I was reminded today about the association certain sensations have with a particular person, time or place. The smell of a cigar will always remind me of my father, the smell of a pipe (exceeding rare today) reminds me of one particular uncle. Yoohoo, a chocolate drink popular mostly in the eastern United States, recalls childhood days spent at Jones Beach on Long Island, New York. Chlorine reminds me of the New Hyde Park public pool. The Good Humor chocolate bar that's called the chocolate eclair reminds me of when I could buy it off of the Good Humor ice cream truck that passed through our neighborhood every summer day. Likewise, freshly cut grass reminds me of my old neighborhood.
I also remember certain food landmarks, for lack of a better word, the represented my childhood culinary preferences (hmmm, sounds important, doesn't it?). My McDonald's order was always a double cheeseburger, chocolate shake and french fries (health food? What's that?). At the International House of Pancakes (now known simply as IHOP), I would almost always order silver dollar pancakes. Many times, my dinner would include a particular desert - a sweet, heated item called a "honey bun." My grandmother would make a great dessert consisting of a stack of graham crackers covered in chocolate pudding.
I know someone who eats the same food at the same restaurant every day. I suppose he has his reasons, but I like to revisit my fondest food memories occasionly.
6 comments:
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Enjoyed the bit about Good Humor, except that we called them "pops" not "bars" back there!
I never in my life called them "pops," even back there. Maybe it was before my time....lol
They were definately "bars", a "pop" had to be ice-like.
On second thought, I do recall an icecream bar being referred to as an "icecream popsicle", but if someone were to offer me a "popsicle", I would have naturally concluded it to be ice like unless otherwise stated.
Now that you've got my memory going, the thing I used to buy from the Ice Cream Man most of all was something called a "Bomb Pop". It was a red, white and blue ice pop with about 6 "fins" running down the sides. It was red on the top, white in the middle, and blue on the bottom. It was made to look like a missile, it was all made of ice, and it was big enough to keep me cool in the hot Los Angeles summer. I wonder if they still make it, or if it's just too un-"PC" for today.
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