57 years ago TaB was introduced by the Coca Cola Company. It was Cokes answer to The Royal Crown Company Diet Rite cola and was marketed as a way to “keep tabs” on your weight. In 2020 Coke is calling it quits on TaB.
ThE EnD oF TaB
Category: Nostalgia
Solarcaine
I remember how great Solarcaine was when I was young. It was the difference in being in serious sunburn pain or being able to sleep. Back then it contained Benzocaine which is good for pain and itching caused by sunburn, other minor burns, insect bites or stings, poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, minor cuts or scratches. It was available without a prescription and made by Plough Inc, founded in Memphis (1908), by Abe Plough.
Vienna Sausage
Vienna Sausage was a staple in my house growing up as Mother and Daddy always had cans in the pantry. It was great for fishing, hunting, lunches or just a quick snack. I liked it with soda crackers and, if I had some available, liked dipping mine in Heinz ketchup. I’ve noticed that the Swanson chicken broth , that we use at the compounding pharmacy for some pet prescriptions, smells just like Vienna Sausages.
Wham-O Super Ball
Wow, I loved these balls. I remember that they surpassed any other ball I ever owned for how high it would bounce. Even a golf ball, off the concrete, could not match. I used to throw the super ball off the house and field it with my baseball glove. It was incredible but after a few hundred times off the bricks, it would disintegrate, unlike the rubber baseballs, tennis balls, or golf balls I also used. They were made of a synthetic rubber invented by chemist Norman Stingley in 1964.
Atlanta Area Codes
It was back in 1947 when the North American Numbering plan (NANP) went into effect. Each telephone is assigned a seven-digit telephone number unique only within its respective plan area. The telephone number consists of a three-digit central office code and a four-digit station number. The combination of an area code and the telephone number serves
as a destination routing address in the public switched telephone network. In November of 1951 NANP was implemented by AT&T and Georgia had the area code of 404. My home phone was 404-475-7411 but we never dialed the area code to call any other 404 number. you didn’t even have to dial the whole number, if you were calling me you just had to dial 5-7411. In July of 1954 they split the Georgia area code into two, 404 for the north and 912 for the southern part. In May of 1992 they split 404 into two again,
404 serving the Atlanta area and 706 for the rest of the northern state. I believe this is when we had to start dialing the whole number, like 404-475-7411. In August of 1995 , just three years later, 404 is split again. 404 is now for inside the I-285 perimeter and 770 is added to serve the outskirts of Atlanta.
My phone number changed to 770-475-7411. I also got another phone line to support my modem and that number was 770-664-6250. Three more years passed and then in January of 1998 the boundaries of the 404/770 were erased and 678 area code was added. Things were changing, rapidly adding people, modems and now cell phones caused these fluctuations. In August of 2000 912 was split into thirds, 229 serving southwestern Georgia, 912 for Southeastern Georgia and 478 serving 19 counties in central Georgia. In September of 2001 470 was added to the 404/678 metro Atlanta area codes. In September 2005 they overlaid 762 with area code 706. When I got my cell phone I was given a choice of 404, 770 or 678 and I chose the latter, just to be different.
Foghorn Leghorn
Robert McKimson created the cartoon Foghorn Leghorn which during the Golden age of American Animation, 1946-1964, starred in 29 cartoons. He was a tall, overweight rooster with a southern accent, named for an Italian breed of chicken, and voiced by the great Mel Blanc.
That, I say that dog’s busier than a centipede at a toe countin’ contest
Foghorn Leghorn
He was directly inspired by Senator Beauregard Claghorn, a southern politician played by Kenny Delmar on Fred Allen‘s 1940’s radio show. This is one of favorite cartoons of all-time. I loved them as a kid and I’m still laughing now!
Click read more for some cartoon clips and Senator Claghorn on the radio show
Continue reading “Foghorn Leghorn”Mercurochrome and Merthiolate
When there was a scrape or cut in my childhood home, and there were many, out came the rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide or Mercurochrome or the Merthiolate! Merbromin was a chemical compound that contained carbon, hydrogen, bromine, mercury, sodium, and oxygen atoms.
Bosco
Bosco chocolate syrup or milk amplifier was invented in 1928 in Camden, New Jersey by an unknown physician. The William S. Scull Company acquired the manufacturing license and gave it the name of Bosco after its own product Boscul Coffee. In the 1950’s they were sold again to Corn Products Company who would finally, in 1968, register the name Bosco.
Souvenir Cedar Trinket Boxes
Mother used to collect these little souvenir jewelry/ trinket boxes. They are made out of cedar and some have latches while the others just shut snugly. They were sold in shops that had souvenirs like postcards and snow globes, touting the city or attraction. I still have a few.
TV Dinners
A frozen meal for one, on an oven-ready aluminum tray? What is this, magic? You didn’t even need Mom, you could put one in the oven yourself! They weren’t the best tasting, but I was never very picky, just hungry (and watching TV).