nostalgia food-do you remember this?

[kimmurphy94]

I don't know what made me think of this, but lately I've had a craving for this ice cream I use to get as a kid. It was red, white and blue and the blue part had little white candy stars. Do you remember this? It was in 1976, during the bicenntenial. I'm sure if I tried it now, I would probably be disgusted - ice cream just shouldn't be that color! - but its funny to think about!

What's your favorite nostalgia food?
Twinkies?
Pop Rocks? (BTW, you can buy these now at Bed, Bath - I got them for my son spaced themed b-day party. It was for the kids...really

[Peggy C.]

Wise chips/crackers used to make a cheese and waffle cracker....hmm I loved those. I think they still make them, but are hard to find around here.

[gertdog]

Pop Rocks, definitely.

And something called "Lik-m-aid" or something like that... a little pouch of kool-aid type powder... pure sugar... plus a white candy "dipstick" to lick and dip in the powder.

We also loved Pixie Stix and Ring Pops (lollipops made to look like giant jewels, mounted on a plastic ring).

I don't remember the red, white, and blue ice cream, though!

[ebobbitt]

Did you know there's a place on the web you can buy nostalgia candy? It's great fun to look at. If you're interested let me know and I'll get the address from my co-worker. He ordered all of us "60's candy" for Christmas.

Here it is: www.groovycandy.com

[amcleod]

Candy necklaces and rings (NOT ring-pops...I am talking the sweet-tart=esque kind) and Wacky Wafers!

[leightx]

Ok - well this is probably going to gross EVERYONE out, and I don't think it would qualify as a *favorite*, but I was just thinking about how my dad and I would eat Steak-ums whenever mom had a meeting or something to go to at dinnertime. EEEEWWWWWW!!! And vienna sausages, with saltines. I liked making pyramids out of mine. Ok, I admitted it, I used to eat vienna sausages, straight from the can (well, we rinsed them first - thank GOD), and liked them.

Along the same lines, but not food related, we went over to a friend's house today and my 20 mos. old son found some of her old twist-a-beads or whatever they were called. They were quite fashionable in the 80's, and you usually got three different colors and twisted together and added a cheesy gold clasp to the whole thing. I had *totally* forgotten about those necklaces until today. Weird...

Leightx

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by gertdog
Pop Rocks, definitely.

And something called "Lik-m-aid" or something like that... a little pouch of kool-aid type powder... pure sugar... plus a white candy "dipstick" to lick and dip in the powder.

We also loved Pixie Stix and Ring Pops (lollipops made to look like giant jewels, mounted on a plastic ring).

All of these are still readily available at my local convenience stores. Is it an Oregon thing???

Anybody remember Marathon Bars? They were really long braided caramel coated in chocolate. I also loved loved loved Ghiradelli Flicks. Sigh. Those were the good old days. And what about the candy cigarettes-- how un-PC were those! LOL. Funny how we're all nostalgic for junk food!

[lhall]

Koogle Peanut Butter!!!

Man, I used to looooove that stuff. Came in Chocolate and Banana flavors. Probably early to mid 70's is when we used to eat it.

Leigh

[Angela]

the multi-colored candy dots on the paper stripes! I loved them even though little bits of paper would stick to the dots. I spent days during the summers with my grandma (free babysitter )when I was little and she would also buy them for me at the candy store.

Also, coke bottles--the gummy ones.

[AzAnne]

Not really nostalgiac but ..... As a child we didn't ever have any "junk food" type treats around, but I did manage to sample some. I remember my ALL time favorite was hostess HoHo's and they had to eaten in a certain way .

Well to make a long story short yesterday I'm in the breakroom filling up my water and I happen to glance at the vending machine, and what to my surprise was sitting there calling to me HOHO's In my TOM weakness I bought them, brought them back to my desk and proceeded to consume. All I can say is YUCK !!!! Could only take 2 bites I should have just enjoyed my childhood memories instead of trying to re-create them.

[Rae]

I wouldn't necessarily say that I'm nostalgic for them, but every once in while I'll taste something that reminds me of that candy that was shaped like big lips. I think they were pretty waxy. Does anyone else remember them? They tasted like the wax from the little wax bottles of colored sugar water. I've asked friends my age if anyone else remembers these lip things, and everyone seems to think that I'm delusional. I honestly remember them and even remember how they tasted, not that they were very good. Maybe they weren't supposed to be candy!

[ebobbitt]

I remember the big, red wax lips. Is that what you're talking about?

[JackieO]

Rae, you're not delusional. I remember those big red wax lips AND the wax bottles filled with "pop."

This is a bit off topic, but I grew up in northern Wisconsin where it was called "pop" but in the Milwaukee area, it's soda. I don't really care, since I'm not much into fizzy drinks anymore, but I feel funny referring to it as "pop" now.

[Peggy C.]

Rae you can still get them, I think now they even have some with weird teeth and stuff. Think Billy Bob teeth.

Jackie O. it's "POP" here in Cleveland as well.

[aggie94]

I loved all the candy jewelry when I was a kid - candy necklaces, rings, lipstick tubes... I'm sure I thought it was really cool before I had real jewelry and make-up! Then there was the stringy gum that came in packets like chew. I'm still amazed that we ever thought that was cool.

When I was in high school and my two best friends and I used to get together for weekend sleepovers, we ALWAYS bought tortilla chips and nacho-flavored spray cheese in a can.

Leigh - I remember those necklaces you mentioned! It also brought to mind those plastic, colored, slinky-like bracelets that I wore in junior high. You know, you'd color coordinate them with your clothes and wear like 5 or 6 at a time? Oh, and my DH still eats Steak-um.

[lisas3575]

I sometimes get nostalgic for the old sugared cereals before they changed them to have "brighter colors" and "squirting marshmallows" and the like. Like Trix when it was just colored round puffs instead of shapes, and Lucky Charms when it was (say it with me now) "pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars and green clover." None of this purple horseshoe business for me.

[LaraW]

But Lisa, what about the blue diamonds?????

[gertdog]

Originally posted by lisas3575


All of these are still readily available at my local convenience stores. Is it an Oregon thing???

Anybody remember Marathon Bars? They were really long braided caramel coated in chocolate. I also loved loved loved Ghiradelli Flicks. Sigh. Those were the good old days. And what about the candy cigarettes-- how un-PC were those! LOL. Funny how we're all nostalgic for junk food!

Wow, I haven't seen any of those things in ages... but then I haven't been looking either! Somehow I can't see me slipping a candy ring onto my finger and slurping it down to the base anymore.

I LOVED Marathon Bars. Charleston Chews too... but I've seen those recently.

[Jewel]

Ahh..Ho Ho's and Ding Dongs... Between those and Hostess Cupcakes, those were the three guilty pleasures. I can actually get all of the cream out of a Ding Dong without biting into it! In fact, that's how I got my ex-husband to ask me out!

[ebobbitt]

Jewel, you have way more talents than we ever knew!

[LaraW]

I used to unroll the Ho-Ho's and eat them that way.

Jewel, I guess it takes special talent to get the cream filling out of one of those cupcakes without biting into it.

Does anybody remember Zingers? They used to be advertised during Charlie Brown specials.

[eas11]

Yes, I remember all of the sugar treats memtioned- and liked them all!! Growing up in Brooklyn, we had Jack's candy store right on our corner. They had all the candies, penny and more. I really LOVED those candy lipsticks, aggie94! Also like the dots, wax "juice" bottles, candy necklaces. Funny, I remember the sugary stuff much more than chocolate. Was this stuff cheaper for us kids to buy? Also, I don't think the stores were ac-d at the time (60's) so maybe it was a perishable thing? The choc I remember are milky ways, mounds (hated em!) and my sisters favorite- CHUNKY!!! She's still gotta have 1 every now and then

Ellyn

[RobinC]

I liked Steak-Umms. I was just thinking about them the other day and started to crave them.

lisas3575 - I remember candy cigarettes. I thought they were really cool when I was a kid (in the 70's)

I loved the candy necklaces, candy lipstick, candy rings, poprocks, pixie stix, all sorts of penny candies, dip and lick candies, sugar-water-filled wax candy, wax lips, and other pure sugar candies.

One of my guilty pleasures is still Hostess Fruit Pies.

When I was a kid, we used to get this product called Mug-O-Lunch. The flavors I remember are spaghetti and mac-n-cheese. Basically it was a packet of dehydrated food (very similar to a packet of hot chocolate) that you dumped in a cup and mixed with hot water. I remember my mom putting Mug-O-Lunch into my thermos to take to school for lunch.

leightx - I had some of those twisty bead necklaces when I was in high school!

[Peggy C.]

Originally posted by lisas3575
None of this purple horseshoe business for me.

I feel the exact same way about the blue m&ms and whatever unnatural colors they are trying to introduce now. Of course I ate a bag (single serving) today and just could not look at them, because of the pink ones in there!:mad:

[AndreaU]

Monster Cereals- Count Chocula was my favorite
Anyone remember Kaboom! cereal? And how cereals used "sugar" in their names- Sugar Smacks became Smacks; Super Sugar Crisp became Super Golden Crisp.

Lik-m-aid
Wax bottles with (basically) colored sugar water in them
Cones with marshmallow "ice cream"
Clark Bar
Pop Rocks
Chuckles
Giant Gobstoppers
Candy Cigarettes (the kind that smoked)- like that would go over these days!
Chiclets Gum and Tiny Chiclets
Pixy Stix
Freshen-Up Gum with the oozy stuff inside

leightx- we, too, had a thing for Steak-Umms... with lots of melted cheese. I could not bring myself to eat one now.

laraw- Beware the Zinger zappers!! I actually bought some recently (the raspberry with coconut on top)- DH thought I totally lost it!

Check out this cool website for lots of neat foods (not just candy and cereal either): http://www.hometownfavorites.com

[HRJ]

Yup -- Dots on paper; candy "soda bottles"; edible necklaces -- good stuff!

I think one of my very favorite candies, which I haven't seen in years -- does anyone remember Bonomo Turkish Taffy?

It came either in little "logs" or big flat bars -- in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and banana flavors. You could buy it in the candy store -- I also remember it was one of the things they always used to have at the candy counter in movie theaters.

From time to time, I've mentioned Bonomo to people, and no one else seems to remember it. Was it a regional thing? We used to pass a Bonomo factory when we went to visit my cousins in Coney Island, I seem to remember.

Even if I could find it again, I'd be afraid of eating any, for fear of losing a filling. But I'm curious about what happened to it.

Helene

[eas11]

YES, YES!!!!! I LOVED Turkish Taffy!!! Especially Banana, which people thought was disgusting!
I want some now! I'd hold it in my hands to get it soft before chewing, to save those costly fillings and crowns!! Helene, do you remember "slapping" it on the ground or counter to break it into bite size pieces

Ellyn

[ebobbitt]

I remember the big flat bars of taffy -- they were really flat but I'm not sure of the brand. It was in wax paper but maybe all taffy came in wax paper. Also, it was 3 big stripes--the two outside stripes were the same color and the inside stripe was a different color. Is that it?

[LaraW]

I remember Tangy Taffy coming in a candy-bar sized package. Do you remember Laffy Taffy? You could buy it in bite sized pieces for maybe $.05 or $.10 each and it had jokes on the wrapper!

[BlueMoose]

I remember lots of these things! How about 7up candy bars that had 7 different sections of filling in them?

And Jewel....that's definitely more than I wanted to know!