1.) Pound Puppies - "The puppies have a variety of plush stuffed dog dolls with floppy ears and droopy eyes. They came in a variety of colors, some with spots. Each one comes in a carrying case with an adoption certificate. Smaller versions were also created, and a line of cats called Pound Purries was also released. Each authentic puppy had a heart shaped emblem near its tail that sported a "PP" logo with either a dog (Puppies) or cat (Purries) peeking around it." - wikipedia I LOVED my Pound Puppies. I had a dog, a cat, and a couple of smaller versions of my pound puppy. I believe my brother had a pound puppy as well. There are several pictures of us growing up with our pound puppies. The house it came in didn't last long...probably much like the houses the build-a-bears come in now, but I didn't care...as long as I had my sweet, sweet puppy. I always felt bad for the kids who had homemade pound puppies...there was always something strange about their faces(the puppies, not the kids), and no cute little heart on its bottom.
2.) Lite Brite - I loved Lite Brite. Now, I don't exactly ever remember having my own lite brite, but I remember playing with them A LOT! ...I have no idea where I got my lite brite time in, but I did. I remember the black craft-like paper that you put over the lite brite, and I remember that there was always plenty of paper. I never liked the pre-patterned papers that it came with...I always liked making my own creations...pushing those pegs into the board...and then when the creation was complete...hitting the lite, and watching your artwork shine...oh what a glorious piece of artwork. It always made me so mad when someone else wanted to play with it, and then they would remove all of your bright shining pegs, and replace it with their own, undoubtedly awful rendering of a unicorn, ruining all the hours you had spent making your amazing piece of artwork. I think I want a Lite Brite for Christmas this year.
3.) Pee Wee's Big Adventure - Pee Wee's Big Adventure always reminds me of my best friend Nuala, that lived two houses down from me. She quoted the movie all the time...the most memorable line, "There's no basement in the Alamo." which she would always say in a big southern drawl. She would also laugh like Pee Wee which I thought was hilarious. Great movie from my childhood. ...and the next favorite...
4.) Goonies - I have seen this movie more times than I can count. Sloth, and the Babyruth...who could forget? We also had the video game for our Nintendo. My brother and I would plug that baby in and play for hours...really I would just watch him, and when he finally got up to use the bathroom...which didn't happen often...I would get to play. ...but back to the movie...One-eyed Willy, so funny! If you haven't watched this in awhile, I suggest you rent it, pop some popcorn, and let yourself drift back to 1985. Now, instead of doing another favorite movie from my childhood...I'll just list a few more that bring back the golden oldies: The Last Unicorn, Never Ending Story(which we had an hour long conversation with the Mortimers about, followed by watching the movie...me falling asleep), and Big.
5.) Candy powder filled plastic fruits - I would like to be able to say that I had completely forgotten about these delightful plastic fruits filled with pixie stick type powder, but I have not. From time to time I will remember the fruits and wish that I had one...a plastic fruit filled with magical sweet powder inside. My grandma would walk us down to the gas station where we could pick out a treat...I would always choose the pineapple, although the strawberry was quite good too, and occassionally when they were out of all the really good flavors, I would settle on lime. I would unscrew the little green cap and put my mouth of the hole...and just dump the pure unadultured sweet sugar into my mouth...mmmm... Sometimes if you weren't careful, you would get a little spit in there, and then the sugar couldn't escape...I hated when this would happen...so I was extra cautious with mine. Oh plastic fruit filled with sugar...where are you now?
6.) Village Lip Balm - little tin cans where the lids slid off revealing flavorful lip balms...if you were lucky, you could find some that had a different flavor of lip gloss on each side. You pushed the tin to one side, and it was pineapple, to the other side and it was coconut...just one of the many great flavor combinations. I remember sliding mine back and forth clicking, clicking, clicking...I'm sure I drove my dad crazy with it. I also remember digging through a barrel at Knott's Barry Farm full of these tiny little gold tins looking for the perfect flavor combination. If only Village Bath products would bring these back...I know a few girls who would be jumping at the bit to get them.
7.) Strawberry Shortcake Kids - I couldn't possibly do a post on my 10 things to remember from growing up without including these delicious dolls. I owned almost all of the dolls, except the Purple Pieman. My friend around the corner owned this doll though...I think she also owned a couple of my dolls...after taking them from me. mean girl! I loved their plastic animals, sweet smell, and adorable clothes. Lem n' Ada were two of my very favorites. I actually took up buying these adorable dolls on ebay a couple of years ago...I never finished my collection because some of them ended up being VERY expensive...but I have enough to keep the memory alive forever. They put out new dolls a few years back, but they just aren't the same... I also had the large Strawberry Shortcake Doll that blew kisses...my brother sprayed WD40 on her hair and then after that she blew WD40 kisses. I still have her, and surprisingly enough...her kisses smell like strawberries again.
8.) Garbage Pail Kids - It took my husband to remember this one for me...although I don't know why because a year ago I found them in a vending machine in Mario's (game store) in the Provo Towne Center Mall. I bought probably 20, and was so excited to share them with my brother. We used to ride our bikes to Brookside gas station (the OLD brookside gas station) in Springville so we could buy these cards. I believe they game with a hard stick of bubble gum...just like baseball cards, and the garbage pail was actually a sticker. I never removed my stickers. They also had little bios on the backs of the cards. Being an adult now, and seeing these cards...SUPER creepy. They were actually drawn by Art Spiegelman.
9.) Jelly Bracelets - Every young girl's popularity was based upon how many jelly bracelets you had. I personally liked the clear bracelets with glitter in them. I had a lot of jelly bracelets, and would loop them together, or just stack them all the way up my arm. So cute! I also liked to chew on them...don't ask.
10.) Jem and the Holograms - How could this list possibly be complete without Jem and the Holograms? I loved Jem...I would wake up early just so I could watch it on Saturday mornings. It was my all time favorite cartoon. I loved Jem's big pink hair. When Jem wasn't performing in her rock bank with the Holograms, she was just plain ole' Jerricah. But when it was showtime, she would hold onto her star earring, and say, "It's showtime Synergy," and she would transform into Jem. Her boyfriends name was Rio and he was soooo hot! ...and of course there had to be a villian, so it was The Misfits...and punk band that they would compete against. At any rate, I LOVED Jem, and maybe still do.
