Redartz: Hello all! Today we present the initial post in yet another category: "Short Cuts". These posts will feature a wide and unpredictable variety of subjects. The kicker here is that we will toss out a topic, thought, or question, with just a brief comment or two. Your task is to grab the baton from us and run with it!
First off : What was your first choice of pop ( or soda, or beverage, you get the idea) in that glorious time of our youth , the Bronze Age? When faced with a big, inviting Coke machine, I would chunk my quarter for a Fanta Red Cream Soda. How about you? Dr. Pepper, maybe; or Orange Crush? Or perhaps something more local and esoteric. Pull out your change and take your pick...
19 comments:
A very popular British soft drink in the '70s was called Cresta which was advertised on TV by a polar bear in sunglasses but I found it difficult to finish a whole bottle because it always made me feel so bloated. Of course, Coca Cola was popular too and in 1972 there was a UK #1 hit called "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" by the New Seekers which came from a Coke advert. My parents rarely drank alcohol but at Christmas we always had beer and lemonade and made shandy. I like to keep up this tradition and so I always have some home-made shandy every Christmas...as well as whiskey, rum and sherry :D
RC was the drink of choice. Coke if it was a holiday. But most of the time it was grape cool-aid. Now its coffee and a ipad with a comic reader app!
Currently, my favorite soda pop (my wishy-washy compromise solution to that whole linguistic conundrum) is Coca Cola, and all colas in general - I'm not as picky on that mark as others, so I also like RC, Pepsi, etc. Ginger Ale is a close runner-up, especially Canada Dry, which is devilishly hard to find in my part of the world.
When I was a kid, though, my favorites were any of the "fruit"-flavored fizzy drinks, so I absolutely loved any of the line of fluorescent Crush beverages, as well as the fruity Shasta sodas. Also - and I recall mentioning this when we were discussing a similar topic at BAB - a line of soft drinks that was really popular in the wider Portland, OR back in the late '70s was called the Pope Shoppe (I hope that embedded link doesn't kill my comment again). These were often a mainstay of picnics, weddings and other catered events, and it seemed like they made soft drinks in every color of the visible spectrum back then.
Also, I used to love Cream soda, and still do kind of - last time I was in the US, briefly, 2 years ago, I made it a point to get a can of Cream soda.
I enjoy the taste of cream sodas and high-end root beers, but somehow (at 53yrs..), they don't seem to like me, about 20min later. So I typically just stick with an occasional glass of Coke or perhaps 7-Up (for sick stomachs..).
Growing up, it was always a Coke and Frito's for summer snacks, I'd go through sooo much back then.., it always seemed like a cheap purchase for my Mom.
Nowadays, as mentioned I seldom drink soda's ever anymore, 'cept perhaps for an occasional treat or if I really need a late afternoon pick-me-up (besides coffee).
It always struck me that Nancy Sinatra once said that out of all the alcohol and other beverages she's ever consumed, she typically preferred just a glass of Coke with ice.
Classy Lady.
Loved me some Crush -- Orange or Grape. I also liked a black cherry soda from the Kroger grocery store when I was a kid.
Nowadays my go-to is Diet Dr. Pepper. I also prefer Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi (my wife's drink of choice). I do like root beer and 7-Up, but I find that just one can last me many months. Those are just not sodas (pops) I drink regularly.
But you guys are right -- a frosty A&W Diet Cream Soda is about the pinnacle. Love that.
Doug
Every Saturday, when I was a kid, the Pop Van used to come round and deliver a bottle of Orangeade a bottle of Lemonade and a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock to our house. Dandelion and Burdock was my favourite - possibly helped by the urban myth that it made you incontinent. I can confirm that it didn't. Sadly, I can't confirm whether there were any actual dandelions or burdocks in it.
One of my favorites from those days was an ICEE, sold at a local convenience store chain. Sort of like a 7-11 Slurpee only less slushy and more frozen. They came in a variety of flavors but the dominant choice was Coke. So basically frozen pop/soda.
And an ICEE often came into direct competition with a comic for one of those precious quarters. I think you could also throw in a candy bar for a total of 20-25 cents. So, on a hot Summer day, eh...reading might be considered overrated.
Tom
In Canada we had most of the same pop as the U.S. (except for some outliers like Pic-a-Pop); I tended to go for the more obscure ones: Fresca, Tab, Fanta (orange, red, and cream soda), Crush (orange, red, and purple), and Hires root beer. I don't drink pop anymore ... too expensive and my aging system can't handle the sugar :)
Mike Wilson
Great thirst quenching comments, everyone! Like many of you, I don't drink much pop anymore. But I go through tea like oxygen...and regardless, I can't drink diet. Artificial sweeteners don't sit well with the ol' tummy. So real sugar only...
By the way, years ago there was a holiday poster for Coca Cola. It featured several recipes for holiday drinks using Coke. One was for a cinnamon Coke. Tried it and loved it, but lost the recipe eons ago. Anyone know anything about this?
Oh, and Edo- yes, Canada Dry has the best ginger ale. Great stuff for an upset stomach, incidentally...
Boy do I agree with a lot of you. Here are some comments in no particular order:
1) Canada Dry is indeed the best Ginger Ale. I agree.
2) My wife is from Michigan and they have a pop called Verner's. It is kind of like ginger ale but not quite. I cannot stand it, but her whole family loves it.
3) Dandelion & Burdock has been on my bucket list since it appeared in a comment on the BAB. If I ever write a comic book with detectives in it - the duo will be named Dandelion and Burdock.
4) The pop machine at the corner drug store where I bought comics growing up had RC, Dr. Pepper, A&W or Dad's Root Beet, and Hawaiian Punch. Those all still remain nostalgic favorites - with Dr. Pepper being my go to pop when I drink pop. (And no it is not the same as Mr. Pibb).
5) Never had a Cinnamon Coke but I've had hot Dr. Pepper. They served it like tea at a place I visited in Denver as a kid.
6) It was a Christmas tradition in our family for Angel Wing Punch - cream soda, powdered sugar, gin, and red or green food coloring.
7) I don't know if it exists anymore - but Shasta was a big brand when I was a kid. Grape, Cream Soda, Orange, Root Beer - Shasta was always around at family parties.
8) Some friends loved Yoohoo - but that chocolate drink never caught on with me.
9) I liked Mountain Dew in my high school and college years.
10) I miss the glass refundable returnable bottles. I think pop tasted better out of those.
Cheers.
I'm partial to a diet Fresca.
Remember that scene from Caddyshack? "Now, how about a Fresca? Hmm? Hmm?"
Yep, Fresca. Good wholesome fun.
M.P.
My name is Michael and I am a Coke addict - Coca Cola that is!
Yeah for me classic Coke was it, closely followed by 7-up and local pop (or sweet drinks or soft drinks as the locals call it down here) drinks like Solo which came in flavours like cola champagne, banana, grape and cream soda. I remember RC Cola as tasting quite sweet, even sweeter than Coke, if that's possible. Fanta is available down here too.
I've recently cut back on my consumption of Coke for health reasons but doggone it old habits die hard! Nowadays I try to vary my drinks, Coke one day, maybe another type of soft drink another day. Now I just have to dust off my weight set ...
- Mike 'drinking iced cranberry tea with agave right this moment' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Yeah, it's hard to beat a can of regular Coke. I indulge in one now and then, like if I gotta go on a long drive or something.
This has nothing to do with the topic, but I'm watching Thursday Night Football, and what is going on with the lime green uniforms the Seahawks are wearing? Tops and bottoms, bright lime green. WTF? They look like an army of Riddlers. Did Frank Gorshin rise from the dead and buy the team?
It hurts the eyes!
M.P.
Mike from T&T- mmmm, your cranberry tea sounds good! And that Cola Champagne sounds quite interesting.
M.P.- It is hard to beat a Coke. Especially with a shot of raspberry flavor...
Martinex, re: Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb - I agree, they are *not* the same. And I miss refundable/recyclable glass bottles, too.
I'm pretty sure Shasta still exists, although there's another soft drink brand that I'm sure doesn't anymore: Cragmont. This was a store brand in Safeway supermarkets, and I remember Cragmont Cola, Root Beer, Cream Soda and a bunch of fruit flavors like lemon-lime, grape, orange, strawberry (or cherry, but definitely a bright red one), etc. It was always the cheapest soft drink you could find, even cheaper than Shasta, which was marketed as a bargain brand.
And Mountain Dew, man, that was so popular where I was growing up for a few years in the late '70s and up to about 1981/82. And then after that it seemed like no one wanted to touch the stuff, although I see it's had a resurgence in popularity in the past 10 or so years, with all kinds of alternative flavors (on that most recent trip to the States I mentioned above, I recall my nephew getting himself a bottle of this bright-red Mountain Dew...)
Sundrop was my choice growing up. My sister and I got a treat every Friday night. She would have a Pepsi and I would have Sundrop. Hers was 12 oz, while mine was only 10 oz, but I didn't care, because I liked it's citrus taste that didn't have that bitter grapefruit of other sodas. I don't drink sodas much these days, but I did try a Sundrop last month and it was still pretty refreshing.
Mr. Pibb, but I frequently settle for Dr. Pepper. At home however, I only every drink ginger ale if I am having a soft drink.
I go back to glass bottles in machines, @ 15 cents. I liked Coke...Pepsi in glass tasted like sugar water...but my favorite was Tru-Ade, an uncarbonated orange beverage well known in eastern N.C. COLDEST thing in the icebox was always the uncarbonated chocolate Brownie.
Disneymarvel- " Sundrop", sounds good, perhaps like a decaf Mountain Dew...
Kevin- yes, you can't beat pop from a cold glass bottle. "Brownie"- was that anything like a "Yahoo", or a local Indiana chocolate drink called "Choc-Ola"?
Post a Comment