# Culture artifacts that ...maybe not ONLY you remember....but its getting close. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633 "2018-08-15T03:00:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/361 "2018-08-22T18:33:05Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Anyone remember Little Golden Books? Oh, yeah. I always loved The Pokey Little Puppy. I bought a copy of it for every one of my little nieces and nephews. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/362 "2018-08-22T20:27:10Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Obscure one: Handlit handlit (handle it handle it) In\* The Eiger Sanction\* (1975), Gregory Walcott does this bit in a scene where Clint Eastwood questions his competency to take over the mission. Couldn’t find a suitable clip, but it was released 2 years before _Carter Country_ appeared on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/363 "2018-08-22T20:49:25Z")
I remember wanting a Dark Tower boardgame when I was a kid. Never got one. Apparently a kickstarter for a revised and modernized version is in the works. Maybe they’ll do Crossbows and Catapults next. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/364 "2018-08-22T20:49:52Z")
> [@HyacinthBucket](#): > > The thread search isn’t working for me so apologies if someone already mentioned it, but that sounds a lot like Block City from the '50s. And yep, I had a set. Another toy that had a strange affinity for our vacuum cleaner. And with small pieces that would be condemned as certain death in today’s world - I don’t remember ever swallowing any of them though. > > [Block City](http://www.architoys.net/toys/toypages/blockcit.html) I checked it out and looked at some on ebay but that’s still not what I had. The pieces are too big and it doesn’t come with the mat and the little trees and stop signs. I’m thinking maybe what I had was some sort of playset. Probably bought at TG&Y or the Ten Cent Store since we were poor and didn’t get a lot of name brand toys. But thanks for your suggestion! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/365 "2018-08-22T23:01:27Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Oh, yeah. I always loved The Pokey Little Puppy. I bought a copy of it for every one of my little nieces and nephews. I never read this until just a few years ago. (It didn’t take very long. 😉 ) I was horrified that their mother fed them, as a treat, CHOCOLATE CUSTARD! :smack: It was known even then that chocolate is extremely toxic to dogs. Yep, Little Golden Books are still published, and still purchased by the millions, usually with the same stories and updated graphics. We get them donated to the library by the dozens, and most of them end up in the recycle bin because they’ve been crayoned in, have pages missing, etc. However, some of the older ones are surprisingly valuable. They’re popular in large part because they are inexpensive. We had Ring-a-ma-Jigs. I had totally forgotten about those until I saw the post earlier; I remember using them as a Barbie patio table or footrest. Something else I had forgotten about until today, probably dredged up by current headlines, was the PSA that aired from about Christmastime until the deadline, that was done in still-animation and a voiceover that said, “All aliens must register at the Post Office by January 31st.” As a grade-schooler, we were surprised that the stills depicted people and not creatures with extra body parts, scales, antennas, etc. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/366 "2018-08-22T23:31:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ecks](#): > > I remember wanting a Dark Tower boardgame when I was a kid. Never got one. Apparently a kickstarter for a revised and modernized version is in the works. Maybe they’ll do Crossbows and Catapults next. I had a friend with that game, it seemed cool at the time but I do recall it eating batteries really quick. Either D or C cell. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/367 "2018-08-23T01:05:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Yep, Little Golden Books are still published, and still purchased by the millions, usually with the same stories and updated graphics. Got my grand nephew a Super Friends one for Christmas. Before that I hadn’t thought of them in years. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/368 "2018-08-23T21:55:16Z")
Sheez - _finally_ caught up here. > [@bmoak](#): > > Fun Fact: Wacky Packs were designed/drawn by cartoonist Art Spiegelman, best known for the Holocaust memorial graphic novel Maus. That’s extraordinarily trippy trivia. Trying to remember some of them from my bedroom door when I was a kid: Squabble (Scrabble) - a couple yelling at each other over a board game, and on the wall behind them is a (heh) plack that says “Home Sweat Home”. Killy Putty (guess) - kids blasted airborne by an exploding egg. aw hell - here, enjoy: > **[wacky packs - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=wacky%2Bpacks&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz4Py-g4TdAhWBEXwKHa5hBTwQ_AUICigB&biw=942&bih=819)** > [@digs](#): > > Ed “Big Daddy” Roth Seem to recall (incorrectly?) that this non-car racing enthusiast kid back in the 70’s remembered a “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. Wiki calls him “Swamp Rat”, but my (fawlty?) memory thinks otherwise. (holy crap, **digs** …trying to truncate your quote…those were some of the most crazy-ass URLs I’ve ever seen!) > [@silenus](#): > > And Seattle had Stan Boreson on _King’s Klubhouse_ on KING-TV. I never saw the show, but I had the great pleasure and honor of knowing Stan in his later years. Still wicked smart and a killer accordionist. How about KSTW Tacoma’s [Brakeman Bill?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-dtcx-sVnY) Unfortunately, this [doodleart](https://www.google.com/search?q=doodleart&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS85GUh4TdAhUQwMQHHcx7ArYQ_AUICigB&biw=942&bih=819) page doesn’t show the “Progress” poster (gigantic traffic jam) that one of my sisters coloured and put up on her wall back in the day. There was a 70’s game called Wing-it, where you put a stack of white poker chip-sized disks into a little contraption that looked like a [Viewmaster](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b&biw=942&bih=819&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=ux5_W-3nJOHg8AOl7ZXYCw&q=viewmaster&oq=viewmaster&gs_l=img.3..0l5j0i10k1j0l3j0i10k1.1382.5681.0.6426.21.15.1.0.0.0.174.1104.10j3.13.0....0...1c.1.64.img..9.12.930.0..35i39k1j0i10i67k1.0.UhMjongALmw) that was on its side. You pull a spring-loaded lever and BOOM one of the disks goes flying out from the bottom of it. An embarassing aside: when I was 9 I got into a Whip-it fight with a friend: each of us lieing down flat on our stomachs on the living room carpet about twenty feet from each other, embroiled in mortal combat, bonking each other in the face with Whip-it disks. But when Mrs. Lightbody saw the huge pool of urine on her carpet thanks to my out-of-control laughing - _that_ was no laughing matter.:o Not to be confused with whatever the hell this [shit](https://www.google.com/search?q=whip-it+game&sa=X&biw=942&bih=819&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=IenV8-j8Ka00SM%253A%252CHjKx8Z6C5urWqM%252C_&usg=AFrqEzcnChJgU-ag-5dFBqu_bjyZr7wtWg&ved=2ahUKEwi358fziYTdAhXZHDQIHbASDoQQ9QEwDXoECAMQCA#imgrc=IenV8-j8Ka00SM:) is. How about squirt rings? Dumb plastic rings attached to a little (usually water-filled) bladder that you’d squeeze and zap someone in the face with? ok - this’ll be my third and final bladder-themed entry: those little plastic spiders that had a - yes - little bladder thingy underneath that was attached to a long, hollow wire that had on its other end yet another bladder that you’d squeeze to make the spider _JUMP!_ In Shreddies boxes - those Herbie the Love Bug VWs that you hooked onto an elastic band on a mini track and then released it - ZOOM! Quite disappointed there’s been no mention of the classic and, well, totally noisier-than-shit [Electro Shot Shooting Gallery](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyGtTe1znZk) > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Does anyone remember the [Girder and Panel sets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girder_and_Panel_building_sets) for making buildings? I had a skyscraper and an airport version as a kid. Lots of fun and you could make it work with Matchbox cars and Hotwheels. I even built some buildings for my HO train set to run into. > [@running\_coach](#): > > [American Bricks.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=imgres&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjVk_6qxPXcAhVQeawKHXDqDdEQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.balmoralsoftware.com%2Fapb%2Faboutapb.htm&psig=AOvVaw3uRSqsSW3aavXpqvi9EFcE&ust=1534645018072331) Had those plus the Girder and Panel set and several Erector sets > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Bunch of mentions of ‘construction’ sets but did anyone else have [Build-O-Fun](https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&biw=1067&bih=449&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=95J7W-nmIsyD5wLtuqmAAg&q=Build-O-Fun&oq=Build-O-Fun&gs_l=img.12..0i30k1l3.189881.189881.0.192015.1.1.0.0.0.0.109.109.0j1.1.0....0...1c.2.64.img..0.1.108....0.6mLocifkoi8)? > > CMC fnord! > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I have a really tough one. When I was 3 or 4 or I had a very odd building set. I think my Aunt bought them for me. > > **What I remember:** > > [ul] > [li]Ring toys with 3 legs of hard colorful translucent plastic.[/li][li]I think 4 colors in all. Blue, Red, Green & Yellow.[/li][li]Above the legs were little nubs for the hollow legs of the next piece to sit on.[/li][li]This would be around 1969 or 1970.[/li][li]It was only good for building towers.[/li][/ul] 😕 No love for meccano? > [@Dropo](#): > > In\* The Eiger Sanction\* (1975), Gregory Walcott does this bit in a scene where Clint Eastwood questions his competency to take over the mission. heh, thanks…‘babe’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/369 "2018-08-24T03:26:40Z")
I’m sure plenty of other people remember this, but I miss the digest size TV Guide with localized listings. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/370 "2018-08-24T04:03:44Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > How about KSTW Tacoma’s [Brakeman Bill?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-dtcx-sVnY) Holy shit! Someone else remembers Brakeman Bill! I was on Brakeman Bill. I don’t recall Stan Boreson on TV, but I had a couple of his albums as a kid. I remember J.P. Patches. And on the subject of northwest children’s TV shows, does anyone remember [_Boomerang_](https://youtu.be/1DIWL6Uiz68)? It was years later I found out the host was Marni Nixon, who did the singing for Audrey Hepburn in _My Fair Lady_, and a few other big musicals in the '60s, too. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/371 "2018-08-24T15:58:03Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I never read this until just a few years ago. (It didn’t take very long. 😉 ) I was horrified that their mother fed them, as a treat, CHOCOLATE CUSTARD! :smack: It was known even then that chocolate is extremely toxic to dogs. I recently noticed that there is a Bunnicula animated series. Remembering having read at least one of the books in primary school, I googled for more info and noticed that the dog in the books loved chocolate cupcakes. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/372 "2018-08-24T17:48:57Z")
The completely inappropriate Popeye cartoons, post WW2 maybe, with the Japanese villains as stereotype drawings as was the custom then and Popeye saving the world with his fists. And a Tarzan where he ran through the jungle yelling “Nazi, Nazi” and included a horrifying scene where they tethered 2 palm trees to the ground, tied people to them, and then cut the tethers so that the people where thrown into the air and their extremities flew off. WW2 era, I suspect, never have seen it since, and never have forgotten it either. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/373 "2018-08-24T18:11:35Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > The completely inappropriate Popeye cartoons, post WW2 maybe, with the Japanese villains as stereotype drawings as was the custom then and Popeye saving the world with his fists. > . During WW2 and not inappropriate for that time. Now? only as a historical piece. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/374 "2018-08-24T18:20:18Z")
I hope we can assume that the upcoming live action \*\*Dumbo \*\*movie does not include the racist stereotype crows. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TXqd5d-zHMQ/hqdefault.jpg "Dumbo - Elephant in the Tree") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqd5d-zHMQ) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/375 "2018-08-24T18:41:30Z")
I’m sure no one remembers this one. It was obsolete before I was born, but we used it all the time. The Nichols [Damp-Proof Salt Shaker](http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2016/09/nichols-damp-proof-salt-shaker.html). My grandfather bought out the world’s supply when the factory went out of business and sold them for thirty years. It was a clever design: the holes were in a tower kept under glass. When it was on the table, moisture couldn’t get in. You then would shake it up and down to add salt. It was a big seller where I grew up, which was on eastern Long Island and with water on three sides. We ran out of them in around 1970 and divvied up the last of the stock to the family. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/376 "2018-08-24T22:19:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I’m sure no one remembers this one. It was obsolete before I was born, but we used it all the time. > > The Nichols [Damp-Proof Salt Shaker](http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com/2016/09/nichols-damp-proof-salt-shaker.html). > > My grandfather bought out the world’s supply when the factory went out of business and sold them for thirty years. It was a clever design: the holes were in a tower kept under glass. When it was on the table, moisture couldn’t get in. You then would shake it up and down to add salt. > > It was a big seller where I grew up, which was on eastern Long Island and with water on three sides. > > We ran out of them in around 1970 and divvied up the last of the stock to the family. The product is long defunct but unless there’s been some sort technological advancement in salt shakers over the last 50 years, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Nichols Damp-Proof Salt Shaker is obsolete. Since the patent has expired, there’s nothing preventing other halloware manufacturers from putting the product back on the market. In fact, there already might be salt shakers for sale now that use Nichols’ unique design. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/377 "2018-08-25T04:05:07Z")
If you google damp-proof salt shaker you’ll see that such things are available but based on a different principle. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/378 "2018-08-25T22:38:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I was on Brakeman Bill. As the fiendish Boris S. Wort? (or was that JP Patches?) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/379 "2018-08-26T13:25:31Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I remember that from the Mickey Mouse Club. It was the theme song for some filmed series presented in the show. > > I think your lyrics are pretty accurate, except I remember the ending differently. _Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!_ At last, someone else remembers this thing! We moved east from L.A. when I was four and a half - sixty years ago this month - and I have roughly two dozen memories from L.A. before we moved. This particular one has been annoying me for _years_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/380 "2018-08-27T04:36:34Z")
\*\*Fun Fact: \*\* I was watching a bio of Hedy Lamarr on the Documentary Channel tonight. Turns out that in addition to frequency hopping, she invented (working with chemists from Howard Hughes) what were basically Fizzies to make up for the shortage of Coca-Cola during WWII. The tablets (cubes, actually) didn’t go over well because the chemistry of the drinking water in different parts of the US differed and they couldn’t dissolve properly. I wonder how the problem was (if ever) eventually solved. The ones I drank in Minneapolis dissolved just fine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633.md?page=20)