Nostalgiaville

Blue Freeze Pops and Chicko Stix at Dink Snively's concession stand at the public pool. Sprees, Charleston Chews and Milk Shake bars at Doug Dale's corner store. A heaping pile of Chicken and Biscuits at the Hi-Way Grille. My mom's warm, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. I have a wealth of childhood food memories; too numerous to mention in one post. Lately, though, it seems like the trip through Nostalgiaville has gotten more vivid.

My job at Barnes at Noble has brought me in touch with my childhood more than once lately. First came the book featuring Wacky Packages. I kid you not when I say I thought I imagined these at one point. No one else seemed to know what I was referring to when I brought these up. Wacky Packages were stickers of mildly irreverent spoofs of some existing product. Food was quite often the target but they certainly tackled other targets as well. They also included a rectangular piece of gum that was so hard it could be registered as a deadly weapon. Done in the spirit of Mad Magazine in the early 70's, I could not get enough. I covered my school notebooks with these awesome stickers much to my Mom's chagrin.

This week, The Elf on the Shelf book and figurine were brought out as a sales item. I don't remember a book but Mom had several of the figurines when I was a kid. She would tell me that they were watching to see if I was good for Santa and they would pop in different locations every day. The idea of them being Santa's watchmen fell away and the true joy always came with trying to find their new hiding places every day. Mom would know how to truly engage me by telling me they may have a food treat with them. Indeed, soon I was finding them with fresh-baked cookies, Mom's homemade peanut butter fudge or a candy cane.

I recently came across some vintage clips of old cartoons on YouTube. Josie and the Pussycats, Archies and a truly Golden Oldie that I also thought I imagined called Groovy Ghoulies. Seeing these clips was like coming across Wacky Packages and the Elf on the Shelf...an instant, visceral feeling of deep Deja Vu. I'm back in my pajamas, sitting on the floor with a bowl of Count Chocula watching the 'toons.

Nostalgiaville. Comfort food for the heart and mind.

Check out the following link for some vintage Josie and the Pussycats Saturday morning action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agXYsHYOaVs