It’s a sad, yet happy day in the City of Pittsburgh. Today is the last regular season game in the History of the 48 year-old Mellon Arena. Trust me when I say their will be some misty eyes and man tears tonight as the city says farewell to the oldest arena in the NHL. (more…)
This following is part of a post I wrote a few years ago. Today I had a conversation about Hills popcorn and Cherry ICEE’s on Twitter and thought it would be appropriate to post again.
It amazes me still how we form bonds with certain brands and when they are gone you can still mention some small detail and the memories are as clears as day.
My memory of Hills Department Store:
You remember Hills, right? “It’s where the toys are.” Truth be told my mother worked at hills when I was younger. She worked in the layaway department. But what everyone remembers about Hills is when you first walked in you were greeted by the smell of fresh popcorn and ICEE’s!
It was really the perfect combination. Much better than Movie Popcorn and SnoCaps combo (I learned that one from one Jaime Fox in college; she always claimed it was the perfect combination of salty and sweet).
There was just something about Hills popcorn that one could not resist. Maybe it was the taste lightly buttered with a little bit of salt. Maybe it was the packaging the long paper bag like container or the big plastic bag that made it so enticing. Whatever it was it evoked fond memories from everyone. We talked about the after Thanksgiving Sale commercial where the cooked turkey sat up on the table than ran out of the house to be ready for the Black Friday sale.
Whatever it may have been proves the strong bonds people form with brands from their past. It was a sad day when Ames took Hills over. Ames was awful, from the store, to the customer service. It was done on the cheap, unwelcoming and cold. Even the popcorn wasn’t the same.
In times like these, I wish Hills was still around so I could pick up a bag of popcorn and a Cherry ICEE and waste an afternoon with two comfort foods. Well at least I got my memories of the past and a bag of microwavable popcorn to pass the time.
Wow it’s a nice day in Pittsburgh! The Sun is shining and the sky is blue and best of all it’s NOT 5 degrees! Woooooo!
Today I bring you a summary of a work conversation that evoked memories of the past. It also involves food!
In the sea of cubicles that surround my in the office you notice several things about ones little cube. One person is obsessed with pigs and has about 100 all over his desk and he makes “oink” sounds when walking by the area where my cube is located. He’s not “oinking” at me, but at the office ladies down the other end of the row.
Another person has “Star War” action figures lining the top portion of his cube; another person has dog plush all over their desk. I, myself, have a Beaker from the Muppets plush, a Mr. Potato Head, four Calendars (I don’t know way) 2 are Penguin (the team) calendars one is just a plane monthly calendar and the other one is the yearly one provided by the company, which in March features a man typing on his Black Berry at a table with a laptop that is outside in the woods next to a babbling brook. Didn’t know there was Wi-Fi in the woods.
There is one thing you can find in the top left drawer of everyone’s desk that is a commonality…Microwave popcorn. I don’t know how it started maybe it’s because no one really takes a lunch anymore, or they think it’s a healthy snack, or maybe it’s cheap because you can buy a giant box from Sam’s or Costco for what it cost to get one tiny bag out of the vending machine.
It was a bag of microwave popcorn that was slightly burnt that started the conversation of Hills.
You remember Hills, right? “It’s where the toys are.” Truth be told my mother worked at hills when I was younger. She worked in the layaway department. But what everyone remembers about Hills is when you first walked in you were greeted by the smell of fresh popcorn and ICEE’s!
It was really the perfect combination. Much better than Movie Popcorn and SnoCaps combo (I learned that one from one Jaime Fox in college; she always claimed it was the perfect combination of salty and sweet).
There was just something about Hills popcorn that one could not resist. Maybe it was the taste lightly buttered with a little bit of salt. Maybe it was the packaging the long paper bag like container or the big plastic bag that made it so enticing. Whatever it was it evoked fond memories from everyone. We talked about the after Thanksgiving Sale commercial where the cooked turkey sat up on the table than ran out of the house to be ready for the Black Friday sale.
Whatever it may have been proves the strong bonds people form with brands from their past. It was a sad day when Ames took Hills over. Ames was awful, from the store, to the customer service. It was done on the cheap, unwelcoming and cold. Even the popcorn wasn’t the same.
In times like these, I wish Hills was still around so I could pick up a bag of popcorn and a Cherry ICEE and waste an afternoon with two comfort foods. Well at least I got my memories of the past and a bag of microwavable popcorn to pass the time.
