Nostalgic Food & Beverages

This is for the old Tiki farts out there...

I have been a bit nostalgic for certain foods & drinks that I grew up with of late
things that if I don't make myself, You don't find much or at all any more.

Like "Custard Pie" it was popular in the 50s & 60s, you could find it at any diner
I have not made one in a while, The last time I had a slice was at the now out of business
Marie Callender's restaurants, even though I got the occasional remark from the servers
"only our elderly customers like Custard Pie"

"I had images of "Slam Dancing" on those 20 something servers", kids back in the day would never say anything
like that to someone.......older.

"Ice Cream Phosphates" I loved these as a kid, my favorite was a "Vanilla Phosphate" with Chocolate Ice Cream
a drink made with flavored syrup, Seltzer water, Ice cream and a few drops of phosphoric acid (It gave it this amazing flavored foam)

(I know these Girls are Evil!)

This was when Soda Fountains were always in a "Drug Store"
last time I had a Phosphate was the early 70s these are now extinct, Swensen’s Ice Cream shop's....anyone?

"Flavored Cokes" used to be everywhere, when you ordered a Coke, You got asked, Cherry,Lemon,Chocolate,Vanilla or Plain
Thank God you can still get Vanilla Coke!

What do the rest of you miss?

(Edited to add Pics)

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-20 19:36 ]

I miss the original "Ovaltine", it had a completely different flavor
back in the 50s & 60s, more malted chocolate (probably alot more sugar too)
but they had to go and reformulate it back in the 70s, Now it has an interesting
chocolate sawdust taste.

One thing I don't miss is "Spam Burgers"
I know you can still get Spam today, My Mom would slice off a thick piece of Spam
fry it up in a pan, throw it in a hamburger bun with nothing else

Presto! cheap and near instant dinner, Cost wise it was popular with my Mom, Not so much
with my developing taste buds.

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-20 18:18 ]

While I don't miss the overt racist theme, I do miss Sambo's, Good Pancakes!

The Original Sambo's Restaurant is still open in Santa Barbara, Ca.
but minus the Jungle theme & decor.

http://sambosrestaurant.com/

On 2012-01-20 18:00, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:

While I don't miss the overt racist theme...

What racist theme is that ??

Sambo was a cute lil' Indian kid with a friendly tiger companion. What's so wrong about that ??

PANCAKE HATER !! :evil:

Don't get me wrong John-O, I love Pancakes!
Little Sambo went from being black to almost white over a decades time.
Nancy still sings the Sambo song (she had the record as a kid)

I actually think Sambo's got in more trouble in how they treated their own
minority workers, then for the evolving theme.

I just loved the Pancakes & was unaware of any prejudice of the times, as a kid.

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-20 18:26 ]

I miss Jujubes the way they were in the late 60's / early 70's. I think it was in the late 70's or early 80's when they changed. The old candy had a much richer color (and flavor) almost like they were like candy jewels. The new candy had a dull plastic look and tasted like flavored plastic.

I think this is an example of the box when it was good...

Who remembers these....
Those little wax bottles of flavored sugar water

I use to enjoy Horlicks malted tablets in the 70s. I liked the idea that they came in what looked like a pill bottle, maybe that's why I like vicodine so much now.

It's the high fructose corn syrup used in place of real sugar
that is the destroyer of good foods & soda!

I curse this abomination of sweeteners!

On 2012-01-20 18:56, naugatiki wrote:
I use to enjoy Horlicks malted tablets in the 70s. I liked the idea that they came in what looked like a pill bottle, maybe that's why I like vicodine so much now.

You have not lived, Until you have licked a Horlicks!
Lick one now!

I was enamored of the Funny Face Drinks commercials.

Original series

Goofy Grape
Freckle Face Strawberry
Loud-Mouth Lime (later as Loud-Mouth Punch)
Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry
Chinese Cherry (later renamed Choo-Choo Cherry)
Injun Orange (later renamed Jolly Olly Orange)

Added flavors

Lefty Lemon (later as Lefty Lemon-Lime)
Tart N' Tangy Lemon (later as Tart Lil' Imitation Lemonade)
Captain Black Cherry
Rah! Rah! Root Beer
Chilly Cherry Cola
Pistol Pink Lemonade
Rudy Tutti Frutti
"With It" Watermelon
Tart N' Tangy Orange
Chug A Lug Choclate (New Hampshire only, needed milk instead of water)

Here is one from 1970 to 1988 & located mainly in Southern California

Naugles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naugles

This was a Punk Rock institution in the mid to late 70s, It was one of the only places open late at that time
It was fast Mexican food that was actually pretty good, very fresh and the Burritos were huge
they where called Macho Burritos (Del Taco bought them out in 1988 & kept the title "Macho" on the menu, but not the size of the food)

You would get a Macho Burrito that was giant and you very rarely could finish the whole thing, I liked the "Macho Burrito con Queso"
the bun tacos & the taco cups.

We would stop there after shows at the Cuckoo's Nest or when we came back from a gig in L.A.

R.I.P. Naugles

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-22 16:40 ]

Naugles was THE place to go for lunch when I was in high school in the mid-seventies. Long before the days of closed campuses, we would pile 20 deep in the back of pickups (before that was illegal)and drive 10 miles past several other fast food places to get to Naugles. Then drive 90 mph (that was still illegal then) to get back to school on time.

Flavored cokes can still be gotten at places like Johnny Rocket's and Cafe 50's. I saw phosphates somewhere, too. May have been Cafe 50's. It has been a few years since I have been to a Cafe 50's (the local one here closed down a few years ago but there are still restaurants in Santa Monica and Van Nuys), but they try to maintain that whole 50's soda shop vibe and fare.

R.I.P. Naugles

Could not agree more! (FWIW Del Taco bought them out :wink:

Naugles used to have cheese burritos, now that's hard core!

Oh yeah...Freakies! I used to get those at Fedco.

What about Space Food Sticks...

I forgot about those Tom, because they tasted awful! must....repress....memory...again......

Hahaha! They did taste like Play-doh, but sweeter.

How about Libbyland TV dinners?

I guess we can't go on without mentioning Koogle, the flavored nutty spread that seems to have been re-branded as Nutella. The mascot was a giant plush toy.

naugatiki, That's a new one for me, have no recollection of it.

Speaking of "Space Food", Everyone remembers "Tang"!

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-22 16:24 ]

On 2012-01-20 23:23, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
Here is one from 1970 to 1988 & located mainly in Southern California

Naugles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naugles

This was a Punk Rock institution in the mid to late 70s, It was one of the only places open late at that time
It was fast Mexican food that was actually pretty good, very fresh and the Burritos were huge
they where called Macho Burritos (Taco Bell bought them out in 1988 & kept the title "Macho" on the menu, but not the size of the food)

You would get a Macho Burrito that was huge and very rarely could finish the whole thing, I liked the "Macho Burrito con Queso"
the bun tacos & the taco cups.

We would stop there after shows at the Cuckoo's Nest or when we came back from a gig in L.A.

R.I.P. Naugles

Naugles. There was one right across from my house. We hung out there ALL the time. The stupid thing was to cut the picture of Dick Naugle from the ticket, then paste it over your driver's licence. There were EPIC fights in the Naugles parking lot! EPIC!

But you are wrong about one thing: it was del taco who bought them out, resulting in the "macho" food items they still have.

On 2012-01-20 18:33, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
Who remembers these....
Those little wax bottles of flavored sugar water

I actually ran across these a few years ago at a candy store run by a vietnamese lady in the san pedro fish market area. She also had blackjack gum!

Lucas, Please excuse the brain fart, I knew it was Del Taco, but I typed Taco Bell
I avoid both these days as I like real meat in my Mexican fast food. :D

I remember facing off with some "High School football" ass wipes in the drive-thu a few times at Naugles.

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-23 01:08 ]

Here's a site that has tons of things to job the memory.

http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/page4.html

And here's a site that has a ton of photos of Sambos.

http://sambosphotos.com/

I miss the almond duck at the Far East Cafe in Little Tokyo.

That food has been ingrained on to my DNA since childhood. It's been decades since I last ate it, but I can remember the texture and flavor like it was yesterday.

That place was straight up old-school Chop Suey style !!

The other place that I really miss is a Mexican stand in the San Gabriel Valley called Angie's Burritos. It was on Valley Blvd near Del Mar.

Growing up, my whole family LOVED that place. I remember I was there with my father in the late 1970's and he was chatting with the owner. My father asked the owner if his adult children were planning on running the business after he retired. His response... "Sure, unless someone want to pay me a million dollars for this lot, ha ha".

A year later, Angie's closed and it was redeveloped into a Chinese mini-mall.

Damn those Chinese !! :evil: (who don't eat burritos).

And oh yeah, I miss slurping noodles after midnight at the Atomic Cafe...

Anyone remember Vickman's near the Downtown flower mart ??...

They had the best strawberry pie !!

Then there was the original "Okie Dogs" on Santa Monica blvd.
This was the place to go in L.A. after a punk gig, the food was awful, But it was the place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suamQqtd3f8

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-22 21:57 ]

An Okie Dog would be pretty easy to reproduce...

Two hot dogs on a flour tortilla, covered with chili and pastrami and wrapped up like a burrito.

Although I never tried.

I remember after Little League, we would eat at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. I was only familiar with the one in Rosemead, I never realized at the time it was a chain.

Interestingly enough that Rosemead location is now home to one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in So Ca. Many people just refer to it as "The Chinese restaurant that used to be Farrell's". Ha Ha. It's a good way to identify people who spent their Wonder Years in the SGV.

Anyway Farrell's had this giant ice cream concoction that had to be carried out by two people called The Zoo. Or was it the Pig's Trough, I forget.

Don't forget the Earthquake also, John
before Chuckie Cheese this was where to have a "Kid Party"

There are two places that I have my very first memories of
when we first moved to L.A. in 1963

Juanita's in Olvera Street, My father ate here for years & to this day I still go and eat there
when I am close by, The "BEST" Taquitos period!

The second place was Santoro's in Burbank
I have memories of the best Italian Sub ever, I thought it had closed years ago, but just found out
the place is still in business, I will have to try it again next time we hit the Tonga Hut.

Yeah I also remember Farrell's had self-service soda. All of the kids would mix the different flavors which we would dub "Kamikazes", much like we were budding hipster mixologists. :)

Yes, the Ferrell's Pig Trough. I made a pig of myself more than once! The male servers wore colorful garters on their arms and the females wore them on their legs, you could buy garters to take home or hang from your rearview mirror. My buddies somehow bamboozled me into buying the garter that our waitress WAS WEARING. I had to take if off wedding reception style right there in the restaurant. I was a shy guy and quite embarrassed :blush:

I remember the Farrell’s Zoo well, two people would carry it and run around the restaurant with lights and sirens going off with that big drum pounded for maximum affect. I think the tag line was if you could eat it by yourself you’d get a free second one, I never heard of anyone who did this. They also had these animals placed on top of the ice cream, I use them as cocktail garnishes now.

One thing I wasn’t a fan of was the turn of the century overpriced candy they sold like 3 feet of black licorice, baseball sized jaw breakers, giant suckers, and lots of sassafras/root beer flavored sweets.

On 2012-01-22 16:37, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote:
Lucas, Please excuse the brain fart, I knew it was Del Taco, but I typed Taco Bell
I avoid both these days as I like real meat in my Mexican fast food. :D

I remember facing off with some "High School football" ass wipes in the drive-thu a few times at Naugles.

[ Edited by: Chuck Tatum is Tiki 2012-01-23 01:08 ]

The great fights I saw were mostly our football players (foothill high) facing off against either Tustin high or El Modena high footballers. It would be funny to see 50 or more cars with the fight "fans" socializing, drinking beer and smoking cloves as we exchanged gossip and took or made bets as to the outcome. good times.

On 2012-01-22 23:46, JOHN-O wrote:
I remember after Little League, we would eat at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. I was only familiar with the one in Rosemead, I never realized at the time it was a chain.

One of my youngest memories was eating at the Farrell's in the Galleria Mall in Houston right by the Ice Skating Rink... I just looked it up and see that you guys still have a few of these (albeit recent incarnations) in CA.

You're right there are some recent incarnations, I was just at one yesterday! We went there to celebrate after my daughter's piano recital. The one we went to was fairly new, located in Brea. The placed was packed. It's been many years since I have been to one, but it was basically the same. There were at least four Zoo's delivered while we were there. As John-O was asking, yes, it's the Zoo that is carried out by two people amidst much loud fanfare with drums and sirens. Don't go here if you have a hangover! Another standard is still in place, people that eat pig troughs are required to stand up and recite an "I'm a Piggy" speech before receiving a button that says "I made a pig of myself at Farrells". Oh, and the waitresses are still wearing garters too:

A few months ago I was under the impression that there was only one Farrells left, in San Diego. Now I've learned that the original owner of the chain, Bob Farrell is involved again and the chain is making a comeback.
http://www.farrellsusa.com/

Now then, something no longer available that I used to pester My mom to buy:

I never did care much for Quake.

I miss Marathon bars

They didn't really last as long as they were advertised but they were good.

On 2012-01-23 09:41, Hakalugi wrote:
Now then, something no longer available that I used to pester My mom to buy:

I never did care much for Quake.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

What happened to "Mars Bars" I read that they are back,but have not seen one in years...

It's called a Snickers Almond Bar, but doesn't taste as good. :(

All the food I remember was "Scotch Buy" brand from Safeway - :music: "It ain't fancy but is sure is good" :music:

Be good to yourself and to the ones you love
Life is short, smile while you still have your teeth.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2012-01-23 13:37 ]

Spaceman Smokes. Unfortunately they have been renamed and repackaged since I first ran into them as a 3 year-old:

"Candy sticks" - who are they fooling? We all called them "smokes" when we were kids...

CN