Commercial Characters

In my last post I mentioned some characters that could very well be included in this one as well, but they won’t. This time I’ve got a fresh crop of childhood TV memories.

One of the staples of advertising is having a character that’s strongly identified with the product. Some examples of this are: Planters’ Mr. Peanut, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and Ronald McDonald.

Growing up I was exposed to many hours of commercials loaded with unique characters. Here are some obscure advertising characters that I remember seeing growing up. Let’s start where my last post left off…cereal. 

The Crew of the Guppy and Jean LeFoot : In 1963 when Cap’n Horatio Magellan Crunch (his “official” full name) was introduced to children everywhere he was skipper of a sailing vessel named “The Guppy.” The crew of this “good ship” consisted of four children, 3 boys and a girl, named Alfie, Carlyle, Dave, and Brunhilde, respectively. The ship’s mascot was a canine character named Sea Dog.

 Although I did an extensive search online I haven’t been able to pin down just exactly when the crew disappeared from the cereal’s commercials. The last one I saw them in was one for a chocolate version of “Crunch” from 1984. Not many people remember the crew of The Guppy but I do. Even though their spots were only 60 seconds or less they were as entertaining as some of the Saturday morning TV cartoon shows during which they were shown.  

Jean LeFeet, the barefoot pirate, was the villain in those early Cap’n Crunch commercials. He was always after the Cap’n’s cereal or the secret of its crunch. He also tried to create his own cereal. He finally succeeded with Cinnamon Crunch and even appeared on its boxes. He has continued to be part of the Cap’n Crunch universe. Most recently as part of a special premium card set on specially marked Cap’n Crunch cereal boxes in 2010.

There are quite a few of Cap’n Crunch commercials featuring the Guppy Crew and Jean Lafoot available on You Tube. If you’re like me you’ll enjoy going back and spending time with these old friends. 

Funny Face Drink Mixes: Everyone knows the Kool-aid man, a frosty pitcher filled with Kool-Aid. His brand dominates the drink mix market. But in the late 60’s Pillsbury challenged General Foods and the quintessential non-carbonated soft drink.

Funny Face was a group of different flavored powdered drink mixes, each with their own specific character: The original group included: Goofy Grape, Freckle Face Strawberry, Rootin’ Tootin’ Raspberry, Loud Mouth Lime, Chinese Cherry, and Injun Orange.

Those last two characters met with major protests from what would now be called politically correctness groups. They were eventually changed to Choo Choo Cherry and

Jolly Olly Orange. Also two additional flavors and characters were added: Captain Black Cherry and Lefty Lemonade.

What was different about the Funny Face drink mixes was that they were pre-sweetened. With no sugar they were promoted as being “better for you” than sugar sweetened Kool Aid. Not having to add sugar also cut down on the mess of making it.

After the initial issue with the insensitivity of stereo-types was resolved, the characters were very popular. But the product itself had some major issues. The main one being that the sodium cyclamates used as a sugar substitute were banned by the FDA due to a link to cancer. Immediately the mixes were recalled and the cyclamates removed.

The new non-sweetened Funny Face mixes were no longer different from or as well known or established as Kool Aid. They were exponentially out sold and eventually were taken off the market.

As a kid all that stuff about political correctness or dangerous artificial sweeteners didn’t matter to me. I just liked the Funny Face characters a lot better than Kool Aid because they had personality and a back story. They had potential but alas they disappeared almost before any of that could be explored.

Their window in the market place was so small that not many people remember them. But for me they remain among my favorite commercial characters introduced to me through my television. 

Wallace The Waffle Wiffer: In 1968, a couple of years before the Kellogg company first demanded that we “Leggo their Eggo”; the Quaker Oats company introduced Aunt Jemima frozen waffles.

The convenient breakfast food’s first TV commercials were aimed at kids; airing during Saturday morning cartoon programming. The animated advertisements featured a pair of characters: Professor Goody and Wallace the Waffle Wiffer

.

Professor Goody is, what I would call, a collegiate level zoologist. He presents to viewers, Wallace; a hyperactive bird-like character. When he catches the aroma of an AJ waffle heating in the toaster, Wallace manically follows his nose exclaiming, in an excited warbling manner, “waffle waffle waffle.” You can see this for yourself in a couple of the commercials on You Tube.

The reason I liked this commercial character is that a part of me feels like he did about waffles. I love those delicious toasted aromatic rectangles with their subset of small squares that can be filled with melted butter and Aunt Jemima syrup.  

Yes, in answer to the commercial’s tag lines, there is and always has been a waffle wiffer at my house. Wallace is truly an animated personification of my perpetual appetite for waffles. 

Mr. Wiggle: This 1966 commercial character has by far the longest lasting effect on my life than any other. I’ll explain why in a few paragraphs; but first some product and icon history.

In 1966 General Foods, makers of Jello, made their first attempt to market a sugar free gelatin to kids. That product was Mr. Wiggle. The names of these flavors were: candy corn orange, rock candy raspberry, gumdrop grape, jellybean strawberry, lollipop lime, and candyball cherry.

I was unable to find any type of detailed history of the product  online but here’s what I remember. It was initially a success but, just like the Funny Face drink mixes, Mr. Wiggle gelatin fell victim to the cyclamates ban.

The commercial campaign featured the animated character Mr. Wiggle (voiced by Daws Butler) endeavoring to bring his gelatin to kids while keeping it away from his arch enemy, Sweet Tooth Sam (voiced by Paul Frees).

With the flexibility possessed only by an anamorphic glob of red gelatin and a “finishing move” that I would describe as a “sonic wiggle” he was successful in defeating his foe and delivering his dessert.

In the picture above you can see Mr. Wiggle in all his flavored incarnations. You can also go to You Tube and watch the original black and white commercials.

Of course, after seeing the commercials, I requested that mom bring home and make me some Mr. Wiggle “Jello”; which she did. My momma loved me.

Now let’s move on to the reason why the influence of Mr. Wiggle is with me even today. When I was 8 or 9 while in the hospital I was given a flexible plastic Mr. Wiggle puppet. I believe it was the very first puppet I ever owned. I used that puppet to perform puppet shows in church.

Mr.Wiggle helped my love for puppets grow throughout my childhood. Over 40 years and many many more puppets later I still have my original Mr. Wiggle puppet. Here’s a picture of me and my childhood pal. 

As you can see, my hand no longer fits allowing me to manipulate Mr. Wiggle. Therefore he's permanently "retired" and is protected in a plastic display case. But just like the Ernie and Kermit the frog puppets, Mr. Wiggle holds a special place in my history as a puppeteer. 

That’s my list of TV commercial characters that may not be commonly remembered but will always remain treasured memories in my mind and friends in my heart. I apologize for the length of this post. But as you have read these characters hold many memories for me.

The next “TV Memories Week” post will feature some of my favorite cartoons that are not remembered by many others my age. I hope you are enjoying this series of posts. I know I’m having a great time writing them. See you next time. 

TV Cereals

It’s a common belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating food with the nutrients needed to get your day off to a great start is vital. As any parent who has ever taken child down the cereal aisle knows there’s plenty of breakfast cereals that fall well short of those first meal of the day’s nutritional requirements.

But it’s those are the cereals that your child will beg for you to buy? Why? Because the company that makes those “sugar” cereals that spend the most money on commercials on the shows your kids watch. That’s the way it’s always been.

When I was a kid the “silly rabbit” was chasing after his Trix. Lucky the Leprechaun was hiding his Lucky Charms, and Toucan Sam was following his nose to find Kellogs’ Fruit Loops. Those are some of the most popular kid’s cereals still around today. But what about the cereals that I begged for that aren’t around anymore? I think they deserve being mentioned just as much as those still on the store shelves.

Here are 5 of my favorites gone but not forgotten cereals: 

Freakies: This first obscure cereal isn’t one that I ever actually ate for breakfast. It was made by the Ralston company. Until they introduced Freakies they had only made adult oriented cereals such as Chex. 

Freakies cereal was available between 1974 and 1977. I was a teenager then and not interested in any new “kid’s cereal. I did however like the commercials. 

Seems like I’m the only one I know who remembers the song and the characters who lived in the Freakies tree. They were:  Hamhose, Gargle, Cowmumble, Grumble, Goody-Goody, Snorkeldorf and the leader BossMoss.

Apparently there are others who remember The Freakies. Here’s a You Tube link to their commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP8mbxZBl3k 

I'm starting off this list with this cereal because of the obscurity and uniqueness of the Freakies characters themselves. I don't think their creators ever had a chance to tell their stories or take them on new adventures. 

Clackers: This graham cracker flavored cereal was one of my favorites.

 As the years have gone by I often confused “Clackers” with the one I’ll mention next. I remember eating this cereal and it was good. The gear shaped flakes were relatively large. 

You could only eat one at a time with a regular sized spoon.

But the commercial hook for this cereal was its intrusive interjection into unexpected situations. It also proved to be its demise. 

Adults refused to buy the cereal for their kids  because they found the commercials extremely annoying. Here’s a link to one of the commercials from You Tube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5_S6Ys92D0

The trivia fan in me can’t give you this commercial without mention that the Italian chef is played by Alan Arbus. He’s best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on M*A*S*H.

The main thing I remember about Clackers is getting a plastic toy duck call free inside one of the boxes. I blew that thing as often as I could. Apparently my parents found the toy as annoying as the Clackers commercials. I remember after a day or two the toy “mysteriously” disappeared.  

Stax: Also known as “Wheat Stax” this cereal was one of the most “fun” to eat.

 Like I wrote before, in my memory I combined Stax with Clackers. Stax was actually a flat wheat flake cereal. Think of it as a Wheaties flake crossed with a piece of Post Honeycombs but about half as thick.

The great thing about this cereal is you could play with it on the table before you put it in a bowl. The flatness of the flakes made it very stack-able (thus the name). They were edible building blocks.

Ironically, the marketing campaign for this cereal was aimed at adults. The TV commercials featured celebrities making stacks of the cereal. I wasn’t able to find any of the TV ads on You Tube but I did find this print ad featuring comedic actor, Marty Engles.

But the commercials and ads really missed the target. Why would adults want to stack cereal? Also how could parents, after continuously scolding their children against it, play with their food?

I do remember the joy of my parents bringing home a box of Stax for me at least once. I remember making columns of flakes on the kitchen table. Even though the recollections about this cereal are few they are among my favorite childhood breakfast memories. 

   Quisp & Quake: These two have to be mentioned together because for most of their history they were advertised together. It started with their first TV commercial. 

The marketing strategy was ingenious. I believe it was the first time cereals were linked together. Six years later General Mills utilized the same marketing scheme with Frankenberry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry; their “monster cereals”.

Here’s the You Tube link to that first Quisp & Quake commercial that set up the “popularity” contest from right from the start:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-sTnm_aPBY

Once again, here’s a bit of trivia about Quisp & Quake commercials. They were created by Jay Ward the creator of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley DoRight, and Quaker Oats most popular cereal icon, Cap’n  Crunch.  (There will be more on the Cap’n later this week)

Quisp was from outer space voiced by Daws Butler (Huckleberry Hound) and Quake was from the center of the earth, voiced by William Conrad (who played the title role on the CBS detective series, Cannon).

I was 5 years old when that first commercial aired on Saturday morning TV. I bought into the “choose which one you like best” thing from the start. I begged my mom & dad to buy me my choice, Quake. I can’t remember exactly why I chose the miner over the alien. 

The cereal looked and tasted very much like Cap’n Crunch and was introduced 2 years it. Although I don’t remember ever having a box of Quisp in my house I did have some while staying over with one of my friends. Quake was my choice in the taste test as well.

If I recall correctly, my fascination with Quake cereal didn’t last more than 1 or 2 boxes. Eventually, the kids of America agreed. In 1972 after a national “vote” Quake disappeared from store shelves. You can read about the history of the two cereals with a Google search.

The biggest surprise to me was finding out that Quisp continues to be sold from time to time in Target and various national discount grocery stores.

Baiting The Hook

I can’t conclude this cereal article without mentioning the most influential reason any kid wanted any specific cereal during my childhood. That would be what’s known in the food industry as “the premium”. To kids it was known as “the toy”.  

While the prime ground for scoring a “quality” toy for kids these days is a fast food restaurant kids meal; while I was growing up the hunting was done by digging to the bottom of the box of any sugary cereal.

Other than the Clackers toy I’ve already mentioned, I can't specifically remember playing with any other specific toy. But I know they included: 3D baseball cards, floating toys, race cars, and records you cut out of the back of the box then played on your own turntable. I tried to find a picture of a representative group of premium toys from the 60s & 70s but there were so many I couldn't decide on a definitive representative.

I think getting a record right off the back of a cereal box was my favorite. However I also loved anything you could wind up and let loose to speed across the floor or fly across the room coming dangerously close to your mom's knick knacks. Like the duck call, I don’t remember holding on to many of the “out of the box” cereal toys for more than a few days. 

Whether they got broken, were lost (on a roof, in a tree or down a sewer) or just “disappeared” I’m not sure. But I do know that premiums continue to be used as a marketing tool in cereals today. Although a lot of them are mail-in offers.

So there you have a list of my 5 favorite obscure breakfast cereals that initially came into my house by way of the TV commercial. What, if any, memories do you have of these sugary morning treats?

The next post in this week of “TV memories” will be about some of my favorite and nearly forgotten commercial icons. Come back to see which ones make the list. 

TV Memories Week

I am a nostalgic man; born near the end of the World War II “the baby boom”, 1960. I find myself looking back at “the good old days” and while trying to swim through the swift current of today’s ever changing technology.

It is the pop cultural and technologies of both of eras that I will use during this week’s series of posts I've titled, “TV Memories Week.”

While the entertainment centerpiece life today is the computer for those who grew up in the 60’s & 70’s it was the television.  

As a matter of fact the TV’s were literally part of the furniture. There were a lot of different models sold over the years. The range of size and shapes varied. There were even consoles (short for consolidation) that combined the 3 main components vital to “modern” home entertainment: TV, radio, and record player. In the early 70’s 8-track tape decks were added and later Cassette players. (The picture below was obviously taken to display this unit for selling purposes. I don' t know anyone who kept their TV console units in their backyard)

I must admit I am a product of the “TV generation”; probably more so than anyone else I know.  I spent hundreds of hours in front of our family Zenith. The people, places and things I saw on “the tube” had a really big influence on my personality and creativity of today. The only one I know who comes close displaying the degree of TV influence I do is my cousin, Lee.

I could literally write a book about the classic shows and the memories they hold for me. But everyone knows about them and you can find shelves of those kinds of books in bookstores everywhere.

So I’ve decided to make this week of TV posts personal. I’m going to write about some of my more obscure childhood memories. I will be posting about cereal commercials, advertising icons, cartoons and show hosts.

It’s going to be a week of fun posts. Hopefully when it’s over I’ll have brought back some fond memories for you as well. So let’s get up off the couch, turn the TV on (yes, there was a day when there was no such thing as a remote) and get ready for the show.

Tune in tomorrow. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Driving Miss Aria

This is my 3 month old granddaughter, Aria Nicole. She is sitting in her “Bumbo” chair watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on her daddy’s cell phone. Don’t worry, James is close by. He’s just taking care of some household chores. But knowing Aria is watching something Disney makes her Papa (that’s me) very happy. It’s never too early to introduce her to Disney’s “Fab Five.” This is especially true since Nickelodeon is the channel that’s usually on TV when she’s rocking in her baby seat. Sponge Bob already has the upper hand.

But developing Aria’s Disney fascination isn’t the subject of this post. It’s to express how blessed because I’ve had the opportunity to see my granddaughter on a regular basis these past 3 weeks. Over that time period I helped my son and daughter in law out by occasionally picking Aria up from daycare in the afternoon.

On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons much to my delight I’d fasten this happy little girl into her safety seat in the backseat of my Vue, turn on some children’s songs from my Ipod and off we’d head on down the road.

On a few days, after I had delivered her to her daddy at her house, I took advantage of the chance to spend some “quality time” with her. I bounced her on my knee, found out she sees me better when I wear a red t-shirt, and even got her to “talk” to me a bit. All of this was much to my delight.

This past Thursday was the last day they needed me to pick her up. As had become the routine when I arrived at the house, Penny, who takes care of her, put her in her car seat while I gather her diaper bag.

With diaper bag in hand, I went back to the baby carrier as Aria was just about strapped in. At that very second she caught sight of me and seemed to recognize me. She gave me a great big smile. She didn’t just smile. She smiled AT ME!!! (I wasn’t even wearing a red shirt)

Penny told her, “You just melted Papa’s heart” “You could have anything you wanted right now.” Both things were completely true. There couldn’t have been anything better thing to have happen on the last day I was going to be picking her up.

I don’t know if I’ll be there on Aria’s wedding day; but if I am I can promise you one thing. Out of the hundreds of memories that will run through my mind when I see her walk down that aisle today’s smile of recognition for her Papa will be among the first.

I consider it an honor, a privilege to have had the blessing of driving Miss Aria. 

Abby & Colton

During the 3^rd week of July I went with a group from my church on a “missions trip” to Morehead, Kentucky. There we spent 5 evenings helping a small church in a nearby town named Farmers, with their Vacation Bible School.

I taught the kids the words and motions to the special VBS songs. I also performed for a few minutes each night with a couple of my ventriloquist puppets. It was a very successful week.

But what I’ll remember most about my time in Morehead are two special children: Abby & Colton.

I met Abby, a mentally and physically challenged young girl, during VBS at Slaty Point Baptist church. Abby is very sweet and happy young lady who was always smiling. In addition she really really liked Cecil, my turtle puppet.

On the first evening of VBS while Abby and her parents were the only people left in the sanctuary of the church I gave Abby an exclusive visit with Cecil. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how much she liked the special attention.  

On the next to the last night of VBS Abby’s mom asked if she could get a picture of Cecil with Abby. I readily agreed. Here is a shot of my turtle friend with his special admirer. 

New Friends: Abby & Cecil

As I wrote on my Facebook page seeing just a few seconds of the interaction between my puppets and children, like Abby, who love them as much as I do is worth every bit of effort I put into my ventriloquism ministry. It blesses me more than anyone. 

I met Colton, a 7 year old boy, when we checked into our hotel in Morehead. He was there because his mother works at the front desk. She brings him to work with her each day. After just a few minutes of seeing him in action I could tell that Colton considered the hotel lobby area “his world” and everyone else, including the guests, were just temporarily occupying in it. He "held court" with everyone who entered "his realm."

My 7 year old Buddy: Colton

My Pastor described Colton the best. He said he was “Opie gone wild." Referring to the character played by Ron Howard on The Andy Griffith show

I found this boy to be a slightly mischievous but charming young man. From the moment I met him I knew Colton needed to know that Jesus loves him. 

He quickly became friends with many of our church group. He joined us in the hotel swimming pool and even attended our VBS each night.

He preferred Leopold, my lion puppet, rather than Cecil the turtle. His reason for this was that he liked puppets of animals that you could hunt in real life. Who knows how the mind of a 7 year old works? But to him it made sense.

Ministering to Colton and his mother was clearly one of the unexpected purposes of our trip to Morehead.  I felt badly about saying “Good-bye” to him. I did leave him a picture of Leopold, Cecil and me signed by all of us. It reminded him that Jesus loves him and so do we.

One of the ladies who was on our missions team named Judy, became friends with Colton’s mom. She is now in contact with her through Facebook.

I don’t know if, when, or how I will ever have the opportunity to minister to Abby or Colton again but I am thankful that I met them both. They have made an indelible mark on my heart.

In the future, if I ever question the purpose of my ventriloquism ministry because I’m dissatisfied with the direction of level of “success”; that question can be answered with just the recollection of two special children named: Abby & Colton. 

Remembering Munson

Yankee Captain: Thurman Munson

Today is the 33^rd anniversary of the death of Thurman Munson, the last player to be captain of the New York Yankees before Derek Jeter. Munson was an all-star catcher, 1970 American League Rookie of the Year, and AL MVP in 1976. He was the heart, soul, and leader of the Yankees 77 & 78 World Series Championship teams.

I had become a Yankees fan in 1974 and followed the team even closer then than I do now. The Yankees catcher’s death was one of the most stunning events of my life up to that point.

I remember the exact moment that I heard the tragic news. I was turning into the entrance road of the Hillcrest Mall in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. I was on my way to pick up my cousin, Gary, from his job at a department store there. He was also a big Yankees fan. I was the one who had to break the news to him. I don’t remember much more about that day but I do remember that moment.

The circumstances of Thurman Munson’s death are a testimony to the fact that he was not just an all-star baseball player but a devoted family man. He was killed when he crashed his small Cessna airplane at an airport near Canton, Ohio; while practicing take offs and landings. He had purchased the plane so he could go back and forth from New York to visit his wife and kids on his off days during the season.

If you look at his statistics in the 11 seasons he was in the major leagues you could easily project that he was headed for the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately we’ll never know.

One of the most significant stories that demonstrates the character of Thurman Munson comes from a sound bite I heard on the MLB network radio station on XM radio just this year.

It was told by the Kansas City Royals’ Hall of Fame 3^rd baseman, George Brett. Back in the mid-70s the Royals and the Yankees were bitter rivals. During one game a fight broke out between Yankees 3^rd baseman, Greg Nettles and Royals base runner.

As both benches cleared a “brawl” ensued. Brett found himself at the bottom of the pile of players; a very dangerous place to be. At one point, Brett looked up and saw Thurman Munson, in full catcher’s gear laying on top of him. As the Yankees backstop used his body as a shield Brett, Munson assured him, “Don’t worry George I got you covered.” That story speaks for itself as to what kind of man Thurman Munson was.

This anniversary of his death is significant because it means he’s been gone from this world longer than he was here. But never the less his memory will never fade. He will forever be the Yankees’ Captain. 

Return Of The Blogger

With only 25 posts so far, 2012 has not exactly been the best year for me as far as posting on this blog is concerned. I have been consistently inconsistent in writing about what’s going on in my life.

One of the things I’ve come to understand as a Christian is that this life is a consistent pattern of recognizing where you fall short of God’s expectations, obtaining forgiveness, and making new beginnings. I’m making the start of August one of those new beginnings.

Part of this “restart” is getting back to faithfully writing on this blog as an important part of exercising my personal creativity.

While I am very cautious not to use this blog as a forum to reveal and work out my personal issues; I do want to use it for 3 specific purposes. I want to make it a place to exercise my creative writing skills, keep my family and friends informed about what’s going on in my life, and express my opinions and observations about the world around me.

So I’d like to inform you, my readers, that I am back and committing to publishing at least 3 posts each week for the foreseeable future.

One of the things I’ve learned most recently about writing is that most of the time “less is more” Therefore, I have resolved to make my posts a bit more concise than they have been in the past.  

In conclusion, if this were a superhero movie the title would be “Return of the Blogger”. Just wanted to let you know what I intend the future of “RH Factors” to be.

Thank you for coming back and reading what I have to say. It’s great to have a “voice” on the Internet but it’s a lot better when you know someone is “listening.”