Thread Number: 2177
POD brings back old memory 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 67661   5/21/2005 at 22:47 (6,907 days old) by kevinpreston3 ()        

I think this is the 2nd Tide featured picture on this site recently, and it caused me to reflect on a very bizarre item I remembered from my childhood.

I always accompanied my mom for grocery shopping when I was a kid. When I was about 5 or 6 (this would be in Denver I think, but possibly Anaheim, CA) they had this thing I would see once in a while at the store.

It was a HUGE, oversized box of Tide. It was mounted on some sort of four wheeled car about the size in diameter of an extra large Pizza. The little pancake shaped car was about five inches thick, and atop this was the box of Tide.

This ran on some sort of battery, and ran around the store, up and down isles. It had the same "bump and go" technology that some toys had at the same time. These were the toys that would have four free spinning wheels, and a center drive wheel on a rotating disk. When the toy bumped into something, it would change direction and keep going. Obviously, this large thing had the same technology.

I only saw this thing two or three times. One time it had an oversized box of Tide on it, another time it had an oversized box of Cheerios on it. I can imagine that the potential for lawsuits of someone tripping on this thing would be massive, so it was short lived. I have yet to have anyone else remember this amazing piece of advertising. The time would have been around 1966. Whenever I see a big box of Tide, I think of this machine shooting down the aisles, bouncing and continuing on.




Post# 67668 , Reply# 1   5/22/2005 at 00:26 (6,907 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
Wow, that's so fun and interesting! I would never have imagined it!

Post# 67671 , Reply# 2   5/22/2005 at 00:54 (6,907 days old) by kevinpreston3 ()        
It is amazing....

 One of those childhood mysteries that you really want solved.

Here are a sampling of mine:

1) The ubiquitous 15 foot steel pole that you would see at parks in the 60s and 70s...the one with the colorful metal ball at the top, with the chain hanging from it that said "Pull" on it. What did that chain do? (I could never shimmy up it to find out) SOLVED

2) What was the huge toy raygun I had as a kid that no one would believe it when I described it SOLVED

3) The aforementioned Tide/Cheerios robotic advertisment UNSOLVED

4) The fireball that I saw blazing across the horizon, moving horizontally and then disappearing in the middle of the day in 1967 UNSOLVED

5) The washer my mom had when I was a kid that buzzed and shot open its lid SOLVED

6) The bookmobile in Denver that could be driven from either end. There was a steering wheel on each end, and both headlights and tail lights on both ends. (how on Earth did the transmission work on that thing? Was it a one off?)

It's late and I am major rambling.....!

Post# 67690 , Reply# 3   5/22/2005 at 06:50 (6,907 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY)        
You are such a tease.....

 toggleswitch's profile picture
1) What DID happen when the chain was pulled. LOL oh my!
4) Uncle Sam says you did NOT see, this.. LOL
5) What washer was this.. an old WP?
6) Sounds like a NYC subway car, but without electric motors to propel it.

Post# 67748 , Reply# 4   5/22/2005 at 21:23 (6,907 days old) by veg-o-matic (Baltimore, Hon!)        

veg-o-matic's profile picture
Was #2 a Plazer?

veg

Post# 67750 , Reply# 5   5/22/2005 at 21:57 (6,907 days old) by kevinpreston3 ()        
YES! It was a Plazer.

 Took me 20 years (searching long before EBAY) to find one. Now I have three, which must be some sort of odd record.

If interested, profiled on my website below

CLICK HERE TO GO TO kevinpreston3's LINK
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