Dagnabbit! It's official.. I'm old.

I had my suspicions, but I guess it's official.  I'm officially old (or at least viewed that way by my kids).



What brought about this most unsettling Epiphany?  Things like this, that my kids have said to me..




Comment #1
"Dad.. did they have music in the 60s?"

Comment #2
"Dad.. was the Television show "Full House" made in the 60s?"

Comment #3
"You and Mom are really old fashioned"


Hmmm.  Being a child of the 70's and 80's, I believe I've seen and experienced much more socially than my kiddo's have at their age.  After all, we used to leave the house to fraternize, play, and explore.  My generations views and beliefs were much more progressive and different than my parents generation.  Heck, now that I think of it.. we too thought our folks were old fashioned.  It just goes to show you how fast things change from generation to generation.

If I'm considered old fashioned, so be it.  I dig my retro ways, and truly believe that older is better in many aspects of life.  Something I truly take comfort and satisfaction from, is knowing that one day my kids will be thought of as old fashioned by their own kiddo's.  Oh how I hope I'm around to see it!

Cowboys and Indian toys.. still selling after all of these years

by Darrin Vindiola


It warm the cockles of my retro heart to see that toys like Cowboy and Indian play sets are still carried in stores.  After all of these years, the toys must still warrant valuable retail shelf space, because if you look hard enough in most supermarkets you will find them.

Often they are strategically placed in aisles where a parent might have to take a little more time to find what they need, like the spices or coffee sections.  (Sneaky huh?)  And.. quite curiously, they always seem to be within an arms reach of children!  It makes me smile to think there are still kids out there that will beg and plead, like I did for Mom or Dad to buy these toys for them.

Cowboys & Indians as well as Green Army Men were the equivalent to LEGO's for my brother and I back in the 1970s.  We had hundreds of them that always seemed to be strung about everywhere.  We were scolded on more than one occasion when the little plastic toys would get vacuumed up into Mom's Electrolux. 

I must admit that these toys conjure up such great feelings of nostalgia.. I feel like purchasing a bag every time I set my eyes on them.  These sets pictured above were no exception to the rule!  The sets contained way cool accessories like Teepees, Hogans, totem poles, horses, and cacti, just to name a few.  Perhaps I need to buy a bag of these things for old times sake, although I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with them.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I'd most definitely play with them just as I did when I was five years old.

Want to build an army of Retro Cowboys and Indians?

Check out what I found on Amazon..

A 180 piece set.  Now THAT'S bang for your buck!

Reunited with the Hot Wheels Red Baron.. 37 years later

I flipped my lid when I saw this in the store back in 2012, and it immediately went into my shopping cart..

Mattel re-released (and improved upon) the classic Red Baron Hot Wheels car that year, under their new Hot Wheels "Boulevard" line of cars.

Superb details like real rubber tires with treads

The new release gave extra attention to details like tires, rims, paint, and overall quality.  The attention to detail was not wasted on me for sure.  I never really grew up, and while I love to collect toys, I don't collect for the sake of collecting.  I require the toys I buy to look good and be of the utmost quality, while still bringing that childhood thrill of excitement involved in owning the toys.

This was a reunion that filled my heart with joy, because as a child in 1975.. this was one of the most coveted Hot Wheels of the time.  My brother gave me his Red Baron as he started outgrowing toys, and started getting interested in other silly things like girls and music.

I carried that little car with me everywhere I went.  During the summer I acquired the car, I dreamed of playing with it in the school sandbox.  Therefore, I eagerly took it to school with me on my first day of kindergarten.  During recess after about 5 minutes of playing with it, a kid came up to me and asked if he could see it.  When I obliged, he immediately threw it onto the roof of the school.  I was absolutely crushed.  I tearfully ran up to the school janitor, told him what happened, and asked if he could get it down for me.  Sadly, he just shrugged and walked away.

There are toys from your youth that stick with you and always hold a special place in your heart. This toy was definitely one of those for me.  I've seen re-releases of the Red Baron over the last couple of decades, in colors of blue, black, green, and gold, but to me they were simply oxymorons, so I always passed them up.  I mean really.. a Green Red Baron?



I did buy my son a Toy Story themed Hot Wheels track back in the 90s that came with a authentic looking Red Baron car inside the package.  I almost pilfered the car for myself, but he loved it so much I couldn't do it.

Then.. in 2012, I learned good things come to those who wait.  I now have a Red Baron Hot Wheels car in my collection that blows away my original.  From the real rubber tires with treads, to the black and white Maltese Cross painted on the side of the helmet, it's a mini work of art.   It may not be the most pricey car in my collection, but it's definitely one of my most prized.

Endangered retro terminology and words..

I love uttering words and phrases that I grew up hearing my folks and Grandparents use. I always get a kick out of blank stares I get from youngin's that aren't familiar with said expressions. However, I'm equally as pleased with the looks of amusement I get from those who are acquainted with such sayings and terms. Here's a few that have been running through my mind lately..


Ragamuffin
In my experiences as a boy, older folks would often refer to us kids as "Ragamuffin's" when we were dirty, messy, or shabbily dressed. We usually heard this term after a long hard day of playing outside when an adult would say something like.. "Judas Priest! Look at the state of you little Ragamuffin's!


Kismet
Basically another word for fate or destiny.


Tappets
Slang for the lifters inside of an engine that open the valves. Eventually, the camshaft that moves the lifters or the valve stem can eventually wear down enough to make the lifters click. On more than one occasion, I remember pulling up somewhere in my old jalopy, only to have an old timer tell me: "Sounds like you need to adjust yer tappets son".


Beer Nuts
These are still around, but a lot of younger folks I've talked to had no clue what they were. For my old man, Beer Nuts were the quintessential snack to eat with beer. He used to stock pile cans of these things in the cupboard for football games and boxing matches. I remember my Dad happily sharing his cans of Beer Nuts with me when I was a wee lad, and thinking I was getting away with something. I simply equated that the peanuts had beer in them because of the product name.


Dungarees
Many folks used to call jeans Dungarees. I remember getting perturbed at this when I was a kid thinking.. how dare they call my Levis 501's Dungarees?!?


Castor Oil
Ugh.. when I was a kid, many households had a bottle of castor oil on the closet or medicine shelf.  I'd go as far to say that almost every household had a bottle at the ready when my parents were kids. Castor Oil is a vegetable oil made from the castor bean, and is primarily used as a laxative. While my parents never made me consume the stuff.. my brother once offered me 50 cents to swallow a spoonful. I accepted his offer, and choked down the thick yellowish oil which about made me gag. Heaven only knows how I kept the stuff down.   Later on during the night, the results were dare I say.. explosive.


Ambrosia
I've eaten countless variations of this fruit salad at get-togethers and church gatherings throughout the 70's and 80's. My favorite salads were the ones with little marshmallows, and plenty of shredded coconut. Oh yeah.. if you're an old cat like me and were around in the 70's, you might remember a progressive American rock band by the same name. Big hits for the group Ambrosia were "Biggest Part of Me", "How Much I feel", and "You're the Only Woman".


Courting
Now widely referred to by most as dating. Kids back in my day however, understood that courting was a serious thing rather than recreational. Courtship was the period in a relationship where both people are trying their best to get to know each other better, so as to decide if a progression toward marriage is in their future.


I could literally go on all day popping off endangered and extinct sayings and phrases. I believe the topic warrants some more posts in the near future. Stay tuned..

From the archives of my Old Man's 8-track collection..

She Shot me down

by Frank Sinatra

Not one of Sinatra's bigger selling albums, even though his talent is exceptionally showcased.  It features lots of songs where he talks of love, regret, and loss. If you ever happen to be too happy and need to be taken down a notch or two, this album will do the trick pallie!

This still plays perfectly, and my Old Man swears 8-tracks have better sound than newfangled CD's!  Yup.. that's my Old Man.  Retro til' the end!