Tuesday 8 March 2016

DR. BEAR? YOGI WHO? CHILDHOOD REVISITED...



One day, back in 1965 or '66, while out shopping with my family in SAFEWAY's, I saw a Dr. WHO TARDIS money box on display at the front end of one of the checkout counters.  It was inexpensive so my parents purchased it for me, and on the way home we stopped in at a cafe in the shopping precinct halfway between the town centre shops and our house.

In memory, the cafe seems like something out of HAPPY DAYS.  It had a checkerboard floor and a Juke Box in the corner, and was a typical 1960s example of pseudo-American culturethat such British establishments usually modelled themselves on at the time.  It's now been a chemist's shop for decades, but I can't pass it today without remembering it in its '60s heyday.

(*To be clear, that's the British imitation of American culture which is 'pseudo', not American culture itself.)

The money bank was of a soft blue plastic, and some time later (don't know how long), I slit along the outlines of the door, so that I could place my MARX TOYS YOGI BEAR (sans scooter) inside its interiors.  (Remember, I was a mere 7 years old at the time.)  Then, in my imagination, the bold Yogi would traverse the vast distances of time and space in his borrowed time machine, landing on barren, alien terrains in faraway universes.

If you're like me, you probably sometimes played with your toys in bed, and the topside of one's drawn-up knees under the bedspread provided a perfect mountain ridge from which the 'hero' had a vantage point over any and all enemies who might assail him.  And so it was with Yogi, who'd emerge from his Tardis (with my assistance of course) and scan the horizon for DALEKS - or the insidious RANGER SMITH.

Anyway, around a couple of years ago, I acquired a replacement for Yogi, but I've not yet managed to obtain an exact duplicate of that particular Dr. Who Tardis bank. However, a few years before WOOLWORTH's closed its doors for the final time, I bought a modern-day equivalent Tardis money box, which has served as a stand-in in the absence of its illustrious predecessor.  (True, it's a darker blue and a harder plastic, but it's still an official Tardis bank, which'll do for me.)

Anyway, in a completely self-indulgent (and frivolous) exercise in boyhood nostalgia, I decided to reunite 'Dr. Yogi' and his Tardis for your pictorial pleasure (though this time he's brought his scooter along).  See the lengths to which I go in order to provide you with the finest examples of absurdity available on any blog? You don't see delightful nonsense like this elsewhere!  (Whaddya mean "Thank goodness!"?)

An example of the original '60s bank

17 comments:

moonmando said...

It would be pretty cool if the Doctors next incarnation was none other than Yogi himself.
Couldn't do much worse than some of the plonkers that went before him...

Dave S said...

Once upon a long ago, I got a police box bubble bath for christmas. After seeing the (with hindsight baffling) scene in Logopolis where Tom Baker tries to materialise the TARDIS underwater, I used to try to recreate that scene in the bath. Didn't really achieve anything by it, but then the plan didn't really work for the Doctor either...

Kid said...

Yeah, Moony - Yogi and Boo-Boo for the Doctor and his companion. Now that's what I call a time-travelling team.

******

Didn't have a Tardis bubble bath, DD, but I've got two Dalek ones. That Tardis one is probably worth a fortune now.

Phil said...

We appreciate it. I recall having a floating soap container which Tom the cat and the soap was Jerry. I might find the container but I don't think I will find that soap on eBay!

Kid said...

You never can tell, Phil - you just might be surprised. Worth a look at least, eh?

Anonymous said...

The comedienne Susan Calman really, really wants to be the next Doctor.

Kid said...

I really, really DON'T want her to be.

paul Mcscotty said...

I had forgotten all about the Safeway supermarket chain until I read this - my abiding memory of Safeway’s is my mum buying Ski mandarin flavoured yoghurt (yuk)

I can't imagine Susan Calman as the next Dr Who (not that I'm a fan of Dr Who so it wouldn't bother me if she was) I do think she is funny and smart and has a really good Scottish twang to her voice but she's only about 4ft 11 tall a Dalek would tower over her .

Kid said...

And apart from that, McS, she's not really an actor. Besides, after already ruining Dr. Who by making him witter on like a wannabe stand-up comedian, the worst thing they could do is get one to play him.

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to Ski yogurt ? It used to be THE yogurt brand but now you never see it - certainly not in my local Tesco anyway. I don't remember Mandarin flavour only large pots of Strawberry flavour.

Kid said...

Ski yoghurt? Sales must've gone downhill.

Anonymous said...

Ha - very good. I googled Ski yogurt and they're still around so I don't know why I don't see them in Tesco. Another mystery is the disappearance of Domecq Double Century sherry - Orson Welles used to advertise it back in the '70s and my mother would buy a bottle for a special occasion like Christmas but I haven't seen Double Century on sale for at least 25 years - but I googled that too and it's also still around. Piat D'Or wine has also gone AWOL ("Les Francais adorent Le Piat D'Or") and now I can't find Sharwood's mango chutney any more either - it was delicious with my cheese & lettuce sandwiches.

Kid said...

I remember Orson advertising that sherry back in the '70s, but being a teetotaler, I've never tried alcohol, CJ. Google Zoom ice lollies and see if they're still around, will you? I last saw them in Sainsbury's a good few years back, and I'd like to try one again.

Anonymous said...

Kid, I googled Zoom ice lollies and they aren't still around but somebody started a Facebook campaign to bring them back. At first I didn't remember Zoom lollies but then I saw a picture of one and of course I rememberd it then. There was a link to a list of 10 lollies/ice cream products of the past such as Funny Feet, Dracula, Screwball and cider-flavoured lollies. One that I remember was the Space: 1999 ice lolly that was out in the summer of '76, the summer of the drought. By the way, I'm amazed that you've never even tried alcohol - not even a sip ? Mind you, I've never tried a cigarette - my father smoked and he always told me never to smoke so I never did.

Kid said...

I see that 'rocket' ice lollies can still be bought (in boxes), which look like Zooms, but aren't called by that name. I must buy a box. Nope, CJ, never even tried alcohol, never smoked, never taken drugs. That's probably why I'm such a boring fart. To clarify on the drink thing - I did have communion wine a couple or so times when I was a kid, and my parents once gave me a heavily diluted ginger beer at New Year once, but when I say I never drank, I'm talking about when I was 'aware' and could've done (even as an under-ager), but never did. I've since had meals with a white wine sauce, but apparently the alcohol is cooked out. And some medicines have alcohol in them I believe. But you know what I mean.

Dave S said...

McScotty - there's a paper shop near me in the South Side of Glasgow which actually still sells Safeway own-brand spray starch and air-freshener! I suppose they must have bought loads of it reduced when Safeway closed. I was really surprised to see it a couple of months ago, presumably there's no best-before date for that sort of stuff.

Kid said...

Should buy it all up, DD - might become valuable collectors' items.



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