This Nostalgic Life #14
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Those Cups That Used to Come in Oatmeal
by Mick Lee
Do you remember those plastic cups that came in boxes of oatmeal? For years upon years, I never knew this was a thing. Mainly because I was never around when my Mom opened the new boxes of oatmeal, and also probably because we didn’t buy the brands of oatmeal that were still doing this in the ’80s.
But even though I was totally unaware of this being a thing, I knew all about the cups, and they were favorites of mine. How is this possible you may be asking, but sit tight and I’ll tell you how I could be at both ends of the spectrum at the same time.
My grandmother on my Mom’s side had a lot of grandkids. 18 of us to be exact, and more times than not, there would be at least 5 or 6 at her house at any given time. As kids do, one would get thirsty, and so that meant all of us were thirsty because Lord forbids if one of us was getting something the others weren’t. So off to the kitchen we would go, and we all knew which glasses were for us grandkids to use. The plastic tumblers in shades of blue, green, yellow, pink, and clear.
I loved those little tumblers. The design on the sides were simply little etched blocks, with each row slightly offset from the rows above and below it. To me, they looked like little trees. As a matter of fact, we called them tree cups. Maybe I started that trend among my cousins, I don’t know.
But anyway, Granny always had a lot of these tumblers around. Partly, I believe, because she had a lot of grandkids, and partly because my Granddad ate a lot of oatmeal. It’s the only thing I ever recall hearing of him eating for breakfast. Ever. Biscuits and gravy? Nope. Bacon and eggs? No sir! Just oatmeal. So when a man eats oatmeal 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, that means you have to buy a lot of the stuff.
That “stuff” that my grandmother bought was Crystal Wedding Oats. Why they’re called that I have no idea, but it’s not important at the moment. What IS important, is that every box of this oatmeal came with one of those little tumblers packed inside…in the oatmeal. You never knew what color you were getting, so completing some kind of set could be hard if you didn’t buy much of the stuff, but that wasn’t a problem for my Grandmother. She could have had sets of 16 in every color if it weren’t for us kids losing them.
So I went years without knowing where those tumblers even came from. A few years ago, one of my cousins and I were reminiscing about old days at my grandmother’s, and I brought up those little cups, and how fondly I remembered them. Somehow I came around to asking something like, “I wonder where she got all those?”, and he proceeded to fill me in on the oatmeal box story. I was kind of blown away actually. Somehow I had gone my whole life and never heard of such a thing. Then I went on to find out that some of the dishes I had eaten off of most of my childhood probably came out of boxes of powdered dish detergent, but that’s a story for another day.
So not long after the conversation with my cousin, I was talking to a friend and related the story to him. He knew that those tumblers came in boxes of oatmeal too, and said that his grandmother kept them out for all of her grandkids as well. He also said that he STILL drank out of those things when he went to her house! I kind of forgot about our conversation after that, but when I saw him a week or so later, he brought me a couple of those very same tumblers from her house! He had related my tale to her, and she got such a kick out of it, she gave him a couple of them to bring to me, which I now proudly display in a place of honor in my own personal retro museum.
by Eric Vardeman
I recently read two books covering the history of MTV. The first one was I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution which is basically an oral history of the channel’s first ten years (from conception in 1980, through the channel’s heyday as an all music channel until 1992 when it aired its first reality show). The books contents are derived from interviews with over 400 artists, directors, executives and channel staff members. It’s full of nostalgia, interesting tidbits and tons of useless 80’s music trivia. The story of every major band, performer and video from the 80’s is covered and I found it hard to find stopping points because each story led directly into another almost non-stop. Full disclosure on my part: I bought this one on Audible and listened to it. At just a little over twenty hours long, it’s a bit of a commitment but a wildly entertain one.
The other book I read was VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave. It’s a slightly different take on the history of the channel as it’s told from the viewpoint of the five original VJ’s: Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn (along with the late J. J. Jackson). It chronicles their early careers and how they landed their spots in history (the term “VJ” didn’t even exist before they hit the air), their lives and experiences while hosting the music revolution and, ultimately, how they each were ushered out the door and what their lives look like now. It’s written in an interview style were the VJ’s relay their stories in the first person. The book is funny, eye opening and, at times, poignant (not gonna lie…when Alan Hunter, the last VJ standing, tells the story of how he signed off his last shift and walked away I had a lump in my throat). Full disclosure: I actually read this one (bought it on Kindle). Although, truth be told, if there was an Audible version with the VJ’s doing the actual narration I’d buy that in a heartbeat!
It was interesting going through both books at the same time. The stories, personal accounts, and facts in each support and embellish the other. I have to say, while I fully enjoyed both, my favorite had to be VJ. I realized, while reading VJ, that not only did I grow up with the channel, but I grew up with five of the coolest people with the coolest jobs...and I considered them my friends. Over forty years later, you find yourself getting to know them a little better while you read the book. Each of the VJ’s recount their final on-air appearance and when Alan Hunter, the last VJ standing, described how he signed off the air for the last time and walked out I’m not even the slightest bit ashamed to admit I got a little choked up.
Both books are well worth your time and money. I would even suggest doing it the same way I did: listen to the first, read the second. For me, having watched the VJ’s for so long and also currently hearing them every day on XM and iHeartRadio, their voices were what I heard in my head as I read and gave it a little more personal feel.
In 1984: Peaking at #17 this week is a song that has the dubious distinction of not only having what is considered one of the WORST videos of the MTV era but that very video is credited with destroying the artist’s career: “Rock Me Tonite” from Billy Squier. The video was so hated that it stalled the single’s momentum, derailed Squier’s tour that year and put the brakes on his career. Read all about it here.
In 1990: Peaking this week at #20 is “Banned in the U.S.A” from the hip-hop group, 2 Live Crew. The song is a reference to the decision in a court case that the 2 Live Crew's album As Nasty as They Wanna Be was obscene. (The decision would later be overturned on appeal.) It contains a sample of a Ronald Reagan impressionist proclaiming the United States' government to be a government "Of the people, for the people, by the people.”
Playlist: This Week In 1984
Playlist: This Week In 1990
In every edition of This Nostalgic Life, we like to share a curated list of nostalgia-themed articles, stories, and posts that we’ve come across recently. It gives you a chance to discover great content and remember things from your past that you may have forgotten. With that in mind, here are some things we wanted to share with you this week. (All links will open in a new tab.)
The Greatest Arcade Machines of all Time (The Gamer)
The Movies That Defined Generation X (Den of Geek)
Video Game Secrets That Went Undiscovered For Years (Den of Geek)
Top ‘80s Songs With Royalty in the Title (The Retro Network)
How Editing Saved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Made it a Classic (Open Culture)
15 Cheesy ‘80s Horror Movies To Watch With Your Friends (Screen Rant)
Thanks for reading this issue of This Nostalgic Life. If you found something that connected with you, leave us a comment!
I need to check out the MTV books you recommend. I've been reading articles by Tim Sommer about the MTV days so I've been craving more MTV material. Great post, cheers!