Day 267
It’s astonishing that I didn’t have more cavities as a child growing up in the days before sealants and fluoride toothpaste.
Apparently, I also grew up in the days before Raisin Bran and Wheat Chex were popular cereals. Because, I’m pretty sure, all of the ones we ate were more or less some grains with about a pound of sugar per box.
There were Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, Sugar Pops, Sugar Smacks (nice that they even had sugar in the name!), Captain Crunch (pre-Crunchberry days) and my all time fav … Cocoa Krispies. What kid wouldn’t love a cereal that makes the milk brown and chocolatey? I also liked Life … but that too had some sugar crystals and if it wasn’t sugary enough, we’d just ladle the sugar on … spoonful after spoonful!
Egad.
I don’t remember having a lot of cookies around the house growing up … or candy – except for Charms. They were kind of a toss up between a hard candy and a life saver. I loved them because they were kind of sweet-sour and they were square, unlike most hard candies, and they felt funny in your mouth!
We had ice cream … usually chocolate. And Pop Tarts … frosted, of course, and always strawberry. But looking back we didn’t have a lot of other sweets. We had cake or pie from time to time but I think if we wanted something sweet, we’d eat cereal.
I don’t remember how old I was … somewhere between 8 and 10 … when Space Food Sticks came on the market. They were marketed as something the astronauts were eating up in space … some highly concentrated/semi-dried out “food”. And I use that term very loosely. I have NO idea what they were made out of or what they were supposed to be (snack? treat? candy? meal supplement? vitamin?) I just knew that they came individually wrapped and I loved them! They were a cross between a dry Tootsie Roll and a soft dog yummy. I don’t think they were on the market for very long (probably caused cancer) … but I loved the chocolate ones and the peanut butter ones, too.
And speaking of dog yummies. My sister is five and a half years older than I am … so, on occasion she was deemed the babysitter. And while being the one in authority it was then that she fed me dog yummies. I’m sure my parents know this (now) … but I’m sure they didn’t know it then. In order for her to play with me I guess I would agree to play “dog” … and she was my owner and she’d give me “Lollipups” … actual little round, flattened disc shaped dog yummies. They were black (who would make a black dog yummy?), red, green and yellow and I’d eat what she gave me and then she’d say we were done playing and she’d go off and play with her friend and I’d have eaten a dog yummy. Time after time. You’d think I would have caught on to her ways! Whatever!
In thinking about it and looking back – I did have my fair share of cavities, as a kid, and gastrointestinal issues, too … gee, wonder why? Couldn’t have been from what I was eating!