I was in a real drugstore yesterday. Well, they didn’t have a soda fountain, but they were a bit old-fashioned, very helpful, and stocked a little bit of a lot of stuff. Being there took me back to The Star Pharmacy, that was the lunchtime and afterschool hangout for anyone living in Tuttle, Oklahoma. Salty frogs or a cherry ice? Hand dipped malt or a cherry mash. Regardless, there was good conversation and sometimes advice from Jim or Ann Arganbright, the pharmacist and wife team. And you could NOT ditch class in their store. Nope, not allowed.
So this reminded me of a few favorite things from then and now. Let’s see what it may bring to mind for you.
Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers! My favorite was Strawberry and Dr. Pepper.
As mentioned above, Cherry Mash Candy Blobs. (because they are not exactly a candy bar) I eat the outside first and save the cherry for last.
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara. I saw it yesterday at the drugstore. It reminded me of my roomy in college for some reason! (ANITA)
Trixie Belden Mystery books. My sister got me started reading these and my bike riding friend, Julie and I, would read our summer days away.
So what is it for you? Penny candy? Marbles? Go-Go Boots? Board games? (I still have TROUBLE & yes, still play it!) What do you see in a store or see being sold as “vintage” that gets you thinking of days gone by?
Here’s something that I hope is kinda fun. At the bottom of this post, reply with your comment of what YOUR favorite thing is that you miss or is brought to mind when you reminisce. Everyone that posts their comment by Saturday morning (Feb 4) will be entered in a drawing for a surprise pack of my favorite things that I picked up at the drugstore yesterday. Now don’t get too excited, it’s just a little something, but still kinda fun! And who doesn’t like to win something?!
Also, if you haven’t yet “liked” us on Facebook, look to the right of this post and click “LIKE”. Yay, easy! You can also look to the right underneath the Facebook stuff and add your e-mail address to receive posts in your mailbox. Thanks to each of you who read my blog. I really appreciate you. It’s silly stuff, but from my heart ♥ to you.
Have a great Friday! Don’t forget to hurry and send in your Sister Story!!! (psblaxton@att.net)
stuff i tell my sister 
love that walk down memory lane….forgot about the adventures of Trixie Beldon, miss Star Pharmacy from time to time, and still use that same mascara, eat a cherry mash if I can find one and have strawberry bonnie bell in my desk drawer…..guess somethings just don’t change 🙂 funny utube…..i had dogs racing my car over the weekend when I was rambling around those country roads, made me smile….
My all time favorite is the Cherry Mash! Still love them! And The Star Pharmacy was more than a local business, it was Tuttle’s greatest asset for many years… the soda fountain, where they knew how to make the best chocolate soda in the entire world…I’m sure of it! And Jim and Ann, who were ‘neighbors’ to everyone, no matter where they lived. They hold a treasured spot in my heart…
Lots of wonderful memories growing up in that little town…. too many to list here. But I can say, God blessed me good by starting my roots in a small town, and in a state with a big heart. 😉
Linda Remembers:
Growing up in Memphis it was Colonial Pharmacy that was the place to go in my neighborhood. We did have a soda fountain and I worked part time there after school. Cokes and moon pies were a dime each. Peanuts to put in the cokes were a standard also. A nice chocolate soda was thirty cents, and you could add a grilled cheese for a quarter.
There was a juke box and the booths for sitting and talking with friends after school or on Saturdays. Kids today have no idea what they have missed.
So true Linda…..kids just don’t know what they missed! Wish we could still find those bargain prices too!
Rexall Drug for a really good barbeque sandwich and real fountain Coke – with vailla of course; Corky’s Dairy Mart (loved those #4’s); the Max Theater for date night (“I’m cold; can I wear your letter jacket?”); and The Music Shoppe (where Miss Alice let me practice on the baby grands)! And of course, “tooling” with the girls.
Hi Paula! Thanks so much for showing me your blog! I love this post – When I was 13, we moved to a town in Texas called Van Alstyne, it was about 45 minutes north of Dallas. There was a Rexall drug downtown that had a soda fountain and we went in a few times and got drinks! It was so fun. So I guess for my generation, that’s pretty rare, but it was just great, I wish we had more of them, I really do.
I also must add, the Maybelline Great Lash Mascara reminds me of my mom! That is what she ALWAYS used! And strangely enough, last year I asked one of my friends what she used for her mascara because her eyelashes were just gorgeous! She told me that recently she had her makeup professionally applied and they used MAC for everything except for the mascara, when they pulled out a pink, familiar tube. They said that it was the best, despite the cheap price. She couldn’t believe it. So I guess there’s a reason it is still around. 🙂 Lol, it’s even what I use now. haha.
My Mema also had books for us to read when we came to her house, I’m sure you saw them, and I distinctly remember Trixie Belden. 🙂 Love it!
Glad to know I am using mascara at the professional level 🙂 I’ve tried many brands and I always return to this one…..
Great memories….I just kinda figured that everyone has a “drugstore” memory, no matter where they grew up! A grilled cheese for a quarter in Memphis….a bbq sandwich at the Rexall….a bit jealous over Linda’s drugstore having a juke box and Christi having a movie theater that was open! ♪ ♫ ♪ I had forgotten about moon pies. I agree, Julie….we were all truly blessed and I think, maybe we even knew it back then?
Renae….thanks for my bonne bell for Christmas. I think Santa gave you a cherry mash? Also, the advertisement at the bottom of my posts(you-tube) are not “APPROVED” by me. I am not sure how that part works….still have a lot to figue out on this blog thing.
Keep the responses coming….LOVE IT!
Holly ~ thanks for sharing you expert mascara advice (!) and your memories. I’m so glad you found a drugstore when you moved to TX. And you are right, I probably dusted those Trixie Beldon books! ha! We moved back to Tuttle just for a short time when our boys were still young. They loved that they could go to the drugstore and that after going just a couple of times, Kay knew what to fix for them to drink and Jim would talk to them about what they were studying in school. I’m just glad they had a “drugstore” in their lives, too. It just makes a place “home”.
I miss going to Woolworth’s, sitting at the counter, and ordering vanilla or cherry flavored fountain cokes. During WWII we kids would line up around the candy store (next to Woolworth’s) for the once weekly candy bar delivery. Most of the candy went to the guys serving overseas. We paid a whole five cents for a candy bar. My sister was a teenager and nylons weren’t available, so she would slather leg makeup on her legs and when it dried, I took her eyebrow pencil and drew a line up the back of her legs to make it appear as though she had on stockings. Our drugstore didn’t have a fountain so we all hung out at Woolworth’s. I miss “Tangee” lipstick. It sort of changed colors after it was applied. Mom wouldn’t let me wear any red lipstick until I got older. I know….I’m from a much earlier generation than all you girls, but my memory is still sharp.
I LOVE your sharp memory, Ms. Delores! And I am trying to picture drawing a straight line on my sister’s leg with an eyebrow pencil. I can already hear us fussing at each other! So funny, yet very creative! I don’t think I’ve heard of TANGEE, so I must google that one! Thanks for sharing ♥
I googled Tangee and there’s all kinds of info about it….and it is still as I remembered it. Now I’m thinking I’ll order a tube, just for the fun of it. Their blurb even said (as I did) that the color changes on your lips according to your skin color. I wonder if my face would appear without wrinkles, as it was when I was about 14, and felt so ‘worldly’ when I applied that wonderful Tangee lipstick. And yes, I still use Great Lash Mascara, but now it’s on my gray eyelashes. It’s difficult to remember ever having very black hair. Look at all the memories you raked up for me. Thanks, it’s been fun. xxoo
I looked up Tangee also, Delores. I do recall some kind of lip stuff that was suppose to change colors….but I don’t think it was Tangee. We had mood rings though! (in fact, I bought one recently with my girlfriend, just to irritate our guys for the day! and it worked!) Sweet, sweet memories…… ♥
Thanks for the walk down ‘Memory Lane’!! Favorite stuff…..LOVE’S BABY SOFT cologne….and CHICK-O-STIX!!! LOL I will still get a chick-o-stix every now and then just for old time’s sake!! Loved the old Star Pharmacy!!
Shannon ~ totally forgot about “Love’s” and I would always buy chick-o-stix for my dad! ♥
Cherry limes—the ones Mildred made were the best, then Teresa’s after Mildred retired…Cherry limes and cheetos every day for lunch in Jr. High, very healthy…Ann went to Mother-Daughter banquet with me the year my uncle died and Mama couldn’t go.
How many people ride bikes to each other’s house to sit and read?!?!? My cousin Sharon gave me my first Trixie Belden books and Brenda Condren and I traded Trixie’s back and forth across the street, as well…when her first girl baby, Abby, was born I boxed all of them up and gave them to her…BTW, those books started Brenda on her career track, she’s now a reading specialist. Last year when our school library deleted the Trixie books (horrors!) I bought ’em all for a buck.
You know, I carried on the tradition of cheetos for my daily lunch thru college…but switched to regular coke as cherry cokes were not to be found on campus. (and the canned were just NOT the same) That’s so awesome that you gave all the Trixie books to Brenda’s first baby girl! And sad that your school deleted them….guess kids don’t read their summers away anymore….but I know you and I still do!
Oh so fun reading all of these. I got my first job when I was only 14, you could do that back then! It was at “The Pharmacy”. Yep that was the name. It was one of only 2 in town. That was all you needed. I worked all over the store, but loved working behind the soda fountain! I drank so many lime phosphates! They were my favorite! I remember fondly making sundaes, and malts, and all of the other goodies! But it was the end of the era. It wasn’t the kids hang out, so it was even more fun to talk with the people that did come in! My starting wage was either $1.85 or $2.65 per hour, I can’t quite remember! hahaha. And speaking of Love’s baby soft, which was my first perfume, I just bought my twin daughters a bottle of that AND Exclamation for Christmas! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it in gift packs at the store this year! Made me laught right there in the aisle!
Thanks for sharing, Jodi. That is awesome that you found Love’s Baby Soft for your babies! So what state where you living in when you worked at the pharmacy?