1. Sweet Pickles – The existence of Sweet Pickles was a hot topic in our household this week. Hot-ish. Okay, a warm topic. I mentioned Sweet Pickles casually to my wife, who to my astonishment had no recollection of this series of books. These things were everywhere – classrooms, doctor’s offices, Sunday schools, waiting rooms, everywhere! Maybe this wasn’t the case all over the country, but it certainly was in Central Florida. Sweet Pickles was about a town of 26 animals, each animal named after a letter of the alphabet. Each book would focus on one of the animals and was usually about a human flaw that that animal had, and a “pickle” they find themselves in because of it.
I don’t know if I’m a fan of the art design or not, but the look of Sweet Pickles books is definitely distinct. I do love the colors used on the covers and the interesting combinations chosen. Here are a few of my favorites:
What I remember most about Sweet Pickles, though, is the commercial. I remember it well, because it seemed to run in every break on Nickelodeon between 1985 and 1990. In case it wasn’t enough to get these books in every single waiting room in the world, now you can subscribe to them and have the books at home as well. The jingle is kind of catchy, though:
“Thanks for protecting me from the 6 foot tall goose that advanced on me from a green school bus, mom!”
2. Garfield minus Garfield – One of my favorite websites for awhile, Garfield minus Garfield takes Garfield comic strips and removes the main character from them. The result is a comic strip about a lonely man going slowly insane.
3. Mac Tonight – One of the creepiest things McDonald’s has done (that’s saying something) was to dress a man up as the moon and have him play the piano, singing a song parody of “Mack the Knife” that extolls the virtues of McDonalds as an evening dining establishment.
This ad campaign ran from 1986 to 1988, and as a kid Mac seemed just a little too jazzed about McDonald’s evening offerings:
4. Archie meets The Punisher – This happened?!
(I initially typo’d this as “Archie meets The Predator”. Imagine THAT!)
5. Spinnerin – Neat Stuff’s got a cool set of pages from 1960s-1971 Spinnerin Magazine. Love these sweaters!
-ds
Those gals in the last photos are like original hipsters. Also I am jealous of their sweaters.
Sweet Pickles has resurfaced, this time as E-Books! For more information check out the website: http://www.sweetpickles.com.