June 2026 - Page 2 of 8 - Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures

Before the Lawyers Got Involved

As a kid, I always wondered why adults were leaving blasting caps around often enough that they had to hire Willie Mays to make a commercial about it.

This old PSA is such a strange piece of TV history. One minute you were watching cartoons or cereal commercials, and the next minute one of the greatest baseball players of all time was looking into the camera warning you not to touch explosives.

It feels like it came from that era before everything had ten warning labels, sealed packaging, and a legal department reviewing every word. The message was simple: if you find a blasting cap, do not pick it up. Tell a policeman, a fireman, or an adult.

Looking back, it is funny how many safety lessons were delivered to kids through television. Fire safety, seat belts, strangers, drugs, littering, and apparently, random blasting caps.

Only back then could Willie Mays interrupt your Saturday morning to warn you about explosives.

Do you remember this PSA?

The Internet in 1969: They Got There… Sort Of

This 1969 look at the future is fascinating because, in a way, they really did predict where we were going. Shopping from home, checking accounts, paying bills, ordering things through a screen — all of that eventually became part of everyday life. The funny part is that they imagined it happening through a giant home computer setup that looked more like mission control than the phone in your pocket.

And you have to love the very 1969 version of household roles. The wife uses the futuristic computer to shop for clothes and groceries, while the husband comes in later to handle the bills and finances. It is such a perfect little time capsule of how the future was imagined through the lens of that era.

They were right about the destination, just not the road we took to get there. No big computer room in the house, no dedicated shopping console, and thankfully no need to dress up just to order something online. But watching this now, it is still impressive how close they came to predicting the basic idea of the online world we use every day.

New Country Corn Flakes

The New Country Corn Flakes commercial stood out to me as a kid, and I still remember it to this day. So I guess it was an effective ad.

It was not flashy by today’s standards. There were no cartoon mascots running around, no big prize reveal, and no wild animation. Instead, it had that plain, old-fashioned country feel, with a serious farm couple look that reminded people of American Gothic.

That may be why it stuck. The ad was simple, a little odd, and very catchy. It kept repeating the name and selling the idea that these corn flakes were crispier, toastier, and just a little different from the usual bowl of cereal.

Looking back, it feels like a perfect example of early 1960s advertising. Sometimes the commercials that stayed with us were not the loudest ones. They were the ones that had a strange little rhythm, a memorable image, or a jingle that somehow never left your head.

Do you remember New Country Corn Flakes, or is there another cereal commercial that has stayed with you all these years?

The FedEx Fast-Talking Man

Before every company tried to make commercials feel like mini-movies, FedEx gave us one that felt like a full workday packed into 30 seconds.

The famous Federal Express fast-talking commercial starred John Moschitta Jr., who became known as one of the fastest talkers people had ever heard. In the ad, he plays a high-pressure office worker rattling off orders, calls, deadlines, and instructions at machine-gun speed.

That was the whole point. Business was moving faster, offices were busier, and everyone needed things done yesterday. FedEx used the joke perfectly: in a fast-paced world, you needed a delivery company that could keep up.

It was funny, memorable, and very 1980s — phones ringing, papers flying, everyone rushing, and one man talking faster than most of us could even listen.

Psychic Hotline

Remember when late-night TV was full of mysterious 1-800 numbers promising to tell you the truth about love, money, and your future?

This psychic hotline ad has everything: purple graphics, dramatic music, smiling people on couches, and the magic words every commercial loved to use — “This call is FREE!” Of course, the tiny print told the real story: first few minutes free, then the meter started running.

It is a perfect little time capsule from that wonderfully weird era when TV convinced us that answers to life’s biggest questions were just one phone call away.

Did you ever call one of these numbers, or were you smart enough to just watch the commercial and wonder who actually did?

“Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop”

I remember my mom calling it the “Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop,” and for years I wondered where that came from. Now I know she wasn’t just making up a funny name — that was actually part of Wham-O’s marketing.

The original Hula Hoop craze took off in 1958, but like most fads, it cooled down. Wham-O later tried to bring it back by adding a new twist: sound. They put small ball bearings inside the hollow plastic hoop so that when you spun it around your waist, it made a swishing, “shoop shoop” kind of noise. TIME described the 1967 version as the New Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop, with bright colors and ball bearings inside to give it that “whirry” sound.

That explains why the name stuck with so many parents. It wasn’t just a hula hoop anymore — it was the one that made noise. Toy collectors and nostalgia sites still point to the Shoop Shoop version as Wham-O’s attempt to freshen up the craze, and later versions from the 1970s kept the name alive.

It’s funny how those advertising names became part of everyday family language. A kid might have just called it a hula hoop, but Mom remembered the commercial name: Shoop Shoop Hula Hoop. And once you hear that, you can almost hear the sound of it spinning again.

Slinky

The Slinky was just a coil of metal, but once you put it at the top of the stairs, it became magic. It could walk, stretch, flop, twist, and occasionally tangle itself into something no child on earth could ever fully fix.

Invented by accident in the 1940s, the Slinky became one of those toys almost every kid knew. You did not need batteries, a screen, or instructions. You just needed stairs, patience, and maybe a little luck.

And who can forget the jingle? “It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky…” Once that got in your head, it stayed there.

Did you have a Slinky? And did yours actually make it all the way down the stairs?

Put A Little Old Spice In Your Life!

Before Old Spice became the loud, funny commercial brand we know today, it sold romance, confidence, and that “dad or granddad getting ready for a night out” feeling. This vintage ad with Brett Halsey and Catherine Roberts is pure old-school TV advertising — elegant music, a beautiful woman, a handsome man, and the simple message that Old Spice made him unforgettable.

“Ancient Chinese Secret, Huh?”

If you spent any time watching television in the 1970s or 1980s, you definitely remember the ultimate laundry room showdown. It was a 30-second spot for Calgon Water Softener that ended up giving pop culture one of its most unforgettably sarcastic catchphrases.

The setup was legendary in its simplicity: a customer walks into a traditional neighborhood Chinese laundry and marvels at how clean, white, and bright her clothes are. When she asks the shop owner, Mr. Lee (played by Calvin Jung), how he pulls it off, he smiles mysteriously, taps his temple, and whispers: “Ancient Chinese secret.”

Seconds later, the illusion shatters. His wife yells from the back room, “We need more Calgon, John!” The customer pokes her head around the corner, delivers the devastatingly smug punchline—”Ancient Chinese secret, huh?”—and Mr. Lee can only offer a classic, sheepish shrug.

The ad was a brilliant piece of marketing because it took a boring chemical solution (softening hard water so detergent can actually lather) and made it feel like an insider industry trick. If the “laundry experts” were using Calgon to get professional results, then everyday homeowners felt like they needed a box on their washing machines, too.

The commercial ran in heavy rotation for over a decade, cementing itself so deeply into the cultural zeitgeist that it took on a life of its own. Decades later, it was still being parodied by everything from Wayne’s World to The Simpsons and Family Guy.

For anyone who loves vintage TV and classic Madison Avenue marketing, the Calgon spot remains an absolute hallmark of the golden era of commercial jingles and catchphrases.

Get Dad an 8-Track Player!

There was a time when a trip to Radio Shack felt like walking into the future — even if you only needed batteries, a fuse, a connector, or one little part nobody else carried.

For many of us, Radio Shack was where we first saw CB radios, scanners, stereo gear, remote-control toys, electronic kits, and eventually computers like the TRS-80. The shelves were packed with gadgets, wires, adapters, and things we did not fully understand but still wanted.

And who remembers giving your name, address, and phone number just to buy a pack of batteries?

Do you miss Radio Shack?