Happy 7-Eleven Day 2009!

Today is 7-Eleven Day -- July 11th! Stores were giving away free 7.11 ounce Slurpees today in celebration.

Slurpees have been one of my great obsessions since childhood. The perfect mix of ice, syrup, colors, cool straws and cups. Of course back in the old days we were treated to all sorts of collectible plastic cups featuring super heroes, baseball players and cartoon characters. Fortunately I've never outgrown my love for Slurpees. I grab one whenever I can, and rather frequently in this crazy summer heat!

Here's a vintage matchbook cover from 7-Eleven in the 1960s. They used this bespectacled fellow in some of their ads back then. I'd like to know if he had a name. Also we see the older style store logo here. I'm more familiar with the logo atop this blog post from the 1970s to today.

And while we're at it, let's enjoy some salty snacks with our Big Gulp or Slurpee. Nothing better than Frito-Lay products to tackle that job! Here's a cross-promotional pog from the early 1990s in Hawaii featuring Chester Cheetah. "It isn't easy being cheesy," though it's much easier with an ice cold Slurpee on hand.

Return of The Frito Kid (a promising trend)

Time to muncha buncha Fritos Corn Chips!

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of that salty, crunchy goodness known as Fritos, we have been treated to a revival of none other than The Frito Kid.

I picked up this single-serve bag of chips at my local sandwich shop.


The Frito Kid was a bit before my time. (Now W.C. Fritos is another story, uh, for another day). Frito Kid represented Fritos from 1952 until 1967 when he was replaced by the infamous Frito Bandito.

I really love it when that often suppressed nostalgic side of companies slips out into public view. How cool it is to see classic advertising characters and packaging revived, even if just briefly!

Some other examples of this trend in recent years:

• 2006-2007, Quaker brought back the barefoot pirate, Jean LaFoote, in Cap'n Crunch ads.
• 2001, Hostess brought back Captain Cupcake for a Golden Cupcakes promotion.
• Recent years, Burger King brought back the magical Burger King, though a bit creepy in a molded head.
  

Well, I sure hope this trend in advertising continues.

Back to the Frito Kid -- After some research on the web, I've found that there was (or still is?) a "Casa de Fritos" restaurant at Disneyland. I've never been to Disneyland, but Casa de Fritos sounds like my kind of restaurant, for sure!

While he became the official Fritos mascot in 1952, he had been featured in a cookbook in the late 1940s.

As the Frito Kid will likely be riding off into the sunset after the 75th anniversary celebration fades away, I'll leave you with a few pictures I found on the internet.




Happy 75th Anniversary, Fritos!

If you've got memories of The Frito Kid or even some information about Casa de Fritos, please post a comment here. I will be enjoying a Frito Pie in the meantime.

The Cheetos Mouse

The Cheetos Mouse made the scene around 1967, pitching for Cheetos chips. Actually they don't call them chips, rather "cheese flavored snacks", but we all know what they are. Anyway, they were called "Chee-tos" then (with a dash), and came in crunchy or baked puffs.

The Cheetos Mouse was a rather sophisticated, well-spoken mouse, who yearned for the crunch of his beloved Chee-tos.


In 1973 Cheetos gave away the wonderful pencil topper Mouse premiums in six-packs of single-serving bags. They came in several colors, shown here in green. This was the last in a series of pencil toppers from Frito-Lay (makers of Cheetos), following The Frito Bandito, The Fritos Muncha Bunch and W.C. Frito.

Yes, Cheetos -- "The cheese that goes CRUNCH".


Here's an actual commercial cel from the "Hail Chee-sar" Caesar spoof commercial.












There's a vintage commercial you can see on-line at RetroJunk.com. Very cool.

Here are a few premiums that I've spotted here and there. In addition to the pencil topper, there was a plush Mouse, several different packets of vegetable or flower seeds (yes, really), and an odd Cheesy Rider belt buckle of unknown origin -- perhaps an in-house item.

There were also box panels to color, from the six-pack tray. I have one, and need to scan it in someday.

As far as I can tell, the Cheetos Mouse disappeared in the late 1970s. Frito-Lay created Chester Cheetah in 1986 to represent Cheetos, and he's been there ever since.

Well 30 years later, I still say: "Hail Chee-sar!" to the king of cheesy snacks.