Friday, February 23, 2007

Oh, for the good old days


I just read an article from the Organic Consumer's Association about lead in vinyl lunchboxes. Yet another thing that makes me want to run into the woods to find a log cabin to hide in, despite what some people say about the beneficial aspects of human progress.

As a wee girl in the 70's, I just grabbed that Hardy Boys lunchbox 'n' thermos and went on my innocent, unleaded way to school each morning. Just a thin layer of ink and steel between me and my oreo cookies.

Fun Google result I found while trying to verify that my boys were indeed lead-free: this kinda scary site that has waaaay too much information. Though I'm pleased to see that the Hardy Boys would go for $25, $30 with thermos. Good thing the boys are lounging on a shelf at my dad's house, waiting for the world market in bad 70's TV show memorabilia to go through the roof. Too bad I don't still have the Shaun Cassidy poster that hung over my bed during that crucial prepubescent time.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never had a lunch box. We used brown paper bags to carry our lunches in, and they were not the sort Mother bought either. They were saved from shopping, and you were expected to bring them home to use over again. I still remember the hooting I was subjected to the time we were all out of "lunch sized" bags and I was forced to use a "grocery sack" sized bag for my lunch.

Anonymous said...

I was more a Parker Stevenson girl, myself...

That's one sweet lunchbox.

Henitsirk said...

Kerryn: Later I realized the error of my youthful ways, and converted to the Parker Stevenson side. I was waylaid by the commercial success of Shaun Cassidy. To this day that enormous Adam's apple still weirds me out.

HMH: I bet I'm going to be a mom like that once my kids go to school. Or maybe I'll make them their own lunchboxes, that's more my style.

Anonymous said...

yep, no lunchboxes at school in Pakistan in my day. I used to get greasy stains on my books every now and again because even the paper bags weren't particularly good. My friends were into Hardy Boys - I was (blush) an Enid Blyton girl. For too long.

Henitsirk said...

Hi Koonj, I have to say I had to look up Enid Blyton on Wikipedia. I've read my share of English literature but she escaped my notice. Which ones were your favorites? I still love to read children's books and will look one up on your recommendation!

Anonymous said...

I moused-over, saw the word 'lunchboxcollector' and lost my nerve!
Enid Blyton till I was nine then I was introduced to Isaac Asimov and everything changed.

Henitsirk said...

Just to be clear, I never read the Hardy Boys, just watched the TV show. For reading I was firmly in the Nancy Drew camp, with a smattering of Bobbsey Twins and Trixie Belden for variety.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Enid Blyton... I had a shelf-full and my favourites were the Magic Faraway Tree stories, the Naughtiest Girl stories, the Circus series and the Wishing Chair series. I did have a few of the Famous Five series but found that, even at eight or nine, I became rather upset that the girls were always being left behind.

And Noddy was a favourite when I was really young.