Monthly Archives: October 2021

Weekend Reading 10/31/21

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Welcome back to The Weekend Edition here on Retro Ramblings. It’s where I present to you a curated list of the best retro pop culture and nostalgia-themed news and articles I’ve come across on the web in the last week. So get yourself a snack, settle, in and enjoy these trips down memory lane.

In the News

Retro & Nostlagia Articles and Posts

Halloween Fun

Halloween Posts Here on Retro Ramblings You May Have Missed This Month

Video of the Week

For this week’s video, I’m sharing a complete “horror” movie from the ’80s since today is Halloween. I put horror in parentheses because it has some comedic elements to it, but it’s still a spooky fun watch. It’s House II from 1987, and it’s a great way to spend 90 minutes tonight.

Wax Pack Flashback: Fright Flicks Cards (1988)

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Last year, I did a series of Wax Pack Flashback videos for The Retro Network that focused on “spooky” or Halloween-themed cards. I’m re-rolling these episodes here on Retro Ramblings for the Halloween season, and this week I’m highlighting the Fright Flicks cards from 1988. Watch me open this pack and see what treasures have laid hidden inside for over 30 years!

Halloween at McDonald’s

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Halloween is one of the “big 3” nostalgic holidays for me, waffling back and forth between second and third place with Thanksgiving on my list, and Christmas being firmly in the number one spot.  There has always been so much to love about Halloween.  From the costumes to the candy, memories of harvest festivals, the scary movies, and the fall weather.  But one thing that sometimes gets overlooked is just how wonderful a lot of the promotions that companies run are tied to Halloween.  One of the best examples of this has been McDonald’s, and that’s what we’re looking at in today’s Retro Ramblings.

As I related before, one of my favorite things to find in my trick-or-treat bag at the end of the night were gift certificates in general, but McDonald’s gift certificates in particular.  They made them available to purchase in little booklets and featured coupons entitling the bearer to a free small ice cream cone, or free small french fries, a small soft drink, or at times, a small Sundae.  These little certificates were like some kind of savings bond for a kid.  You knew it didn’t hold much value when you were holding it on Halloween night, but you also knew that in the future, that thing was worth something.  For me, I would fold them up and put them in my Velcro wallet and eagerly await the next trip to town where I would pester my mom to no end about stopping at McDonald’s to cash in my certificate.  The fries, or a cone, or soft drink always tasted better when they were gotten with those Halloween gift certificates.

Maybe my favorite Halloween tie-in that McDonald’s came up with was their Halloween Happy Meals, where everything came in one of those cool Jack-o-Lantern buckets.  They initially released them in 1985, and they were such a hit, that they kept them going for many years afterward.  Some years, they would make slight changes to the faces on them, but in 1989 they made a major change when they added a ghost bucket and a witch bucket.  Of course, I had to have them all.  They were the perfect size for a Happy Meal, as the burger and fries fit nicely inside.  And they were the perfect size for a lot of other things too.  My mom would go every week and get us each a Happy Meal during the Halloween season so she could get buckets too.  She used them for things like storing clothespins, while I used mine for storing smaller toys like Micro Machines.  The only thing I found they weren’t good for was using them as your candy bucket for trick or treating.  They just weren’t big enough for that.  But dang, they were such a cool concept, and one of my favorite memories of Halloween from through the years.

The last thing that I remember making a big splash with me way back when were the Halloween McNugget Buddies toys that came out in 1992.  Now while getting an animated-looking chicken nugget toy with a face was pretty great on its own, giving it a removable Halloween costume just took things to a whole other level!  The toys were well made, and so much fun to put on display in their costumes.  McDonald’s created seven different McNugget Buddy characters and each had its own costume.  You could even interchange them between the buddies.  There wasn’t much to differentiate the McNugget Buddies from each other except their facial expressions, but it was still fun to mix and match their costumes between them.

McDonald’s has stolen my heart many times through the years in various ways, and their Halloween promotions were always one of the highlights of the season for me.  What about you?  Do you have any fast food Halloween preferences?  Let’s talk about them in the comments.

Weekend Reading 10/24/21

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Welcome back for another Weekend Edition here on Retro Ramblings. It’s a curated list where I share the retro-themed news, as well as retro and nostalgia-themed articles and posts I’ve come across in the last week. And through the month of October, I’m also sharing fun Halloween stuff I’ve found as well. So pour yourself a hot cup of coffee or tea, settle into a comfy seat, and read through some of the links I’m sharing below.

Retro Related News

Retro & Nostalgia Fun

Halloween Fun

Video of the Week

In Search Of… was a ’70s TV series hosted by Leonard Nimoy that focused on mysteries, the strange, the occult, and other related topics. Due to the nature of the show, it’s great for viewing around this time of year, so I thought I’d share an appropriate episode this week. In this one, Leonard Nimoy takes a look at The Mummy’s Curse. Give it a watch and see what you think.

Wax Pack Flashback: Skeleton Warriors Cards (1995)

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Last year, I did a series of Wax Pack Flashback videos for The Retro Network that focused on “spooky” or Halloween-themed cards. I’m re-rolling these episodes here on Retro Ramblings for the rest of the month, and this week I’m highlighting the Skeleton Warriors cards from 1995. Watch me open this pack and see what treasures have laid hidden inside for almost 30 years!

Weekend Reading 10/17/21

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Welcome back for another Weekend Edition here on Retro Ramblings. It’s where I share the retro-themed news, as well as retro and nostalgia-themed articles and posts I’ve come across in the last week. And through the month of October, I’m also sharing fun Halloween stuff I’ve found as well. So pour yourself a hot cup of coffee, settle into a comfy seat, and read through some of the links I’m sharing below.

In the News

Retro & Nostalgia Stories

Halloween Fun

Video of the Week

I tuned into the Retro-Daze Halloween Special Trivia contest the other night, and before the game got going we were presented with a Halloween safety film from 1985. It was such a glorious throwback that I decided to share it with you all as this week’s video. It’s only about 15 minutes long, but oh my gosh does it tickle the nostalgia bone. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Five of My Favorite Halloween Treats

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The Halloween season is upon us, and I thought it would be fun to go back in time to the days of trick-or-treating and look at just what were some of my absolute favorite things to find in my treat bag at the end of the night.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it was hard for any treat to be classified as “bad”, but we all had the favorites that we hoped to get a sack full of by the end of the night.  Here in this Retro Ramblings, are five of my favorites!

Nerds Candy

When I was young back in the ’80s, there wasn’t much more revered candy amongst my friends than Nerds.  We all loved these things.  We’d carry the normal-sized boxes of them to school with us and compare flavors.  So when the snack-sized boxes came along, we were all stoked.  It was a big deal for a few years though to get these on Halloween night.  We’d all bring in our Nerds haul to school and see who really hit the jackpot. 

Candy Cigarettes

I know these things aren’t exactly politically correct these days, but back then, people didn’t see anything wrong with them.  A lot of Dads smoked then, and one of the coolest things you could do was to imitate your Dad.  I’d “puff” on these things for a while trying to look cool, but it didn’t take long for that chalky flavor to overcome me and I’d have to gobble them down.  Not only that but in school, we treated candy cigarettes like prisoners do real cigarettes.  You could trade these things for all kinds of stuff between classes. 

Gift Certificates

Now I’m not talking about things like a $10 Starbucks card.  No, I’m talking about the ones for free cones or fries at McDonald’s.  While you couldn’t necessarily enjoy these the night you got them, it was like having money in the bank, and you anxiously waited for the day you got to go cash them in.

Packs of Baseball Cards

At that time, collecting and trading baseball cards was a rite of passage.  All my friends were into it, and so was I, so anytime you could get a pack of cards was great.  On the street where I did all of my trick-or-treating, there was an older fellow who was really into cards, and to pass along the joys of the hobby to the next generation, he gave out wax packs of baseball cards as Halloween treats.  This world needs more folks like that man. 

Treat Bags

While getting all the individual items mentioned above was great, it was always more exciting to get a full little treat bag that held untold treasures inside of it.  Historically for me, these things usually had a mini candy bar in it, with some Tootsie Rolls thrown in, and usually another item like a spider ring.  These treat bags were the epitome of the phrase, “more bang for the buck”, and still would be my favorite thing to find in my treat bag.

Wax Pack Flashback: Tales From the Crypt Cards (1993)

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Last year, I did a series of Wax Pack Flashback videos for The Retro Network that focused on “spooky” or Halloween-themed cards. I’m re-rolling these episodes here on Retro Ramblings for the rest of the month, and I’m starting with this pack of Tales From the Crypt cards from 1993. Watch me open this pack and see what treasures have laid hidden inside for almost 30 years!

Weekend Reading 10/10/21

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Welcome back once again for the Weekend Edition! It’s where I share all of the fun retro-themed news and articles I’ve come across over the last week surfing the world wide web. And sometimes I throw in some old stuff I’ve bookmarked from long ago. And all this month I’m also throwing some fun Halloween-themed stuff your way too, so let’s get to it!

In the News

Retro-Themed Articles & Posts

Halloween Fun

Video of the Week

Here’s a fun little video for this week. It’s The Crypt Keeper counting down some of the “scariest” (aka worst) music videos of the ’80s and ’90s. It’s a neat look back at a very fun time in pop culture history.

Weekend Reading 10/03/21

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Welcome back to the Weekend Edition. It’s where I share with you faithful readers retro-inspired news as well as retro and nostalgia-themed stories and posts from around the web that I’ve come across over the last week…and sometimes some old favorites that I’ve bookmarked through the years. And this week’s edition introduces an added section, Halloween & Horror Fun, that will continue throughout the month of October. Let’s take a memory lane road trip!

In theNews

Retro & Nostalgia

Halloween & Horror Fun

Video of the Week

Back in 1993, our favorite Mistress of the Dark, Elvira, decided to get into the world of network sitcoms. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, but luckily for us the pilot still exists online. So this week’s video recommendation is that pilot for The Elvira Show. Enjoy!