In 1972, the Sears Christmas Catalog (or "Wish Book," as they used to call the Christmas version of their catalog), featured the characters from Disney's "Winnie the Pooh."
Not only were the characters on the cover of the catalog, but they were also on the first several pages, along with stories of what Christmas was like for children in various countries around the world.
First up was Holland:
Spain:
Italy:
Sweden:
Germany:
Mexico:
Let's go back to those pages with the Sesame Street puppets. I had that Roosevelt Franklin Puppet (and the Ernie and Big Bird too). My brother had Bert and the Cookie Monster (and also Oscar the Grouch and Grover, which aren't pictured). We briefly saw Roosevelt Franklin on the Sesame Street float in my 1971 Rose Parade post, back in January of 2017. Roosevelt Franklin was the first black-influenced Muppet and was co-created by Jim Henson and Matt Robinson, who played the role of "Gordon" on Sesame Street.
My brother and I still have all of our old Sesame Street puppets. Here is what my Roosevelt Franklin puppet looks like today:
Out of all of the original boxes that the puppets came in, the one for Roosevelt Franklin, is the only box that managed to survive. And incidentally, he didn't come from Sears. The top of the box still has it's original "Gemco" price tag of $5.19!
It's interesting for me to go through this catalog now and see what other items my brother and I had, and in some cases, still have. My brother had both the Pinocchio marionette and Danny O'Day ventriloquist dummy, shown below. He even had the ventriloquism instructional record that is listed on the same page (but not shown).
Here is a shot of my brother playing with his Pinocchio marionette on Christmas morning. I still have that stuffed Santa Claus visible in the background and that red wagon (which had "SEARS 300" painted on the side of it). I wish we still had that portable record player!
And here is my brother the following year, with his Danny O'Day ventriloquist dummy.
I remember him listening to this record and trying to master "Instant Ventriloquism."
I had the Disney "Shaker Maker" figure set, pictured below. And my brother had the "Cool Cast Very Scarys." In fact, he got that at the same time that I got my Roosevelt Franklin puppet. I remember we were both playing with our new toys and some of his "RUBBERGOO" accidentally shot out of the squeeze bottle and landed on Roosevelt Franklin's shirt. Even though there was an attempt to wash it out, it left a stain that is still detectable today!
For the Shaker Maker figures, you added water to the provided powder mixes and mixed them in sort of a plastic cocktail shaker. The character mold was down inside the shaker, so after shaking you just turned it over and let the mixed material partially dry, before pulling the mold apart.
After the figure dried, you could paint them....or like the side of the box says, "Paint Like Wild!" What does that mean?
The original instruction sheet even managed to survive all these years.
"Over 5 million little girls have learned how Kenner's Easy-Bake Oven earned it's name!" What about all the boys, huh? How about some non-gender-specific advertising? Okay, okay...it was the seventies. And no, I didn't have one of these Easy-Bake Ovens! However, I did have an "Incredible Edibles" gummy candy maker. The metal cooker was sort of in the shape of a flying saucer and it would get REALLY hot. When I ran out of the gel that was used to make the candy, my mom took me to the local "Karl's Toys" store to purchase refills, but we were told that it had been discontinued, because too many kids were burning themselves on the metal cooker. I never got burned! It had a big plastic knob on top to open the lid and plastic tongs for lifting the metal candy molds out. I'll have to post some pics of it in the future.
Anyway....I did have the Hasbro "Frosty Sno-Man" sno-cone maker, pictured below the Easy-Bake Oven.
And here is what it looks like today.
The catalog featured many Pooh-themed items for children:
I was given the Winnie The Pooh "Grab Bag Game" (pictured below) for my 5th birthday.
In this late 1960's/early 1970's picture taken inside of a Sears store, the sign for the Catalog Sales desk can be seen on the far wall. Other interesting things to note in the photo, are the cameras in the glass case, and the typewriters on display just beyond the cameras. What's a typewriter?
If we zoom in, we can see Polaroid's "Big Swinger" camera on sale for $9.88, and there are movie projectors in the glass case below them. There are also greeting cards visible off to the right, in the stationary department. At one time, Sears sold almost EVERYTHING! There is also a sign in the background for "Karnival Korner," which was a snack counter that sold hot dogs, soft-serve ice cream, large pretzels and Icee's. Popcorn and warm nuts were sold over at the candy counter, which would have been located directly behind the person who took this photo.
And for anyone who's interested, here is what the Sears candy counter looked like. This photo was taken around Easter time. Notice the Easter baskets, plush bunnies and other furry critters for sale!
We will end today, with the back cover of the 1972 Sears Christmas catalog. The Kenmore (Sears' brand) appliances were available in "Tawny Gold" and "Avocado" for only $5.00 more than the standard "White." My mom's appliances were all "Avocado" green....and so was our shag carpet!
Happy holidays, everyone!
*****POST UPDATE*****
While looking around on ebay, I came across the same Hasbro Frosty Sno-Cone Machine that I had, still in it's original sealed box! The seller states that it is "Old Stock" and is asking a "Buy It Now" price of $399! (It can be found here, if anyone is interested: New/Sealed - In Original Box)
Someone else is selling a used one, but with it's original box, for $115! (That one can be found here: Used - In Original Box)
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32 comments:
Sears at Christmas time is such an engrained childhood memory. I remember as a child pouring through those catalogs and dreaming about all the toys that were in those catalogs. I wonder if they sell vintage Sears Christmas catalogs on eBay? I should check it out.
As I've said many times, I'm blown away by how much you still have from your childhood. Everything I saved from my childhood I could fit in a shoebox.
That "Frosty Sno-Man Sno-Cone Machine" is super cool. Can you still make snow cones with it? Of course it would be too cool to use now. Do you display it during the holidays
My cousin had the "Kenner Easy Bake Oven" with a light bulb (heat) inside. One time she and I made a little itty-bitty cake with the Easy Bake Oven and ate it. That was so long ago that I don't even remember if the cake was any good, but the process of making and baking it was fun.
The Danny O'Day doll is kind of strange, but the elf under the tree looks pretty cool and vintage.
Thanks for another great and fun post, TokyoMagic!
Ken, I remember my brother and I spending so much time looking over all the toys in the Sears "Wish Books." And I think I have seen vintage "Wish Books" on ebay. I have this one and also an older one from '68 or '69 that is actually in better condition. Then I have one more Sears catalog, but it isn't a Christmas edition. That one has a VERY young Shelley Hack in it as one of the models. I'll have to try and post some more pages out of this book, as well as the other catalogs.
I think I've mentioned it before, but one of the reasons I still have so many childhood items, is because we never moved!
The Sno-Cone machine would still work.....it never broke on me. But I haven't tried making a sno-cone with it since I was a kid. I only recently got it out of my mom's kitchen cupboard, so no, I haven't displayed it yet, but this would be a good time of year to put it out.
I never knew anyone with one of those "Easy Bake" ovens, but I think I was kind of fascinated by them. You can make cakes whenever you want them.....WOW!!!! Do you remember if it was a full sized light bulb that created the heat? I wonder if many kids got burnt on those ovens?
I have been told by many people, that the Danny O'Day ventriloquist dummy is creepy! I still have that elf and about four or five others, too. There were also some small stuffed reindeer that the elves fit on perfectly and I still have those, as well!
Fun post, TokyoMagic! So many wonderful childhood memories come back when looking at these old catalogs.
I also had and loved Incredible Edibles. I still remember what some of the flavors tasted like -- cinnamon, licorice, butterscotch. The flavors had a strange "plastic" smell/taste to them. Do you remember that? I was able to get some refills, but not for long.
I had to laugh at the washing machine ad you posted. What actually is "Suds Saver"?? I do remember hearing that phrase, but I'll have to google it to see what it is . . .
Please post more from this catalog as it would be fun to see the clothes, furniture and whatever else they were selling from those wonderful years.
Thanks, TM!
Sue
Sue, I remember one of the flavors of the gel packs for the Incredible Edibles, was tutti fruiti. I think that was the first time I had ever heard of that flavor. I also want to say that one of the flavors was root beer. Does that sound right? And I think I do remember them having a strange smell and taste. I must not have liked them very much, because I remember not eating much of the candy and just keeping them around like tiny rubber toys.
I'm not sure what the "Suds Saver" feature would be. Maybe it allowed you to use less soap?
I will try to post more pages from this catalog (and others) in the future!
TokyoMagic! I just googled the flavors for Incredible Edibles and they were: licorice, mint, butterscotch, cherry, root beer and cinnamon (these 6 were included in the "kit"); and tutti-fruiti and raspberry were sold in-addition-to (??). You may have played with them, but I "scarfed them down." Fun Flowers, Rings and Things, Creepy Crawlers and Creeple People were another story - as you couldn't eat those.
Hahahaha regarding Suds-Saver! I just googled it. I can picture everything that could go wrong with that scenario!
Am looking forward to more catalog posts!! Thanks, TM!
Sue
Sue, oh good, so my memory was at least accurate about the root beer flavor! Yeah, maybe tutti-fruiti was only available in the refill tubes? I need to get my "Incredible Edibles" set out, along with some of my other toys and games, which are still over at my mom's house!
I can't contribute first-hand experience like Ken and Sue above, but that doesn't mean I can't give you a thumbs-up for this cool post!
We still get catalogs in the mail, of course, but I'm sure there's nothing that will ever match the scale of the infamous Sears catalogs. I wish I had gotten to experience that fun as a kid!
We had (have, I guess...) a Sno-Cone machine with Peanuts characters. That's crazy how much ones like yours are going for on eBay; what's so special about them?
As a side note, it's a shame how quick Sears has fallen. Both our local K-Mart and Sears have closed in the past two years, and I liked those stores!
Andrew, by any chance, was the Peanuts sno-cone machine in the shape of Snoopy's dog house? When I was looking around on ebay, I saw a few like that.
Who knows why those sellers were asking so much for my version of the machine? I have a friend who always reminds me that just because someone is "asking" a certain price, doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to be "getting" that price. Some sellers out there, think their stuff is "gold"!!! I did see my same sno-cone machine on ebay, for only $14.99, but that one was missing one of the squeeze bottles and it also did not come with the original box.
As for Sears...yes, it is VERY sad what has happened to them! We probably shopped at Sears more often, than any other department store. Three of the Sears stores that my family used to shop at, have all closed just within the last year or so. Those were all in enclosed malls, and two of them were in malls that are pretty much failing. It's sad how both the malls and the major department stores aren't doing well. I guess the main cause of that, is from online buying.
However, even before the popularity of internet shopping, we saw quite a few department stores go out of business here in California. We used to have Broadway, Bullock's, Buffums, Montgomery Ward, Orbach's, May Co., Robinson's and Mervyn's. All of those companies are gone now!
Thanks TokyoMagic!, this is holiday nostalgia plus. I remember childhood visits to the immense Sears in Inglewood; these days hot popcorn aromas can bring it all back. At Christmastime, big department stores were magical places for kids; they are central to the appeal of "Miracle on 34th Street". I'll take the satisfying heft of the catalog to online buying and drone delivery any day. Though the stores are gone it is heartening that the elegant gold-tiled May Co. building at Wilshire and Fairfax has been restored and repurposed as the Academy Museum, opening next month; and the handsome Streamline Moderne Sears in Santa Monica will be renovated as offices with the exterior design intact.
I had a friend with the Easy Bake oven, the results were awful and we ate every bit of it. Ditto a Willy Wonka chocolate bar maker, tied in the 1971 movie; the promotional candy bars were pretty good though , especially the foot-long Scrumdiddlyumptious.
TokyoMagic, I was curious, so I looked it up and was surprised to learn that the Snoopy version evolved from the Frosty toy.
Our local mall is still thriving, but it's lost the Sears, and the JCPenney is down to one floor. On the other side of town, though, I visited a "dead" mall just for fun, and it was a slightly eerie feeling. As another aside, I also wish that I had gotten to experience the excitement of a big, many-floored department store more than I did. The last one in downtown Pittsburgh was Macy's and closed about five years ago.
Stefano, I was also glad to see that the old May Co. building on Wilshire got a second life. I know the L.A. County Museum of Art was using it as an "annex" for a while and exhibits rotated. Is the Academy Museum going to be a permanent exhibit? I was also glad to see that the Bullock's Wilshire building down the street, was saved from the wrecking ball. That building is beautiful inside and out, although I have not been inside of it since the law library moved into it.
I didn't know that Santa Monica had a streamline modern Sears building! I'm going to have to look that up! I think the Sears on Olympic Blvd. in Boyle Heights, is also streamline modern. Or maybe it's art deco? I thought it had closed down years ago, but when I look at Google Street View (https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0248335,-118.2209631,3a,90y,208.18h,115.97t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sHfUQfpHvlHYEzKaKUWjvWQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DHfUQfpHvlHYEzKaKUWjvWQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D99.51232%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192), it appears to still be open for business. I've never been inside. The building is HUGE, but I believe a good part of it was used in the past, as their distribution/shipping warehouse.
Andrew, thanks for that info about the machine! That's pretty amazing! I saw an electric sno-cone machine (and a cotton candy machine!) at Target several years ago. And these weren't kids toys....they were in the kitchen appliances aisle. I don't know if they were popular though, because I haven't seen them at Target since then.
I know what you mean about "dead" malls being kind of eerie! The mall that is just down the street from Knott's Berry Farm has been dying a very long and slow death. I included some interior pics of it, in this post from a few years back: https://meettheworldinprogressland.blogspot.com/2012/03/blog-post.html
TM!, yes, the Academy Museum is now the permanent home of the folks who bring us the Oscars. Exhibitions of filmmakers and genres will be ongoing, along with prop and costume displays like the Ruby Slippers and anything Star Wars that Disney hasn't scooped up. Behind the May Co. building is a new spherical structure, very EPCOT-ish, which houses a 1,000 seat movie theatre. As someone who grew up with large single screen theatres in Westchester and Inglewood, and wonders how we can be charged $15 to sit in a shoebox, that is encouraging news.
The renovated Sears building in San Mo is going to keep that company's sign on the façade, for a touch of 1940s elegance. Now if a tenant could found for the Flying Saucer Theme Building at LAX...
Stefano, I will have to go check out the new museum. I've only been inside the building twice and that was when LACMA had the temporary exhibits for Van Gogh and King Tutankhamen. It will be interesting to see what the Academy has done with the interior.
I looked up the Santa Monica Sears store. I don't think I had ever seen pics of it before. That looks like a very ambitious project that they have planned for the building. While I was looking it up online, I came across articles about the Boyle Heights Sears store. Apparently, that huge building (which used to be the distribution center for Sears), is also undergoing a major transformation into living spaces and retail, as well. And the plan is currently to have the Sears store within the building, remain open after the conversion. They still light up the vintage neon Sears signs on all four sides of the tower at night, which is pretty cool. I have been on the 5, 10, and 60 freeways at night, and been able to see them from pretty far away.
And apparently, there is a third Sears building, which they are trying to convert to living and retail space. That's the Sears on Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. That building is old, but it has obviously been bastardized over the years.....probably in the seventies, and is no where near as special or unique looking as the Santa Monica or Boyle Heights stores.
Great post...for us, getting the wish book in the mail (in October IIRC) signaled the beginning of the holiday season.
here's a website i highly recommend...be prepared to waste hours of your time.
http://www.wishbookweb.com/
I need to leave a longer comment later, but... I can still hear the jingle from that Snowman sno-cone maker commercial! I mean VIVIDLY! (Found it on YouTube: HERE
Anonymous, thank you for that web address! I recognize quite a few of those Sears Christmas catalog covers. I wish we had saved all of the ones that I remember from childhood. I guess I should be grateful that my mom saved any of them!
Major, WHOA! I had completely forgot about that commercial! "GIMME ORANGE!" "I WANT LIME!" I never even thought to look for the commercials for any of the items in my post. Thank you for sharing that! And now I have that jingle playing in my head....which is NOT a bad thing! :-)
TM! I forgot about that commercial, too. As soon as it started, the tune and all the words came back to me instantly. Thanks, Major, for adding that!
Sue
Yes, thanks for that commercial, major. I had totally forgotten it as well until it started.
TM!, as a young kid, the entire bottom drawer of my dresser was full of Sears and J.C. Penney catalogs dating from 1970 to 1976, including the one you posted today. I remember every single catalog entry you posted. Funny how memories come back like that.
My sister had a "Booful Beans" doll like the one on the same page as Danny O'Day, and I think she also had an Ernie puppet (although that might have been owned by a friend or maybe even the church nursery; I definitely remember playing with one). She also had the Winnie-the-Pooh See'n'Say. I really wanted the Adventure Tunnel myself.
We were definitely a Pooh family. It must be genetic, because my kids - particularly my oldest - were Pooh fans as well.
Going to a department store used to be such an adventure. When we lived in Fairfield (between Sacramento and SF), they built a J.C. Penney out in a big open field all by itself. It was so much fun to visit - a store that was two stories tall! Years later I learned that it had been built as an anchor for a mall whose construction was delayed for several years due to the early-to-mid-'70s economic slump; it was eventually built after we moved away in '76.
My mom would drop me off in the toy section and come collect me after she was done shopping. I remember spending what seemed like hours looking at the Fisher-Price toys, Star Trek models, and coloring books.
After we moved, we had a mall that was just 10 minutes away with not one, not two, but three department stores - a Sears, a J.C. Penney, and a Famous-Barr (which was eventually bought out by the May Co.). They had a pretty big Pooh section at that Sears; it was the only part of the second floor I liked spending any time in (the rest was clothes - boring!).
Thanks (as usual) for the nostalgic trip, TM!
Sue, after Major posted the commercial, I started wondering if there were commercials on YouTube for some of the other toys in this post. I found this one for Muppet toys/puppets, but I don't remember it from childhood. I think it was a little before my time. This had to be in the early days, even before "The Muppet Show," because Rowlf and Kermit look a little crude and not quite what they would eventually become.
Then I found this commercial with Danny O'Day, Farfel and Jimmy Nelson for Nestle's Quick.
And I have to admit, I didn't even search for an Easy Bake Oven commercial, but I did do a search for Incredible Edibles. I didn't find a commercial for it, but I found this video of a guy who bought it and the box had never been opened: Incredible Edibles
And then there is this video of comedian Jeff Dunham, who also acquired an unopened box of Incredible Edibles. He actually makes the candy, using 51 year old "Goble DeGoop!" The video is kind of long, but the first half is about the Incredible Edibles and Creeple People and Creepy Crawlers which you had also mentioned. The second half can be skipped.....unless you are majorly into all of the different flavored Oreos that Nabisco makes: Jeff Dunham and Incredible Edibles
Chuck, I remember that we kept those Sears Wish Books around for a long time. I wish I had all of them! But I'm glad that I have at least two of them. And I think my brother and I had most of the toy pages memorized. I remember that we always wanted the "Voice of the Mummy" game, but neither one of us got it.
I also remember spending time in the toy section of department stores. Sears had their toys located on the "basement" level. Christmastime was a big deal, because they would carry an even larger selection. I seem to remember a sign at Christmas, with "Sears Toy Box" written on it. Or maybe they called their toy department that all year long?
Do you remember the "three-story" department stores, like Broadway, May Co. and Robinson's? Bullock's and Buffum's might have also been three-stories. We shopped in all of the department stores, but what we bought mostly came from Sears and May Co.....oh and I guess sometimes J.C. Penny. I forgot to comment when Andrew talked about his local Penny's being only one floor now. The Penny's that I shopped at with my mom as a kid, was two stories, but a few years back, they removed the escalators and "sealed off" the second floor from the public. So weird!
And speaking of Pooh, do you remember the "Winnie the Pooh Tree" in Sears stores in the seventies? It was a fake tree, which I believe was built around one of the building's support columns. It had animated figures on it. Pooh leaning in and out of a hole in the trunk of the tree. Owl was perched up on his little house in the tree and his eyes slowly opened and closed. And Tigger was bouncing up and down on his tail on one of the tree branches. I wish I could find pictures of that. There has to be some out there somewhere, but I haven't been able to find any. The Winnie the Pooh Tree was in our Sears store for many years and I remember eventually most of the figures broke (or were turned off) and the only thing that still moved were Owl's eyes. It really was like something out of Disneyland.....almost like one of the window displays from the Main St. Emporium, but on a huge, floor to ceiling scale.
I had totally forgotten about The Voice of the Mummy! I remember being scared of the artwork in the catalog (mummies=monsters=scary) but also being strangely fascinated by it. And reading about the game now, I'm trying to figure out the mechanics of how that worked with the built-in record player. I wonder what one of those in working condition is worth now? In fact, I wonder if there are any in working condition now.
Our local malls were always of the two-story variety, but I do remember going to the Famous-Barr mother ship in downtown St Louis to see a huge Lego display. The store occupied the first 12 stories (only 10 were sales floors) of the 21-story Railway Exchange Building and was so large that it had its own exhibition hall, which was where the Legos were. Also - I misremembered the company history - it was owned by the May Co. from 1911 until it merged with Macy's in 2005 and the brand was retired.
You mentioning escalators reminds me of one time I was goofing around at that J.C. Penney in Fairfield. I was six or seven and was going up the down escalator when I tripped. At the exact moment I tripped, the escalator stopped. Maybe somebody hit the emergency stop button when they saw me fall or maybe it just broke down at that moment, but I thought that I had broken the escalator. I remember being totally mortified, and I thought they were going to arrest me. I guess I'm still a fugitive from Sears Security. :-)
I do remember the giant Pooh tree in our Sears, and I remember the figures, but I'm not sure I remember the animation working. The tree was part of why that was the only part of the second floor I could stand.
The first time I went with my then-girlfriend (my now-wife) to stay the weekend at her parents' house, she and her mom went off to the Dayton Mall to shop while I stayed at the house. When they got back, I was laying on the couch, reading a book I'd brought with me. She told me she'd gotten me something at Sears and pulled out a plush Pooh. Ironically, I was reading A.A. Milne's original Winnie the Pooh, which she had no idea that I'd brought with me for the weekend.
Chuck, I haven't done a search on it myself, but I have been told that the Voice of the Mummy game sells for big bucks on ebay! There was another talking board game called, "Ka-Bala" that I always found intriguing when seeing it in the catalogs.
Your escalator story is funny, but maybe it wasn't for you! I remember being afraid of the double-wide escalators. I think our local May Co. was the only store in town that had the wide ones. With the narrower escalators, I could stand in the middle and reach both sides, even as a small child. However, I couldn't do that with the wider escalators and I was scared to step onto them when I was only able to hold onto one side.
I'm glad that I am not the only one to remember the "Winnie The Pooh" tree inside the Sears stores. I don't think all of the stores had them, but I could be wrong about that. I remember Pooh being a really big deal at Sears. He was even featured in some of their commercials. I remember a particular commercial with Pooh, Cheryl Tiegs and Evonne Goolagong, both of whom had clothing lines at Sears. I looked on YouTube, but couldn't find that commercial. I did find one with Cheryl Tiegs and an animated Pooh. And another one, with Evonne Goolagong and Pooh.
What a wonderful post. Thank you, Tokyo.
So much here looks familiar, both in the posts and the comments.
Mom had a washer very similar to the posted one, in harvest gold. I remember the suds saver term. I think it was that gadget on top of the agitator in the picture. The soap was dumped into it IIRC. I finally donated that washer, still working after almost 40 years of service.
I vaguely recall Incredible Edibles, associated with an odd flavor memory, so that's consistent. I really loved my Creepy Crawler maker, but have no idea where it went.
Thanks for all the memories.
JG
JG, thanks! Wow, your mom's washer lasted 40 years! My mom's avocado green washer & dryer set lasted 20 years. Actually, they didn't break down, she just replaced them. Maybe they are still getting the working somewhere, for someone! Did you ever burn yourself on you Creepy Crawler cooker? I am guessing that you did not. In that "Jeff Dunham" video that I posted the link to (in a comment above), he gets a temperature reading from his Creepy Crawler cooker. It was over 400 degrees! And this was a kid's toy! It's kind of unbelievable, when you think about it.
Merry Christmas, TokyoMagic!
Sue
Merry Christmas, Sue! I hope you had a wonderful day!
I haven't been here for a while so I have some catch up reading to do.
Holy Smokes, the Wishbook! And a week after it was received it was dog eared, had circles drawn around all the cool toys, and it was left open, to something someone wanted, in a conspicuous place where a parent was sure to find it. So much for being subtle.
MRaymond, welcome back! I'll have to ask my brother if we ever circled the stuff that we wanted in the catalog. I want to say that we did, but nothing in this 1973 edition was circled. However, I do remember them getting pretty beat up from all the handling! I hope you had a nice Christmas!
Hey, Tokyo, you are right, I did burn myself on the Creepy Crawler thing. Not badly, and I got better, but enough to remind me what not to grab.
As I recall, the metal mold plates had a little oblong slot in the short end and the tongs were a kind of wire handle with prongs. You squeezed the handles together till the ends fit in the slot, then releasing them made the prongs expand into the slot so you could lift the hot plate.
Leaving the tongs in the plate while the bugs cooked meant the wires got hot too, and the rest is history. LOL
About the washer, she bought it in the '70's, the only era when that color was vogue, and it stayed in the family until the early 00's, so maybe 30 years plus on second thought. Still a long life for a major appliance.
JG
JG, that's interesting. I'm not sure, but I think they made Creepy Crawlers longer than they made Incredible Edibles. And the incredible edibles came with similar metal trays, but the tongs for lifting the trays out were plastic.
And it's amazing how long appliances used to last back in those days. They sure don't build them like that anymore!
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