These. I last had them in the early 90s, but they haven’t been made since then. There seems to be a lot of interest in them, too – I blogged about them and it’s one of the most popular posts.
Beach Plum Jelly. The greatest of all jellies. Beach plums only grow in ocean sand dunes in the northeast – Maine, Cape Cod, and Long Island. They’re tart and make an incredibly good jelly. Our supermarket stopped selling it and I discovered the manufacturer has stopped making it. I do see it online, though.
Not the stuff they sell today. I mean the stuff they sold in 1985.
The original Good ‘n’ Fruity was quite similar to Good ‘n’ Plenty, with a waxy shell coating a somewhat stuff gummy center. They went off the market for a decade or so, and then returned as a reformulated version, softer shell and softer center.
I like the new version, but the old version was better.
And Jolly Rancher candies had many flavors that have come and gone. I liked lemon and peach.
My local Pathmark put up a display within the last week, Beeman’s Blackjack and Clove gum, 59 cents a pack. Had to get the wife a pack of Blackjack, she’s a big licorice fan.
School Paste. Not that I loved it, but I did expect to be able to buy some official Elmers School Paste for my son to make construction paper whatevers with, but it appears that they don’t make it anymore. Glue Sticks? Bah!
Burger King Chicken Sandwiches. Not that they don’t make the sandwich anymore, but they used to wrap it in paper, slice it in two, and wrap it again. There was something very right about unwrapping it, and seeing two neat half sandwiches wrapped in paper.
Gillette Sculpting Paste - The only hair product that prevented my hair from getting overly wavy while not looking greasy. I proclaimed it “the best hair product ever” just before they discontinued it. The Axe “Clean Cut” pomade comes close, but not as good.
Thanks for the links. Some real cool retro stuff there. But alas:
Beemans gum was invented in 1898 to ease heartburn, owing to the pepsin—a digestive aid—it originally contained
So apparently they’ve changed the formula. And I’m certainly not going to buy a case of it to find out. However, I did come across some real cool licorice products that look absolutely yummy! Thanks again for the links.
As a former Hut delivery driver, I want to assure you that you do not want the bigfoot back. Interesting tidbit - the bigfoot pan was bigger than the typical resturant dishwasher. We just wiped our pans down with clean wash rags, usually while they were still piping hot from the oven, and we moved them around the store in stacks by pushing them around on the floor. Yummy
I miss the Nabisco HeyDay bar and actual BBQ flavor Ruffles, not the wavy Lays those aren’t the same.
I’m another oddball who loved and miss 7-Up Gold and Holiday Spice Pepsi. I actually have a bit of a Holiday Spice Pepsi stash left.
I miss the extra-flavored Fresca sodas that Coca-Cola released a few years ago. Especially the peach flavor. Luckily, it’s just my local bottler that has discontinued making it; I found some on my last trip into Chicago, and loaded up.
For non-food: I wish a manufacturer would put a ketoprofen NSAID back on the market. We actually had two competing brands at one point (Orudis KT and one I can’t remember) that were still trying to make a niche for themselves when the manufacturers pulled them rather than apply revised NSAID warning labels. AFAIK, the drug is still legal as OTC, but no one makes any. And I’d like my customers who still think I’m hiding some Orudis in the back room to finally be able to buy it and be happy.
I also liked them, but the one I really miss was Pepsi Kona - coffee Pepsi. It might have been test-marketed in my area, but it might have been national…
Sort of a GQ on steroids. Users would offer a set fee for a researcher to answer a question in a particular subject area. The amount might determine how hard a researcher would work to give the user their answer, and they didn’t get paid until a satisfactory answer was given. Others could chime in will comments, but would not be paid. I think there’s at least one current Doper who was a researcher there.
I loved Granny Goose (and later Trader Joes) “Stone Ground” corn chips. They were about twice the thickness of regular corn chips and would hold up to any kind of dip. Fritos “Scoops” have the same idea, but they’re not nearly as good.
“new” Coke, Coke II, or whatever you want to call it. It was the first soda out there that climbed over Royal Crown to grasp my personal first place.
Howard Johnson’s clamburgers. These weren’t just clam strips fried and put on a bun; these were ground and formed patties that were then breaded and deep fried. When they still sold their foods frozen in stores it usually occupied half my freezer.
Kasdenol - a mouthwash powder. Sort of like gargling a swimming pool but for a bit tongue or cheek is was the best stuff out there.
Sam Thompson Rye Whiskey ------- although I do have some in reserve yet from the very early 80s.
Wendy’s Frescetta sandwiches (deli meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo on cibatta bread). I’m not too fond of hot sandwiches from the drive-thru so these really kicked my ass.
A few years after they got rid of those, they came out with the Bacon + Blue sandwich. Even tho I am not fond of hot sandwiches, I am a sucker for bleu cheese. I think I got 3 of these in one week once. Not bad for someone who only does the drive-thru maybe once every 2 months.
Not discontinued, but harder to find: u-shaped hot dog buns, made under may different names; caddies, cradles, etc. They were the best buns for hot dogs and they just kind of went away.
Howard Johnson’s Indian pudding! I think they used to sell it frozen, to go? I was a very young child when I got me a taste of Indian pudding and I still make it every February.
I miss Sweetheart soap for sentimental reasons, and Charles of the Ritz bath oil drops, which smelled exactly like the finest incense.
And Donna Karan Black Cashmere perfume, also very incense-y. (It would smell heavenly on a man, too.)
The corner store used to have root beer popsicles, haven’t seen them in eons.
Gillette shampoo. I managed to get one bottle and then when I needed more it was gone. It was great - only barely scented, and that of mint, and it didn’t gunk up my hair. I’m still looking for a good replacement shampoo that doesn’t cost a ton.
