Remember when ring around the collar was the bane of our existence? Countless television commercials were dedicated to the unsightly stains and how to get rid of them. Homes around the nation spent time and resources to deal with this horrific happening. Then all of a sudden, it disappeared. It has been decades since anyone has uttered the words.
This started me thinking about other things that seem to have been lost to the annals of time. Many of them vanished with no fanfare or explanation.
Water beds, for instance. Water beds were hyped as the new solution to sleep and other things. I can remember an ad screaming out of the radio speakers that simply stated, "Two things are better on a water bed, one of them is sleep."
Then as quickly as they came, water beds dried up. I am not sure if it was the maintenance or the seasickness that caused them to disappear but they are certainly gone.
Another mysterious tool that has dematerialized from our daily lives is the Clapper. You remember the device that allowed you to magically turn off your lights by simply clapping your hands. It seemed like something out of "The Jetsons."
I never owned a Clapper and it appears now I never will. Thanks, Alexa.
The final thing that faded into the obscurity of the ages is "New Coke." Released in 1985 as "America's Real Choice" in the cola wars.
Sure "New Coke" was different. Sure "New Coke" was less appealing. Sure, "New Coke" was kind of gross but did that mean it had to vanish into the vortex of our cultural dustbin? I say no.
I think we would all be better off with dirty collars, bad backs and a bitter aftertaste in our mouths. I mean if it was good enough for our parents, it is good enough for us.
I vote for a Rubik's Cube and a rotary phone in every residence. Let's go back to the days where a stranger could pull up next to us in traffic and borrow our mustard by simply asking, "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?"