Wonderful story Bert. Luckily the CRS only affects the short term memory.

And Sourdough, you really hit it with the Battle Creek thing. I remember thinking it must be one fantastic place......all those prizes in one town........I wondered what it was like to live there. Some of the stuff, like the little subs, came in the boxes, but you could only get the BIG 5 inch one after saving those boxtops and sending to Battle Creek. Badges, patches, army rank insignia, balsa gliders....there was no end to the largesse!

And I have wondered since if the Ovaltine folks had a bunch of the Secret Decoder pins and rings left over from Little Orphan Annie because Ovaltine also sponsored "Captain Midnight and His Secret Squadron." We drank Ovaltine all the time because I had to have the Captain Midnight stuff.......My pin and OFFICIAL membership card as a Wingman in the Secret Squadron, my Secret Decoder Ring, and the biggie, a model of the Captain's plane (a Douglas Skyrocket).

One of the things that makes this thread funny/sad too, is thinking back on your first disappointment where you began to see the world through new eyes, that all was not as advertized. This is especially timely to me now since last weekend my 8 year old son Michael had his first big disappointment and I swear to you, its harder as a Dad to watch than to live through it. He is a Pokemon addict and when Burger King started ads for "Pokemon GameBoys" he was at my side in an instant. Now you and I know that B-K isn't going to give a GameBoy away with a Kids Meal, but try as I might, I couldn't explain this to Michael. Last weekend we all went to Burger King and seeing the look on his face and the disappointment in his questions and voice was damn near too much for the Ol' Man. He is now an older and wiser shopper perhaps, but another of those pieces of childhood innocense has fallen away.

Anyone on this thread who has not read Jean Shepherd's short story about getting the box from his Mom as an adult filled with "junk they found in the basement" needs to read it. Its absolutely hilarious and what makes it so is the truth in it. I think its in "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" but I'm not sure.

Great thread Rick......I'll be back and I bet some other will too.

Spaw