Fruit Of The Month - #11: Gummy Black & Red Berries

Here's my Fruit Of The Month post for March 2011 -- Gummy Black & Red Berries candy.

As you can see, here we have some berry characters putting on a show for us. Conveniently they are black and red, just like the product name says. It looks like the gang is dancing under the spotlight to an audience full of adoring berry fans.

The Cinema Sweets brand comes from China, distributed here in the U.S. by Greenbrier International of Chesapeake, Virginia.

I found this at one of the dollar stores back in 2009.

Cheetos St. Pat Cat

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's Chester Cheetah dressed up for the occasion on this Cheetos calendar from 1987.

2011 Hawaiian Punch Makeover

Yesterday, I stopped by the store to pick up a few things. As usual, I strayed from the shopping list and made a run through the snack aisles to see if there was anything new. Much to my surprise I discovered a new box design for Hawaiian Punch Fruit Snacks along with a totally modern new look for Punchy himself!

Packages change, sure -- but I did not expect such a radical change to the iconic, fist-packing little guy we've all come to know and love for over 40 years.

Overall, the new fruit snacks box is pretty sweet looking. I love the colors, the wave and especially the flying gummy bits right there on the box front. You know what you're getting right up front. But the newly designed Punchy just isn't working for me. Gone is the pasty-faced mascot who always packed a wallop, and in comes the computer generated, suntanned version.

The fun, but menacing fist was replaced with the (apparently) more kid-friendly "hang loose" sign. Hmmm...

Well let's dive into the details and read more below. Here's the new style box, again pretty dynamic looking.



Here's the outgoing box style with the more familiar version of Punchy with his surfboard. Notice the old box includes a Brach's logo. Farley & Sathers was licensed to distribute the fruit snacks and previously co-branded Hawaiian Punch and Brach's. They're still made by the same company, but they've moved away from the Brach's tie-in.



Taking a quick peek over at hawaiianpunch.com, we see that the site is currently closed as of this post, but with a teaser for "New Punchy! Same great taste!"

Apparently we're in for a full-scale makeover of all Hawaiian Punch products, including cans, bottles, drink mixes and fruit snacks.

Getting back to the fruit snacks, comparing the old (left) vs. new (right) boxes, we see that they have also changed the actual shapes of the two Punchy snacks themselves.



Next, here are the inner snack pouches (old on left, new on right). I prefer the new pouch for the full scene depicted compared to the simple, small, repeated logo on the old one.



So far I've not seen the H-P makeover on any other products, but I'll be watching out for them. Change is good, they say, and I must admit the new box design is beautiful... but the radical Punchy change is a disappointment.

I'll end with a plug. These are some of the best tasting fruit snacks ever! I've tried many different brands, and these are so flavorful!

"How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?" ... Sure, but give me back my old Punchy!

Fruit Of The Month - #10: Orange Plus

Here's my Fruit Of The Month post for February 2011 -- Orange Plus.

Orange Plus was a brand of orange juice that was made by Birdseye. This is a coupon form was used to mail away for their plush mascot. If the mascot has a name, it has escaped me. The form simply refers to it as "Orange Plush". Notice the "+" sign on its hat!

This offer came out either in 1969 or early 1970. The reverse side says it expired June 30, 1970.

I don't believe I've seen one of these actual plush toys. Does anyone out there have one?

Jell-O Pudding Pops - Valentine's 1989

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm celebrating today with this delightful box of Jell-O Pudding Pops from my collection. It is from 1989, representing their special Chocolate Lovers variety -- milk chocolate, chocolate fudge and double chocolate swirl. Mmm!

Not only is this a tasty treat, but we were treated to four little chocolate mascots. The Pudding Cupid is just marvelous with his wings, bow and arrows!



The Pudding Pops commercials with Bill Cosby sure were memorable, making these a a must-have treat for many years. The thought of them now is making my very hungry as I'm typing this!

I hope it's a good day for everyone.   :-)

Fruit Of The Month - #9: Wild Crazy Fruit Snacks

Here's my Fruit Of The Month post for January 2011 -- Wild Crazy Fruit Snacks!

From Global Brands, made in Indonesia and sold here in the U.S., this product features a trio of wild and crazy guys. There's Groovy Grape on a skateboard, Jammin' Strawberry on roller blades and Very Berry Cherry on a scooter.

I have a theory on why these guys look so kooky. They're not wearing helmets, knee pads or elbow pads, so they've probably had some wicked spills out on the pavement. Just a thought really.

The only other question I have is about Very Berry Cherry. Tell me, since when is a cherry considered a berry?

This box is from 2010 and has a really nice overall design.

Merry Christmas from Willy Wonka!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas yesterday!

I wanted to share these old candy boxes with you for the holiday. These jawbreakers from Willy Wonka are mini versions called Christmas Gobstoppers. They are from 1991.

When I found them, the boxes were still full, though I have no intent of eating 19 year old candy! The previous owner had used them back then to make Christmas ornaments. Here's a picture of one as I found them.

For sake of comparison, here's a more modern holiday-themed Gobstoppers box. I saved this box of Gobstopper Snowballs during Christmas of 2006.

They still make Gobstopper Snowballs. I found them in larger sized boxes this year. The packages have been redesigned and no longer feature the cool Gobstopper mascots. Hopefully the folks at Wonka will correct that next year.

Fruit Of The Month - #8: Orange Julius / Orange Owen?

Here's my Fruit Of The Month post for December 2010 -- a festive little fruit mascot from Orange Julius!


This electronic coupon arrived in my inbox today in advance of my birthday this month. I take any opportunity I get to enjoy an Orange Julius, though that means a trip to the dreaded shopping mall. Still, I'll be cashing in on this coupon in the near future.




You can sign up for OJ Quench Club and get one for yourself. You'll see the orange guy again here, where you can sign up.

Digging a little further on the Orange Julius website, I came across the "Fun Fingers" game. See the screenshot below which shows a different, animated orange character named Owen!

So maybe the birthday orange is Owen, too. Maybe not, but both oranges make for a fun little discovery this month.

Thanks to Julius Freed for inventing this delicious, frosty, fruit drink. I'll have one in my hands again in a few days.

Fruit Of The Month - #7: Mr. Sketch Markers

Here's my Fruit Of The Month post for November 2010 -- a whole host of fruit friends from Mr. Sketch water color markers!

Technically, this product is not a fruit, of course, though most of the markers are fruit scented. A few are non-fruits, as you'll see. The Sanford company made this Mr. Sketch box in 1998. Sanford was nice enough to give us a mascot for each scent, making this piece a real bonanza of advertising mascots!

Here's the box front:



Here's the box back:



Here are close-ups of the mascots from the box back:



The scents are Licorice, Cherry, Blueberry, Mint, Mango, Apple, Melon, Orange, Lemon, Grape, Cinnamon and Raspberry.

There are some other groovy, non-fruit, Mr. Sketch varieties shown on the box back. Big thumbs up for the great soap mascot!



I don't have much information on the history of these. I believe this box style goes back to the early 1990s. The Sanford company was absorbed by the Newell Company in 1992, which is now called Newell Rubbermaid.

This box design from 1998 is obsolete, though I don't know when it was re-designed. The current box has only one mascot - the watermelon guy, which you can see here.

Jack in the Box - Haunted House

Happy Halloween!

Here's a fun paper premium from Jack in the Box restaurants in 1971. It's a haunted house. You open the perforated doors and punch-out the character strips and put them behind so you can see the characters through the doors.

We can see early versions of their 1970s mascots on the character strips. There's Jack, of course, along with Small Fry, Hamburger Meister, the Onion Ring Thing, Secret Sauce and the Shakes (Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry).



Jack in the Box serves hauntingly good food supernaturally fast!