Author Topic: Gag Criticism, Variation, and Packaging  (Read 640462 times)

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Offline bigtomi

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #840 on: April 11, 2017, 09:58:53 AM »
Just what would happen if you DID add milk?
Why, it would become Swiss Mess, of course!

Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #841 on: April 11, 2017, 03:41:41 PM »
Swiss Mess and Swiss Miss.

I always like this one as well.  I don't really connect the Wacky to the packaged product, though, as much as I connect it to the commercials they ran in the 70s featuring a stop-motion Swiss Miss girl (and the strange, unsettling, way that stop-motion characters have about them that fascinated me as a kid.  You know, "Jason and the Argonauts," that kind of stuff.)

https://youtu.be/P_idQFFW1kE

Offline RawGoo

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #842 on: April 11, 2017, 05:28:33 PM »
Dang! No love for Series 5 titles lately. How 'bout this comparison? Swiss Mess and Swiss Miss. Is this another from Jason's packaging collection?



I always liked this one, and I still call it by the Wacky name.  The tagline for "sloppy" instead of "cocoa" is pretty far off, but the rest more than makes up for that!

Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #843 on: April 11, 2017, 07:03:32 PM »
Dang! No love for Series 5 titles lately.

I think many of us have been, well, overwhelmed with the 50th Anniversary set lately.  It's nice to go back here, though, and revisit the times in which it all began.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #844 on: April 12, 2017, 04:53:09 AM »
I normally don't mix modern with vintage, but since Secrets was re-released this week online as a new parody, I will post a triple comparison...




Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #845 on: April 29, 2017, 10:44:58 PM »
Moobelline and Maybelline...




Offline RawGoo

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #846 on: April 30, 2017, 04:51:59 AM »
Moobelline and Maybelline...




This one still makes me smile.  I like the "Moobeline" gag, and the tagline is funny.  The product itself doesn't provide much to work with, but the artist managed to give us a decent cow!

Offline Paul_Maul

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #847 on: April 30, 2017, 05:21:20 AM »
Moobeline is a good example of how I feel about a lot of wackys. I love the overall appearance and colors without caring much about the gag. I like this one even without much artwork, kind of like how I feel about cigarette wackys.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #848 on: April 30, 2017, 07:07:43 AM »
Here's another comparison for the day...Light 'n Dizzy and Light 'n Lively.

I always thought the real product was Light 'n Easy before I found images.

Maybe Light 'n Deadly would have been a better parody, showing a guy in a Yoga pose who secretly farted, with a guilty look on his face. But Topps didn't do potty humor a lot in those days.



Offline Paul_Maul

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #849 on: April 30, 2017, 07:17:44 AM »
I remember Light and Lively milk and ice milk very clearly. Was it an imprint of Sealtest?

Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #850 on: April 30, 2017, 08:53:16 AM »
Ah, good!  They're back!  Thanks, Swiski!

Yes, "Light and Lively" products were an imprint of Sealtest, said company ultimately being swallowed up by a succession of larger corporations a few decades ago.
« Last Edit: April 30, 2017, 04:33:07 PM by Baked Bears »

Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #851 on: May 13, 2017, 12:17:13 PM »
"Head & Boulders" and "Head & Shoulders"
Original Series 5





And today's product:



Offline RawGoo

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #852 on: May 13, 2017, 01:56:30 PM »
"Head & Boulders" and "Head & Shoulders"
Original Series 5






I always liked this gag, especially the character that was added.

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #853 on: May 14, 2017, 08:57:50 AM »
Do Swiski and other members posting real product images actually own examples of these Wacky-era packages, or are they mostly just published images from old magazine ads and such?  Reason I ask is that for many of these products, exact matches are very difficult to find.  Recall Jason's story of how long it took him to find a matching Smith Bros. (Smith Sisters) cough drops box.

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #854 on: May 14, 2017, 09:01:19 AM »
Even Rusty's lostwackys site, which includes by far the most complete attempt at displaying actual products side-by-side with each Wacky title, has only approximate matches in many cases.  The examples being shown on this thread seem to be all perfect matches.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #855 on: May 14, 2017, 09:40:10 AM »
I personally do not own any of the packaging. I find the images from various sources online. Many of them from Jason's or other image collections on Flickr, but also from Pinterest, eBay, and even a simple Google search. There are quite a few exact packaging images that still elude me to this day.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #856 on: May 14, 2017, 09:42:20 AM »
Ack! I'm falling behind again!

Here's Big Baddy and Big Buddy. I always thought the actual gum was called Big Daddy!



Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #857 on: May 14, 2017, 09:47:57 AM »
Here's another one...Plopsikle and Popsicle



Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #858 on: May 14, 2017, 09:59:42 AM »
Do Swiski and other members posting real product images actually own examples of these Wacky-era packages, or are they mostly just published images from old magazine ads and such?  Reason I ask is that for many of these products, exact matches are very difficult to find.  Recall Jason's story of how long it took him to find a matching Smith Bros. (Smith Sisters) cough drops box.

This is the first time I posted a title on this thread (so as to keep it going, being there has been a lull) and no, I, personally, don't own examples of products posted here.  Besides "Celestial Seasonings" tea boxes, my small collection of products tends to lean toward those things "strange, poisonous, and dangerous," that is, radium water bottles, laudanum, arsenic, etc. - products that once-upon-a-time could be found in your average household, yet were highly lethal.

To find the "Head and Shoulders" photograph, I just searched online, adding words like "vintage," "seventies," etc. until I came across what I was looking for.  Some products (and information pertaining to them,) though, are notoriously difficult to find.  We tend to toss most packaging in the trash today, and I'm sure in the past it was no different.  For example, how many of us would have thought to keep an empty, greasy bag of Fritos depicting the "Frito Bandito?"  Just this morning, I tossed an empty box of "Mrs. Paul's Crunchy Fish Sticks."  Should I have saved it?  Who knows?  Will some future Mrs. Paul's aficionado one day crave it?  Perhaps?  One would need a literal warehouse to store every bag, can, bottle, and box that gets thrown away - especially here in America.  (A few years ago, I began to save bags of special limited released "M&Ms" - for example, the "Shrek M&Ms" - along with their contents.  I didn't just want the wrappers.  I wanted the different 'swamp colored' "M&Ms," as well.  In the end, though, it just didn't work out.)  Come to think of it, I now have more of an appreciation for Jason and his tremendous efforts.  (It has been whispered in certain circles that he actually purchased a large, abandoned portion of a National Guard complex to hold the vast contents of his collection!  Now that's dedication!)

Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #859 on: May 14, 2017, 10:01:53 AM »
I always thought the actual gum was called Big Daddy!

I would have bet money on it!

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #860 on: May 14, 2017, 10:29:21 AM »
This is the first time I posted a title on this thread (so as to keep it going, being there has been a lull) and no, I, personally, don't own examples of products posted here.  Besides "Celestial Seasonings" tea boxes, my small collection of products tends to lean toward those things "strange, poisonous, and dangerous," that is, radium water bottles, laudanum, arsenic, etc. - products that once-upon-a-time could be found in your average household, yet were highly lethal.

To find the "Head and Shoulders" photograph, I just searched online, adding words like "vintage," "seventies," etc. until I came across what I was looking for.  Some products (and information pertaining to them,) though, are notoriously difficult to find.  We tend to toss most packaging in the trash today, and I'm sure in the past it was no different.  For example, how many of us would have thought to keep an empty, greasy bag of Fritos depicting the "Frito Bandito?"  Just this morning, I tossed an empty box of "Mrs. Paul's Crunchy Fish Sticks."  Should I have saved it?  Who knows?  Will some future Mrs. Paul's aficionado one day crave it?  Perhaps?  One would need a literal warehouse to store every bag, can, bottle, and box that gets thrown away - especially here in America.  (A few years ago, I began to save bags of special limited released "M&Ms" - for example, the "Shrek M&Ms" - along with their contents.  I didn't just want the wrappers.  I wanted the different 'swamp colored' "M&Ms," as well.  In the end, though, it just didn't work out.)  Come to think of it, I now have more of an appreciation for Jason and his tremendous efforts.  (It has been whispered in certain circles that he actually purchased a large, abandoned portion of a National Guard complex to hold the vast contents of his collection!  Now that's dedication!)
Ah, the highly effective Google image search, and I imagine Pinterest is a good source too.

Thanks for the feedback, all good points.  I have saved some actual product packaging from ANS titles along the way.  Mostly the later series, and strictly a few favorites whose real-product counterparts have packaging that can be pressed or folded flat.  But, as with anything else, try to be too much of a completist and before you know it, you're renting storage lockers for all the volume that piles up.

Definitely agree there are some parodies whose real product counterparts have not turned up.  Only recently someone found the specific Playskool canister that the Slayskool parody was based on.  It's always fascinating when a discovery like that is made so many years later.

Offline Jean Nutty

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #861 on: May 14, 2017, 10:13:32 PM »
I personally do not own any of the packaging. I find the images from various sources online. Many of them from Jason's or other image collections on Flickr, but also from Pinterest, eBay, and even a simple Google search. There are quite a few exact packaging images that still elude me to this day.

I assume you know these pages, but if by chance you haven't seen them, this list might be helpful

http://www.wackypackages.org/stickers/real_products_text.html#12th

If you enter "real product" and item in the search box, on Greg's site, you can find some OS titles if you can't find them elsewhere

http://www.wackypackages.org/realproductsscans/crest.html

And there are more recent series posted 

http://www.wackypackages.org/stickers/2004/real_products.html

http://www.wackypackages.org/realproductsscans/3rd_2005/



Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #862 on: May 15, 2017, 04:47:38 AM »
I assume you know these pages, but if by chance you haven't seen them, this list might be helpful

http://www.wackypackages.org/stickers/real_products_text.html#12th

If you enter "real product" and item in the search box, on Greg's site, you can find some OS titles if you can't find them elsewhere

http://www.wackypackages.org/realproductsscans/crest.html

And there are more recent series posted 

http://www.wackypackages.org/stickers/2004/real_products.html

http://www.wackypackages.org/realproductsscans/3rd_2005/

Thanks! Some of those links actually inspired me to complete the task. Sadly, those haven't been updated in a while. My goal is to make this thread the most comprehensive visual guide to real product images. Hopefully I will live long enough to complete it when we get to the 50th anniversary series one day. LOL! Maybe we can rename this thread the Vintage Series Gag Criticism and Variation, and start new threads for ANS and even Old School. I have a lot of images organized in folders already. Just need to post them in threads.

If I haven't mentioned earlier, a big thank you to Jason, Greg, Rusty and all others whose photos have been used here!


Offline NationalSpittoon

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #863 on: May 15, 2017, 12:27:13 PM »
Series 5 - Achoo




Real Product - Accent



« Last Edit: June 30, 2019, 05:43:08 AM by NationalSpittoon »

Offline sco(o)t

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #864 on: May 15, 2017, 02:20:25 PM »
Series 5 - Achoo




Real Product - Accent





This one always seemed like a real stretch to me. I didn't really care for it as a kid and still in the "Meh" column for me now.
aka Scot Leibacher (no trademark)

Offline DrSushi

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #865 on: May 15, 2017, 04:49:55 PM »

This one always seemed like a real stretch to me. I didn't really care for it as a kid and still in the "Meh" column for me now.

I liked this one as a kid, probably because we had the product around the house. Now it brings back fond memories of my Mom trying to spice up dinner, and I still like the tag line Monosodium Gesundheit.


Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #866 on: May 15, 2017, 05:28:03 PM »
Series 5 - Achoo


Though not exactly a product I would consider "overly exciting" and/or a "familiar friend" at the table, (such as "Freakies" cereal, for example,) the gag isn't that bad, especially when one considers that sneezing powder was a popular running prank at the time.

Offline The Collector

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #867 on: May 15, 2017, 06:34:12 PM »
Do we have a list of those Wackies that don't have pictures? It would be great for the forum to go on a treasure hunt to find them using google and what ever other source they might have available?

Offline RawGoo

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #868 on: May 16, 2017, 03:57:22 AM »
Series 5 - Achoo




Real Product - Accent




I always liked this one, probably because I have allergies, and am always sneezing.  Monosodium Gesundheit still makes me smile.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2017, 03:59:14 AM by RawGoo »

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #869 on: May 16, 2017, 05:53:04 AM »
Here's another one...Plopsikle and Popsicle



Anyone have a newer packaging Popsicle wrapper than this one? I think this looks like a 1950s or 1960s wrapper.

Offline MoldRush

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #870 on: May 16, 2017, 07:53:07 AM »
Anyone have a newer packaging Popsicle wrapper than this one? I think this looks like a 1950s or 1960s wrapper.
That might be as good as it gets.  Considering that this was merely a paper sleeve, and especially that the inside was essentially a syrupy, sticky mess, it's that much more unlikely that someone would have seen it as an item worth preserving.  I checked the lostwackys site and the best they could do was an image within an advertisement, which looks to be an older example as well.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #871 on: May 16, 2017, 08:03:49 AM »
Do we have a list of those Wackies that don't have pictures? It would be great for the forum to go on a treasure hunt to find them using google and what ever other source they might have available?

I'm all for this idea. I suppose we need to go through every page and see which photos we need. There is no list.

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #872 on: May 17, 2017, 03:50:53 AM »
Nothing says the 1970s like an ugly plaid-like pattern. Hungry Jerk and Hungry Jack...



Offline Baked Bears

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #873 on: May 17, 2017, 05:27:22 PM »
Nothing says the 1970s like an ugly plaid-like pattern.

Yeah, that and bell-bottom corduroy...

(I had them both.  Some memories are best left forgotten.)

Offline Swiski

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Re: Gag Criticism and Variation
« Reply #874 on: May 20, 2017, 12:52:47 PM »
Here's two for the weekend!

Fatina and Farina...




 

anything