# 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:** 2
**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 15, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/21 "2018-08-15T13:52:00Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > One my favorite and earliest cartoon memories was Pow Wow the Indian Boy. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who remembers it. The theme was parodied brilliantly on _ **SCTV** _ “as sung by Lorne Greene.” Unfortunately, I don’t see a clip for it on YouTube. ☹ ---
**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 15, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/22 "2018-08-15T13:52:08Z")
I remember that in the 80s, there was a fad for stickers. Girls at school would have sticker books, there were mall kiosks that sold only stickers, and there was a ridiculous variety. Scratch and sniff, textured, puffy, liquid filled, even color changing liquid crystal “mood stickers”. Funny how it just seemed to disappear overnight. ---
**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 15, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/23 "2018-08-15T13:55:01Z")
Greenie Stick-M-Caps. Or caps in general: usually a strip of paper with small circles of gunpowder. You’d put them in a cap gun and they’d sound like a real gun going off (well, not as loud, but they did give a nice little bang). [Greenie Stick-M-Caps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpy1_KWVFQ0) would stick to individual “bullets” instead of being a strip. Allowed for more “realism,” plus (spring-loaded) bullets that actually flew out of the gun. Because the bullets were spring-loaded, they couldn’t penetrate much (though I suppose they could . . . Wait for it… Shoot your eye out.) ---
**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:** [August 15, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/24 "2018-08-15T13:55:54Z")
I remember the TV series [Something Wilder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Wilder). Particularly the episode where Alice Cooper sang the beginning of The Barney Song (I love you, you love me). Betcha Alice himself doesn’t remember that. ---
**Author:** ![Batano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/25 "2018-08-15T13:57:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > There was another thing we played with back in the '50s, but I don’t remember what they were called—snakes or worms or something like that. They were small pellets that looked like charcoal and smelled like sulfur. If they were exposed to heat, they’d fizzle and spit and expand into long, gnarly strips, hence the name (snakes or worms). We used to put them on the sidewalk and focus sunlight onto them with a magnifying glass until they were hot enough to ignite. > > There was also a kind of plastic that came in a tube (like toothpaste) that you could put on the end of a straw and blow into as though you were blowing glass. The stuff had a strong solvent smell like airplane glue and probably made a lot of kids high. > > And then there were Fizzies, soft drink tablets that bubbled like Alka-Seltzer. My favorite was root beer. Anybody remember those? They were almost as good as soda fountain phosphates (my favorites were cherry and lime). Haven’t had one of those since the early '80s. Yes, yes, and yes. You must be about 60-65. ---
**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 15, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/26 "2018-08-15T13:59:12Z")
Crap, missed the EDIT menu. ☹ One of my earliest cartoon memories is (wait for it!) _ **Little Black Sambo** _. Seriously! (Did you know it was originally set in India, and not Africa? Which explains why there’s a tiger in it.) ---
**Author:** ![Batano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/27 "2018-08-15T13:59:53Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I remember all of those. I too loved the rootbeer fizzies. > > One my favorite and earliest cartoon memories was Pow Wow the Indian Boy. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who remembers it. Pow wow the Indian boy, loved all the animals in the wood… ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/28 "2018-08-15T14:00:27Z")
> [@Batano](#): > > Yes, yes, and yes. You must be about 60-65. I turned 63 in January. I ain’t no spring chicken. ☹ ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/29 "2018-08-15T14:08:45Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Greenie Stick-M-Caps. Or caps in general: usually a strip of paper with small circles of gunpowder. You’d put them in a cap gun and they’d sound like a real gun going off (well, not as loud, but they did give a nice little bang). > > [Greenie Stick-M-Caps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpy1_KWVFQ0) would stick to individual “bullets” instead of being a strip. Allowed for more “realism,” plus (spring-loaded) bullets that actually flew out of the gun. Because the bullets were spring-loaded, they couldn’t penetrate much (though I suppose they could . . . > Wait for it… > Shoot your eye out.) I loved the Greenie roll caps you could load into the magazine of a Mattel tommy gun. You could fire ten shots in a go if you pulled the bolt back all the way, meaning a roll was used up after five bursts. Best of all was when you tossed a whole role into a campfire or barbecue and the caps all went off at once. Then the grownups would yell and bitch at you and demand to know what you threw in there! 😛 ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/30 "2018-08-15T14:12:05Z")
Where phosphates are concerned, there’s a retro malt shop I sometimes go to here in Toronto. They make their own fountain drinks (syrup, soda water), but when I asked if I could have a cherry or a lime phosphate, they had no idea what I was talking about. It think phosphates are truly a lost art. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/31 "2018-08-15T14:14:55Z")
Slip 'N Slide. Complete with steel stakes that if came out of the ground, you could impale yourself on. Play Ground [Spring Riders](https://swingsandmore.com/products/gorilla-playsets-seahorse-spring-rider?variant=44720628179&gclid=CjwKCAjwns_bBRBCEiwA7AVGHuWqGmyeIhxmdUPGqmN1qX7QRSooE_vkem-X23_lljQpg6NC76YA2hoCEL0QAvD_BwE). I’m surprised still made “For residential use only” So there is a bit of a disclaimer. Back in the day, basically a steal/cast iron cartoon character mounted on a heavy duty spring. If you’re ‘riding’ forward and back or side to side and fall off, expect it to bounce back and break a part of you. (or any unfortunate bystanders) ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/32 "2018-08-15T14:19:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I loved the Greenie roll caps you could load into the magazine of a Mattel tommy gun. You could fire ten shots in a go if you pulled the bolt back all the way, meaning a roll was used up after five bursts. Best of all was when you tossed a whole role into a campfire or barbecue and the caps all went off at once. Then the grownups would yell and bitch at you and demand to know what you threw in there! 😛 Even better: setting them off with your fingernails. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/33 "2018-08-15T14:23:54Z")
Does anyone else in the known universe remember the breakfast cereal (and TV commercials for) **[Clackers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRa_7UYXbb4)**? Yes, it tastes like Graham Crackers–if GCs were made out of corrugated cardboard. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/34 "2018-08-15T14:25:15Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I loved the Greenie roll caps you could load into the magazine of a Mattel tommy gun. You could fire ten shots in a go if you pulled the bolt back all the way, meaning a roll was used up after five bursts. Best of all was when you tossed a whole role into a campfire or barbecue and the caps all went off at once. Then the grownups would yell and bitch at you and demand to know what you threw in there! 😛 Ever hit the whole roll with a hammer? ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/35 "2018-08-15T14:31:16Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Does anyone else in the known universe remember the breakfast cereal (and TV commercials for) **[Clackers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRa_7UYXbb4)**? Yes, it tastes like Graham Crackers–if GCs were made out of corrugated cardboard. I remember Stax cereal. Marty Engels did at least one commercial for them. “If you get tired of eating them, you can always … STACK them!”\* Stax—stack. Geddit? 😛 \*They too tasted like cardboard. ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/36 "2018-08-15T14:32:20Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Ever hit the whole roll with a hammer? Not that I can recall, though I bet some of the guys I played Army with did. ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/37 "2018-08-15T14:33:59Z")
Now tell me who remembers Marty Engels? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/38 "2018-08-15T14:36:44Z")
Mr. Shirley Jones? (I’m not looking) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/39 "2018-08-15T14:37:19Z")
Saddle shapes reminds me of the enclosed metal swingsets where you pump yourself by pulling two metal levers, and were presumably safer because it was difficult to fall out of the frame. Saddle shapes seem to have the opposite problem but they are both modernist-looking playground designs. I can’t find an image for them because I can’t remember what they were called. > [@Mangetout](#): > > [PG7 Concrete Saddle Shape](https://bluecote.tumblr.com/post/146795398870/pg7-saddle-shape-designer-dw-renshaw) > > This was (as far as I can tell) a 1970s UK knockoff of the iconic Saddle Slide play sculpture created by Jim Miller-Melberg in the 1950s (visible on [this](http://jimmillermelbergsculptor.com/Play_Sculpture.html) page) > > The PG7 saddle shapes used to be very common in children’s playgrounds in the UK - I always thought they were intended to represent a tent of some kind, but I’m not sure if that was just me. There’s one surviving example in a pub garden near where I live, but I don’t know of any others still standing. I don’t remember them being called “Saddle Shapes” but I do remember similar concrete modernist climbable structures in Chautauqua County up until the very early 80s when they seemed to disappear overnight (I imagine safety concerns may have been involved.) ---
**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 15, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633/40 "2018-08-15T14:38:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Mr. Shirley Jones? (I’m not looking) Bingo! Also half of _ **I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster** _. Can you name the other half? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/culture-artifacts-that-maybe-not-only-you-remember-but-its-getting-close/819633.md?page=3)