WHATEVER HAPPENED TO …
THE DUGAN’S MAN … He was a weekly visitor at most homes in Brooklyn and environs until around 1965. Small boys with crew cuts and little girls in Danskins eagerly awaited his presentation of a wish basket filled with cookies, cakes, pies and other goodies. The Dugan’s Man disappeared suddenly, heralding the end of the Charles Chips Man and the Chow Chow Cup Man. All were victims of changing times. Sometimes, especially when I’m dieting, I still think about those pink frosted cupcakes.
ELEPHANT BELLS … The style carried bell bottom trousers to the extreme. They made going up and down stairs or getting on a bus hazardous to your health. If you were really cool, you wore them with three or four-inch platform shoes. Not a good idea.
WOODEN CHEESE BOXES … They were about a foot long and three inches wide. Older kids I knew would beg them from the grocery store and make great things like cars and trains. All you had to do was add wheels and a coat of paint. I never owned a cheese box – and here’s why.
A) I was too shy to ask the grocer.
B) My parents hated cheese.
C) I was not allowed to use a hammer and nails until I was 32.
LET’S PRETEND … Better call mom or grandma in on this one. Back when there was no TV and children listened to radio, it was one of the best shows on the air, running from 1934 to 1954. I don’t remember what it was about, but I loved it. I do remember the theme song, kinda:
Cream of Wheat is so good to eat that we have it every day
We hum (?) this song as we sing (?) along and it makes us shout hooray.
It’s great for growing children and grownups too to eat.
For all the family’s breakfast, you can’t beat Cream of Wheat.
To this day, whenever I’m heavy into regression, I dream about a steaming bowl of lumpy white cereal with raisins.
THE FEATHER CUT … This hairdo lasted for three decades and women still ask for it. Nancy Reagan is among the last holdouts. Other well-known feather cut wearers were Gina Lollobrigida, Jane Powell, and the young Elizabeth Taylor.
JUJUBES … In the good old days, no afternoon at the movies was complete without a box of Jujubes (pronounced JooJooBees) and a package of Walnettos, a chewy combination of caramel and nuts. Jujubes were concave bits of hard gelatin shaped like teeny cups. They came in beautiful colors and tasted awful, at least that was my opinion. My older sister loved them and so did every kid I knew. Walnettos made a nostalgic comeback when Laugh-In hit the airwaves, but where are they now?
(I just checked and they are still available on Amazon.)
And who remembers plastic Courreges boots, hot pants, bullet belts, flower petal bathing caps, gaucho pants and cinch belts? If you do, let me know. You can email me at Everbeautiful.com.
©2015 HARRIET POSNAK LESSER
You May Also Like:
Restaurant Manners by Harriet Posnak Lesser
Diet Dilemma by Harriet Posnak Lesser
Harriet Posnak Lesser is an award-winning journalist and social satirist whose articles have appeared in Long Island’s The South Shore Record and Nassau Herald, The New York Times, Cracked Magazine and others.