Monday Memories: Gone, Forgotten, and Then Remembered Again

One of the best things about the internet is rediscovering things that you had completely forgotten about. Also, I think I'm at the age where nostalgia is really strong. Here are some items I've digitally collected and the memories behind each:


The Frito Bandito pencil top eraser was a coveted item in my elementary school. I think they were in bags of Fritos, but I'm not really sure. A lot of us had one or two of them. Honestly though, they were lousy erasers.


I loved my leather name bracelet. Mine looked exactly like these and I was lucky enough to have a name that was usually easy to find on things like this or bicycle license plates.



One of my favorite school lunches was what our cafeteria called, 'pizza burgers.' It was basically sloppy joes on an open-faced, toasted bun with cheese on top. Our school used two pieces of American cheese in the shape of an X.



I do not remember what we called these in the early 1980's (slouch boots?) but they were short like this, no heel, and if you were really into New Wave music, these were must-haves. I proudly wore out my black ones.



So true! You would get all your textbooks on the first day of school, write your name on the next available line, and then see if you knew any of the older students that preceded you. Bonus points if it was a hot guy/girl!



Kind of gross, but hard to resist. Getting a wax whistle at Halloween meant trying to play it a few times, biting in, chewing, and then immediately spitting out the wax. So weird, but so fun!


I would never forget my favorite childhood cereal, Super Sugar Crisp, but I did forget about the records that you cut out of the back of the box and attempted to play on your little 45 record player. Sometimes they actually worked!


There was a very brief period in the early 1970's that my mother bought Funny Face drink mixes for me and my brother. It was similar to Kool Aid, but with more unique flavors and fun packaging. I'm sure all the additives in this sort of product would be banned today.


Probably the biggest status symbol at my high school were ski tags that you would attach to your zipper as proof of purchase for that day when you hit the slopes. No removal, you just continually added new stickers over top of the old ones. Extra points if you went to an out-of-town resort. I was never in ski club but got to go to Peek'n Peak in New York twice per season with my church youth group.


 
I love it when a song comes on the radio that I have not heard in decades. Last week, it was the Miracles' song, 'Love Machine' from 1975. I had forgotten all about that song!


Here are the Miracles singing the song. The best part is the grunting sounds! This really confused me as a kid. Like, is that a person making that sound??


Did you forget about and then remember any of these things while reading my post? Have you come across anything recently that caused you to remember something long forgotten?



Comments

  1. "I think I'm at the age where nostalgia is really strong."

    Me as well. I even find myself going back and rewatching movies and television shows from past decades that bring back awesome memories.

    "The Frito Bandito pencil top eraser" - yes, yes, yes! TOTALLY remember those!!!

    "I loved my leather name bracelet. Mine looked exactly like these" - Had one of those too! However, mine didn't have my name on it; mine was leather with Peace Signs carved out all around the bracelet. I got it at Grants Department Store.

    I never had the pizza burgers in school, however, I had them from the grocery store in the frozen food area. They were yummy!

    "I do not remember what we called these in the early 1980's (slouch boots?)" - Yup, that's exactly what they were called. They were such an EIGHTIES thing! They always reminded me of a boot that Peter Pan would wear.

    "Bonus points if it was a hot guy/girl!" - LOL! We had those in Catholic Grammar school. As I got older, I referred to them as "Recycled Books".

    And not only did I have that Halloween waxed harmonicas, but I also had the Halloween waxed lips that looked like Dracula with fangs!

    Do you know what I loved about cereal boxes back then? I loved reading the back of the box with all the really cool stuff on it, WHILE I was eating the cereal.

    Yes, to Funny Face drink mixes! My favorite was the lemon-tasting one.

    Me too with the songs! Music, to me, is one of the most powerful "sense memories" of all our senses. That, and smells.

    LOVED the video of "Love Machine!!!!"

    What a fun and fabulous post, my friend! Brought back so many great flashbacks!

    Have a great week!

    X

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    1. Hi Ron! I bet your peace bracelet was totally groovy! Remember when everyone also wore those thin leather friendship bracelets? One of my boyfriends in college had two that he never took off. He also had the boots, which made me want them, too! We would have been highly offended by them being called Peter Pan boots 🤣🤣🤣

      Yes, I remember the wax fangs, too. So weird, but so fun! I also spent my cereal eating mornings reading the boxes. Why were they so interesting?.🤔 I’m glad you remember Funny Face drinks, too. I think I liked the strawberry one the best.

      So glad to share so many of the same memories with you, Ron. I hope your week is sunny and bright. We woke up to snow this morning, but I’m sure it will melt by noon. XO

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  2. I was lucky enough to have cups in the shape of the Funny Face characters! Freckle Face strawberry was the most fought over. And I always wanted boots like that- had to wait until college to buy them myself. Thanks for the nostalgic Monday morning!

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    1. Are you a new commenter because I love this comment! Cups in the shape of Funny Face characters? That is amazing! Wouldn’t you love to see those at a thrift store? I think we’d have been friends in college if you had those boots. Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I love Love Machine!
    I am a bit younger than you so these things were a tiny bit before my time, although I do remember older girls wearing those boots and I thought they were SO fabulous!
    I didn't ever have that cereal, but sometimes as a treat we would get Honeycombs, which I still would probably snack on to this day!

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    1. Isn’t Love Machine so fabulous? Yeah, I think you’re 12 years younger than me. I could have been your babysitter 🤣 Super Sugar Crisp was so bad, but so good! Puffed wheat with a sweet coating. Honeycombs was not too shabby, either.

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  4. Great minds think alike!! I've been collecting pictures on my phone to do a post of my childhood too. I'm getting pretty nostalgic in my old age too.
    I had a belt and bracelet with my name on it. I still have the bracelet in a memory box and the bicycle license plate is on a shelf in my kitchen. It was nice having a name you could find wasn't it?
    I used to read the signatures inside my textbooks too. One year I had the science book of one of the popular football players. I ended up going on a date with him and he turned out to be a total looser.
    I remember the wax fangs but not the whistle.
    Yes, they were called slouch boots. I had a black pair that I wore to death.
    LOVE MACHINE!! I had totally forgotten that song. I love hearing a song I used to listen to all the time that I have forgotten about.
    This was a fun trip down memory lane!!

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    1. Oh, I can't wait for your nostalgia post! So fun to see what people remember. I love that you have your bicycle license plate in your kitchen. That is so cool! I'm surprised I never came across mine when I was cleaning out my mother's condo. She kept everything else!

      I'm cracking up that a popular football player had your book before you and that you went on a date with him! Too bad he was a loser, but a lot of boys are at that age. I like to think that you and I were wearing the same black slouch boots at the same time, just a few states apart!

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  5. My nostalgic age was a few years ago and caused me to buy several things on eBay, like my Cheerful Tearful doll, a Campfire Girls handbook and several Donna Parker books! I do remember everything you posted. Ski tags were not a thing when I was in school and we liked go-go boots instead off slouch boots! I could never find anything with my name on it so I never had anything like that! Thanks for such a fun post!

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    1. I do not have the urge to buy any nostalgia because I still have so many items from my childhood, like my Barbie camper. I need to start getting rid of this stuff! I'm sure it was disappointing when you couldn't find items with your name on them back then. We loved that stuff!

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  6. I love talking walks down memory lane! That whistle wax thing reminds me of the juice filled wax bottle candies that were popular in the 80s. I saw some jelly shoes the other day and thought wtf would they be bringing those back? They blister up the feet and make them sweaty and stinky. I loved me some slouch boots in the 80's! I make my daughter watch my childhood movies all the time. She has been a huge fan of The Last Unicorn since she was a toddler. Recently she watched The Never Ending Story and was horrified when the horse died. I also made her watch The Huggabunch Movie and she felt traumatized by the dolls LOL. I told her that's why my generation isn't a bunch of sissies. We were all traumatized from an early age with those types of movies. Nothing phases us anymore.

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    1. I totally remember the little wax bottles at Halloween. What a treat to get one of those! Fortunately, jelly shoes were after my time because I would never have been able to tolerate them. I could never even do flip flops (or 'thongs,' as we called them, back in the day!) That is so fun that you are sharing your childhood movies with your daughter. My kids liked watching The Brady Bunch with me when they were young. That show is timeless.

      If you want to talk traumatizing movies, nothing was worse than A Thief In the Night being shown to teens at church. Nothing!

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  7. I love this post. I too am into nostalgia now; mine and also the era when my kids were little.
    I've been saving little snippets of 70's and 80's stuff too, but not the same ones as you.
    I don't recall those particular erasers, but I do remember coveting the specialty erasures in those days; they were fun, but never really worked that great.
    I don't remember whistle wax. I do remember the wax lips and the wax shaped little soda bottles with liquid in them; I loved them. How gross to think about that now!
    Of course I had the slouch boots. I bought them with my own money as my dad didn't think they were sensible. And I love that song---you're right, the grunting sound is strange.
    You won't believe this, but not one person in my school ever had a ski tag! HAHA. All my male friends wore Sun Britches to school. (bathing suit/shorts) And us girls wore sandals and flip-flops most of the year; it's a Florida thing.

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    1. Yes to nostalgia from our kids' childhoods! I cry when I hear the theme to Bear In the Big Blue House. My son LOVED that show and I would give anything to watch it with him one more time when he was 4 years old. Also, I can never get enough of Britney and BSB. Played those CD's in our minivan on repeat from 2000-2008.

      I love that we were both styling it with the slouch boots. I hope you wore those when you saw Adam Ant! I had to look up Sun Britches. I can't imagine that being allowed at my school, but then again, I don't remember there ever being any dress code, so maybe it would have flown. Our kids were only allowed to wear shorts to school in August/Sept and then May/June. And they were not allowed to wear sweat pants back then. It's anything goes now.

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  8. Slouch boots! I had a pair of them. I remember in California we would get Weber's bread and inside the bread there would be small stickers or comics. Like in Cracker Jacks back in the day.

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    1. I love that you had those boots too, Mary! I've never heard of Weber's bread, but that's a fun memory to get something inside.

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  9. This is so fun. The text book thing is so memorable. Very funny. I don't remember the other things. My mom wouldn't buy us sugar cereal, but my one sister Marie got her own box of Peanut butter crunch, because that was the only thing she would eat. Favoritism was what my folks' parenting methods were based on. I'm only a little bitter. I remember Jams - the long, floral shorts popular around 1985. I had a knock off pair. How about Bermuda bags? Do you remember those? My older sisters had them. They had wooden handled and different fabric purses that would button on. Our neighbor was crafty and she made them for my mom to give my sisters. I wasn't old enough, but my mom promised I'd get mine when I was older. Never happened. My mom used to make us English muffins for dinner with a melted piece on the top that was supposed to be a pizza-esque food. There was nothing pizza like about it and it was really gross. (my mom would peel off the round piece of cheese that had spices built into it). I swear I'm the only one who remembers anything like that. I do remember those bracelets. My name was not mainstream enough, plus I think I was too young to get one. I think the neighbor kids who babysat us wore them. This was a fun trip down memory lane.

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    1. Sometimes those childhood memories are bittersweet. I get that! I remember Jams and think I had something similar. And I do remember Bermuda Bags, but I never had one. I think I was in junior high at the time, so yeah, my mom was buying my purses at Kmart 🤣 I’m cracking up about your fake pizzas because my mom used to put ketchup on ritz crackers and melt some cheese on top in the microwave and serve it to us like it was an appetizer 😵‍💫

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  10. While I could not identify with anything in this look-back post,, Bijoux, it was fun to read. I never heard of or have seen a Frito Bandito pencil a=eraser (honestly). I attended a parochial school and the books never had a page identifying former users, also there wasn't a school cafeteria and lunch was brought from home. Cocoa Puffs were a favorite at home. My brother and I did buy Cracker Jacks snacks, mainly for the prizes inside. Yes, to waxed lips, but don't brecall the waxed harmonica. The music video was fun, love the outfits and the color! By the way, my husband always tells me that I had a deprived childhood.

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    1. I do think that going to parochial schools can limit your exposure to pop culture sometimes. I have a friend who is only 4 years older than me, but she has no idea about any of the old TV shows I watched or music from our childhood. I think her parents didn’t allow TV and they could only listen to classical music.

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  11. I'm a little younger than you, so I'm not familiar with most of these. Recently, though, we pulled up a YouTube video of what dial-up internet used to sound like. It came up in conversation and one of the neighbor kids had no idea what it was.

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    1. The dial-up is such a distinctive sound from 2000!

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  12. THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!
    I totally remember those pencil top erasers—I used to chew on them when I was bored in class! 😂
    I never had the leather bracelets, but I definitely remember seeing them everywhere. A friend made me one a few years ago—we’re the same age, so she totally remembered them too.
    My brother and I were just talking about pizza burgers when he visited! He got sick on them once and hasn’t touched one since. They’re still everywhere out here at burger spots!
    SLOUCH BOOTS!! OMG, I forgot all about those! They were the coolest.
    I had a lift ticket on my coat too—I had a ski pass to Snow Trails in Mansfield! Did you ever go? My friends and I skied every weekend. Such a fun time.
    LOVE MACHINE!! 😂 What a blast from the past. This post made my day, my friend. 💛

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    1. It makes me so happy that you remember all this stuff, too! ❤️ How nice that your friend made you a leather bracelet. I just read an article last week about how people always remember any food they ever got sick after eating. It’s a trauma memory that we’ve evolved with so that we don’t eat it again (even if the food wasn’t the actual cause). I found it fascinating because me and my kids frequently mention the foods we can’t eat 🤣 But I can’t believe you see pizza burgers at burger joints! I’ve never seen one since high school.

      I know! I can’t believe I forgot about those boots! Or ski tags! That’s why we’re on TikTok, Kari! No, I never had the chance to go to Snow Trails, but remember people talking about it when I worked at Richland Mall.

      I keep hearing Ebony Eyes on 70’s on 7 and it’s my new ear worm. Forgot about that one, too! XO

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  13. Frito Bandito pencil top eraser? I've never seen those. The sky tags on jacket zippers I remember, but I didn't ski. I had the slouchy flat boots in tan. No pizza burgers in my school cafeterias. But they did a great fried fish sandwich on Fridays— not a Catholic school either, just a public one.

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    1. Bummer that you didn't have the Frito Bandito, but I'm glad to hear you had the boots. Yes, we had fried fish sandwiches or cheese pizza on Fridays to accommodate the Catholics!

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  14. I remember the leather name bracelets and slouch boots. The ski tags were definitely a status symbol thing around our high school especially if you went to Sun Valley. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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    1. Glad someone else remembers the ski tags! Sun Valley was the ultimate ski destination! I had a poster of it!

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  15. Well, as a Brit, I don't know anything about these American childhood memories. But the boots are interesting. The Brit equivalent when I was at school was winklepickers, which were associated with rock and roll. It was a very staid boarding school but we were all very keen on rock music and its trappings.

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    1. I had to look up winklepickers. They look very stylish, but uncomfortable! When I was in college, it was fashionable to wear the British flag. Maybe like the Sex Pistols?

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  16. I was a member of the Sugar Bear Ecology Club, which I recall in this post about a friend who "inducted" me into the club: https://fromarockyhillside.com/2021/06/23/mark-brown-another-williston-memory/. I also skied at Peek-n-peak. I never really liked it, because at the time I was living in Ellicottville and had seasons passes at Holiday Valley, which had much better skiing--but I met friends over there a few times coming from Erie and Pittsburgh.

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    1. We were just happy to get out of the state and say we skied in New York!!

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  17. Oh, "Love Machine" is certainly a blast from the past! And how I remember those grunts to kick things off.

    I love how songs you've completely forgotten suddenly pop into your head for no reason.

    Your post reminded me of the Funny Face drinks, which I had completely forgotten about.

    I remember my siblings and I laughing at the characters they had for each flavor, like Jolly Ollie Orange--but I don't think I ever drank the stuff, which was probably a good idea.

    Speaking of characters, I ate Cap'n Crunch cereal when I was a child. God knows how much sugar went into that stuff.

    A friend in grade school gave me an eraser that looked like the Muncha Bunch, which Fritos created to help hawk their super salty snack. It's probably worth a fortune now.

    I'd rather not think about the strange fashion choices we made back in the Seventies. I'm just glad it's behind us.

    Such a wonderful post! Thanks so much for sharing.



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    1. Such a great song and group! The Funny Face characters were so much more interesting than the Kool Aid man. I wonder why they didn’t last? I completely forgot about the Muncha Bunch jingle! Thanks for that memory, Rob!

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  18. I'm from the UK so alas have no knowledge of your reminisces and memories.
    It's quite fun to look back and remember though.

    Enjoy your April days.

    All the best Jan

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    1. We are finally seeing some sun, so yeah to April!

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  19. Oh wow this was so cool! Do you remember the troll dolls with the colored hair? They were really big with kids at one point. And those bracelets! I remover those! My name was super common LOL.

    Allie of
    www.allienyc.com

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    1. Yes, I do remember the troll dolls! I had a small one with hot pink hair. It’s nice to have had a common name for jewelry, etc.

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  20. Great post (which I somehow missed until now)! I love the Frito Bandito pencil top erasers, though I don't recall ever seeing them personally. And 45 records in cereal boxes?! Dare to dream!

    I miss scratch and sniff stickers. I was super into those for many years. If they aren't still around, they should be!

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    1. I have rarely seen the scratch and sniff, but when I do, I buy them for my grands. I LOVED those as a kid. You missed out on the Frito Banditos!

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