An old school friend posted a photo of me in high school... pigtails 'n all. This sent me down memory lane, so I dug up an old blog, "Did you know...?" I was reading the blog and comments when Jurgis spotted the Chappies bubble gum in the picture, which led, in turn, to many more memories - funny how that works.
Hm.... I can smell the Chappies now. I believe they now have all sorts of flavours, but, to me, there's only one Chappies flavour. Of course, eating bubble gum, be it Chappies or Wacky Wicks, was absolutely verboten, which, of course, meant we ate them whenever humanly possible.
The conversation drifted aimlessly among childhood memories... Dagwoods, the corner café where I'd stock up on Chappies, TV programmes like Knersus and Haas Das se Nuuskas. Knersus was a particularly dumb programme, but leaves me wanting to name my next dog Knersus just for fun. He was a pterodactyl whose sole aim in life was to catch a bunny for supper. He shared luckless plotting with his 3 pairs of false teeth.
Of course, no meander down memory lane would be complete without spending an afternoon or evening in front of the radio, listening to Springbok Radio, with a comforting cup of coffee. I used to keep my ears open for the illicitly-enjoyed "Wolwedans in die Skemer" - 'Wolf dance at dusk'. I definitely was not meant to be listening and, to this day, I don't know why I compulsively listened, as I avoid thrillers like the plague. It was a series about an axe murderer. I was a kid. What was I thinking? Jurgis would listen to Squad Cars, a series about real crimes solved by the South African police, jam packed with action and screeching tyres - typical boy fare. Actually, I did listen to a snippet online and found myself disappointed that the show wasn't complete. I think I should have listened to Squad Cars instead of Wolwedans back then. I don't know... I think it was the compelling voices and acting. It's one thing acting on television, but voice acting takes special talent. To be able to allow the listener to picture the emotions and actions just with sound is incredible.
I found a very rare clip of Wolwedans in die Skemer online. This is just a snippet.
......
......
Amazing how many things connect in those trips down memory lane. I'm sure some of our friends here will recall the flavour, smell and whatnot of Chappies and will connect it to something else! Personally, I close my eyes and the river smell in my hometown takes over me..
ReplyDeleteI will be back!!!!
ReplyDeleteDani, I thought of you yesterday when I saw a girl on the underground reading a book in French. That wasn't it though... she had a beautiful leather bookmark in the book with Rosario on it.
ReplyDeleteI'll be here, Katey (more or less)
ReplyDeleteOhh she must have visited MY town?! Now I picture myself reading a book on the bus on my way to school or uni, back in Rosario, of course.. see how it works? *haha*
ReplyDeleteI don't remember Wolwedans but I LOVED Springbok radio and was totally distraught when they closed down. My favourite programme was Forces Favourites! I longed for an older brother who could go off to the army and I could have a message read out on the radio that ended Vasbyt Mindae!
ReplyDeleteChappies were banned for me too - but my best friend's Mom used to let us buy them whenever I was at her house - chappies, fizzers, cola suckers, gobstoppers the works. And Knersus was one of my favourites from an early age! Us poor deprived Seffies. And I remember being shocked that Riaan Cruywagen was Haas Das. Good memories!! Like your uniform too - let's face it, there's some ghastly ones out there!!
That is a GREAT picture of you up top! I love those kinds of treasures!
ReplyDeleteomg I loved wolwedans, we would rush to our dorm rooms after school and all huddle around the radio...LOL ..loved sqauddies too..oh so many memories!! I had handfulls of chappies bubblegum when i went home last year..(just sayin)
ReplyDeletehehe we used to send in messages to our boyfriends in the army and then listen for the message to be read out and all sob in unison when the (invariably) sad song came on afterwards....
ReplyDeletelike: sealed with a kiss..and under the boardwalk...sighssss
Dani, that is just what I thought... that she must have been in your town at some point and the event was obviously special to her.
ReplyDeleteWe cried the night they had their final show, Katey. Ooh! I remember Forces Favourites. Fizzers.... yum! Tat was raised on fizzers (then we wonder why she is the way she is lol). Riaan Cruywagen was.... eternal lol The uniform there wasn't too bad, but we wore pants for cadets and I remember hating it because the pants were too tight and I felt so self-concious. Small town... didn't have much size variety.
Marty, I was thrilled to get this photo. I didn't even know it existed. I don't remember it being taken at all.
Heather, I can so so picture the dorm room scene over the radio serials : ) Hmph... Chappies... home... *sulks*
You make me wish I grew up where you did. :) Beautiful memories, Tint.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very nice post, I like glimpses into friend's past lives. Your smiling face has not changed since way back when :) The radio program sounds intriguing, even if I can't understand a word of it! The music is interesting. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteKippy, much the way I wish I grew up where you did : )
ReplyDeleteFaye, everyone says that... that I haven't changed. Most times I'm not sure if I like the idea or not ; ) It's amazing how much expression they put into their voices in the radio programmes of old.
That's an interesting thought, Tint! I guess we had lots of beauty and good memories-in-the-making surrounding us, didn't we? Different types, but then not-so-different too, sometimes. Must be why I like you so much. Ok, amongst other reasons. ;)
ReplyDeleteWe did too, Kippy. I think the beauty and good memories were to balance out the weirdisms we had : )
ReplyDelete