as original as I can if at all humanly possible.

I very much wanted to get this bike back to looking and riding like a 1970s 10-speed racer should, but what most excited me was to restore this bikes retro look.  Replacing the cruiser handlebars with vintage drop bars helped immensely in this respect..

I found the drop bars on eBay for $9.00, and covered them with green Deda foam handlebar tape.  While it isn't exactly the same shade as John Deere Green.. they came pretty dang close.  The sunlight in the picture above makes the tape look a couple shades lighter than it actually is.  A nice contrast against the green tape, are the black rubber hoods that sit over the hand brakes.  I found them on Amazon for $6.00, and they slid over the brake handles perfectly with no need for any modification.

As you can see, a few modifications can drastically change the appearance of any bike.  Accents like chrome fork tips, reflector setup, John Deere badge, and John Deere lettering, make this 70s retro gem unique all unto itself.

This project was an enjoyable one, and turned out being a lot easier than I thought it would be.  As you can see, I ditched the front and rear fenders which I learned were not original to the bike. The rear rack while useful, was also an aftermarket product, so I didn't reinstall that either.

Projects like this one can really nickel and dime you, but fortunately for me.. this bike had great bones.  I swapped out the cruiser seat, oxidized seat post, and a couple of  frayed cables with ones I had floating around my garage, so the total cost of this rebuild was just shy of the $40.00 mark. 

Costs incurred were for handlebars and foam tape, rubber hoods for the hand brakes, new pedals, valve stem caps, brake shoes, and a couple of cotter pins for the cranks.

The 1972 through 1974 models of John Deere bikes were actually scoffed at back in the day as they were made in Taiwan.  However, the fact that this bike still sports about 80% of its original parts, is a credit to just how much better things used to be built.  To boot.. this is a bike that was ridden vigorously for decades. Its first owner was an avid cyclist that rode it for 20 years.  My Dad bought it, fixed it up, and rode it for another 10 years on bike trails in Colorado.  And finally.. before I obtained it, my brother used it for close to eight years as his sole means of transportation.  He actually put so many miles on it, the chain rollers were practically worn through from friction.

Heck.. I've bought brand new bikes over the years that didn't last longer than five years.  This bike is still going, and with care and upkeep will most likely last another 40 years.  I look forward to going on some long trail rides with this classic, and am anxious to test its limits as well as my own.

Advertising mascots. Then.. and now

Ingenious advertising mascots really have a way of working themselves into consumers hearts. Today I'm listing a few of my favorite advertising icons from my youth, and how they appeared back then.. and now.

The Pillsbury Dough boy

circa 1970s

Pillsbury Dough boy today..

Like so many other mascots these days, the Dough boy of years past is now computer animated.  I know good old Poppin' fresh was only a lump of clay brought to life by stop animation, but for some reason.. the new Dough boy seems to have lost some of his realness (if that makes sense).

Jack the Clown

circa 1976

Jack today..

While the new Jack is definitely funny and entertaining, I miss the old Jack and everything associated with him.  From the big rotating clown heads atop the restaurants, and of course the old ordering stations with the clown head you could talk into, I miss it all.

Snap, Crackle and Pop 

(circa 1960s)

Snap, Crackle and Pop today..

Still elfish.. still little.. but compare these two pictures and check out the face lifts these guys have had!  Eye lifts, nose jobs, cheek implants, and ear enhancements seem to have sucked the individuality out of each character.

 

Kool Aid Man 
(circa 1970's)

Kool Aid Man today..

The Kool Aid man used to be a way cooler cat back in the day.  Who didn't love hearing him say "Oh Yeahhhh" in that awesome raspy voice of his?  Today's Kool Aid man is now a mere shadow of his former self.  He now has a fixed expression on his mug, and no longer utters dialogue of any sort, both of which seriously take away from his personality.

I could go on and on comparing mascots with their former likenesses, but I think I'll save it for a future post (or two).  How about you?  Do you find yourself being more fond of retro mascots verses their newer streamlined versions?