Was there some favorite thing you liked that no one else ever chose? My favorite freeze pop flavor: Lime. Favorite chicken piece: Thigh. Favorite Monopoly token: Iron. I always got what I wanted in these particular categories without any competition.
EABF9EF6-1191-42F2-A706-FC99FCA5FC14 (resized).jpegI had a friend in Junior High who insisted that he was given any potato chips anyone brought for lunch that had any green on them. He claimed he was immune to their supposedly poisonous nature, and that he was doing us a favor!
I miss all those defective chips! The chips that were brown (overcooked or had some carmelized sugar in them), chips that were folded (we called them wish chips), chips that were black (usually part of a spud that was rotted out from a fungus, or even those chips that were partly green (potato that wasn't fully buried and full of solanine toxin). All of these chips were special to me - only because they were different.
Now the manufacturers blanch out all the natural sugars (along with the nutrients) in a hot water bath, then they add dextrose back into the chips to get that uniform hue, and then they remove the defects. So, along with real defects (broken beer bottle glass, nails and and pieces of wood pallets) they include my favorite chips! 
Oh well, that's progress...
I went on a tour with a fellow that worked at Hostess / Frito Lay and he showed me a train car that was overflowing with "defective" Doritos. If he wasn't there I probably would have just jumped in and started chomping! Either that or I would have swam through them like Scrooge McDuck! 
One person's trash...
Quoted from mooch:What’s up with that burnt to hell Frito you get every once in a while?
[quoted image]
Cooked twice, I guess. They should sell those as ReFritos!
As opposed to frijoles refritos (refried beans), which I learned recently are not fried twice, just well.
Quoted from bob_e:[quoted image]My friends had a Viewmaster
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
I really appreciate the fact that my Mom was a packrat. 
I still have the family Viewmaster from the 60s.
Here's the cigar box where she stored the Viewmaster with the label in her unmistakable (to me) handwriting:
20210805_070621.jpg
20210805_070709.jpg
20210805_072353.jpg
These photos came out better than I thought they would. They don't show the excellent 3D quality...
Here's a sample of Yogi Bear photographed through the Viewmaster just now:
20210805_071753.jpg
From "Peanuts":
20210805_070934.jpg
And from one of my favorites, "Prehistoric Animals"!
20210805_071404.jpgQuoted from bob_e:"BAZOOKA bubble gum has many uses
I once used it to plug a leak in my dads gas tank, and it worked"
Sounds like there might be an interesting story behind that.
The Viewmaster posts got me thinking about another toy, one that would allow you to watch video/motion graphics. Playback was dependent on how fast you cranked the handle, so you could do slow motion, speed it up, or even play it in reverse. I don't know that I had any of the cartridges from this ad, but I did have a few Peanuts shorts.
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:Who Didnt have one of these?[quoted image]
I’ve seen glasses like that. I bet those are really hard to find now.
Quoted from Strummy:When kids still played outside....
[quoted image]
The expression on the girls' faces who are watching this stunt is priceless. This looks to be early 1970's when Schwinn Stingrays ruled the bicycle roost. I really like the stunt rider's pants which appear to be Greg Brady specials.
Gord
Quoted from zombywoof:I did have a few Peanuts shorts.
Quoted from zombywoof:The Viewmaster posts got me thinking about another toy, one that would allow you to watch video/motion graphics. Playback was dependent on how fast you cranked the handle, so you could do slow motion, speed it up, or even play it in reverse. I don't know that I had any of the cartridges from this ad, but I did have a few Peanuts shorts.
[quoted image]
IMG_20210805_144702907 (resized).jpgIMG_20210805_144651361 (1) (resized).jpgQuoted from Strummy:When kids still played outside....
[quoted image]
Does he make it or does the last kid get it good?
It is only 20 years ago, but this little computer brought the internet to me and, yes, the one-button mouse sucked. I would say that, yes, it and the internet has changed my life.
(CORRECTION: iMac was introduced in 1998. So, it is 23 years back. )
Today, any product I need or want is one-click away.
I think back to then and recall how primitive surfing on the internet was.
There was no iTunes.
There was no YouTube.
No Google.
AOL Online was still around.
Netflix was only a CD rental service.
Ebay was still mostly just of people turning their attic trash into treasure.
PayPal was only a dream.
bondi-blue-imac-2008-100756817-orig-1 (resized).jpg
( I still have an old Mac that has been sitting for years. I'm tempted to plug it in and see if I can do anything online with its ancient browsers. I keep it and a couple of others because they still contain useful software. Example: I have a 2003-2004 Hewlett-Packard glass bottom scanner. There is no upgraded software. So, I had to buy a 2004 iBook to solve that problem. )
1990, 31 years ago, the first usable portable phone. I was in the used car business at the time. Lots of dealers used these phones. Especially at the car auctions. They were all battery. While the battery in my iPhone is not much bigger than a stick of gum.
Quoted from cottonm4:It is only 20 years ago, but this little computer brought the internet to me and, yes, the one-button mouse sucked. I would say that, yes, it and the internet has changed my life.
(CORRECTION: iMac was introduced in 1998. So, it is 23 years back. )
Today, any product I need or want is one-click away.
I think back to then and recall how primitive surfing on the internet was.
There was no iTunes.
There was no YouTube.
No Google.
AOL Online was still around.
Netflix was only a CD rental service.
Ebay was still mostly just of people turning their attic trash into treasure.
PayPal was only a dream.
[quoted image]
( I still have an old Mac that has been sitting for years. I'm tempted to plug it in and see if I can do anything online with its ancient browsers. I keep it and a couple of others because they still contain useful software. Example: I have a 2003-2004 Hewlett-Packard glass bottom scanner. There is no upgraded software. So, I had to buy a 2004 iBook to solve that problem. )
And then came the first iBook:
pasted_image (resized).pngQuoted from OLDPINGUY:Who Didnt have one of these?[quoted image]
Elvira released one last year and I had to order.
43580384-E27A-4682-B5E0-F4C521C4B4F9 (resized).jpegBFB3ECFE-7C5E-4CBF-8353-715DBF8C7213 (resized).jpegQuoted from zr11990:AOL Is still around. My secretary uses it.
I did not know this. But the "walled garden" that AOL was famous for looks to be long gone.
Quoted from HFK:I came across a few unused boxes of these about 25 years ago, can't remember where they are though.
[quoted image]
The anodized colors remind me of those aluminum "glasses" my aunt had back in the 60s. Same colors.
I just figured out what "The smoker's friend" is. Those are cigarette snuffers.
Quoted from cottonm4:The anodized colors remind me of those aluminum "glasses" my aunt had back in the 60s.
I bought some of those aluminum cups a while back in a fit of nostalgia. I remember drinking Kool-Aid out of them at my Grandma’s house. She probably didn’t trust clumsy kids with her glassware.
136C95DF-9C9A-48C8-B6D9-ABD2B6056E1A (resized).jpegQuoted from mooch:I bought some of those aluminum cups a while back in a fit of nostalgia. I remember drinking Kool-Aid out of them at my Grandma’s house. She probably didn’t trust clumsy kids with her glassware.
[quoted image]
My mom asked her mom (our grandmother obviously) if she could have hers. We had them for a few weeks (1980’s) until my mom heard how the anodized aluminum was really bad. My late brother and I were so bummed.
Quoted from cottonm4:The anodized colors remind me of those aluminum "glasses" my aunt had back in the 60s. Same colors.
I just figured out what "The smoker's friend" is. Those are cigarette snuffers.
I was kind of curious how many people had ever seen these or knew what a snuffer was.
Quoted from pinwiztom:My dad had this by his bed stand to hold his pocket change and watch for years until he passed it down to me.
Had it for a long time until I got married and the wife decided to clean house.
[quoted image][quoted image]
Is that the same kangaroo that Bruce Willis had in pulp fiction?
Quoted from HFK:I was kind of curious how many people had ever seen these or knew what a snuffer was.
There is a YouTube video of someone putting out a candle with one of those things.
Just don't try to find it by googling "snuff film" or you'll get something else entirely.
Quoted from mooch:I bought some of those aluminum cups a while back in a fit of nostalgia. I remember drinking Kool-Aid out of them at my Grandma’s house. She probably didn’t trust clumsy kids with her glassware.
[quoted image]
These were the best cups for clumsy kids
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