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September 14, 2006
My inner child
wants an Easy Bake Oven. And a Pound Puppy. And Barbie’s dream house.
Whitney’s reference yesterday to the Easy Bake Oven brought back poignant memories of childhood…memories, that is, of toys that I demanded and was denied. My parents were big believers in “delayed gratification” and “appreciating what you already have”…pfft! Whateva. How could anyone appreciate what she has when she knows full well she is missing out on:
The Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine
Oh, how I coveted this. I knew, deep in my seven-year-old heart, that all of life’s problems would be solved if I only had one of these suckers cranking out sweet, syrupy slush. But my mom apparently put “scads of refined sugar” in the same category as “instant gratification,” so I had to wait until college to indulge my desire. I am here to tell you, Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine + vanilla vodka = good times.
Pound Puppies
Dude, I wanted one of these SO BADLY. Looking at them as an adult, I am not sure what the appeal was, but in grade school, I thought they were the bee’s knees. I begged and pleaded and groveled and tantrumed, but my mom held the line. And now, I have grown up to collect a pack of real, live, drooling pound puppies. I’m sure there’s a lesson to be learned here, but I am a little afraid to know what it is.
Barbie’s Dream House
You know, the two-story mansion with the working elevator. When I was little, I was given a hand-crafted, to-scale artisan replica of a Victorian home, complete with little lace curtains in the windows and gold-rimmed china in the dining room, but it didn’t have no elevator. My bourgeois roots betrayed me—when offered tasteful elegance, I yearned instead for the pink plastic status symbols of a nouveau riche label whore. My sister and I did have the Barbie camper, though. And the Palomino pony. I know you are jealous.
I have to give my mom and dad their props, though—they got their hands on a Cabbage Patch Kid for me at the very height of the marketing frenzy, back when soccer moms would routinely knife each other in the aisles of Ames to secure the only remaining doll. (Side note: Did they have Ames where you lived? It’s kind of an old-school, New England equivalent of Target.) Anyway, I’m pretty sure they literally had to buy my kid (official, Xavier-Roberts-approved name: Carma Clea) on the black market. My grandmother lived in the same town as the Coleco factory, and workers were known to “skim” off the assembly line and re-sell for obscene profits.
I also had enough My Little Ponies to choke an actual horse.
Oh, and does anyone remember a Saturday morning cartoon called “Shirt Tales”? About a cuddly band of escaped zoo animals who wore these droll little message T-shirts and the text on the shirts would change as the plot and the animals’ moods dictated? Or am I making that up? Help me, I’m having a Strawberry Shortcake hair-scented flashback…
Posted by Beth at 12:09 AM | Comments (16)
Comments
Okay, as soon as I get paid I'm going out and buying me a sno-cone machine and LOTS of booze!
I'll admit it, I was spoiled. My Barbie had the Dream House, the airplane, the camper, the car, the horse, the tent trailer, etc. I also got a pony when I turned six. I use all this to convince my sister that our grandparents loved me more. What? You thought my parents bought me all that? Yeah, right.
Posted by: Janina at September 14, 2006 1:21 AM
OMG I loved the snoopy snocone machine. It's yum yum fun and it's cool and keen and it's name is the Snoopy Sno Cone machine, you put ice cubes in and get a sno cone out, yum yum fun is what it's all about!
My first CPK was Janith Jerri and I still have her.
All my barbies and their stuff is in my parent's attic. Thank god I'm an only child.
Strawberry shortcake, pound puppies...I wish I still had all that stuff. I'm sure my own kids would think it was really primitive, considering my four year old spends long car rides plugged into an ipod or watching a movie on the portable dvd player. Sigh.
Whatever happened to happiness being a banana seat and plastic basket with plastic daisies?
And yep, I remember Ames.
Lauren, Nostalgic in New England
Posted by: laurenjharwood ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 14, 2006 8:19 AM
Yep, we had Ames by us. My mom LIVED there, I swear.
I got my Cabbage Patch Doll (Elva Theresa :-&) off the black market as well.
And I DO remember that cartoon...
However, no sno-cone machine here...now I want one *pouts* I know, I'll buy it for The Widget! :-D
Posted by: Jen at September 14, 2006 8:56 AM
I remember the Shirt Tales cartoon...does anyone else remember the Snorks? mwahahahahaha.
Posted by: laurenjharwood at September 14, 2006 9:47 AM
Oh wow. Memory lane. Pound Puppies and Cabbage Patch and My Little Ponies... I'm seven again.
I remember watching Shirt Tales. I couldn't tell you anything else about it though. Wasn't there a raccoon character on there?
And what was the name of those things that rolled up into a ball using a pouch on their back that you flipped around?
Posted by: Janet at September 14, 2006 9:52 AM
Pound Puppies? Snoopy Sno-Cone Machines? My Little Pony? You guys are BABIES!! I think I was in college when those thiings came out.
Now, however, I can buy my own sno-cone machine and can legally buy booze. I'm thinking it's going to be a fun weekend!
The LC Eileen
Posted by: Eileen at September 14, 2006 10:12 AM
And what was the name of those things that rolled up into a ball using a pouch on their back that you flipped around?
Yeah, those were called Puffalumps. Had one, actually still have one at my parents house.
How about the Wuzzles? They were like a mixed up puzzle of different animal pieces. Had me one of those after my mother spent forever trying to find one. Apparently they were difficult to find in the midwest.
First CPK, Jeffrey Neil and he sits in my room right now.
Posted by: Hope at September 14, 2006 12:02 PM
Snoopy sno-cone machine and vodka? What is next- the Easy bake oven, some brownie mix and the wacky weed?
the non LC Eileen
Posted by: Eileen at September 14, 2006 1:56 PM
No, no--those things that rolled up into a ball using a pouch on their back were POPPLES.
I didn't have one of those, either. Hmph.
Posted by: Beth at September 14, 2006 2:14 PM
"Snoopy sno-cone machine and vodka? What is next- the Easy bake oven, some brownie mix and the wacky weed?"
I like the way non LC Eileen thinks. Now if I could only trick my grandma into growing it for me again...
Posted by: Janina at September 14, 2006 2:15 PM
Popples! Yes!
The Puffalumps were those puffy animals made of parachute-type material, I think. I was nuts over them too.
Posted by: Janet at September 14, 2006 3:51 PM
Egads--I remember when all those things came out also and wishing I was young enough to get away with buying them for myself!! Popples--had a couple of those for my daughters. Cabbage Patch--bought Sierra Leona (closest I could get to Sierra Ilona) for DD#2 but we gave her away a couple years later to a little girl on my bus for Xmas because she wanted one SO bad and my Sierra already had tons of dolls. But I DID score at a yard sale and a flea market and bought the vinyl Cabbage Patch Ponies that the Kids can "ride"--had some guy offer me $20 for one of them while I was still at the flea market! Heck no! Those Ponies will stay with ME even after the girls leave home...
I was into Breyer horses and Johnny/Jane West and their horses Flame and Thunder. I finally gave them up a few years ago--storage for Thunder and Flame was difficult because of their size--but I regret it now. The only Barbie I still have is my Gymnast Skipper, because she was the only one who could ride astride the horses!! *grin* Gee, can you tell I was a little horse-crazy?!! I used to have a Francie doll, the one whose hair could grow or shrink. Also a Malibu PJ... Lost them in a barn fire (sigh).
One of my favorite dolls was this little tiny doll, whose name totally escapes me now, that came with a bottle, baby plate, fork, bib, and I think a little chair. Her mouth moved when you squeezed her tummy and she also wet. She was only about six inches long but she was SO cute. Love to have one again--anyone know what I am talking about? Baby something...
Posted by: Sheri at September 14, 2006 5:05 PM
Wow, I know I'm gonna date myself here, but we had rock'em sock'em robots(well, ok, my brother did, but my little sister and I would sneak off with them all the time). My older sister actually had the barbie jet, which my younger sister and I also coveted. I think I was a touch old for cabage patch kids, but I did have a Holly Hobby doll. Ya know, I do have a snow cone machine now, and some rum... And for cartoons, Super-friends!, hong kong fooey, Scooby Doo, Josie and the pussycats, and that weird race show they'd do every week with all the different cartoon characters. Hey' here's a blast from the past for ya, anyone remember those shows they'd have with the stars from all the tv shows competing against each other in sports? My brain died, I just can't remember the title to that one. Maybe too many snow cones...
Posted by: Berni at September 14, 2006 5:50 PM
The tv show competition was called Battle of the Network Stars....I was crazy for that!! I also loved....The Bugaloos and of couse H.R. Puff n Stuff!!
I know I am dating myself!!
Posted by: Leslie at September 14, 2006 6:05 PM
Sheri, can't say I can remember your doll's name (Baby Wets-A-Lot?), but I had a doll that I absolutely LOVED...Love Touch Dolls. They had infants and "toddlers". I still have them, at my mom's. Sadly, I have a boy and he's grown passed his "making a soccer ball into a baby to push in the stroller" phase.
*sigh*
Posted by: Jen at September 15, 2006 6:03 AM
Okay, I'm feeling really old now. Because I remember the original Cabbage Patch dolls which were handmade, very expensive, and sold in very few specialty stores.
Coming from a large family without a lot of money, we didn't get things like Sno-cone machines, Easy Bake ovens, etc. Perhaps that's why my household now includes a Slurpee maker, a Smores maker, a cotton candy machine, etc....
Posted by: Dia at September 18, 2006 5:28 PM
