Home sweet home
Bob's sister Hannah
Bob's sister Ada
Bob's brother Otto
Bob's sister Eve
Bob's sister Nan
A baby picture of Bob and his siblings (clockwise from upper left: Otto, Eve, Hannah, Ada, Bob, and Nan)
Bob's childhood home
Bob's mom and dad
Bob in his youth
Bob's cousin Alphonse
Bob's Uncle Ralph and Aunt Edna
Bob's cousin Archibald
Bob's stepbrother Herbie (who really needs to quit smoking)
Bob's cousin Chester
Bob's Great Uncle Norbert and Great Aunt Phyllis
Bob's cousin Saffron (who will do anything for a drink)
Bob's cousin Thorndike
Bob's brother-in-law Vinnie
Bob's cousin Orville, who loves the Green Bay Packers
Bob's nieces Lulu and Bitsy, the biker chicks
Bob's stepsister Eloise, with the twins, Rudy and Trudy
Bob's Uncle Henry and Aunt Rowena
Bob's niece Esmerelda (who likes to live dangerously)
Bob's Great Uncle Arthur up in Saskatchewan
Bob's cousin Louie, the grackle of grumpiness
Miss Screech, Bob's journalism teacher
Bob's nephew Winthrop, who loves sports
Bob's Uncle Seymour and Aunt Bernice
Bob's second cousin Schlomo in Brooklyn
Bob's nephew Baxter
Bob's cousin Darrell
Nigel, Bob's pen pal in New Zealand
Bob's sister-in-law Delphine, who volunteers at the animal shelter
Percy the Pickpocket, Bob's third cousin once removed (the relative no one likes to talk about... every family has one)
The Bluebird of Happiness™ (no relation to Bob)
A pair of boobies (also no relation to Bob, but included for readers who desire titillation)
A pair of tits (in case the boobies were insufficiently titillating)
Bluebird Bitter™, the beer they named for Bob
bluebird of bitterness 
I remember those “chewing gum whistles.” That same waxy stuff from which they made those tiny bottles with a drop of soda pop, among other things.
MiladyJo talks about the local five-and-dime, with a big candy section, an extensive area of the sidewalk in front, covered with dirty, flattened blobs of wax. Better than real gum, at least.
The Post cereal pack is false advertising. There appear to be two packages of Alpha-Bits. Even in the larger assortment, there were never two of anything good, even half-way good like Raisin Bran. Not shown: shredded wheat and something like Wheaties or Total. We’d get those when the family went to the lake – get up early in the morning or you’ll get the shredded wheat. The packs had little doors you could open in the cardboard and wax liner- just add milk.
My last lake trip with Dad, he took my buddy Tom and me skiing early. We took along cereal packs and ate them (dry) with one hand, holding on to the tow rope with the other. Over a half-century ago; miss you, Dad.
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I envy you.
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Reblogged this on wordrefiner.
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Thank you for reblogging. 🙂
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In Australia we didn’t have Halloween during my childhood. It seems very familiar but unfamiliar because of the amount of American television and movie culture that has come to us, like English culture.
Due to the big stores it’s been promoted here a lot more in the last 20 years.
I can only imagine the number of sugar-high kids and sore tummies after Halloween treats.
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A chewing gum whistle? How does that work, then?
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I have no idea!
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Oddly I was just thinking about Alpha Bits 2 days ago, disappointed that they don’t make it anymore.
It’s predictable that some companies will use any means to push their products – such as the cigarettes and beer here. Just throw a pumpkin in the photo and there you go, cigarettes for Halloween ! . . Maybe I’m telling my age but when I was a kid the movie theater snack bar sold candy cigarettes – and people could smoke at the movies too !
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And on airplanes, and in restaurants, and even in hospitals!
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Yup; I smoked in my private hospital room after foot surgery in about 1982-3!
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Aww. These are fun! Seems like now, sour is the new sweet. My grandkids and Sunday School class prefer sour candies over sweet or even chocolate (gasp). And hardly any of them appreciate the joy of black licorice. Another indication of the softening of America.
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I love old ads… I’m a member of the Vintage Ads group on LiveJournal and the one on Reddit (r/vintageads), so I’ve seen some of these. Where do you get yours?
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I collect them from here, there, and everywhere. I joined the group on LJ on your recommendation, and that’s one of my sources, but I collect these things wherever I see them.
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Love the catsup. Took me a minute to realize that it was a tomato, not a pumpkin! 🙂
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