Paved paradise and put up a parking lot

Kara J. Rice

The Signal Staff

It is the beginning of a new year; 2010 signifies that another decade has gone by and with it, many of the things I love.

As I think about all of the wonderful products that have been discontinued, it is not just the sadness of their demise that comes over me, but the thought that my child will most likely never experience many of the things I loved as a child.

I suppose that is the way things go. Our generation missed out on many great things our parents and grandparents experienced in their youth.  Ever tasted Kellogg’s Puffa Puffa Rice Cereal, Black Jack gum or the Seven Up Bar?  I bet not, and you most likely never will.

Don’t get me wrong, change is mostly good and in many cases signifies great progress, but every once in awhile you have to ask yourself, “Why did they close down a place like Astro World? Did they do just what a song from recent years suggests, ‘paved paradise and put up a parking lot?’”  

This decade gave consumers many opportunities to ask these kinds of questions when Coca-Cola Co. discontinued the very tasty C2 because of marketing issues. Circus Animal Cookies went away in October when Mother’s Cookies abruptly closed its doors and stopped production.  I was further saddened when I discovered the Frito Burrito from Taco Bell, only to have it taken away months later.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch was never a cereal I enjoyed, but when I tried French Toast Crunch I fell in love.  My love affair ended as quickly as it began. After having tried only one box, it too became another food product that bit the dust.  Candy cravers lost a slew of sweet confections this decade with Crispy M&M’s, Mars Bars, Tiny Tarts, Sour Bites, Twix Cookies & Cream, and Sugar Mama all going away, perhaps for good.

Food products weren’t the only items to become distant memories as we saw the death of the Polaroid camera and Polaroid film this decade.  No more taking a picture and watching it slowly develop in front of your eyes. Sure, the quality was poor and we’ve replaced them with fancy digital cameras.  I love my Canon Rebel SLR as much as the next person, but it’s the end of an era and can only mean that the extinction of 35mm film is right behind it.  Future generations will no longer know what it means to “shake it like a Polaroid picture.”

2005 brought an end to Foley’s department stores across the nation.  This was a blow to shoppers everywhere but was especially hurtful to Houstonians; we were home to 16 out of 69 stores.  Gone are the days of the Foley’s Red Apple Sales, which seemed to occur much more frequently as their close date approached.  Eddie Bauer, Kmart, Storehouse Furniture and many others followed suit this decade by either drastically reducing their number of locations or completely closing their doors altogether.

Knowing that many of my beloved products are being killed off mercilessly, I am comforted by the fact that history repeats itself, retro is cool, and many items make a comeback after public outcry reaches the ears of the manufacturer.  Jell-O Pudding Pops did just this but is now manufactured by Popsicle.  Although this has squelched the cry of the masses, die-hards say, “It’s not the same pudding pop.”

Many candies from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s that have been gone for decades are beginning to appear every year around Halloween and on specialty Web sites. These little reminders of the past still put smiles on the faces of baby boomers everywhere and it is inevitable our generation too will one day welcome the moments when the past meets the present.