Keith Mcelmurray, if you're still out there, this one's for you.
"Any place can be a soda fountain now, with Great Shakes, yeah Great Shakes!"
Not only was this a great commercial jingle, it was sung by some serious rock and roll stars of the 60's. At least three movers and shakers were persuaded by Great Shakes, manufacured by General Foods, to perform their jingle in the style that would define the signature of each artist: Dusty Springfield, The Who, and The Yardbirds.
Over the years, mega-corporations like Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, and Coca-Cola have managed to pony up enough bucks to get popular music stars to hawk their wares.
But Great Shakes just happened to tap into some of the greatest talent of the 1960's for their ads. And they weren't singing some garbage crafted by some no-talent PR guy. The Great Shakes jingle still rings true through my brain even though it hasn't appeared on television in at least 35 years.
The aforementioned Keith Mcelmurray and myself had a discussion circa 1976 concerning this song. We were both youngsters working in a grocery store, and we we agreed that the Great Shakes jingle was a classic tune that should somehow be immortalized and given its due.
Well, neither one of us foresaw things like computers in each home, the internet, or the digitizing of music. But nowadays, you can either listen to or purchase online the original jingles by the aforementioned trio of talented artists by shrewd search engine usage.
Believe it or not, I don't ever recall making a Great Shake. Perhaps that's why they aren't around anymore. While I loved the commercials, the product itself just didn't ring my bell.
You took powder, poured it into an included cup, added milk, sealed it with its included lid, and shook it until it turned into a shake "so thick it stands up to a straw." Some of my friends bragged about it, but I never got around to trying it.
Too bad. Unlike its immortal jingle, Great Shakes disappeared from the scene a long time ago.
Comments (16)
Great shakes, remind me of "jiffy pop" popcorn! Anybody remember that?!
Posted by sandy | March 20, 2007 9:34 PM
Posted on March 20, 2007 21:34
They were produced by General Foods. Here's a link to a 1967's article! Just do a "find" (Alt F) and type in "Great Shakes" to get to the article.
http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/ubyssey/UBYSSEY_1967_10_24.pdf
Posted by Wendy | March 23, 2007 3:02 PM
Posted on March 23, 2007 15:02
These were not real good, unless you put a scoop of ice cream in the shaker. I also used to add a spoonful of instant coffee crystals to make a "mocha" flavored shake.
Posted by bigfoot | March 24, 2007 11:29 PM
Posted on March 24, 2007 23:29
I don't remember Great Shakes at all, but I do remember Shake A Puddin. Probably the same premise as Great Shakes but it turned into pudding when you were finished shaking it up! Mom bought it one time, but must not have been too impressed because that was the only time we ever had it. I thought it was pretty cool though!
Posted by Rhonda | April 11, 2007 7:52 PM
Posted on April 11, 2007 19:52
I loved Great Shakes ! During the mid-sixties I used to spend a weekend a month with my grandparents and part of our Friday night ritual was ensuring there were plenty of the weird elongated, tri-cornered packages of Great Shakes for the weekend.....I still have two of the shakers ! It was one of the most poignant disappointments of my young consumerist life (remember how all the old cartoons had breakfast food characters as the stars ?) when it just simply wasn't there on the shelf one Friday in the late 60's....no explanation..no goodbye...no parting...just sweet sorrow.
Posted by Billy B Kool | September 1, 2007 1:05 PM
Posted on September 1, 2007 13:05
Darn tootin', my friend - Great Shakes were the BOSSEST!! I really loved the vanilla one, and I too was heartbroken when they disappeared. I tried all kinds of alchemy with vanilla extract and milk and eggs and sugar... yes, I even resorted to "the big cheat": ice cream. Never could quite match the flavor and consistency of theirs. (In retrospect, I'll bet it contained a ton of maltodextrin as a thickener...)
Oh, and yes - I too still have the dark brown Great Shakes cup with the light brown lid!
Posted by slark | October 6, 2007 6:01 PM
Posted on October 6, 2007 18:01
Do you think we could all conduct a letter writing campaign to General Mills to encourage them to put Great Shakes back on the market on a trial basis? I really loved these. To say they were like a milk shake is hyperbole, but they had a distinctive shake-like pleasant taste that you don't get with cocoa, Nesquik,Hershey or any other milk additive. I also liked the Bordens Milk Shakes in a can. I found them to be a good supplement for regular milk when I needed something to tide me over until dinner time.
Posted by Ralph Fore | June 26, 2008 11:09 PM
Posted on June 26, 2008 23:09
Oh, how I loved the chocolate Great Shake(s).
I don't recall hearing the original jingle by any of the 3 artists, but I do have the Yardbirds commercial on CD (Hal Lifson's "1966").
Anybody remember 1-2-3 Jello? And chocolate Space Food Sticks. Emmmmm......accompanied by watching "Wacky Races" Saturday mornings...
~Beth
Posted by Beth Crawford | July 14, 2008 2:43 AM
Posted on July 14, 2008 02:43
I loved Great Shakes too. I did write to them several years ago, along with others on some website. No plans to bring it back.
Whip&Chill was also a favorite.
Posted by Harry A Steere | August 21, 2008 2:28 PM
Posted on August 21, 2008 14:28
I used to drink the Borden's shakes in the small cans that cost so much but tasted so good (the 1970's)! Never had a great shakes, just heard the lingo on Fox radio done by the Who as a remember when thing. Those Borden's canned shakes must have been LOADED with fat because they tasted very creamy almost like drinking pure heavy cream, lol.
You can try making a great shake with half and half and Nesquick, I bet it's good! I was born one month after JFK got shot, bummer time to enter America I guess but I didn't have a choice!
Posted by Ralph In Kuwait | December 2, 2008 12:01 AM
Posted on December 2, 2008 00:01
Dusty's Great Shakes commercial is available on the 2002 Varese Sarabande compilation Heart & Soul. It's, um, not one of the better Dusty CD's out there - the Great Shakes commercial is probably a highlight, along with wonderful live renditions of "Up On The Roof" and "People Get Ready". The Great Shakes commercial is done in the style of "I Only Want To Be With You" - it's really very clever.
Posted by John Drake | March 15, 2009 8:36 PM
Posted on March 15, 2009 20:36
I am 48 and was about 5 or 6 when these came out in 66-67. I LOVED THEM! The Vanilla was esp good. It is a shame these are not around anymore.
Posted by Derek | May 15, 2009 6:15 PM
Posted on May 15, 2009 18:15
I can't say I remember this product. If we wanted great shakes, we would go down to Chandler Drugs soda fountain and get a shake! Then McDonalds shakes came around!
Posted by Rivers End | June 6, 2009 7:47 PM
Posted on June 6, 2009 19:47
These weren't meant to compete with soda fountain shakes or ice cream parlor shakes. They were sold in supermarkets to take home, technically they were more like Nestle Quick. Chocolate or Vanilla Milk but better. They were a bit more frothy due to the shaking.
Posted by Derek | June 6, 2009 9:40 PM
Posted on June 6, 2009 21:40
The Happenings also did a jingle, using their version of "I Got Rhythm." Dit dit Great Shakes. Great Shakes. (instead of Rhythm Rhythm). I loved the Great Shakes jingle. I did actually drink them in junior high school because they were cool. The biggest problem was getting them to mix properly. No matter how much you shook them, there were pieces that didn't disolve.
Posted by Mary | June 29, 2009 7:00 AM
Posted on June 29, 2009 07:00
I can't recall problems with mixing them, and unfortunately don't have any of the containers as a remembrance. Funny how something that lasted such a short time still sticks in the memory. I LOVED Great Shakes. To me, chocolate was the best. Thick, bubbly--not at all like an ice cream shake but as good or better because the liquid itself was so thick and didn't have to be ice cold to retain its substance. I couldn't believe it when General Foods discontinued it. I kept checking the grocery store for months until I realized it wasn't coming back.
Posted by Brian | September 27, 2009 12:53 AM
Posted on September 27, 2009 00:53