This a thread devoted to trying to figure out what happened to all sorts of products, people and places that have changed, died, moved or gone out of business.
For me, a few products: Holland Rusk
This was a crisp, twice baked, toasted reddish bread-like round that my Aunt used to serve. They came in a blue wrappered roll of six or so. Haven’t seen these for donkey’s ears. Y&W Licorice
This used to come in an orange cardboard box and was a stick of very hard semi-bitter black licorice. The piece was a ~4-5 inch long cylinder that was squashed at one end into an oval that bore the imprinted Y&W logo.
And in the littlest room of the house: Vanish Crystals
Just recently they dissappeared off of the market. I’ve been looking for them all over an am unable to find them. This was one of the best cleaning products ever. Anyone got a sighting on this one?
More to follow. OK folks rev up the memory machine.
Weebles are little toy figures that were produced by Fisher Price. They were tiny, egg-shaped people that were weighted on the bottom so that they would tip upright if knocked over. The slogan for Weebles was “Weebles wobble but they can’t fall down.” They were pretty hot stuff for the preschool set when I was a wee lad.
I want to know what happened to Count Chocula/Boo Berry/Frankenberry cereal(s). Everybody loved them when I was a kid, then they just vanished from the market. I’m told you can still find them sometimes in certain locations. What’s up with that?
I haven’t seen Boo Berry or Frankenberry in a while, but I can still find Count Chocula almost anytime I want at the local grocery stores here in the St Louis area.
I miss those little bead things. Yeah, you made a pattern out of them and then ironed them with a clothes iron and they stuck together! O so cool. This was a real product. Don’t know what happened to it, but used to play it as a child.
My chem teacher was talking about how he liked this Hostess product (its like a twinkie with a layer of chocolate on it), but Hostess stopped making it.
If they ever stop making Devil Dogs or Oreos, I’ll mourn their loss…
You see, back when I played with toys, they largely consisted of Steiff handpuppets, stuffed animals, erector sets, Brio style wooden trains, Lionel trains and tinkertoys or Lincoln Logs. The big new hottie was Kenner’s “Girder and Panel” construction set.
Playskool, with all of it’s rounded edges and to-large-to-be-swallowed parts struck me as toys for the boys on the short school bus. They just didn’t have the detail and character that I demanded from my playthings.
Oh, and lest I forget, a Shuco wind up minature Ferrari racer (anyone remember those?). They came back out on the market several years back for the modest price of US$70.00.
Brillo = As in Brillo pads
[sup](a kitchen scrubber as in SOS)[/sup] Cream of Wheat = As in the breakfast cereal
[sup](otherwise known as caulking compound)[/sup] Brillo Cream = You don’t want to know
Unless there was a polish or kitchen cleaner that somehow escaped my notice, I believe that you are referring to: Brylcreme = A men’s hair pommade
Hmmmmmmm, yeah you’re right. I’m remembering it wrong. After sitting her for five minutes trying to remember, it finally occurred to me. Burma Shave…I think. It’s a Saturday and the brain is working on all thrusters.
The beads are called Perler beads - you can still buy them at craft stores, and I’ve also seen a big container of them at Ikea Chicago for ~$10.
The Hostess product your chem teacher liked is the Chocodile - I’ve seen those at the Hostess thrift shop, where the day-old products are, pretty recently. They seem to have a larger selection at the thrift shops than at the supermarkets around here.
–tygre, who had the Weeble Haunted House, and many hours of enjoyment from it, too!
I’ve seen Holland Rusks for sale in a Montreal speicalty foods place. They’re okay, but not much better than, say, circus peanuts.
Count Chocula is alive and well in Maine and Canada, but you don’t see Boo Berry or Fruit Brute here.
When my dad visited the States, he used to bring back a box of Grins, Smiles, Giggles and Laughs cereal. Not seen that for years.
Also sorry Quebon stopped making Apple Pie Ice Cream. And wish you could get Fruit Stripe bubble gum, Big-Ass Sourdough pretzels and Fat-Free Pringles here (olestra not approved in Canada.)
