Rocky Mountain Eyes

Last week I went on a business trip to Fort Collins, Colorado. I had some time to kill, so of course I went in search of food with eyes. My first discovery was this adorable strawberry mascot for IntaJuice fruit smoothies:

I had never seen this chain of smoothie stands before. They even have an online shop for cute strawberry merchandise. This particular franchise was in the food court of the Foothills Mall. This mall had what my husband and I refer to as "the stink of death." Check out it's listing at Dead Malls Dot Com under the Colorado section. One of the big anchor stores had been turned into glow-in-the-dark miniature golf!

My other food with eyes discovery was on the way home at Chicago's O'Hare Airport where I found a stand selling Hixson's Popcorn in bags adorned with this cute corn fellow, Cheerful Earfull:

The fine print indicates it's made by Mellos Peanut Company which looks like it makes some good old-fashioned treats.

Happy Easter!

National Peanut Month

March is National Peanut Month. I’d planned this post for March 1st, but somehow two weeks have disappeared, and now it’s the 15th. But that still leaves two more weeks to enjoy peanuts this month. In fact, National Peanut Month actually began as National Peanut Week in 1941 and expanded to a month-long celebration in 1974 (13 years before March also became Women’s History Month, incidentally).

You might think that Mr. Peanut would be the spokesnut for National Peanut Month, but in fact that job goes to Buddy McNutty:

Buddy no doubt appeals to kids more than stodgy old Mr. Peanut. Instead of a top hat and spats, this peanut is decked out in an informal baseball cap and sneakers. Buddy McNutty is also the star of a comic book detailing his many adventures. It turns out that a variety of Buddy McNutty merchandise is available from The National Peanut Board's Peanut Store, including this poster:This poster shows a dark time in the history of peanut production when many were forced to work under hazardous conditions for low wages in the peanut mines.

The National Peanut Board is just one peanut group of many including the Georgia Peanut Commission. This Georgian peanut definitely has a hillbilly look about him. I doubt he and Mr Peanut socialize much.

And here we have peanut oil marching along with a package of peanuts:

The Virginia Carolina Peanut Association even provides some clip art shown below:

Baseball Peanut

Sweet Valentine's Day Peanut

So for the next two weeks, remember to eat your peanuts and think of Buddy McNutty.

Come to the Kabaret!

I visited Walt Disney World for the first (and so far only) time in 1995 with my sister. I scrutinized guidebooks for weeks, or maybe even months, in advance to plan the best strategy to see all the sights and beat the crowds. When I go on vacation I like to see everything there is to see. In fact, more than one person has likened a vacation with me to a ‘death march.’ Say what you will, but we don’t miss anything.

After studying all the attractions Disney World had to offer, we made a bee-line for the top one. Space Mountain? The Tower of Terror? Pirates of the Caribbean? No, The Land at Epcot Center.

I read lengthy descriptions of an animatronic show at The Land called the Kitchen Kabaret. It featured singing food, of course, including the Cereal Sisters performing “Boogie Woogie Bakery Boy.” The thought of a single attraction that combined my loves of food with eyes and music of the 1940s was almost too much. So you can imagine my shock and disappointment to find the Kitchen Kabaret gone, and replaced with Food Rocks. Yes, it was still singing food, and yes, it was thoroughly enjoyable, but for all these years I’ve had a gnawing sense of disappointment about missing the original Kitchen Kabaret. All of my careful planning was for naught.

But now, thanks to the miracle of YouTube, I have been able to fulfill my dream and see the Kitchen Kabaret! The following is a two-part, painstakingly-edited video of the Kitchen Kabaret posted by YouTube user Scottof83:

Part I


Part II



And for those of you who prefer music from the second half of the 20th Century, here is a two-part video of the Food Rocks show courtesy of YouTube user TerryT1976:

Part I


Part II



One thing that always puzzled me about my Food Rocks experience was the lack of merchandising. Every attraction at Disney World shunts you into a shop of doo-dads at the end. In this case, when I was eager to snap up some Food Rocks gear there was nothing. My only souvenir was the following peapod magnet, not expressly made for the attraction:

I now must conclude that my visit was after the Kitchen Kabaret items were removed and before Food Rocks items were introduced, as I have found plenty of evidence for their existence. In fact, an informative website about Lost Epcot shows the merchandise that was available. Naturally, I took a look at eBay to see what I could find. I was amazed to see a complete set of 8 Kitchen Kabaret pins go for $215!! Needless to say I won’t be getting any Kitchen Kabaret items any time soon, but at least I’ve seen the show now.

I was saddened to learn that Food Rocks has itself been replaced, and not by singing food, but by some bird’s eye view of beautiful scenery called Soarin’. Why anyone would want to see that is beyond me. I’m sure a 21st century update with Jel.Lo, Pea Diddy, and the Food Fighters would have been a hit.

Happy Birthday Curly Wurly!

Special Happy Birthday Greetings to Maria at Curly Wurly today!

Thanks a Bunch!

I’d like to say

for two recent holiday treats!

First, to Steven A. at Plastic Pumpkins for his special Valentine’s Day discourse on the mating rituals of the Busch Gardens/Old Country mascots. I’m sure this brilliant analysis will be studied by scholars for generations to come. Although, one has to wonder why animal mascots were chosen to represent the Old Country, when so many food mascots were available. Why not Bangers and Mash for England, Knockwurst and Strudel for Germany, Brie and Pâté for France and a jug of Maple Syrup for New France? Think about it.

A big thanks, also, to Sparkle Plenty at Dinosaur Casserole for this delightful Pres[id]ents’ Day present!

This amazing advertisement for Stokely’s grapefruit juice and canned fruits dates from 1937 and depicts a great moment in musical history: a young Rosemary Clooney leans out her window and hears this fruity band playing what would become her signature song, Come-On A My House.

Mr. Peanut for President

Today is Presidents' Day here in the U.S.A., a day when we think back on the great leaders that shaped our country's history. One name inevitably comes to mind on this day: Mr. Peanut. While he was never actually president (the closest we've come was peanut farmer Jimmy Carter, although we do have a different sort of nut in the White House now), Mr. Peanut holds an important place in U.S. history as the following coloring book demonstrates.

Presidents of the United States to Color - A History from Washington to Johnson was a 1965 premium from Planters Peanuts, then part of Standard Brands.



Click on each picture for a full size image to print out and color. Be sure to have your "peanut tan" crayon handy. A word of caution: the following images may be disturbing to those with a phobia of life-sized, top hat-wearing peanuts.

Let's skip to the third president, Thomas Jefferson, because nothing involving Mr. Peanut happened during the terms of Washington and John Adams. Here Mr. Peanut comes on the scene in a big way, obliterating much of the original 13 colonies, which hold little interest after the Louisiana Purchase:

Also during Jefferson's presidency, Robert Fulton built the first steamboat. This feat isn't nearly as interesting as the eleven-foot-tall peanut at the helm:

Our fifth president, James Monroe, purchased Florida from Spain. He hoped it could contain the huge peanut creature which had now grown to the size of Rhode Island. Here Mr. Peanut dangles his feet in the Gulf of Mexico:

The presidency of John Quincy Adams saw the opening of the Erie Canal. Here's Mr. Peanut standing near Lock 9 in Rotterdam:

Very little of interest happened for 20 years, then Zachary Taylor became the 12th president. While you may remember him as "Old Rough and Ready," his greatest achievent was being born in Virgina, whose warm, sandy soil is excellent for growing peanuts:

Also during the term of Zachary Taylor, gold was discovered in California. The "Gold Rush" sent thousands of men and peanut men to seek their fortunes:

Nothing of importance happened for another 20 years, but then, in 1869 Mr. Peanut single-handedly built the Union Pacific Railroad:

Next, in a complete non sequitur, farmers dig up the peanut vines for shells to harden and nuts to firm:

A bunch more presidents did some stuff, culminating in the 1906 introduction of Planters Peanuts:

Suddenly going back in time, Mr. Peanut was on hand for the 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk. Although the Wright Brothers made the first "man-carrying airplane flight," Mr. Peanut was an accomplished aviator by this point:

Then a few world wars happened, a depression, some things were shot into space, and president #35 was assassinated, all of which pale in comparison to our last page - nutritious peanut products and the places Mr. Peanut grows best (everything really is bigger in Texas):