School and college sports

[Stearmen]

Ever eat a hyper-sugared cereal with a cartoon character on the box? Those didn't exist before the war, but they absolutely exploded with the coming of television. And the Boys saw to it that they were displayed on the bottom shelves in the new supermarkets, at exactly the right height to be spotted by and made the target of nagging by children.

The Boys also began pushing "family size" bottles of soda in the fifties, the better for serving the kids at the table. This took a long time to catch on, so they diversified into "fruit flavored" sugary drinks presented under the illusion of being "healthy. Coca-Cola made a big hit with its "Hi-C" line of fruit drinks containing much more sugar than actual fruit juice or Vitamin C. "Hawaiian Punch" was another such fake-healthy sugar beverage that found its way to many Boomer tables.

I ate Cheerios growing up. On a funny, or tragic note if you are a rat, in the 80s, one of the Universities did a study, where they fed rats nothing but breakfast cereal. Only three kept the rats alive, on the others, the rats stuffed themselves and died! Only on Cheerios did the rats thrive, the other two, they barely survived! So I am glad my Mom bought the bland cereal. As to the others, we must have been to poor to buy all those things you mentioned. Some one must have been buying them, just not my family or friends families.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

When I was a kid in Dallas in 1954-55 one of my favorite shows was "Space Patrol!" (yes, the exclamation point was in the title). Back then, the stars did the commercials live during the course of the stories. These were sponsored by Ralston Rice Chex, Wheat Chex and Corn Chex. These cereals (still with us) were veritable health foods compared to what came later. At least they weren't loaded with sugar and salt. You can watch episodes on Youtube, complete with the commercials.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I admit to my eternal shame that I ate a great many boxes of Pink Panther Flakes during the brief time it was on the market. And then I ran around the house with my pupils fully dilated, whirling my arms maniacally and screaming out one continuous YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH until my mother hit me with a wet towel and sent me sprawling to the floor.

I then moved on to "Freakies," which were, if it is possible, even more heinous.

The very mention of "Freakies" made me smile. Had a prof in college mid- 1970's - a very likeable older guy who was serious in his commitment to eradicating world hunger, and always tried to get us to consider the distribution of agricultural resources to that end. He was the incarnation of the socially conscientious Midwest Methodist, and tried to inspire students to that noble end of serving the Almighty by helping the less fortunate of mankind.

One day, we were discussing the imprudence of highly processed foods and how their popularity in developed countries could work to the detriment of impoverished individuals in developing third world nations. How squandered resources in America mean people elsewhere going without essentials. How, despite our best intentions, old habits die hard when it comes to processed foods that perhaps were not even good for us. At one point in desperation he cried out: "YOU try tellin' my kids that they can't eat Freakies !!"

 

[HudsonHawk]

I ate Cheerios growing up. On a funny, or tragic note if you are a rat, in the 80s, one of the Universities did a study, where they fed rats nothing but breakfast cereal. Only three kept the rats alive, on the others, the rats stuffed themselves and died! Only on Cheerios did the rats thrive, the other two, they barely survived! So I am glad my Mom bought the bland cereal. As to the others, we must have been to poor to buy all those things you mentioned. Some one must have been buying them, just not my family or friends families.

Cheerios have long been my favorite cereal. I eat them dry as a snack most of the time now. I invariably get the "what are you, an infant?" line.

 

[Fading Fast]

Cheerios have long been my favorite cereal. I eat them dry as a snack most of the time now. I invariably get the "what are you, an infant?" line.

Try being an adult who enjoys Corn Pops (which, while not having much real nutritional value - other than the vitamins they shove in it - isn't nearly as heavy a sugar-added cereal as the sugar-packed ones) as I have taken no end of abuse about that. I, too, will eat it dry as a snack anytime during the day. I also do the same with Planters Peanuts (the basic ones, not any of the fancy ones) and I will get abuse about that as well (although, over the last several years, there seems to have been a shift where many now view them as an acceptable snack).

 

[HudsonHawk]

I buy generic peanuts, out of the bulk bin at the supermarket. They're about half the price of the jarred kind. I always have some on hand, along with licorice jelly beans. Both of them are perfectly acceptable snacks in my little world.

 

[Fading Fast]

I buy generic peanuts, out of the bulk bin at the supermarket. They're about half the price of the jarred kind. I always have some on hand, along with licorice jelly beans. Both of them are perfectly acceptable snacks in my little world.

I am pretty frugal and have tried the generic brands of peanuts (and we buy generic brands of many items), but in a blind taste test, I can truly tell the difference (that said, I haven't tried all the generic brands, so who knows). NYC supermarkets, with limited space, have few of those bulk bins - I don't remember seeing them in the few supermarkets we frequent - but I will look more closely for them now and will try the peanuts if I find them. That said, I do buy Planters Peanuts in cans on Amazon in six packs which is half the cost of a can at my local store.

N.B. I am convinced that the generic peanut butter filled pretzels I buy are the same (and made by the same company) as the name brand. Not only do they taste the same, but the ingredient list, nutritional label, etc. are all identical. And that is about a 50% savings.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The very mention of "Freakies" made me smile. Had a prof in college mid- 1970's - a very likeable older guy who was serious in his commitment to eradicating world hunger, and always tried to get us to consider the distribution of agricultural resources to that end. He was the incarnation of the socially conscientious Midwest Methodist, and tried to inspire students to that noble end of serving the Almighty by helping the less fortunate of mankind.

One day, we were discussing the imprudence of highly processed foods and how their popularity in developed countries could work to the detriment of impoverished individuals in developing third world nations. How squandered resources in America mean people elsewhere going without essentials. How, despite our best intentions, old habits die hard when it comes to processed foods that perhaps were not even good for us. At one point in desperation he cried out: "YOU try tellin' my kids that they can't eat Freakies !!"

Freakies always stuck in my mind, not just for the cereal -- which was sort of like Apple Jacks without the apple flavor, a hard, sugar-encrusted ring of extruded corn meal with no particular taste other than OMG SUGAR -- but for its advertising, which was incessant and insinuating. I was ten years old when it came out, a bit old for its target audience, but there wasn't a kid in my class who didn't know the Freakies song by heart. If you walk into a room full of Americans in their early fifties to this day and sing "We are the Freakies, we are the Freakies..." I bet at least two thirds of them will immediately and without hesitation chime in with the next line. But I also bet that the majority of those people have only vague memories, if any at all, of the actual cereal.

Which all made sense to me when I learned that "Freakies" weren't created by a cereal company at all. They were entirely a product of an advertising agency -- the whole concept from start to finish was developed as a sales gimmick, and then a cereal was manufactured as pretty much an afterthought to go along with the sales concept. Which is the way *all* of the cartoon-character/tie-in cereals are developed right down to this day -- the cereal itself is nothing. The marketing concept is the entire reason these products exist -- endless ways of selling minor variations of *the exact same product* at inflated prices under different names. You could call every one of them "Breakfast With The Boys" and you'd be right.

 

[Stearmen]

This isn't a criticism, just a little comic relief! I read this post, then went back to go to the next thread, so I clicked on School and Collage Sports, only to end up back here. I thought I had made a mistake, so I went back, then I realized I was on the right thread. Then I realized it was my fault we are now talking about breakfast cereals!

 

[Fading Fast]

This isn't a criticism, just a little comic relief! I read this post, then went back to go to the next thread, so I clicked on School and Collage Sports, only to end up back here. I thought I had made a mistake, so I went back, then I realized I was on the right thread. Then I realized it was my fault we are now talking about breakfast cereals!

Lizzie has pointed out before how these threads - like in-person conversation - can wander all over the place and usually in a harmless and even (as in this case) fun way. But like you, I sometimes have to check the thread heading just to make sure I am in the right place (as we discuss the best wood for outdoor benches in the "Vintage Appliance" thread - a made up example). As a fan of cereal, I'm all for it having its own thread, but who knows, all it takes is one post and we'll be back to positing on the merits of this or that school sport.

And to that point, it was a middle school exercise program in gym class that got me started on a life of exercise. Barring when I am sick, sometimes on vacation and the occasional (rare) "just don't feel like it" day, I have worked out every day of my life since middle school, in part, because of that program. The program started with a series of exercises - how many pushups, sit-ups, etc., could you do in X minutes and other such tests - then we were given "homework" to do over the next month or so (I think) and then we were re-tested. I never stopped when the program was over. While my exercise routine has evolved over the years and is barely recognizable to that early one, two things haven't changed even at the age of 51; I still do sit ups and push up and I still wake up and work out first thing in the morning (as was suggested in the program).

 

[sheeplady]

Try being an adult who enjoys Corn Pops (which, while not having much real nutritional value - other than the vitamins they shove in it - isn't nearly as heavy a sugar-added cereal as the sugar-packed ones) as I have taken no end of abuse about that. I, too, will eat it dry as a snack anytime during the day. I also do the same with Planters Peanuts (the basic ones, not any of the fancy ones) and I will get abuse about that as well (although, over the last several years, there seems to have been a shift where many now view them as an acceptable snack).

They advertise 'kid' cereal to adults now... I can't remember the brand, but I definitely saw a commercial for (I think) Lucky Charms advertised towards 20-somethings.



I think I would have valued gym class more if we'd learned more variety of exercise. I think a gym class should give you a taste of every sort of fitness class you could commonly take, like yoga, weight lifting, etc.

 

[Fading Fast]

They advertise 'kid' cereal to adults now... I can't remember the brand, but I definitely saw a commercial for (I think) Lucky Charms advertised towards 20-somethings.



I think I would have valued gym class more if we'd learned more variety of exercise. I think a gym class should give you a taste of every sort of fitness class you could commonly take, like yoga, weight lifting, etc.

I agree. I took gym class up until you could opt out in Senior Year (that was a millisecond of a decision - "where do I sign to opt out") and it was only that one time "exercise challenge" or whatever they called it that got me into exercising. But it took many years of self-education to learn about yoga (love it - the stretching is what I focus on), aerobic workouts, how to work different muscle groups, etc. It would have been great to have learned some of that in gym class.

 

[Bushman]

I too took up fencing, but I left after a few weeks. It just wasn't what I imagined it would be. A lot more foot work, when I as expecting more arm work.

 

[Ticklishchap]

I too took up fencing, but I left after a few weeks. It just wasn't what I imagined it would be. A lot more foot work, when I as expecting more arm work.

That's very interesting. I suppose you had to be quite deft with your feet but I would have thought it was a more arm-based sport.

 

[Ticklishchap]

This thread is seriously making me think of taking up a sport again in the New Year.

 

[Fading Fast]

I too took up fencing, but I left after a few weeks. It just wasn't what I imagined it would be. A lot more foot work, when I as expecting more arm work.

I have no real reason why. I've never tried fencing and, other than on TV, I have never seen it, but like you, thought it would be an interesting sport to give a shot. It seems to require an athleticism that would fit me (at 6'1" 150lbs, a lot of sports aren't geared well for my, hmm, not large frame) and it seems to have a lot of "chess-like" strategy which I like. I've never gotten past the "it seems like it would be interesting" stage to look into it owing to time and money (I image, like everything, the start up costs aren't minimal).

 

[Ticklishchap]

I have no real reason why. I've never gotten past the "it seems like it would be interesting" stage to look into it owing to time and money (I image, like everything, the start up costs aren't minimal).

It does, I agree, look interesting and it might be very worth considering.

 

[Ticklishchap]

... Or I might even (dare I say it) consider taking up Rugger again, if there's a club for early middle-aged men who don't take it too seriously.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If there was a softball team around here for half-blind overweight middle-aged women with sciatica and bursitis, I'd join it in a minute.

 

[Ticklishchap]

Looking back, our style of gym class was geared towards the military draft! We lined up every day, arms length, divided into squads, squad leaders, team activities, through a hand-grenade, I mean softball, even had to pass the Marine Corp physical fitness test, adjusted for age of course!

And equally, if you had military interests at school, there was an expectation that you would be a keen sportsman, whether or not that was so in practice.