By Tom Morrow

As the years pass us by, a goodly number of well-known name products have disappeared from the commercial scene. Growing up, I remember my grandmother using a detergent called “The Gold Dust Twins.” It was a popular brand as was “Bon Ami,” a powder cleanser that was “a good friend” to the one doing the cleaning. It was just like “Ajax” and “Spic & Span.”
Remember a long-forgotten Kellogg’s breakfast food “PEP?” I tried it when I was in first grade after urging my mother to get a box. The box was the thing that attracted many a youngster. Had I known PEP was more of a health cereal I probably wouldn’t have insisted Mom get a box. One is all it took.
During the forties and fifties, all TV sets we bought were made here in America. Such brand names as RCA, Crosley, DuMont, General Electric, Westinghouse, Raytheon, dominated the marketplace. DuMont and Westinghouse had their own networks along with stalwarts like CBS, ABC, and NBC.
Cars were another product line that took a giant overhaul. Remember the economy-sized “Henry J,” built by “Kaiser,” who had a luxury model called “Frazier?” Gone are the long-established lines such as “Packard,” “Hudson,” “Nash.” In recent years we’ve lost “Pontiac,” “Oldsmobile,” “Mercury,” the short-lived “Saturn” by General Motors. An even shorter-lived “Edsel” by Ford wasn’t as bad as it looked. Today, the ones that are left are collector’s items. Chrysler Corporation did away with “DeSoto,” which was billed as a middle-class luxury car behind the top-of-the line “Chrysler.”
Whatever is in the marketplace today could very well be gone tomorrow. Many of the products we like go by the wayside as do each generation.
GREAT QUOTES: “… I fear all we have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a great resolve.” – Japanese Imperial Fleet Commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on his successful attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 2942.
SCAG SEZ: “It just occurred to me that boxers are one of the few people who can wake up and find themselves rich.” — Cecil Scaglione, www.maturelifefeatures.com
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Humorous or human-interest stories or notes for this osidenews.com column can be forwarded via e-mail to me at: quotetaker@msn.com