Songs are at it in my head again. The past seems to be surfacing from my long-term memory brain cells.
If you remember, let’s sing along. Follow the bouncing ball!
“Quick, Quick, Richard Hudnut’s new home permanent, Quick, Quick, can be done in just an hour, from start to setting. Get Richard Hudnut’s new home permanent, and get it Quick!” (Television ad from the late ’50s)
Or how about this? “Suddenly, it’s 1960! 1960! On Wheeeeels!” (Chevrolet ad)
Or this, “From the land of sky blue waters. From the land of lakes’ lofty balsams, comes the beer refreshing. Hamms, the beer refreshing” (followed by tom-tom drum beat)
Or, (sung by kids voices)”Oh I wish I were an Oscar Mayer weeiiinerrr. That is what I’d truly like to beeeee. And if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener. Everyone would be in love with me.”
Please tell me you remember some of these musical ditties.
Products come and products go. The tunes and lyrics are catchy advertising tunes, but suddenly, their product disappears. They fade away.
I wish I had kept my kids’ “Marvel the Mustang, he’s too much for real! Just saddle him up with spurs on your heel. No winding, no batteries ... Marvel the mustang, he’s my IDEAL.”
There are other memories of things that have gone by the wayside.
I fried chicken a few nights ago. I used real Crisco. My family was thrilled. We figured that it had been at least 20 years since I had fried a chicken, maybe more. Deli fried chicken is good, but it’s not quite the same. I had forgotten that.
I remembered my electric frying pan. Why did I stop using it? Oh I remember. Fried food became extinct and “no fat” was touted as the dietary choice of the food gurus. Long ago, I fried chicken, pork chops, and fried potatoes in it. I even made spaghetti sauce in that fry pan. Ha. I still have it, and I am going to use it again. I thought, to heck with “fried food being out of fashion and/or it’s not good for you.”
I got rid of my ricer years ago. A ricer is metal or porcelain object into which one places boiled potatoes and a masher pushes the potatoes through little holes that come out well, riced or mashed. So what did I do recently? I paid a premium price for a ricer at a garage sale. It is not nearly as nice as mine was. Oh well.
I can’t tell you the last time I used my rolling pin, or my flour sifter.
Do you remember when we wrapped sandwiches in wax paper? Waxed paper was used for so many things. Now days, we just clog up the environment, and the ocean with our plastic bags, plastic water bottles, ink cartridges, and foam disposable plates. They don’t rot and they don’t break down in the soil.
But, once upon a time, we used ONLY real glasses made of glass, and lovely dishes that needed to be washed, dried, and put back in the cupboards.
We moved on to dishwashers, microwaves and the internet.
Our encyclopedias sat on a shelf for years, until I realized that they were totally out of date and no longer relevant. Out they went. The internet became much easier to use as a source. And speaking of the “net,” I recalled how often I would use the public library for research. At the time, I was taking some graduate courses for re-certification as a high school teacher, and had to write a few papers.
OOPS. That was 25 years ago. I just counted backwards.
And speaking of libraries, remember the little card that slipped into a pocket in the back of the book when you signed out? And the card catalog system?
It’s all rather sad. If I could remember all the things that are gone, I would be astounded. But, my brain remembers, in spite of me. Right now it’s singing another oldie as I write.
“You’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent!”

Judi Tabler lives in Pawnee County and is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. She can be reached at bluegrasses@gmail.com.