Although some of these items have left our memory or left a bad impression, many have not left the shelves if you know where to look (or how to Google). Introduce your grandkids to some of them so they’ll understand why we turned out the way we did.
“See thru clothing…” That was the selling point of X-Ray Spex that caused young boys to waste money on “THE FAMOUS Blushingly FUNNY ILLUSION.”
Remember Ovaltine, the powdery mix that made milk almost taste like chocolate? It is banned in Denmark because it contains—sugar? No! Vitamins!
Outside of the pocket protector, the pocket comb with clip was the ultimate nerd gang sign. They are hard to find except in senior men’s cufflink drawers.
They were good enough for NASA, and good enough for kids. Space Food Sticks came and went and finally crash-landed in 2014.
Bucky Beaver made Ipana, the toothpaste with the exotic-sounding name, popular in the 1950s. It boated of its unique ingredient Hexachlorophene, which was unique because it was dangerous. It was never submitted to the ADA for acceptance, and was spit out in 1979.
