Saturday Morning Cartoons and Breakfast Cereal Memories

Saturday mornings as a kid in the 1960s and 1970s meant two things: Saturday cartoons and weird breakfast cereals. I lived in Michigan, near Cereal City (Battle Creek)--Kelloggs, Post, Quaker and General Mills were household words. During the school week mom usually didn't let you eat junk cereal. It had to be healthy stuff, if you even got cereal. Some moms were of the eggs and toast persuasion. And not all of us had TV--I had to get my television fix at grandma's and grandpa's house. My parents were those irritating progressives who thought TV and junk were bad for you! And grandparents were frugal Hollanders who only bought what was on sale, so not much luck getting junk cereal there. When I'd ask if I could have Quisp or Freakies or some such novelty,  grandpa would reminisce about his favorite when he was a kid--Ralston. I doubt, in 1917, they were very inventive--no cool prizes, artificial flavors or colors??what's breakfast cereal without those? 1960s-1970s was the heyday of cereal.  I found pictures of Saturday breakfast cereal favorites from the 60s-90s. It's not conclusive, but it's still a fun walk down memory lane. And alas, now that I'm a mom, I pushing that healthy cereal, too. Here's a list of the best Healthy, Nutritious Packaged Cold Breakfast Cereal Brands 

Remember Trick or Treat For UNICEF? 1970s Kid Memories

I've talked to a gamut of kids from the 60s and 70s and most of us have happy Halloween.  Cool costumes (remember the cheap plastic boxed kind mom got for $2 at the grocery store?). And the candy--along with today's fare there were some treats that have disappeared in the passage of time: Slo Pokes, Sugar Babies, Marathon,  Choco-Lite, Razzles. Halloween parties were a blast too--bobbing for apples (no one worried about catching H1N1 then), costume parades and hay mazes--good times. My favorite part of trick-or-treat wasn't any of those things, fun as they were. It was getting to carry a little orange box to collect pennies for UNICEF. Do you remember 'trick-or-treat for UNICEF? You can still do it....

Photo of Girl in Vietnam Napalm Bombing Brings Back Memories

On June 8, 1972, I was your average 7-year-old--happy to be out of school and looking forward to summer vacation. Soldiers were fighting in a place called "Vietnam" but that was far away. It didn't really affect me in my happy little beach town of Muskegon, Mich.

Over meatloaf and mashed potatoes, we watched news reels on television. As callous as only a child can be, I got used to seeing the graphic images. In fact, it used to annoy me when war updates interrupted "Tom and Jerry." Then a picture appeared that pierced my happy-normal life. Photo of Girl in Vietnam Napalm Bombing Brings Back Memories 

2012 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise Brings Retro Memories

"Everybody says that there's nobody meaner than the little old lady from Pasadena." Love that old Jan and Dean song? Wish you could step back in time and see that shiny red Super Stock Dodge tear up Colorado Boulevard? You can. Just go to Detroit for the 2012 Woodward Dream Cruise. You won't see drag races, but you can get your fill of classic cars as they wend their way down Woodward. Here is a Q-and-A about this retro-fun event.  2012 Detroit Woodward Dream Cruise Revs Up Its Engines