Article by Wendy McCance
I’m feeling a little nostalgic today. You know how you’ll have a moment when a picture, song, book or old tv show triggers a good memory from your childhood? What is it about these memories that seem so magical? Well my friend, would you like to take a walk down memory lane with me?
Below are a few of my favorite memories from my past-yikes the 70′s.
When I lived in Montana, I was in grade school. One of my favorite memories was of the ice cream man. Back then it was a small white truck with a simple bell (instead of the annoying extremely loud music you hear now) with maybe 7 different choices of ice cream to choose from. We also had a man with a cart on a bike that came around selling sno-cones. I remember if we were lucky to see both in the same day, I was always bummed if I got ice cream before the sno-cone man showed up. By the way, the rainbow sno-cones were my favorite.
When I was in first grade, I wanted a doll called a Baby Alive Doll desperately. Looking back, it’s kind of a creepy name. Anyway, I had wanted this doll and asked for it for my birthday and holiday with no luck. This doll ate gelatin and then pooped it out. So cool to be able to feed and change a doll. My mom held off for a year before she gave in and I got it. My mom had been afraid the stuff it ate would rot in the doll and cause a bug infestation. By the way, I was thrilled for months when I got the doll.
I used to be jealous of the toys boys got to play with. Playing with Stretch Armstrong or Matchbox Cars that you would put on these cool tracks seemed like so much fun. My favorite “boy toy” was the Green Machine. I had a Big Wheel, but the Green Machine seemed to be reserved for boys only. To be able to steer with two levers and spin on a dime was the coolest thing ever. When my son was small, I saw a Green Machine at the toy store and just had to buy it. I think my husband and I enjoyed that Green Machine as much as my son. (what??? yeah, we would sneak it out and ride it. Don’t judge)
When I was in second grade and my sister was in kindergarten, we would take our allowance up to the local Quik Pik and buy candy or get a soft serve ice cream cone. Back then, gum was .10, candy was .15 and an ice cream cone was .25. I loved the Marathon Bar which was a braided piece of caramel covered in chocolate or I would get the fruit striped gum (they used to make this gum in a chocolate flavor too which was good). I don’t know which was more unbelievable, the fact that you could buy a treat with a small amount of change or that my mom allowed my sister and me to walk several blocks to a main road by ourselves when we were so small. Needless to say, my own kids have not had that experience.
Finally, I will end this walk with my favorite weekend activity. Saturday morning cartoons were the best. I don’t know any kid who didn’t begin Saturday mornings without hanging out in pj’s, eating breakfast and watching great cartoons like Underdog, Mr. Magoo, Inspector Gadget and the Laugh Olympics. Back then even the commercials were fun because they were all geared towards the kids watching the cartoons. I saw plenty of cereal and toy commercials as well as the educational commercials about healthy eating and the “I’m just a bill” about how a bill is passed in the government. (remember Timer and his healthy snack of putting orange juice in an ice cube tray with toothpicks?)
I hope you enjoyed our walk. If you have some good memories of your childhood, please share them. It’s always fun having that, “oh yeah, I remember that” moment.
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Wendy McCance
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As you know this resonates with me. All our memories carry such value in so many ways.
Definitely.
When I was in the first grade, every time a boy dropped a marble in class, the teacher immediately confiscated it. At the end of the year, she had several handfuls, which she distributed in a race-and-retrieve event. The girls sat at a viewing area as she lined up the boys on the dirt area. When she tossed out a handful of marbles several feet away, it was the signal for boys to scramble to grab whatever rolled. She repeated this process until she ran out of marbles. What a sight!
That sounds like fun. I love having the opportunity to live vicariously through my kids. It’s like getting another opportunity to experience all the fun again. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your memory.
I loved my bell bottoms in high school! How about RC Cola & Moon pie! 8-track tapes!
Do you remember moon boots? What about Fresca or all the moms that had that diet pop in the pink can? Darn, can’t think of the name of that soda.
Tab!
Oh yeah! Thanks for that, it was driving me crazy.
The best exercise you can get is taking a walk down memory lane.
Love it.
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I was that small in the early 90s, but so many if those memories are my own. Kids don’t do stuff like that anymore. There is a scary gap starting with kids born around 1997; video games, eat, and sleep.
I agree. My oldest was born in 1995. I miss the days that were more carefree. Now everything is scheduled to death and there is not much time just to get to know yourself, be creative and just fly by the seat of your pants.
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