# Nostalgia Purchases **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314 "2026-08-12T17:25:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/41 "2026-08-14T13:12:20Z")
My dad had a PEZ Dispenser from his childhood that somehow got lost or disposed of over the years. After my parents were killed, I went through things looking for keepsakes and couldn’t find that. I eventually replaced it when I learned that they actually still make them. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/42 "2026-08-14T13:26:00Z")
A couple of years ago I got a copy of Field Guide to American Wildlife: East, Central, North. I’d inherited a copy from my older brother when I was a kid, but loved it to death. The copy I bought is in very good condition, and was as entertaining as I remembered (entertaining for a field guide, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/43 "2026-08-14T17:21:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Not from my childhood, since I can’t find Bosco anywhere, Amazon has it. I hadn’t tasted it for at least 50 years, and am happy to report it’s still delicious. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/44 "2026-08-14T17:36:10Z")
> [@Darkstratus](#): > > I had one of these within the last 5 years. Could be a different brand though. Strawberry was my flavour of choice! > [@teelabrown](#): > > I asked for Flav-R Straws (chocolate). I see online that they were discontinued in 1961 They are now available as Milk Magic straws, with at least 12 different flavors available. > **[Shop All Magic Straws | 14 Milk + 8 Water Flavors](https://magicstraws.com/products)** > > Browse the full lineup: 14 milk-flavoring straws and 8 water-flavoring straws. Singles, 4-packs, 24-packs, and bundle deals. Free shipping over $30. ---
**Author:** ![sb1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@sb1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sb1953)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/45 "2026-08-14T18:04:19Z")
I was an antique mall 5 years ago (when I was still working). I saw a complete Revell model of a P-47 Thunderbolt. My Dad always talked about “the jug” because he was a mechanic on one in WW-2. I bought it and then went to a hobby store and got one of those TESTORS paint kits with the correct colors. I kept it until I retired and then decided that I had built all the plastic models I ever wanted and so gave it to my daughter to sell in her antique mall booth. Full circles I guess! When I bought it I really did Imagine building it… again. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/46 "2026-08-14T18:19:46Z")
I had a great nostalgic lunch yesterday at the [Gino’s Burgers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gino%27s_Hamburgers) and Chicken restaurant in Towson, MD, my old home town. Gino’s was regional fast-food chain based in Maryland from the late 1950s to the early '80s before it was bought and most of its stores converted to Roy Rogers. Its Gino Giant sandwich was a double-decker burger with lettuce and thousand-island-style special sauce, launched before the Big Mac. Gino’s food was generally better quality (IMHO) than McDonald’s and its other competitors. It was my go-to fast food during my early adulthood in the 1970s and '80s. The original Gino’s chain folded in the early 1980s, but in 2010 it was relaunched with a limited number of outlets in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Today only two restaurants in Baltimore suburbs remain. I get back to Baltimore a couple of times a year to visit family and friends, but we usually don’t have time for a fast-food lunch. So when a lunch date was canceled yesterday, I jumped at the chance and my wife (not a fast food fan) kindly indulged me. The new Gino’s is a bit more upscale than the original, but is better in every way. The new Giant is way better than a Big Mac. [![](https://www.ginosgiant.com/images/burger.png) ](https://www.ginosgiant.com/images/burger.png) I had one, and my wife had a portobello burger. Both were great, as were the onion rings and shakes. I was very happy. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/47 "2026-08-14T18:20:17Z")
My hobby right now is buying toys I had or wanted as a kid. More wanted - we were poor but I grew up in the era of the Penney’s toy catalog so I did a lot of fantasizing about toys. I love to go to toy shows, and hunt around yard sales for toys. For the most part I don’t buy anything (the “nostalgic toy market” is mostly centered around “boy toys” from the 80s) but I absolutely love looking at everything. The feeling of it brings me back to my youth. I’ve bought Popples, Wuzzles, Rainbow Brite, lots of PVC figures, Care Bears, Get-Along Gang, Furskins. I’m still in the market for a Monchichi, maybe some Snorks. But my rule is that I have to buy it in person - picking stuff up on eBay is too easy. And I have to be able to display it - so my current hobby is cleaning out the house so I have more room for display. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/48 "2026-08-14T18:25:28Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I eventually replaced it when I learned that they actually still make them. You should watch “The Pez Outlaw” on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/49 "2026-08-14T18:29:07Z")
Seriously?! I will! LOL ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/50 "2026-08-14T20:40:31Z")
One of the first things I ever bought on ebay was a game called [Cascade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdjoAeuh2c4). I guess it was a game. I just liked watching the balls bounce from one drum to another and get sent back like a bowl to start all over. Another one was [Running Wild](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWTbnb1IHzg), simply a plastic cube where little metal balls scurried from one parking garage level to another. Then turn it over and repeat the process. Another one that I’ve wanted to get, and there’s currently one on ebay, was a three-bladed boomerang called the [Hi-Yo](https://www.ebay.com/itm/198514306428), made by “Ohio Art.” (Hi-Yo? O-High-Yo?). Anyway, I’d buy it, but I know I’d never get a chance to use it, and after 60 years, who knows if the plastic would hold up to being thrown anyway. I just noticed, though, that I could get my own [Zuni Fetish Doll.](https://www.ebay.com/itm/358919287957) A bit pricey, but it’s a thought. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Allthegood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Allthegood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allthegood)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/51 "2026-08-14T23:39:09Z")
My grandfather was born in 1902 and became a big science fiction fan. Mind you, this was pre-Wright brothers’ first flight (1903). My grandpa told me his friends used to laugh at him when he said man would set foot on the moon (1969) and he lived to see it! Alas, many of his friends did not. ---
**Author:** ![Allthegood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Allthegood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allthegood)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/52 "2026-08-15T00:41:19Z")
My mother used to take me and my five sisters to Gino’s in Timonium (Maryland) as a treat. She would give us eat a one dollar bill and we could each get a complete dinner for that one dollar. We didn’t place one big order because there was no sales tax on sales under a dollar. When I go back to Baltimore County I will seek out the new Gino’s! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/53 "2026-08-15T00:42:49Z")
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/54 "2026-08-16T00:11:25Z")
I bought old fashioned light switches, for my old house, because they reminded me of my grandparents house. Round black buttons, with mother of Pearl insets, over an aged copper plate. They were an absolute delight for me for several months. I would smile every time, fun! Now I hardly notice. But once in a while, someone new comes into the house and they quite fancy them. I enjoy that, and am reminded how delightful they are, all over again. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/55 "2026-08-16T01:30:59Z")
A few years ago I came across one of my favorite childhood books in an antique store, the 1955 Time Life book [The World We Live In](https://The%20World%20We%20Live%20In%20book)…the one with the fantastic dinosaur fold-out of [The Age Of Reptiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Reptiles) and those [cool outer space paintings by Chesley Bonestell](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOQ_1K60J48jzyHfwGJg9_twfzX9eAhSfxUgCwNTbr5oTdTitDlz3BOaDSfhzkGgH2XaMSAvlOpd377ki8ivoWG232CCTkF-VsRBuGnKcEdlotJZoU24yIs26JcGm3s_77nEfRd0O2uQvQz3xIoNEwSSA=w617-h795-s-no?authuser=0). It was an instant purchase. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/56 "2026-08-17T14:35:48Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > “It Happened One Day”, which is a children’s book of short stories that I remember from my early childhood I still have this book! I haven’t looked at it in many years, though. I’m not sure where it came from; it seems older than my generation. I read a book from the school library in 6th grade (1973-ish). **The Velvet Room** by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. I loved that book so much. I can still remember that after I had finished it, excitedly telling my mom all about it as she was fixing her hair in the bathroom mirror. I would think about that book off and on throughout my life. A few years ago, I found it on Amazon and ordered it. I read it as soon as it was delivered. It’s still such a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/57 "2026-08-17T15:31:11Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > A few years ago I came across one of my favorite childhood books in an antique store, the 1955 Time Life book [The World We Live In](https://The%20World%20We%20Live%20In%20book)…the one with the fantastic dinosaur fold-out of [The Age Of Reptiles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Reptiles) and those [cool outer space paintings by Chesley Bonestell](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOQ_1K60J48jzyHfwGJg9_twfzX9eAhSfxUgCwNTbr5oTdTitDlz3BOaDSfhzkGgH2XaMSAvlOpd377ki8ivoWG232CCTkF-VsRBuGnKcEdlotJZoU24yIs26JcGm3s_77nEfRd0O2uQvQz3xIoNEwSSA=w617-h795-s-no?authuser=0). > > It was an instant purchase. When I was growing up I and all my friends had that book. I loved it. I remember a picture of the moon breaking up into fragments in the far future. It taught tons of kids science. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/58 "2026-08-17T17:19:04Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > “It Happened One Day”, which is a children’s book of short stories that I remember from my early childhood > > I still have this book! I haven’t looked at it in many years, though. I’m not sure where it came from; it seems older than my generation. I was surprised, when I received my recently purchased copy of it, that it wasn’t just some random children’s stories but in fact a carefully curated collection by a board of educators that was part of an educational book series. I think one of the stated objectives was to help build a young child’s vocabulary. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2026, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/59 "2026-08-18T14:20:46Z")
I always suspected it was a book used in school. I remember, as a kid, getting a bunch of old school books from someone. There was a math book, an English book, and I’m guessing this book was in with them. My sisters and I loved to play school in the basement. We had a kids’ size rolltop desk for the teacher and an old school desk. We’d play for hours. On the last day of school (elementary), the teachers would hand out all of the extra worksheets they had. We were in hog heaven! We’d get home and play school immediately! My mom thought we were nuts to be playing school on the last day of school! Great memories. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314/60 "2026-08-19T17:54:51Z")
My partner gave me a supply of original SweeTarts. They’re almost impossible to find around here (pharmacies and supermarkets only seem to stock those awful soft-and-chewy versions). She found a distributor and got me one of those movie-theatre box of 10 of the 5 oz boxes. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nostalgia-purchases/1032314.md?page=4)