March 06, 2012

SPOOKY OLD IRON-ONS FROM ICEE


Recently cryptozoologist Robert Robinson emailed me pics of these 1970s Halloween iron-ons because 1.he is a nice guy and 2. he knows we have similar interests. But what he didn't know is that he was offering me a precious long-lost detail of my own Halloween history.

Back when I was three and still letting my parents pick out my Halloween costumes, my dad assembled this getup out of a souvenir hat from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, a foil-covered cardboard saber, and a discarded pillowcase bearing...the skull iron-on!


Thinking it was a cereal premium I've gone on several fruitless searches for the relic, but it all made sense after Robert informed me, "The glow in dark iron-ons were avaiable from Icee. My uncle owned a franchise in Arkansas and gave my brother and I a bunch of these."

This makes perfect sense because the local 1-Stop Mart was the destination of countless afternoon strolls with my family, and we bought so many ICEEs there that to me it was known simply as the ICEE store. I also had that place to thank for stacks of plastic super-hero cups that were taller than me. When they changed over to Slush Puppie [sic] drinks I desperately wanted to see that droopy-faced pooch get mauled by the ICEE bear.

Anyway, I'm just glad my dad picked the skull and crossbones because the skeletal hands holding the hourglass might've been a bit grim for a 3-year-old.

4 comments:

  1. OMG! I had those, too. I haven't thought about that for a very long time. Magic!

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  2. Why you gots to hate on the Slush Puppie? Jerk.

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  3. I had one of these and for years wondered its origin too. I had the skeleton hands and hourglass. Thanks for the scoop!

    https://flic.kr/p/cvxHfS

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