Walking down memory lane

Remember when coffee was either regular or decaf, water came from the tap, dried fruit strips were called shoe leather and eggs were just eggs? Today we have coffee in every flavor, strength and blended concoction (for as much as $6 a cup), water comes from all over the world (and costs as much as if you had to pay its travel fares), eggs in a variety of sizes can be free-range, brown or organic.

Cheese used to be American, Muenster, Swiss and smoked; you get dizzy just surveying the choices. Pizza was plain or a veggie slice; now it can be stuffed, cheese-less, sauce-less, extra thin or extra thick crust with as many toppings as can fit on a slice.

When I was a kid we had pretzels, pop corn, potato chips and Cracker Jacks (how I loved those dumb prizes! Come on, so did you). Remember how exciting it was to just figure out what it even was, and that was after we opened the paper package that held the prize.

When we were old enough to drink coffee, back then I would say about 16 or 17, we had it with milk and sugar; big decision was whole fat or skim milk. Coffee was instant, Sanka, Nescafe and good old Maxwell House. Almost every Jewish household had Hagadas provided by Maxwell House. Today kids drink coffee when they’re old enough to use a sippy cup. I see kids still in elementary school ordering coffee — or shall I say frappachinos — lattes or frozen coffee drinks that cost more than I received in allowance for a month.

Do I sound jealous that we didn’t have those choices back then? Well, maybe a little, but you kids didn’t have Al the ice cream man who came to the block of Shulamith School for Girls in Boro Park every day. He knew us all by name and what we liked to buy. You might have mocha chocolate almond fudge coffee, but I had the cherry Italian ices. And when I was halfway through, I would turn the ices over so the bottom was the top; it was dark red and gooey and sweet because all the sugary flavor sunk to the bottom. You know you all did that as well.