Episode 60 begins with the story of revolutionary automobile industrialist Henry Ford and his purchase of a piece of Cape Cod history. In a fascinating turn of events it is possible that the most-viewed Cape Cod attraction does not even reside on the Cape. Find out all about what it is, and what piece of the Cape Ford originally wanted to buy.
Is it possible for something to be both so close yet so far away? That is the case when it comes to Nantucket's Great Point. The lighthouse at the tip of the point is seen by countless people arriving on Nantucket via the ferry. However getting to it by land is a different story. We will take that long trip over-sand on this week's Road Trip.
Every family has unique and sometimes quirky traditions. As kids growing up they might seem odd but looking back as adults they can bring back fond memories. On this episode we go way Back In the Day to one such family tradition in my own family. It was my Nana's favorite game and I'll explain all about it.
There's a brand new Top 5 featuring some forgotten childhood drinks for those who grew up in the 1980's and 1990's. Did you try any of these?
This Week In History and Time Capsule revolve around the introduction of the Barbie doll.
Be sure to watch for my livestreams called Without A Map Friday's at 8pm on Instagram which serve as a sort of postgame show for the podcast. Find them on IGTV after they've finished.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 59 here.
Episode 60 begins with the story of revolutionary automobile industrialist Henry Ford and his purchase of a piece of Cape Cod history. In a fascinating turn of events it is possible that the most-viewed Cape Cod attraction does not even reside on the Cape. Find out all about what it is, and what piece of the Cape Ford originally wanted to buy.
Is it possible for something to be both so close yet so far away? That is the case when it comes to Nantucket's Great Point. The lighthouse at the tip of the point is seen by countless people arriving on Nantucket via the ferry. However getting to it by land is a different story. We will take that long trip over-sand on this week's Road Trip.
Every family has unique and sometimes quirky traditions. As kids growing up they might seem odd but looking back as adults they can bring back fond memories. On this episode we go way Back In the Day to one such family tradition in my own family. It was my Nana's favorite game and I'll explain all about it.
There's a brand new Top 5 featuring some forgotten childhood drinks for those who grew up in the 1980's and 1990's. Did you try any of these?
This Week In History and Time Capsule revolve around the introduction of the Barbie doll.
Be sure to watch for my livestreams called Without A Map Friday's at 8pm on Instagram which serve as a sort of postgame show for the podcast. Find them on IGTV after they've finished.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 59 here.
Intro
Hello World, and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am the host, Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 60. This episode is going to be full of fun stories. We're going to start off with the story of a piece of Cape Cod history that was bought by Henry Ford, the Farris windmill and its legacy. We're going to take a road trip way out to great point and great Point Lighthouse out on the island of Nantucket. So we're going back to Nantucket. We're gonna go way way back in the day as I talk about one of my favorite family traditions my Nana's favorite game we called pass it on. tell you all about that was a brand new top five that are my top five childhood forgotten beverages. A lot of these will bring back memories for you. We're going have a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule also coming up right now on episode 60 of the in my footsteps podcast. Can you feel it? Spring is almost here. Daylight savings is coming up in a few days or at least a few days from when this podcast goes up. Then we'll have an hour more of sunlight. It'll start getting dark at seven. All soon. It's spring and summer. Man, I can't wait for all that good stuff. I want to start off like I said last week, I would do it again this week. It's a special week, my little niece Sylvie, it's her third birthday or it was it will have just passed when this podcast goes up. But she deserves two episodes wishing her a happy birthday. She is quite literally a human antidepressant. Every time I'm around her the mood in my life just goes up. And that's the kind of stuff in the world. Currently. It's not lost on me when someone can make you feel better just by being around them. So happy third birthday to my little buddy Sylvie again. I won't wish it next week. But next year. Does everybody out there have spring fever yet? Are you itching to get outside? You know, this is the time of year when we get 50s One day, and then it's 25 with snow showers the next day, at least here in New England. But I can't wait for spring. The winter, it hasn't been too bad. But every year it's bad enough. I'm not quite ready to be one of those snowbirds that move south or somewhere warmer for the winter. But that may happen at some point. I've been saying it on my live streams, which are Fridays at 8pm. On Instagram. They're called without a map. But I've been mentioning it over the past few weeks about the premiere dates for the lady of the dunes documentary that I am writing the book companion for. And I wanted to give a little bit of a heads up for those of you that are on Cape Cod, if you want to go it's free screenings. Hopefully, there'll be more than just the two I'm gonna mention. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Friday, April 1 at 1pm at the Cape cinema in Dennis which is right by the Playhouse. And then the next day Saturday, April 2 at 7pm. At the Provincetown theater that's a little bit smaller, more intimate gathering. But those are the premiere dates so far. Check with the websites for both of those establishments just to kind of see what tickets are available. But they're free like I said, but just I think there's a limited number and coming up in Episode 62. So in two weeks the bonus episode, I'm going to be doing a special interview with the director of the film Frank Durant, it's going to be awesome to get his insight on making the film. Some of the roadblocks, he faced some of the great people in Provincetown and beyond that he got to talk with, and maybe I'll ask him what his original thoughts were when he first met me. I think he thought I was a serial killer. But before that, we've got episode 60. Starting off right now, it starts with this interesting story I mentioned at the top, the Farris windmill, one of the oldest relics of Cape Cod history and it doesn't even reside on Cape Cod. How did it get where it is? Well, it's coming up right now. On episode 60 of the in my footsteps podcast.
When Henry Ford Bought A Piece of Cape Cod
Windmills have been an important and beautiful part of the charm and history of Cape Cod since it was first settled by Europeans 4 centuries ago. Though today they are rarely used for their original purposes, which included grinding corn. These legendary wooden structures still remain a link to the Capes past some of the most beloved windmills on the cape such as the Jonathan young windmill and Orleans, the Godfrey windmill and Chatham and the Eastham windmill are popular photograph sites and picnic areas. However, despite the history and importance of these pieces of architecture, did you know that there is an even older Cape Cod mill, it is purported to be nearly a half-century older than the Eastham windmill. However, it is likely that only a rare few who have lived on or visited the cape have ever seen it. The reason it no longer resides on the peninsula. Yep, Cape Cod's oldest windmill does not stand on Cape Cod. This is the story of the Farris windmill and how it ended up in Michigan. So the origins of the Farris windmill go back nearly 400 years to the infancy of not only Cape Cod but the country as a whole. In 1620, the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown and then went on to Plymouth. Seven years later, the app toxic Trading Post became the first such outpost on Cape Cod in the present-day town of Bourne. Six years after that, in 1633, the story of the Farris windmill is purported to have begun. The Dutch-style windmill, built of wood was first erected near the town line of sandwich and Barnstable on the north side of Cape Cod, making it one of the oldest windmills in the entire country. Back then, windmills were quite commonplace, especially during the initial few 100 years of America's existence. They allowed settlers to take advantage of wind power, thus not needing to live closer to the water to thrive. The first move of the fairest windmill occurred in 1750. And that's when it was bought by a man named lat Crowell and moved to the lower village of bass River. Naturally moving such a structure, especially back in the 18th century required numerous men and teams of oxen. As the two millstones used to grind the corn wheat and more weighed three and a half tonnes. With mill makers being in short supply, it was more common for a mill to be moved rather than anyone being built. The Farris windmill was set near the water on the western bank of bass River, north of present-day route 28. The time in the lower village was relatively short, as the windmill was purchased in 1782 by Captain Samuel Farris and moved to his Farris field in South Yarmouth. It was after this purchase and move that the mill would become known as the Farris windmill. Naturally, the three-storey tower with sails measuring 54 feet across, remained in the Farris family for three generations. In 1894, the mill would be sold and moved for a third time. This time it was purchased by FA Abel and moved to the present-day intersection of route 28 and berry Avenue in West Yarmouth. This is directly across from where the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce currently stands for reference, able to place the mill close to his estate. Today, there's actually an Abels road within sight of that location. After Abel’s death, the windmill was sold to Dr. Edward Gleason of Hyannis in Boston, he saw that the mill was restored and then open to the public. This effort brought major attention to the Farris windmill. Gleason was approached in 1935 by a group of Ford automobile dealers who wish to buy the mill and have it moved to Dearborn Michigan as a gift for their founder Henry Ford. Eight years prior to this meeting, Gleason had attempted to give the mill and six acres of land to the town of Yarmouth. However, they balked at the potential taxes on the property, claiming the town was too poor to afford it. At the time, there was much public outcry of the potential move of the windmill off of Cape Cod, but Gleason was there to remind the town that he attempted to give it to them as a gift and they turned them down. Interestingly enough, Henry Ford actually did not want the windmill at first either. He wanted something else. In 1926, Ford approached Gleason about purchasing another historic spot. The Baxter grist mill, located further down Route 28 and West Yarmouth, Gleason turned down Ford's offer back then, but he would however, convince for to take the Farris windmill, stating that rebuilding it into a museum setting would preserve it better than leaving it to the harsh Cape Cod elements. Despite more public outcry in the town of Yarmouth and on Cape Cod, Gleason said it was too little too late for the locals to care now, and the mill was sold in November 1935. This was the mill's fourth move overall and the most arduous. The Farris windmill was dismantled and shipped more than 800 miles to Dearborn, Michigan to become part of Greenfield Village, which is Henry Ford's Museum. In the summer of 1936, the windmill was reassembled and placed atop a 10-foot stone foundation, so as to avoid anyone being struck by the mill's huge sales that November, ceremonies were held to officially present the Farris windmill to Henry Ford, and the ceremony was attended by several Ford dealers from Cape Cod. Greenfield Village is visited annually by more than 1.7 million people in the more than 80 years since the fourth and likely final move of the Farris windmill. It's been viewed by 10s of millions of people from all over the world. And in a bit of irony, the Farris windmill may rival any spot as the most viewed piece of Cape Cod history anywhere, despite the fact that it's not even on Cape Cod. It's in Central Michigan. From its humble beginnings at the dawn of the settling of Cape Cod by Europeans, to its remaining relevance as an important historical artifact nearly four centuries later, the Farris windmill is a little piece of Cape Cod, now nestled in Central Michigan, it's a fascinating and true story. And if you're curious about the Farris windmill and what it looks like and what Yarmouth looked like 100 years ago, go to digital commonwealth.org. And look up Farris windmill. They've got a lot of pictures of it in there. And if you want to see the Farris windmill today, go to the Henry ford.org, which is the website of the museum. And if you type in Farris windmill in the search, you can find all these photos and stories about it and about the move. And then when you look at it, you can remember that it used to be in Yarmouth, right near where the 99 restaurant is now, at those four corners of berry Avenue and route 28. There's development on three sides. And on the other side, there's a patch of overgrown trees and such. That's where the windmill stood. But that's the story of the Farris windmill. How it ended up going from Cape Cod to Dearborn, Michigan as a gift to Henry Ford.
Road Trip: Nantucket’s Great Point
Is it possible for a place to be so close? Yes, so far away, both at the same time. On this week's road trip, we are going to find out the answer to that as we take a trip to great point on the island of Nantucket. The island of Nantucket sits about 30 miles off the coast of Cape Cod. And when you're traveling by ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket, great point and great Point Lighthouse are basically the first things you see when it comes to land when traveling over there. This here this road trip is a de facto second trip to Nantucket. If you're looking for the first road trip I did to Nantucket that's way back in episode 17 of the podcast. And I believe I set it back then that Nantucket was deserving of more than one trip. So here's the second one. And great point is all on its own deserving of a road trip. Great Point Lighthouse is going to be the focus a lot of this road trip because that was the reason that I went out there. The Light Station itself was established in 1784. The current Lighthouse stands 60 feet tall and is made of concrete and it's white so it stands out against the background. So like I was saying when you take the ferry over there, you pass four and a half miles probably from the lighthouse but you can see it it looks like a little white matchstick against the horizon. Great Point Lighthouse and great point in general is part of the Coskata coatue Wildlife Refuge, which is more than 1100 acres in size. Obviously, when you're out in that area, there's a lot of beach and it's a narrow strip of land that gets to great Point Lighthouse, but there's also the Coskata coatue Wildlife Refuge has more than that it's got some beech forest, it has some unique wildlife. So the whole trip out there is worth it. The thing is getting out there it is not easy. To get to great point you have to want to get off the ferry drive east to the village of Wauwinet. And it's out there on Wauwinet road where there's the gatehouse that leads you to great point you've got to check-in. It's an over-sand road for off-road vehicles. The only difference really between this off-road and many others is the distance that it takes to get to the end to get to great Point Lighthouse. If you get all the way out there and you're looking for kind of a rough estimate of what it is how long it takes to drive over sand to get from the Wauwinet gatehouse to great Point Lighthouse. It's about five miles over the sand. I was lucky enough several years ago to be able to get out there. This was because when I was working on my third book, which was the Nantucket travel guide, I had a friend His name is Bill DeSouza-Mauk who is a big-time travel and tourism guy for the state of Massachusetts knows everybody, hugely knowledgeable, very helpful. As far as all of my books have gone up to now. I've said it a bunch of times that the last three books that I've written wouldn't exist without Bill. So he was able to get me comped tickets on the ferry and the vehicle charge because my buddy Steve came because he's got a Jeep that could go over sand. The best part was he also got us comped for the price of going over sand because obviously you need a sticker. And we weren't from Nantucket. So we didn't have a sticker. So we figured drive out to the gatehouse. Give them our information. And they would let us go. Well, this was December. So when we drove out to the gatehouse, there was nobody there. So basically, Bill did all the work of getting us comped to drive out to great Point Lighthouse and there was nobody even there. So we just deflated the tires and headed out. It is only when you're going over the sand and heading out towards the lighthouse after a couple of miles, that you realize just how remote the area is where you're so far away that you don't see any homes behind you. But yet you're not far enough that you can't even see the lighthouse ahead of you. It's like you're in this wasteland just stuck in time. I mentioned earlier that the original great Point Lighthouse was first established in 1784. But the lighthouse that's out there now only dates back to 1986. Back in episode 21 of the podcast I told the story of the march 1984 storm that washed the freighter Eldia on shore at Nauset beach. Also, in that episode I mentioned about the storm and how it destroyed great Point Lighthouse. The storm was so bad that it actually washed over the beach out near the tip of the point, making the lighthouse an island for a while of those of us that live along the shore, Cape Cod, New England you know all about the erosion and the shoreline change and the issues. It's the same out on Great point. If you're driving out there, if you look at a map and look near where the lighthouse is, the beach is very narrow, it's less than 300 feet across. So it's not that hard to imagine a big storm washing over and breaking through the beach. When Steve and I went out there, the drive seemed to take forever. And it was fun, because there was a snowy owl that was kind of flying along and shadowing the jeep. And because Steve was driving the hour with land, we would stop the jeep, I would jump out with my camera and just snap a few photos. And by the time Steve was able to get his camera, the owl would take off again. So it became kind of a cat-and-mouse game where I got all these pictures of it. I know Steve got a few. But it was pretty funny because he would jump out with his camera and the hour would just take off like after I got the photos. The lighthouse appears on the horizon just as you're approaching it. When you get next to it. It seems bigger than it actually is. 60 feet tall is pretty tall. I've seen taller lighthouses though. But you feel like you're in a different world. Like in the middle of nowhere, literally. That's why I said at the beginning of this segment, is it possible for something to be so close yet so far away all at once. That's why I mentioned the ferry being able to see the lighthouse, but then the actual journey to get to it is way more than you would expect. I remember it was a gray cold day. And we're out there and it's just you can't see anything you can't see fairies passing by. The only thing that we had out there with us with the lighthouse was a whole bunch of seals and we did not want to get too close because there was about 50 of them. So if they got mad and start charging us I'm sure we could outrun them though. Even if you're not a big fan of lighthouses like me and Steve are I highly recommend the drive out the Coskata coatue Wildlife Refuge just driving out there to be like one with nature and feel how the island like Nantucket was before settlers were there because there's not much out there. There are a lot of protected species, so you've got to drive in certain areas. I’d definitely love to go back out there and explore more. But this trip here was about the lighthouse getting photos of it for my Nantucket book. And my descriptions here on the podcast aren't going to do a good enough job of letting you know what it was like to be out in this area where there's just nothing but you and nature until you get to the lighthouse. But if you want to see more, visit the trustees.org. And they have a map of all their properties and just click on the Coskata coatue Wildlife Refuge and just see what it's all about. I'm sure in the summertime, it's packed with people, just people trying to escape the crowds in downtown Nantucket. But when Steve and I went there in winter, it was just like we had driven through some kind of time vortex and it was just us driving on the beach back 1000 years ago. And don't worry if you don't have an off road vehicle, a Jeep or something like that. The trustees from May through October, will do tours out to the lighthouse and all through the Coskata coatue Wildlife Refuge. So you can go and see it all and not have to worry about having the right vehicle or under-inflating your tires. They do all the work. I know at some point there'll be a third road trip to Nantucket because there's still a lot more that I haven't covered. But obviously there was episode 17 And then if you want to check out more about Nantucket, visit Nantucket chamber.org. They've got everything you could possibly need. And I'll be back next time with another road trip. And who knows where it'll be to I don't know yet so you'll have to come back and find out.
This Week In History
This week in history, we're going back 63 years, march 9 1959, and the introduction of one of the most beloved and most famous toys ever. This week in history the Barbie doll was introduced. It's hard to imagine the generations growing up in the 60s all the way up to now it's hard to imagine a time when the Barbie doll didn't exist. I think Barbie is two little girls what GI Joe is two little boys kind of the same deal. The initial Barbie doll went on display at the American Toy Fair in New York City on March 9 1959. The dolls proportions are pretty similar to today. 11 inches tall with long blonde hair, at least the typical one now there's a bunch of different characters I guess in that world. The doll was initially based on a German comic strip character named Lily, who was actually a doll as well. And the Lilly doll was initially marketed as kind of adult gag gift for men, but it became popular with children. And that's what Barbie is based on. Barbie was put out by Mattel. And there are the commercials that became famous all the way up through my childhood. I don't know if they still have them now, but it was through Mattel's sponsorship of the Mickey Mouse Club, the original one in the 50s that kind of allowed it to then promote Barbie on Mickey Mouse and then the rest is kind of history. It just blew up. The first Barbies in stores cost $3 Or about $29 when adjusted for inflation. If you happen to be one of those people that are collectors and you had a mint condition 1959 Barbie in the box, you could get $8-10,000 easy for it now. The Barbie doll itself was the brainchild I said it was based on the Lilly doll but it was the brainchild of a woman named Ruth Handler. She and her husband co-founded Mattel. And it was kind of a way to give her own daughter something to play with because she had ignored the typical baby dolls to play with and wanted to play with dolls that were more adult at least in features. Barbie gave way to Midge, her best friend and then Ken, who was named after Ruth handlers son, and then there was Skipper, man, all those characters and the different accessories that came ever since. I've got three sisters, I've got three nieces, and they all had Barbies, or have Barbies or enjoy them so it's easy to see why this was so popular. It is estimated that since its debut 63 years ago, this week in history, Barbie has sold more than 1 billion dolls. So that'll tell you and it all started, as I said 63 years ago this week. We've got a brand new time capsule coming up now that's going to coincide with the day that Barbie first came into realization. March 9 1959. We're sticking there. The number one song was Venus by Frankie Avalon. It was originally written by a man named Ed Marshall and has been covered by a lot of different people, including Pat Boone, Johnny Mathis and Barry Manilow. But Frankie Avalon was the most successful recording spending five weeks at number one. The song was such a big hit for Avalon that when his popularity was waning in the mid 70s. He re-recorded Venus as a disco song in 1976. And that was a modest hit it got into the top 50 on the charts. But think about that he rerecorded it to try to get his fame back, which kind of worked. The number one movie was sleeping beauty. This is the classic animated Walt Disney fairy tale based on the 1697 fairy tale Sleeping Beauty written by Charles perot. It's the story of the beautiful Princess Aurora who is cursed by the jealous witch Maleficent on her 16th birthday with the poison apple. Everyone knows the story even if you don't you do, and sleeping beauty can only be awakened by a kiss from her true love. And it did really well in the box office. It made more than $51 million on a budget of 6 million, and it has a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The number one TV show was wagon train. This was a classic American western TV series that ran for eight seasons from 1957 to 1965. across two networks, NBC and ABC. The series the title said was based around a large wagon train, which was going from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California and all the trials and tribulations that the group goes through. The show had a total of 284 episodes and was a top-five rated show for four of its eight seasons. And if you were a parent back on March 9 1959, and you had just bought your child a brand new Barbie doll for $3 Back then, and maybe you needed to clean the mess up after they opened it if it was a birthday gift and there was just a mess everywhere. Well, you're in luck, because you could get yourself a brand new RCA Whirlpool vacuum cleaner for the low low price of 6995 or $675. When adjusted to today's money, there's a great vintage ad for this on Etsy. If you look up 1959 RCA Whirlpool vacuum. And you can see it looks like what you're thinking as far as a 1950s piece of equipment looks like it was said that dirt can't hide from it. It was an upright canister and had a special powerful brush to clean it. So that would help you clean your house back in 1959. And that's going to wrap up another time capsule and another this week in history. But now if you're thirsty, we're going to have a new top five and I'm going to give you some memories of my favorite childhood forgotten beverages. So this will be fun coming up right now.
Top 5: Forgotten Childhood Beverages
Initially, this top five was going to be favorite childhood sodas. But I realized pretty much all the sodas that I drank as a kid, they're still around now. So it's not the same for nostalgia. A lot in the soldier has to be things that aren't around anymore so you can reminisce. So if I had a list that was all Mountain Dew and Coke and Pepsi be like yeah, I can go to the store and find that now this is a waste. So it started to devolve into childhood forgotten beverages and this is going to be a good one because there's some in here that may bring you flashbacks if you're a child of the 80s or 90s. As I say with all of these top five lists, the lists are in no particular order as the list themselves are talking points enough. And all the top fives always have honorable mentions to kind of get your gears going for what's coming. So when it comes to forgotten childhood beverages, honorable mentions include mug root beer, RC Cola, slice, and my favorite jolt. I didn't put jolt in the top five because I already did a segment on it. And most of these are still around today. So obviously it's not going to be all the sodas, but the thing is that they're not as high profile as they were when I was a kid. So let's get some memories go in here. Top five forgotten childhood beverages. Number one is the hug fruit barrels. These are still around they sell them at Bjs. They’re little plastic barrels with the kind of aluminum foil top that you peel off. The little hugs were in all 80s kids lunch boxes and probably all the way still through now, eight ounces, blow sugar, good fruit flavors to them. And it was cute, parents could give their kids a hug to bring to school. I always thought it was kinda like that. If you want to reminisce some more, you can go to little hug.com which is their website and see all the photos and maybe order some for yourself and have some flashbacks. Number two is Hi-C Ecto Cooler. This is an all-time classic late 80s early 90s surrounding the release of Ghostbusters II so Slimer the green blob ghost was on the package. It was originally citrus cooler, and they changed the name to you know capitalize on Ghostbusters in the cartoon. It was so popular and it's been discontinued and then brought back almost like the MC rib with McDonald's where they build suspense and anticipation for it. And even just a few months ago, when the Ghostbusters afterlife first came out, they released the commemorative 12-ounce bottles of Ecto Cooler, but you had to engage with Hi-C on social media to get some it wasn't in stores. Number three is the Ssips juice boxes, which is Ssips with two s's which is why this one, this was the first thing that popped into my head when I started coming up with this list was I remembered people having the juice boxes with the Ssips with two s's on it. And of course, Ssips is still around is made by a company called Johanna foods. So if you go to their website, you can find it. These are the little juice boxes that are like seven ounces. They have all the different fruit flavors and more iced tea, and lemon. These are different from hugs in the fact that they are very high in sugar, but with little kids who they don't care. Number four is Hires root beer. I immediately had two root beers popped into my mind, because I don't drink root beer. Now like I did when I was a kid. And when I was a kid I always remembered mug and hires. And so when it came to the countdown, I was like which one did I remember drinking more, and it was highers. I'm not sure if it's still as popular now as it was in the 80s when they had the commercials on TV and such. But Hires is the longest continuously made soft drink in America. It was first introduced in 1876 and is now owned by the Keurig Dr. Pepper company. Its logo has it's very similar to the A&W it's orange and brown-ish with the mug of hires Root Beer forming over there was nothing better in the heat of summer than being at my Nana's house and having a root beer float that she called a horse's neck with the ice cream and the higher is root beer. Oh, that was the best. And finally, number five on my list of the top five forgotten childhood beverages is Clearly Canadian. This was the flavored sparkling water, it's still around clearly canadian.com. But again, this was huge when I was a kid. So it's another one of those things where it may still be around. But I don't know if it's still as popular as it was 30 years ago, you felt fancy. If you had one of these bottles, they looked almost like a vase with the screw top and they had the illustration of whatever the ingredient was to make the flavor. It was first introduced in 1987 and was definitely different from everything else that was around back then. sodas and the sugary juice drinks that we all had his kids. Clearly Canadian was something different. But that's gonna wrap up this week's top five. I am very surprised as I put my list together to find things that were forgotten childhood beverages, that almost all of them are still available. I don't know if there is widely available, but they are still out there. So if you want to go and have one of the little hug fruit barrels, or sips juice boxes, or hires root beer, clearly Canadian, you can get all of those I can't help you with Hi C Ecto Cooler though that will have to wait to see if they have mercy on us and release it again. And I'll be back next week with a brand new top five that will be every bit as random but filled with just as much nostalgia as I can fit in.
Back In the Day: My Nana’s Favorite Game
This is something that I've wanted to talk about on the podcast basically since its inception when I was coming up with topics to eventually do a segment on the podcast way back in September of 2020. This was one that I wanted to talk about, mostly because it's a very fond memory of me from my childhood. And it's going to be a lot of fun to share this because I think a lot of you can relate to unique family traditions, I guess we'll say. And I'm hoping that my telling you this story will bring some back to your memory. When I was a kid growing up, I was lucky enough that I would visit my grandparents a lot. I went to my Nana's house, typically a few days a week, Sunday was the main day though Sundays at Nana's were always a thing. Even when I got into my 20s and 30s. In the summertime, we had fun stuff that we would do take a walk around the neighborhood go to the local Cranberry Bog and walk around, play whiffle ball in the backyard until the neighbors behind my Nana put a fence up because we were always in their yard. But when it comes to the traditions of the family, things that were different than the fun that we did, there was one that topped them all. And it's so simple. And at the time, it was so simple. But now looking back, it means so much because of the fun that we had. I've been thinking of a way to try to describe this game, the name of it, and what it was. And maybe I'm just going to dive in and let you make up your mind on what it should be described as. Because it's not really Pictionary. It's not charades. We just called it pass it on. We didn't play it all the time. But it became this regular thing. I remember sitting at my Nana's dining room table, we would all pull up chairs and sit in a circle around the table. Typically, it was my Nana, me, my sister, Kate, my father, my uncle Bob, my aunt Susan, my cousin Ryane, and my aunt Jean, that was typically the crew, give or take a few I mean, that's a lot of people right there. And you were armed with a piece of paper and a pencil. And that was how we started, the name of the game being passed it on came from the fact that you would start by drawing a piece of something, whatever it was, we'll say for this like a dog. So you would have to draw a part of it, and whoever was the lead would say, you know, draw ahead. So you draw ahead, and then you would pass it, I think typically to your left, and then the next part will be drawn. So it was almost like a bonding experience. Because all of our pictures would have a little bit of everybody in them, which looking back, that's a really great way to have the family come together. Especially because if the photos look terrible, which they typically did, you didn't know who to blame, because everybody was a part of every picture. I remember you would have to put your name at the bottom of your sheet of paper. Because at the end, you were supposed to return the paper to the original owner so that they could see what a great picture you made. And these pictures were typically animals or some kind of scene that had multiple layers to justify us passing this picture around and around. Because if you say draw PacMan, it's a circle with a triangle out of it, and you're done. And that's no fun. It had to be something worthwhile. I'm sure you listening out there. Some of you may find this to be just boring and like, wow, what in the world kind of game was that you were playing back in the 80s. But the banter that the family had at that table is now something I look back on as one of the best moments of my childhood. And the thing is, I kind of appreciated it then. But when I was putting this segment together for the podcast, it made me appreciate it more. Because everybody my uncles and aunts would just talk trash about everybody's pictures about how bad they looked. My grandmother, my Nana, she would laugh so hard. She'd be crying. Like every time I can hear her laugh right now, as she would try to describe what a picture looked like just in tears and out of breath because of how bad they were. In the days long before the internet long before smartphones and super-detailed video games. This was the height of entertainment. Yeah, we had TV, we had Nintendo the original Nintendo. But a lot of the stuff we did was way more simple. And pass it on was a tradition for several years. And the neat thing was everyone wanted to play if somebody would come up with an idea for something to draw on and some sheets of paper and said, Hey, come on everyone. Let's get around the table and play a round of pass it on. Everybody was in. There was nobody that said I'd rather watch TV. This was more entertaining drawing dogs and horses and houses with people outside that these were some of the ideas that would get drawn and then ripped apart by everyone just laughing at how terrible they were. But the great thing was, it was somewhat innocent fun, because the drawings were all part of everyone. So it wasn't like, I could look at my cousin's picture and say, Wow, you suck, because everyone had a piece to do with it. So if you're saying one drawing sucks, you say everyone sucks. And then it's funny. And all of the insults and taunts over the pictures, there was all delivered with this biting, sarcastic sense of humor that my father's side of the family always has had. My Nana would call it being sharp, sharp with her accent. It's funny how my Nana had the really deep Cape Cod accent similar to the Boston accent, where everything was, ah, cah, yahd. But I don't have that. It's weird how that kind of got diluted. But that's a side note. I have no idea. If anybody out there can even relate to this kind of wacky shenanigans game. I mean, telling you that we went for walks around the block, or played whiffle ball, that stuff that everybody did. And that's common, I think, I mean, maybe it's still common. Hopefully, you growing up, had some kind of out of left field tradition that you and your family had, that maybe most others won't understand. But to you, it's like the greatest thing ever. That's like this, pass it on. It's meaningless to anybody that was not a member of the family. But to me, it's so much of what was great about growing up. And hopefully, you and your own world can kind of relate to it with something like that, where I wouldn't understand it. But when you put it in the context of oh, it's like your pass it on game, then I get it. I definitely miss those days, we didn't save any of the pictures. So we would spend all that time just hanging out talking trash to each other, and drawing these pictures and they would all end up just getting thrown away. But I can still if I close my eyes right now, as I'm recording this, I can hear my Nana laughing and crying. My aunt Susan would be the same way, just in tears laughing trying to describe the pictures. And usually my father and my uncle Bob would just be like, Oh my God, look at this, Jesus. I mean, I get to hear them, though. He'd be like, well, that's cute. Jeez, even when talking to us kids, when we were 9, 10, 11 years old, there was no mercy. I know that as I've gotten older, and once my sister Kate had her kids, we had thought about having all of us do some kind of game like that for Christmas will be all of us. five siblings. And at least our kids could play. It's not hard. You literally think of something that draw and then you go piece by piece and pass it around until it looks like just a disaster. But those days sitting at that dining room table at my Nana's just drawing pictures with my family is like such a great memory. And it is forever ago. I mean, we're looking at probably 30 years ago that we last did it. But it goes to show you how positive memories positive experiences when you're growing up, can stick with you just as much as the negative ones. So maybe at some point this summer when it's nice out. I'll make some sun tea, go for a walk around the block and then get whatever family I can and do a nice game of pass it on to remember my Nana remember the 80s remember my childhood. And yeah, remember the good old days.
Closing
And that's going to do it that is going to wrap up episode 60 of the in my footsteps podcast. Thank you so much to everyone who has tuned in along the way. Whether you've just started and this is your first episode, or you've been listening since episode one where I talked about Deacon John Doane way back in November of 2020. I can't do this without having people actually enjoy it and interact with me. I like doing these but it's always more fun when you've got people that actually tune in and find what you're doing. fun, interesting, entertaining a distraction from the world. I'm trying to make it all of that. And we'll just keep the train rolling. I've got no plans on stopping the podcast. So if you like it, keep tuning in and tune in Fridays at 8pm on Instagram for my live streams that are called without a map. It's sort of like an unofficial podcast I talk about what was on the most recent episode, it's interactive. And I always have fun stories from the week to share that show that my life is like an episode of Seinfeld. Find me all over social media, Twitter, YouTube, you can check out my blog, which is the in my footsteps podcast blog. It's got a lot of New England and Cape Cod history, some lifestyle topics. It kind of goes hand in hand with the podcast and vice versa except I've been doing the blog since 2009. Visit Wear your wishes.com and enter your email to get on the list so you are alerted when they reopened the store. They're in kind of this holding pattern where things are getting restocked and kind of things that are out of control of Katie marks the owner, so just stick with them. They will be back, go there, enter your email, follow them on social media and get ready for the big relaunch. If you want to make some great home cooking for your family and friends, go on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of KeeKee’s Cape Cod kitchen, her cookbook that keeps selling out on Amazon. So it's really popular, so go and get one before it's out of stock again. And Crystal Joy Smith, the woman behind KeeKee has several more books coming out. They're all in the planning stages. So this is only the beginning for her journey. Hang in there we are almost done with winter we are coming to spring winter is so bad for mental health when you've got short days, cold days, snowy days, and you're stuck inside. And there's just war and Pandemic still going and just everyone fighting about something. But at least spring in the warm weather allows you to get outside and get some vitamin D and get your mental health under control because that's most important is to focus on your mental health. Lean into things that make you happy. This podcast makes me happy. So making it researching it. This is part of my release than feeling better can mean being outside in the sun. It can be exercise, it can be proper nutrition. It could be just realigning yourself mind, body and spine. That's not a subtle hint there to come in. Visit me at Mind Body spine chiropractic. We are in the process of putting together our sister company slash gym called Cape kettlebell. We're going to have classes semi-private training myself, Coach KO Kaylin Orr you've heard her on the podcast before were helping put it together with Dr. Michael Singleton. If you need anything for Spinal Care, nutrition, or wellness, we do it all there. Route 6A in Brewster visit us all over social media. And coming up next week is going to be episode 61 of the podcast. And it's going to be a good one. I'm going to tell the story of the connection between President Grover Cleveland and Cape Cod. We're going to go into restaurants storytime part 4, murder on the prep room floor the story is too wild to not tell and it's all true. We're gonna go way way back in the day and talk about what it was like being a kid reading Mad Magazine. And there will be a brand new top five where I'm gonna go back and talk about my favorite childhood cereals. I'm sure there's lots of sugar involved in that list. There will be a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule as well. Coming up next week on episode 61 of the in my footsteps podcast. And remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps, create your own path and leave the biggest footprint you can in this world because you never know what tomorrow brings. Thank you all again for spending a little time with me this week. I'll be back on Friday with the live stream next week with a new podcast. But until then, have a great week, and a great weekend. Whatever you do, make it the best you can. Thanks again and I will talk to you all again soon.