In My Footsteps: A Gen-X Nostalgia Podcast

Episode 134: Memorable 1990s Commercial Jingles; Bassett's Wild Animal Farm; Famous Leap Day Events; First National Park(2-28-2024)

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Some of the most memorable commercial jingles of the 90s. A trip back to Cape Cod's beloved Bassett's Wild Animal Farm. Historical Leap Day events.
Episode 134 takes a trip back to simpler times. First, it begins with a trip back to the days when a petting zoo was popular entertainment. In the time before the Internet and smartphones, young people had fewer options for fun on Cape Cod. One such attraction that is looked back upon fondly is Bassett's Wild Animal Farm in Brewster. Animals both native and foreign to Cape Cod were front and center for generations of kids. Learn the story of that beloved spot.
Simpler times continue with a lot of earworms in the form of some of the best (and a few worst) commercial jingles of the 1990s. We go way Back In the Day and dial up the nostalgia to 11. Do you remember any of these?
Once every four years we get an extra day. Not a warm summer day, but a day nonetheless. This week's Top 5 will share some of the historic events to happen on Leap Day, February 29th.
Of course, there will be a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule focusing on the creation of the very first National Park, Yellowstone.
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Speaker 00:

Hello, world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund, coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 134. We're ending February, heading into March, the month where spring begins. I'm going to try to give some warm and fuzzy memories to everyone out there. We're going to start it off with something, some place that was very important to me in my childhood growing up on Cape Cod. We'll share the story of Bassett's Wild Animal Farm in Brewster. We're going to go way, way back in the day and I'm going to share a lot of earworms for you 90s kids as we look at some of the Most memorable 1990s commercial jingles. Mostly best, maybe a few worst. As it is a leap year this year, the brand new top five this week is going to look at the top five leap day events. These are things that happened on February 29th throughout history. And there'll be a brand new This Week in History and Time Capsule centered around Yellowstone becoming the first national park, not only in the United States, but in the world as well. and the importance of the National Park Service. All of that is coming up right now on episode 134 of the In My Footsteps podcast. That's right. As you heard me mention there, as it's a leap year, we're going to be looking at Leap Day events. When this podcast goes live, typically this would be the last day of February, the 28th. Lucky us, though, we get an extra day. But no, it's not an extra warm summer day. It's an extra day in the depths of winter because that's what everyone wants. Leap day is kind of like Smarch on the calendar in the Simpsons TV show. If you know, you know. I wanted to start off this episode giving a shout out to my Patreon subscribers, Leo, Laurie, Mary Lou, Ashley. Thank you all for supporting me, supporting the show. supporting my work I do, the content creation. Coming this Friday, which will be March 1st, will be a brand new bonus episode for Patreon subscribers, where I review and shake my head at some of the things I talked about from my initial impressions blog. These are from 2010 to 2012. But don't worry, even if you're not a Patreon subscriber, you can still get kind of a glimpse into my psyche. As within the last few weeks, I brought back the Initial Impressions blog. I'm calling it Initial Impressions 2.0. So creative. It's all random, fun, foolish. Maybe every now and then I'll have a cryptic post. Or even rarer, I'll have something profound to say. But it's all in good fun, so check it out. There's a link in the description of the podcast. Speaking of content... I recently put up on my YouTube channel a video I'm really excited about and proud of that chronicles the horrific tale of Jolly Jane Toppin, Cape Cod's Angel of Death. You might remember that segment from the podcast back in episode 53. It's that segment, but I've added a lot of cool visuals, animations. So I hope you'll go and check it out. I put a lot of work into these. They're not quick and easy. I think a lot of people that aren't content creators don't realize the amount of work that goes into it. I wish I could snap my fingers and just have videos and podcasts done, but that's not how it works. There was actually a comment from a YouTube channel that I really enjoy that one of the hosts of one of the shows actually made that made a lot of sense. He said the irony is the videos that sometimes you put the most work into and you're most proud of are the ones that don't get the views, so you just never know. I thank you all for tuning in to episode 134. We're going to kick this off right now with something that's near and dear to my heart, to my childhood. In and of itself, a petting zoo isn't that big of a deal, but to a small child, it's everything. So let's take a look back at Bassett's Wild Animal Farm of Brewster on Cape Cod. It was a great place growing up, and I'll tell you all about it right now. In today's technologically driven world, the younger generation and anyone in general has access to almost anything they could want to view at the tips of their fingers. Video games, on-demand movies, streaming, television, virtual reality. Stimulating one's senses comes easy in the 2020s. In the decades of the past, though, entertainment was far different for those growing up on Cape Cod, in New England, in the world in general. Those that grew up in the 70s, 80s, 90s, you know what I'm talking about. On Cape Cod, we've had the Cape Cod Mall that's been popular for over 50 years as a hangout spot, although maybe not as much today. The Cape Cod Baseball League. for a century has consistently provided family-friendly fun, and there's miniature golf, there was bowling, and more have been go-tos for kids and families. However, once upon a time, there was another outlet for family entertainment located in a rural wooded area near Route 6A in the town of Brewster. It was where kids could see creatures both familiar and new to them, many in a hands-on way. This was not a zoo per se, it was an animal farm. It was Bassett's wild animal farm. The idea of the wild animal farm, similar in theory to a petting zoo on Cape Cod, was the brainchild of Harry Budd Bassett. Bassett was born and raised in the town of Brewster, a part of the Brewster-Bassett family lineage. From an early age, he was a lover of animals and the environment. After fighting in World War II and working in the private sector as part of Cape and Vineyard Electric Company until he was in his early 30s, Bassett decided to act on his love of animals as well as his large tract of land on Tubman Road in Brewster. In 1959, Bud, along with his wife Olivia, began dreaming up an animal farm after Olivia gave him a pair of deer as a birthday present. Bassett purchased more land to the south of his farm to accommodate more animals. He would end up including creatures familiar to Cape Codders, like rabbits, raccoons, Canadian geese, skunks, and more. And that's all well and good, but the true appeal of this endeavor was those animals not native to Cape Cod. Bassett would purchase those creatures from reputable dealers at game farms in the South. He would prove his love of animals by selling those that did not naturally hibernate during the winter to southern farms in the fall, and then purchasing the animals again in the spring. Initially known as Bassett's Game Farm, It would have its grand opening on May 2, 1959. It cost 50 cents for adults and 30 cents for children to enjoy the sights of the familiar and unfamiliar animals nestled in the peaceful pine forest. It was a much more fulfilling experience for people to see these animals in a natural environment rather than a city zoo with concrete and skyscrapers and the sounds of city ambiance all around them. The pony rides, hay rides, petting zoo, and more attracted throngs of families to the 20-acre farm. The venture was an overwhelming success, and by 1962, there were more than 50 species of animals at the now-called Bassett's Wild Animal Farm. As his farm grew in popularity, Bassett added llamas and a black bear, among other creatures. It became a staple of summer family outings and school trips as the 1960s wore on. In the 1970s, Bassett added a leopard, a mountain lion, several codamundi, and a few Patagonian cavies, which is a rodent that looks kind of like a cross between a rabbit and a kangaroo. It's pretty small. In the years before Cape Cod was dotted with coyotes and great white sharks... Seeing these types of creatures was definitely a unique experience. In 1979, after nearly 20 years of sharing his love of animals with Cape Codders, visitors, and their families, Bud Bassett decided that it was time to sell and retire. He found buyers in Gale and Donald Smithson who were looking for a place to begin an Appaloosa horse breeding farm. Initially, the Smithsons were not going to continue with Bassett's Wild Animal Farm. They were going to close it and start raising horses. But that was until the grounds were being toured and Gail fell in love with the animals there. So she kept the attraction going, simply adding her Appaloosa horses to the mix. After selling the farm, the Bassetts moved from Brewster up to Maryville, Maine. Gail Smithson did not take the legacy of Bassett's Wild Animal Farm lightly. During her first few years, she did extensive repairs and renovations, trying to make the farm as impressive to those perhaps seeing it for the first time. She improved the cages some of the animals were kept in and added Indian zebus, another mountain lion, and an African lion for visitors to gaze upon. Smithson also integrated her horses into the farm as part of the pony rides and hay rides. In 1994, a Bengal tiger cub named Okimo was brought in to be part of the popular attraction. Although Bass's Wild Animal Farm continued to be widely patronized by families and school field trips, an incident involving that Bengal tiger would spell the end of the line. In May of 2000, a 14-year-old employee at the farm was bitten by the tiger on her right calf after entering the cage to feed the 500-pound animal, not knowing the trap door was open. Concerns from the federal licensing agency which oversaw all animal parks were twofold. First, whether the animal was rabid, and second, whether the girl had the appropriate paperwork to even be employed there. In the years leading up to the incident, there had been minor protests about the captivity of the animals, most notably by local artist Malcolm Wells in 1996. This incident with a large cat was too much to ignore. Bassett's Wild Animal Farm closed in 2002. Bud Bassett, despite spending his remaining years in Maine and then Florida, continued contributing to Cape Cod in other ways. Before his passing in 2010, he and his wife Olivia donated a one and a quarter acre chunk of land along Slough Road to the Brewster Conservation Trust. The main parcel of Bassett's Wild Animal Farm along Tubman Road has seen a second life as well. In 2014, an affordable housing project through Habitat for Humanity was approved, with 13.9 acres of land being used for 14 homes, ranging from two to four bedrooms, and being ready for living in 2021. The remaining land was sold back to the town of Brewster. Though it's been closed for over 20 years, many residents and visitors to Cape Cod have nothing but fond memories of wandering the seemingly endless maze of animals, some dangerous, some not, and feeling so far away from the typical Cape Cod surroundings. And because of those memories, Bud and Olivia Bassett's showcase for their love of animals will never be forgotten. I can only speak for me growing up as a child of the 1980s, many times going to Bassett's Wild Animal Farm. There are so many pictures of me and my sister Kate. I was probably six years old. She was four. It was an easy place for young parents to bring their children, getting to pet the goats and seeing the ducks and geese. And even seeing the common animals to Cape Cod, like raccoons and skunks, but up close, knowing they wouldn't claw you. Well, unless you jumped in the cage, I guess. It just felt like a different world. And like I said at the top of this segment, I know that younger people of today, something like a petting zoo with pony rides and hay rides might not seem that appealing. But back in the 70s, 80s, When there was no smartphone, no internet, no streaming, things like petting zoos were huge. How many of you out there from Cape Cod or who visited Cape Cod went to Bassett's Wild Animal Farm or remember it? What were your favorite animals? And I just looked this up for this segment. For those of you wondering, Okimo, the Bengal tiger, and all of the other big cats from Bassett's Wild Animal Farm, they were sent to a Texas zoo. wildlife sanctuary so they lived out their lives safe nothing happened to them i figured some of you might wonder so i wanted to add that at the end that those cats lived out their lives safely in a wildlife sanctuary but thanks for the memories bassett's wild animal farm it made being a child of the 80s on cape cod a little more exciting This week in history, we are going back 152 years ago to March 1st, 1872, and Yellowstone becoming the first national park not only in the United States, but the world. Nestled predominantly in the state of Wyoming, with small portions spilling over into Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone encompasses a vast and diverse landscape of geothermal wonders, towering mountains, lush forests, and abundant wildlife. Beyond its stunning natural beauty, Yellowstone holds a far greater significance, as it symbolizes a collective commitment to preserving and safeguarding the natural world, conservation. The journey to establishing Yellowstone as a national park was not easy. Prior to its designation, there was no precedent for preserving large tracts of land solely for the enjoyment and the benefit of the public. The idea of conservation as we know it today was in its infancy. However, the need to protect Yellowstone became increasingly apparent as reports of its extraordinary geothermal features increased. and the diverse ecosystem spread around the country. Ferdinand Hayden, who was a geologist that led several expeditions to the region of Yellowstone in the 1870s, was one of the key figures to establish Yellowstone National Park. His detailed surveys and impassioned advocacy played a huge role in persuading Congress to pass the legislation that created the park. When then-President Ulysses S. Grant announced signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law on March 1st, 1872, it set aside more than 2 million acres of wilderness. It was designated as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. And this designation then set the precedent for conservation and preservation of natural landscapes. As of December 2023, there are 63 national parks in the United States. Some of them are hugely important, hugely famous. Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Zion, Grand Teton. I can say I've only been to Arcadia National Park up in Maine, so I'm really lagging behind. But why are these national parks important? The answer lies in their multifaceted contributions to society, the environment, and the human spirit. First and foremost, the national parks serve as vital sanctuaries for biodiversity. The protected areas provide refuge for countless plant and animal species, many of which are threatened or endangered. And by preserving these natural habitats, national parks play a huge role in safeguarding Earth's biological diversity, ensuring survival of species for generations to come. They also serve as basically living laboratories for scientific research and education, offering unparalleled opportunities... for scientists to study natural processes, conduct their fieldwork, and monitor ecological changes over time. National parks also have immense cultural and historical value, with repositories of human history, archaeological sites, cultural landmarks, traces of past civilizations. Furthermore, it just allows researchers Unparalleled recreational opportunities for people of all ages, all backgrounds, hiking, camping, tons of photograph opportunities. Walking through these wide open landscapes can just make you feel alive, rejuvenate your spirit. The sunset I saw atop Cadillac Mountain in Arcadia National Park still ranks as one of the greatest things I've ever seen, and that was 14 years ago. And all of this importance, all of the memories, everything that national parks can give you started with the designation of Yellowstone as the first national park in the United States and in the world 152 years ago this week in history. And now it's time for a brand new time capsule. This time we're going back 69 years ago this week to March 1st, 1955. Let's see what was going on in the world of pop culture back then. The number one song was Sincerely by the McGuire Sisters. This was off of their album Chris, Phyllis, and Dottie. They were the McGuire Sisters. The song Sincerely was originally recorded the previous year in 1954 by a group called the Moonglows. Interestingly, this original version of the song, famed DJ Alan Freed had a co-writing credit on there, which it came out he insisted upon with some songs, kind of in exchange for playing those songs more. This would eventually lead to his downfall in the famed payola scandal. Another interesting fact is that the Maguire sisters stopped performing in 1968, and they are rumored to have been blacklisted from music partially due to Phyllis Maguire's relationship with infamous mobster Sam Giancana. The number one movie was Cinerama Holiday, and you could get into the theater with a ticket costing 45 cents. This is a travelogue movie with two couples trading countries with an American couple exploring Europe and a Swiss couple coming to the United States. This movie was unique because it had an emphasis on the cinematography and was shown on a curved screen with three projectors. It sounds sort of like the Omni Theater at the Boston Museum of Science. The movie did well, making nearly $30 million on a budget of $1.5 million. And after being largely lost and unseen for decades, the movie was finally remastered and released on Blu-ray in 2013. The number one TV show was Peter Pan, not the Disney movie, live action. This was part of a show called Producers Showcase, and it's the first Broadway show to be taken to television. Producer's Showcase was on for a total of three seasons and 37 episodes, with a lot of famous film stars making their first television appearances on that show, including Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn. And if you were around back then, March 1st, 1955, maybe you live in one of the warmer southern states and you feel like going out and enjoying some camping, but you've never been and you don't know what to do, Well, that's all right. You can get your copy of the Camping Handbook by Edmund Burke. This would give you everything you needed to know about camping, everything you needed to go out there and enjoy yourself from the gear to bring, how to make certain foods, make a fire. It was kind of like Boy Scouts in that the book, I guess the idea was that if you've never, ever been camping, it would give you that step by step. Interestingly, this book is in the public domain now, so I guess you can go and get it anywhere, a PDF. I'm going to go look for it and see. That wraps up another This Week in History, another time capsule. So we have an extra day, an extra cold day in winter, Leap Day. What exciting events have happened on Leap Days of the past? Well, let's find out right now with a brand new top five. happens once every four years. Leap day, the extra day, February the 29th. This week's top five, we're going to look at the top five leap day events. There were definitely some interesting and unique things that have happened on leap days of the past, but what exactly is leap day and why do we have it? Almanac.com describes leap day as the extra day every four years to realign our calendar. and therefore realign the seasons. Without leap days, the calendars would be off 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds every year. That means after 100 years, the seasons would be off by 25 days, meaning that spring would start sometime in the middle of April instead of the third week of March. There's a bit of the history of leap day and the why we have it As with most of these top five lists, there are some honorable mentions. So, honorable mentions for Leap Day events include Buddy Holly's legendary glasses being found 21 years after he died in a plane crash. This was in 1980. They had been stuffed in an envelope in the sheriff's office of Cerro Gordo, Iowa. in 1959 after the famous Day the Music Died plane crash. Also honorable mention in 1940, actress Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award. This was a supporting actress award for her character Mammy in Gone with the Wind. In 1960, the Family Circus comic strip debuted. It was created by cartoonist Bill Keen and is still to this day the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world, appearing in more than 1,500 newspapers. And lastly, on the honorable mentions, in 1972, Hank Aaron becomes the highest paid Major League Baseball player. His salary was $200,000. When adjusted for inflation to 2024, that is $1.475 million. According to the most recent data from Forbes magazine, which was 2021, the average Major League Baseball player makes $4.17 million. So those are the honorable mentions. Let's get into the actual top five, starting with number one, going back as far as I've ever gone in history to 45 BC and Julius Caesar proclaiming the very first leap day. Caesar was trying to create a 365-day calendar, but that's when he noticed that the average Earth orbit around the sun is 365 days and six hours. To remedy this, Caesar, along with an astronomer named Sosagenes, decided to add an extra day to the calendar every four years. The funny thing is that their calculations were actually off. So rather than the calendar catching up to the Earth's orbit, it actually was speeding ahead. So by the 16th century, the calendar was as much as 10 days ahead of where it should be. The advent of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 kind of set things to where we are today. Although even with that, the calculations still aren't perfect. But at least with this, the calendar will only be off about one day every 3,030 years, so not a big deal. Number two, in 1692, the first warrants in the Salem Witch Trials are issued. Most people know what the Salem Witch Trials are or were. Numerous people, mostly women, were accused of witchcraft, with most of them just going on trial and being executed. On this date, three women, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and a woman named Tituba, were the first three to have warrants for their arrests issued. Sarah Good was eventually hanged for refusing to confess. Sarah Osborne died in prison one year later. And Tituba, who was a slave, was eventually released from prison. Number three, in 1776, the British transport ship, the Friendship, wrecks off of Cape Cod. This ship was bound from Boston to New York. and wrecked off of North Truro, near where present-day Highland Lighthouse would be. This was the second year of the American Revolution, and the wrecked ship actually gave needed supplies to the colonists. But the funny part is, they had to get the supplies from the local Cape Codders that had started to ransack the ship. Number four... In 1924, the former head of the Veterans Bureau in Washington, D.C., Charles Forbes, is indicted for defrauding the government of $250 million. This one I had to include because when you take that $250 million and adjust it for inflation to 2024, it's $4.4 billion he defrauded the government out of. Forbes and other co-conspirators were indicted in Chicago. It seems like Forbes got off kind of easy being indicted for bribery and corruption and being convicted in 1925, fined $10,000 and sentenced to two years in prison in Leavenworth. And finally, number five on the top five Leap Day events. This one was fascinating. I had to save, I guess, the best for last. Starting in 1960, where the Henriksen siblings, all three of them were all born on leap days and they weren't triplets. It started with Heidi Henriksen in 1960. Her brother, Olaf, was born four years later in 1964. And finally, her brother, Leif Martin, was born leap day 1968. Three siblings all born on February 29th. And interestingly, they held that record until 2012 when the Estes family from Utah tied them. Javier Estes was born February 29th, 2004. Remington was born in 2008. And finally, Jade born in 2012, all on leap day. The timing on that is just incredible to think about that. Every four years is a leap day and you just happen to have a child on that day. That wraps up the top five Leap Day events. Now we're going to dive into so much nostalgia and earworm commercials as we go way back in the day and look at memorable 1990s commercial jingles with a lot of clips for your pleasure coming up right now. No matter when you were born, when you were a child, if I asked you to stop and think about commercials, commercial jingles, slogans from when you were young, I know you could come up with half a dozen off the top of your head. Well, for those of you that grew up in the 90s, like me, I was a teenager in the 90s. I've got a fun back in the day segment for you as we're going to look at some of the most memorable commercial jingles from the 90s, mostly best, maybe a few worst I immediately came up with a few that I knew I wanted to share but the more I researched the more I found other ones that I had forgotten about and as I go along with this podcast and I lean harder into the nostalgia part of it segments like this are going to be more prevalent on the show so I'm sure going forward there will be a 1980s 1970s commercial jingles one But let's get into some of those famous ones with copious amounts of audio callbacks. Right off the bat, I've got to say the caveat here is that it's memorable commercial jingles. There had to be some kind of a song in the commercial. It's not just memorable commercials, period, because that's a whole other list in and of itself. Maybe it's me being the old man now, but I feel like the 90s were the last bastion of truly creative and memorable commercials. Everything nowadays is cookie cutter and CGI. I like the days when all products, or at least most products, had certain songs in their commercials that made them memorable. The very first one that I thought of to make this list that started it all off was Chicken Tonight. Do you remember this?

Speaker 02:

Chicken Tonight

Speaker 00:

itself was a bunch of different sauces by Ragu meant to be served with chicken. honey mustard, country French, Thai green curry. So you'd cut up the pieces of raw chicken and put them in the frying pan and add chicken tonight sauce. This was the one I wanted to put this earworm in all of your heads. Even though this was everywhere, especially in the early 90s, it felt like it faded away, the brand itself. I mean, obviously the commercials didn't keep going. But I just checked Amazon and there is a sauce called Chicken Tonight you can buy. Does anyone know for sure if that's still made, if it's the same company? Because it doesn't say through Ragu. It just says Chicken Tonight. Like that's the brand now. This next one is a brand that's still around today and still is popular. And that's the Kit Kat. Give me a break. Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar. These guys will do it better.

Speaker 02:

Kit

Speaker 00:

Kat has always been a favorite candy of mine. Even though you can share it with others, you keep it for yourself. Each of the four little bars that you can break off. Kit Kat's been around since the 1920s and a candy company called Roundtree from England. I remember seeing these commercials that break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar commercials through the mid-90s at least. Because naturally, all the programs that I watched, they geared the commercials towards teenagers, so naturally candy. And of course, there's the famous episode on The Office where Andy's trying to figure out what the jingle was. He knew all of it except for the Kit Kat bar part, so he's naming off all the different products, including Fancy Feast. That's what he thought it was. Another quintessentially 90s series of commercials were these ones from Mentos.

Speaker 02:

Mentos, the fresh maker.

Speaker 00:

The Freshmaker. Chewy mints basically are what they are. They were first produced in 1932 in the Netherlands, which then makes the accent of the guy that says Mentos the Freshmaker in the commercials make more sense. These commercials seemed like they were easy to spoof, like you didn't think they were real, but yet they were. At the time that they were big, Foo Fighters did their song Big Me, and the video was basically a Mentos commercial. I know I saw an interview with Dave Grohl once where he said that when they would play that song, especially in the early days, people would throw Mentos at them. I haven't seen a commercial for Mentos probably since those days, but I know they're still around. You ever notice that? I would say especially you folks out there born in the 60s, 70s, maybe into the 80s, that when you were a kid, there were certain products that were in commercials that you remember saying, and yet they haven't had any advertising on TV or anything in the last 20, 30 plus years, but yet they're still around. I remember there being a lot of ads for floor cleaner, house cleaning products, Comet, Joy, Pledge. I don't see them anymore. I'm going off on a tangent. Let's get back to 90s commercial jingles. Do you remember the Budweiser Frogs?

Unknown:

Yeah.

Speaker 02:

Budweiser. Budweiser. Budweiser. Budweiser.

Speaker 00:

I was debating putting this on there because it's not a song. They're not singing the Budweiser. But man, it was so memorable. These puppet-like frogs first came around during the Super Bowl in 1995, and it was iconic. It's considered one of the best ad campaigns, at least in alcohol history. I should also give an honorable mention to the Wazzop commercials from Budweiser. Those started in 1999, so I mean, I guess it counts. I'm trying to cram as many earworms into you in this segment as possible. One commercial series that was iconic in the 90s that came back big in the 2000s was Chili's Baby Back Ribs.

Speaker 02:

Chili's Baby Back Ribs. Chili's Baby Back Ribs. I got my baby

Speaker 00:

back ribs. I know it made me want to go eat at Chili's when we had one in Hyannis near the airport rotary. Now it's just a field. But this slogan, this song came back during season two of The Office where Michael Scott is trying to impress a new client and they're meeting at Chili's and they're trying to figure out what to eat. And Michael starts singing that song. They have a whole bunch of outtakes of that scene where they just laugh while he's trying to sing the baby back ribs song. Chili's, the restaurant chain, has been around since 1975, and they still have more than 1,200 locations in the United States. Like I said, we used to have one on Cape Cod. The nearest one is Wareham, just off Cape, but I don't want to go to Chili's that bad. For all of you parents of the 90s that had kids, you might remember this one.

Speaker 01:

Huggies, I'm

Speaker 00:

a big kid now. These were mainly for their pull-ups that were... Part diaper, part underwear. I remember when I was a kid, the commercials for diapers like Huggies or Pampers. It was always really soft spoken and like the soft flute music with it. Do they even have diaper or pamper commercials out anymore? Or has it just been a product so long that parents just know to get them? They don't need an advertisement to tell them. So the next one I'm going to share is a product that I loved when I was growing up. The commercial, I'm not sure if I really enjoyed it. That's the Bagel Bites commercial here. Pizza

Speaker 02:

in the evening, pizza at supper time. When pizza's on a bagel, you can eat pizza anytime. Pizza Bagel Bites. Bite-sized pizzas on wholesome little bagels. Pizza during prime time. Anytime's

Speaker 00:

It's memorable, but it's loud and annoying. But this commercial is also from the later 90s, so I was in college, so maybe my tastes had changed. Not enough to not eat bagel bites, but just what I enjoyed in commercials, if that's a thing. Those of you that grew up back then, what would you prefer, bagel bites or pizza rolls? There's a question for the ages right there. Me, it's gonna be pizza rolls all day long, whether it was Geno's or then Tostino's. Heat them in the microwave and then pop the first one in and it was like eating molten lava, just burn the hell out of your mouth. And again, like I was saying, Bagel Bites, they're still around. When was the last time you saw a Bagel Bites commercial? Granted, I don't watch normal TV as much after cutting the cord with cable. Maybe they still have them on TV, but I haven't seen one in forever. You remember this commercial for this game?

Speaker 02:

Connect

Speaker 00:

4 is a game that reminds me somewhat of my nana, because she used to have Connect 4 we would play sometimes. For those that have never seen it or never played it, it's kind of like Tic-Tac-Toe. Four in a row of your color wins, you had black and red. The game first came out in 1974, and they still do make it. You can get it at Target, but it's red and yellow colors and not red and black like the classic Milton Bradley one. Speaking of games with memorable commercials, what about Mr. Bucket? It's

Speaker 02:

basically

Speaker 00:

a motorized bucket that goes around and you've got to throw the different colored balls up into his head and he spits them out of his mouth. For as funny as the commercial is, the product was actually seen as something that could help people with hand-eye coordination for those with sensory issues. So the game did have a use beyond just throwing balls in the bucket. Speaking of game commercials, this one's not as good. Does anyone remember the Perfection song? I don't know. This one falls under that category of it's not bad, it's just loud and annoying. And the game was fun, but I'll leave that up to you. Or the baby bottle pop. I have no memories of this. And then when I researched and found this commercial, it had to go in my least favorites.

Unknown:

Baby bottle pop. It's a baby bottle pop.

Speaker 02:

Just lick the pop, dip it and shake it. And lick it again.

Speaker 00:

Anyone out there who grew up in that time remember when The Gap had their commercials that was teenagers, I guess, or tweens singing older songs, including this one, Mellow Yellow, which was from the 60s? I'm

Speaker 02:

just mad about Saffron She's just mad about me They call me Mellow Yellow

Speaker 00:

I don't know. I found these annoying. Maybe I'm just in the minority there. One that's more upbeat is the Clorox commercials. Mama's Got the Magic of Clorox or Clorox 2, the sequel. I always remember those just being upbeat and happy, making you feel good about getting your clothes washed. And last but not least, the commercials that introduced me to the legend that was Ray Charles, and that was his Diet Pepsi commercials. It didn't make me want to drink Diet Pepsi, but it definitely made me curious about who this guy was that was singing. That was a lot of commercials, a lot of jingles I just shared with you there. If you enjoyed this segment, I'll definitely do 80s, 70s. I'm pretty good at researching these types of things, nostalgia things, old commercials, etc. The nostalgia is strong in me, and I hope you enjoyed me sharing some of it with you here. But that'll wrap up episode 134 of the In My Footsteps podcast. Thank you to everyone for tuning in. Those of you who share, who give ratings and review on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to. Thank you to all of you who check out my YouTube channel with all the videos. I've got well over 350 videos on YouTube. A lot of old travel videos, a lot of podcast segments. And like I said, now with the help of Canva Pro, Bing AI, these things I'm learning to try to make my videos better and more visually appealing, I'm really excited and proud of the work I'm putting in. Because these videos, like I said at the top of the show, they're not just snap your finger and they're done. They take hours, especially if you want to do them right. My main thing, though, is this podcast next week will be in the month of March with episode 135. I'm sure I'll find some sort of fun nostalgia topics to give you that comfort food for the soul as we get closer to spring. Find me all over social media. Instagram, threads, X. Subscribe on YouTube. I'm close to the threshold where I can monetize that channel. I've only had the channel for 15 years. Go check out my blog. It's got the initial impressions 2.0. I've now lumped into my In My Footsteps podcast blog. Random is the easiest way to describe initial impressions. If you're interested in any of my nine books, visit my website, ChristopherSetterlin.com. If you're more specifically interested in my Searching for the Lady of the Dunes book... visit theladyofthedoons.com, which is the website I built with my own two hands. I am no graphic designer. I am no web designer. So the site is very basic. But it's got all you could want to know about the case itself. That's 50 years old this year. You can watch Frank Durant's amazing documentary. You can buy a copy of my book. And you can check out any of the videos I made during the process of making the book. I've got at least four up there. I want to make sure I take a moment to wish a special happy fifth birthday to my youngest niece, Sylvie. She's such a sweet and fun little girl. And she makes getting old, which I am doing, not as bad. My oldest niece, Kaylee, will be 25 this year. And as you know, everyone, we've all grown up. As kids grow up, they don't come around as much with their family. They've got their own friends, their own lives. So it's nice to have a young child that's actually happy to see you and wants to hang out with you. But her birthday, Sylvie's birthday, comes up before the next podcast goes live. So I wanted to wish her happy birthday now. And I will see you for your birthday before episode 135. I'm working on what could be a pretty big event for me coming up this summer. I don't want to give too much away as it's still I'm hammering out the details and I don't want to tease it like this, but it could be a big fun event coming up sometime later July or August. So I'll keep you up to date. It sort of has to do with my books, but sort of doesn't. But don't worry. Once I know all the details, I'll share it with all of you. Even though spring is getting close, we're still in those dreadful, cold winter days. So remember to take care of your mental health. Lean into the things that make you happy. That's partially why I brought back that initial impressions blog, because I really enjoy sharing the daily life foolishness. But there's no playbook for life, so sometimes you go through things and you don't know how to deal with them. I mean, I'm in my mid-40s now. There are days I can't believe I'm this old. And even though I know you shouldn't check around you and compare yourself to others, it's hard. You wonder if you're where you should be or if you're doing what you should be doing. I am my own hardest critic, which is not a good thing. I've been debating looking into something like BetterHelp for a little bit of therapy, guidance. Because sometimes if the only voice you hear is your voice talking to you, as far as solving problems, that's not always helpful. So that's why I say lean into what makes you happy. Take care of your mental health. Spring will be here soon. We can all be outside. You can take the podcast on walks in the sun. And I'll definitely be back next week with episode 135. Until then, remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps. Create your own path and enjoy every moment you can on this journey we call life because you never know what tomorrow brings. Thank you all again for all of your support, whether you listen, whether you're a subscriber, whether you tell a friend, whatever it is, I appreciate all of that. This has been the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. You already knew that. Talk to you all again soon.

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Christopher Setterlund

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