Food/Drink Archives
Mr. Coffee We grew up listening to the early morning gurgling sounds of the percolator. Even though we were probably too young to enjoy its taste, the coffee smell and the calming sound made for great kitchen ambiance. But all of that changed in 1972. That year, Vincent Marotta released his invention...
The Whitman's Sampler When I was growing up, my mom and dad would periodically get into a squabble. Like all husbands, each incident was 100% his fault. He was smart enough to recognize this, thus he would frequently negotiate a make-up session by driving to the local Rexall's and purchasing a very powerful...
The 1960's Backyard Cookout At presstime, we're experiencing one of those sopping-wet March snow dumps we get in my area every couple of years. Two days ago, my wife and I were walking the dogs in 70 degree sunshine, today, I'm looking out at eight inches of white stuff. No matter. The previous warm...
Daisys, Bugles, Whistles, Buttons, Bows Sometimes, the things we enjoyed as kids are shrouded in obscurity. That was the case of today's subject of Daisys, Bugles, Whistles, Buttons, and Bows. These are shaped salty snack foods I'm talking about. And I know Daisys is misspelled, but notice that it is in the pictured ad, too....
Barnum's Animal Cookies Among the culinary delights that we loved when we were kids was a treat that our parents craved when they were our age, and possibly that our grandparents did also. They are commonly known as animal crackers, although cookies is a much more accurate moniker. And despite the ravages of...
Vanished Restaurant Chains As long as there has been human society, there have been eating establishments. Let's face it, some nights, cavewomen just didn't feel like cooking. We Boomers grew up with a lot of familiar names on billboards which have sadly slipped from the scene. The good news is that some of...
Falstaff Beer We're all in this together. That was the message of Falstaff commercials I used to hear on the radio in the 70's. Well, we may all continue to be in this together, but it's sadly without Falstaff. Falstaff beer had its start way back in 1840. That's when German immigrant...
American Cheese There are a few basic staple foods that every single Boomer kid partook of, no matter the race, creed, or social status. For example, there was Campbell's Soup. There were various incarnations of TV dinners. And there was the grilled cheese sandwich. Today's column isn't specifically about the grilled cheese...
Malt-O-Meal and Cream of Wheat I was a funny kid. I didn't eat much. Though I was ravenous about candy, it wasn't unusual for me to barely touch my breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was a constant worry for my mother, who was assured by wise Dr. Wendleton to not worry, he'll eat when he's...
Our Parents' Favorite Restaurants One of the most sacred rituals that I recall from my childhood was that of getting into the car and driving, sometimes over an hour, to a favorite restaurant. The delicious saturated-fat laden food was a particular delight to my parents, who could remember the very lean times of the...
Fizzies Okay, friends, you asked for it, you got it. The single most requested item that I cover over the time that I Remember JFK has been in existence is Fizzies. Unfortunately, I, for some bizarre reason, have no recollection of Fizzies. That has been what has held me back from...
Breakfast Cereals, Part 3 When I would accompany my mom to Farrier's IGA store for the weekly purchase of groceries, I would spend a long time at the cereal aisle. Eventually I would select a box of sugar-sweetened goodness and present it for her approval. "You just want this one because of the toy...
Breakfast Cereals, Part 2 I wonder if any Boomer kid in the US ever grew up without breakfast cereal in the morning? Sure, some days we would be treated with Cream of Wheat, Malt-O-Meal, or perhaps full-blown bacon and eggs, but by and large mornings were busy times for families. This was particularly true...
Prelude: Breakfast Cereals We Boomer kids all had one thing in common: mornings were accompanied by breakfast. Nowadays, I rise from bed at 3:30 AM and drive a half hour to my job as a geek (which I love, BTW) and begin drinking copious amounts of strong coffee while handling the third shift...
The Cyclamate Ban In 1937, Illini graduate student Michael Sveda was working on trying to synthesize an anti-fever medication. Like all health-conscious individuals of the era, he was having a smoke whilst working. Laying it on the table for a bit, he picked it up and was surprised that the tip tasted quite...
Mmm, Mmm, Good! I grew up in a two-income household long before it was fashionable. My father owned a truck garage in Miami, Oklahoma, and my mom was a first-grade teacher. That meant times were busy around my house, and a kid frequently was expected to fend for himself, lunch-wise. No problem. The...
Jell-o "J E L L O!" the letters, sung to a rising scale, were a frequent childhood memory for me from TV commercials. Indeed, we were big Jell-O fans in the Enderland house in the 60's. Mom loved it because it was inexpensive and simple to make. Dad loved it because...
Dog n Suds Dining out on a budget in the 50's and 60's involved jumping in the car and heading to the drive-in. And you had lots of choices for food to be delivered to your car via roller-skate-wearing-carhop. For example, there was A&W. In Oklahoma, we had Sonic. And there was yet...
Making Ice in Metal Trays What would a hot summer day be without a tall glass of iced tea? Or what would a bourbon on the rocks be without the rocks? In the scheme of things that are essential to life, ice cubes probably rate quite a ways down the list. But as far as...
Funny Face Drink Mixes We Baby Boomers remember that Kool-Aid was always king, but once had some pretty serious competition. Back in the late 1950's, an artificial sweetener called Cyclamate was legalized for use within the USA. Adoption was slow at first, but soft drink manufacturers soon figured out that in addition to low...
Tang In 1957, General Foods began developing an orange-flavored breakfast drink in powdered form. In 1959, the year that Barbie and I were born, Tang began showing up on store shelves. Its initial impression on the public was tepid at best. After all, what was wrong with good old frozen orange...
Those Unforgettable Breakfast Cereal Ads, Part 2 It's amazing how many icons created by advertisers to sell cereal during the time of our childhoods still exist today. For example, take the Trix Rabbit. He was born the same year I was, in 1959. Its creator was Joe Harris, an adman for General Mills. He sums up the...
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Art Linkletter's House Party:
When we decided we liked TV series during our childhoods, we REALLY liked them. Hence the longevity of shows like Art Linkletter's House Party, which started on radio in 1945 and lasted 25 years. One of the most delightful aspects of being out of school in the summer was being...
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