# Blast From the Past That You'll Never See Again **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534 "2016-05-24T11:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/41 "2016-05-25T10:44:05Z")
Shake-a-puddin’ - I never had one, since my mother wouldn’t buy them. And I bet they were beyond terrible. But I was fascinated by the concept as a child, and still long to try one. AYDS (the diet candy). Did they work? What was in them? ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/42 "2016-05-25T11:17:00Z")
I had this thing where I’d put a plastic cube on this enclosed hot plate and it would expand into a dinosaur. Later I would put it into a crusher to make it a cube again. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/43 "2016-05-25T11:19:06Z")
Vent windows on cars. Buying beer at 18. Saturday morning cartoons that were actually funny (e.g. original WB). Red pistachios. Traveling to Canada without a passport. Going to Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor on a birthday. (Are they still around?) Cool toys in cereal boxes. Buying .22LR ammo for less than a penny a round. Good food on airline flights, even in coach. Hanging out at the drive-in movie theater. (Yea, I know a few still exist. But the numbers are dwindling, and they’re no longer hangouts.) Same as above, but video game arcades. Buying a gun from a gun dealer without a background check. Calling a radio station and requesting a song to be played. Locally-produced children’s shows on TV (e.g. Uncle Al in Cincinnati). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/44 "2016-05-25T12:20:45Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Shake-a-puddin’ - I never had one, since my mother wouldn’t buy them. And I bet they were beyond terrible. But I was fascinated by the concept as a child, and still long to try one. They weren’t bad. No grosser than other such food for kids in the late 1960’s. I used to have one as a snack after school. I miss **Danish go-rounds**. But not a lot. I also miss the **Seven-Up** bar. 7 separate chocolate candies in one bar, and the candies varied, too! ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/45 "2016-05-25T12:36:21Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Kids riding in the backs of station wagons, or the beds of trucks. This is common even today. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/46 "2016-05-25T12:53:29Z")
> [@AmanoJ](#): > > Not that these are particularly old products (90s and 2000s), but two food items I loved: P.B. Crisps and Snapple Elements, Rain flavor. I’ve had the worst craving for that drink for years. ☹ I see your rain, and raise you Snapple Fire. My mom used to by me bottles of that 10 at a time because I drank it so much. I, too, miss arcades, although they technically exist due to Dave and Buster’s and various hotels/theme parks/vacation spots that have them in their mini-golf places ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/47 "2016-05-25T13:28:10Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > “Free Range” childhoods. > > Summer lasted almost forever - outside after breakfast, Mom called you for lunch, and you had to be home for dinner. We used to go out after dinner and we didn’t have to be in till dark. No danger whatsoever. Our favorite sledding hill was by the Mass Pike, the bottom being about twenty feet from the cars. We used to have contest to see who could stop closest to the road. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/48 "2016-05-25T14:49:17Z")
> [@john\_b\_2](#): > > Soda fountains in neighborhood drugstores have bit the dust, at least around where I live. Also, drugstores that aren’t part of a larger chain, the kind that had lunch counters. I don’t know if it’ll still be here in five years – or five months – but as of today we still have a standalone drug store, complete with lunch counter and soda fountain, owned and operated by a local pharmacist. (His son? Also a pharmacist.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/49 "2016-05-25T18:14:12Z")
> [@mack](#): > > I had this thing where I’d put a plastic cube on this enclosed hot plate and it would expand into a dinosaur. Later I would put it into a crusher to make it a cube again. My brother had one of those when we were kids! There was also a similar toy with metal molds where you poured in different colors of liquid goo and then baked the mold on a hot plate, to make little rubbery bugs or aliens or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/50 "2016-05-25T18:45:59Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > My brother had one of those when we were kids! There was also a similar toy with metal molds where you poured in different colors of liquid goo and then baked the mold on a hot plate, to make little rubbery bugs or aliens or whatever. [Creepy Crawlers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers). Hours of fun and second-degree burns. My Blast from the Past (literally) is Greenie Stick-em Caps. Good for cap pistols, and smashing with rocks. Permanent hearing loss optional. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/51 "2016-05-25T19:01:26Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Otherwise known as a [necker-knob](http://www.pewsplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Mercurystrg.jpg). So you can keep your arm around your sweetie. Weird…I learned they were called a suicide wheel. Cause like…only people who need one are going to be doing stupid shit with their car that’ll end up killing them lol. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/52 "2016-05-25T23:49:24Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > My brother had one of those when we were kids! There was also a similar toy with metal molds where you poured in different colors of liquid goo and then baked the mold on a hot plate, to make little rubbery bugs or aliens or whatever. > [@Shodan](#): > > [Creepy Crawlers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepy_Crawlers). Hours of fun and second-degree burns… > > [snipped] ards, > Shodan I had the Mattel [Vac-U-Form](http://www.spookshows.com/toys/vacuform/vacuform.htm) that formed sheets of plastic over a mold. But the heating element worked with Creepy Crawlers, too. Later, Mattel came out with other molds; some of which were monster heads that fit over the end of a pencil and actually worked as erasers. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/53 "2016-05-26T00:18:15Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Later, Mattel came out with other molds; some of which were monster heads that fit over the end of a pencil and actually worked as erasers. Creeple People. I had them. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/54 "2016-05-26T01:45:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I had the Mattel [Vac-U-Form](http://www.spookshows.com/toys/vacuform/vacuform.htm) that formed sheets of plastic over a mold. Yes! I could never make molds of the airplane. How did that work for you? I thought that perhaps you had to make a ventral and dorsal mold, and glue them together. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/55 "2016-05-26T02:44:52Z")
Going into a store and being able to buy stuff that actually worked - Carbon Tet did a wonderful job of removing shoe polish from carpet. DDT did kill aphids (I am not going to defend DDT on rosebushes) Phisohex (Hexachlorophene) did clean skin (my “pretty one” sister bathed in it) As mentioned, Mercurochrome and Merthiolate did kill germs. Paints were real paints and not a plastic coat. Enamels and lacquers were things of joy for those who knew how to use them. Ether, MEK and a dozen other chemical did what they were supposed to. Glass Wax was a gawd-send for shower enclosures. I want my chemistry NOW! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/56 "2016-05-26T03:03:14Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > AYDS (the diet candy). Did they work? What was in them? Probably phenylpropanolamine, the same thing that was in Dexatrim. It was also an antihistamine that was in a lot of cold medicines. Was taken off the market around 1995 or so, because if you had even a very mild, or more worrisome, undiagnosed heart condition, you could have a serious cardiac event if you took it. But as an appetite suppressant, I understand that it did work better than anything else available OTC; in fact, it was the only OTC med that really did this effectively. It was listed as a side effect on the cold medicines it was in. That’s about my only experience with it. I took it a few times because it didn’t make me sleepy, unlike Sudafed, and I just assumed the appetite loss was because I was sick, and because when you are sick, sometimes you can’t taste you food well. I didn’t know it was from the cold medicine. > [@campp](#): > > This is common even today. It’s legal around here for adults to ride in truck beds, or in back seats without belts, but not children. If you have children in the cargo area of a hatchback or a station wagon, you will get ticketed. If you have them in the back of a truck, and you can’t put them in the truck and have enough seats, the cops will detain you until family members can come pick them up. Plus ticket you. Children need to each have a seatbelt, and if they are under a certain weight, or age, be in the back. This probably varies by state, but I understand Indiana is somewhere in the middle regarding permissiveness. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/57 "2016-05-26T03:14:47Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Probably phenylpropanolamine, the same thing that was in Dexatrim. Shoulda Googled. Yes, Ayds did have phenylpropanolamine by the time it was withdrawn from the market, but originally it had Benzocaine, the idea being that if it numbed you tongue so you couldn’t taste things well, you wouldn’t eat. Wow. Apparently Dexatrim still exists, but now it contains green tea extract, caffeine, and some other stuff like ginseng root extract & DHEA. In other words, caffeine, plus the usual woo in diet aids. And yes, Ayds did pretty much bite it because of AIDS, but if the main ingredient hadn’t been on the “threatened” list, it might have survived a name change. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/58 "2016-05-26T04:20:14Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Being able to fly DOWN into the Grand Canyon… legally > > Even at 140 MPH it can take a while before you need to change course. My dad flew an F-86 through part of the canyon, about 15 feet above the river. He said he was pretty lucky to get away with it, even back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/59 "2016-05-26T04:36:22Z")
Real Fireworks You can’t find cherry bombs and firecrackers sold on school grounds any more. Are even bottle rockets available? I know there are small stores with stuff under the counter if you know to ask… But who has kids setting off dozens/hundreds of real explosions in the back yard? ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2016, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534/60 "2016-05-26T05:01:39Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t know if it’ll still be here in five years – or five months – but as of today we still have a standalone drug store, complete with lunch counter and soda fountain, owned and operated by a local pharmacist. (His son? Also a pharmacist.) That is great to hear 🆒. I figured there would be some old-time drugstores left. We are such a big and diverse country all sorts of things seemingly unavailable or obsolete in one region are easy to find in other places. Even in hectic, up to date Boston one of my favorite neighborhood variety store still has a phone booth,–made of wood no less–and yes, it still works and people still use it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blast-from-the-past-that-youll-never-see-again/755534.md?page=4)