I’m not a huge cereal guy. And? I don’t know if I was ever a real cereal guy. Maybe as a kid? But once I entered Union I discovered the exceptional quality of eggs over-easy & whatever my interest in cereal went into permanent decline. Still, today I try (notice, try) to put my spoon in a bowl of cereal on occasion. For several years now my consumption of cereal, maybe one or two times a week, has been confined to either Frosted Mini-Wheats, or Honey-nut Cheerios. Well, even the most confirmed lover of poetry can tire of William Shakespeare and Winnie the Pooh, no? And so it was on a recent visit to Stop & Shop, Sandy I worked our way down Aisle 7 (cereal & candy) and I decided to grab a box of Special K. Special K? Mommie Soph told me to do it! And I did! And in doing so, put me in mind of a few key brands that I identify with 25 Alston Ave.
Below, a brief, and by no means complete, survey of distinctive brands that took up residence at 25 Alston Ave.
Special K
This was Mommie Soph’s cereal of choice. And I think she had it every day for breakfast. Growing up I think I had cold cereal for breakfast on most days, and I think that Special K was not a top option for me.
Chesterfield Cigarettes
Mom’s brand of smokes. She was a two-pack-a-day smoker. Dad told me that he introduced smoking to her when they were young, and when smoking was thought to be a sign of sophistication. Sadly, while Dad was able to be a “social smoker,” Mom became addicted to nicotine. Notice the typeface on the brand. Remind you of Chipp, Inc?
Vermont Maid Maple Syrup
Pancakes were only on the breakfast menu occasionally (when I was growing up). Waffles would only have been a “pop-in-the-toaster” thing (and I am not even sure if toaster waffles were around when we lived at 25 Alston). And I can never recall having French toast (but we probably did). That said, we always had a bottle of maple syrup in the house. And back then, it was called maple syrup — not syrup.
Wonder Bread
This was a sticking point with me. I wanted “batter whipped” Sunbeam Bread… light, fluffy and more appealing. We were Wonder Bread people. It supposedly had a higher “nutritional value”?
Minute Maid OJ & Pink Lemonade (frozen concentrated)
As a kid, I drank juice straight from the fridge, no glass used. And I drank a lot of it! And on a summer day there was nothing more frustrating to me than to run into the house, thirst crazed, and find no juice already made. I would take the a can out of the freezer, open it up, take a knife and proceed to chop at the frozen block of juice to speed the defrosting process along.