by Chrysa Smith

Back before Christmas, my mother told me she was looking for a nightgown. If you haven’t read it before, she’s 90, so that pretty well leaves out anything from Victoria’s Secret. A granny nightgown is what she wanted, and quite frankly, the old-fashioned, flannel, button up to your neck and grace the floor type isn’t all that easy to find.

So after scouring every store, I reverted to the web. And that’s where I found the Vermont Country Store.  Eureka! Success.  I first thought of the catalog shop as something for granny—maybe even granny panties, so the issue that came packed with the nightgown got put aside. And it sat, until one evening, when I flipped through it and delightfully found that there were indeed some things in there that this non-granny was thrilled to find.

I don’t know about you, but when I get taken back to the 70’s, I get a delightful tickle. Often, it’s something I had long forgotten, until the memory races back like a raging river. It’s usually music or photos that does it, but this time it was products. Somehow, no matter how many tears were shed over boys, how many bad hair days, acne breakouts, knotted hair days or girlfriend fights there were, now, they always seem like the good ole days. Guess mom was right again when she said I’d be looking back on those days wishing things were that easy again. But for now, we can hold onto memories which transport us back to the days—if only for a few minutes.

The first thing that struck me was thick, chocolate laden, big, square graham crackers. Now these aren’t the packaged variety from the hard-baking elves. These are the real thing—the kind of cookie you would find in a jar on a counter. Starbucks has brought back a semblance of the real thing—closest I’ve been able to find. So, even though I’ve been a Weight Watcher’s girl lately, it went on the order form. A little sweet can never hurt!

Then I got to the shampoo and there it was–my favorite teen shampoo that I haven’t thought of for decades—Lemon Up. Remember? Hard to ignore that big yellow lemon on the cap. I loved it not only for the scent (there’s suppose to be the juice of one entire lemon in there), but it was also a bit lightening—something this teen wasn’t really permitted to do with true haircolor. So I experimented with this and Sun In. That I still see on the bottom shelves of some drug stores.

Right next to these was Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific. Remember that long and tempting name? I can’t place the scent, but after my experience with Lemon Up, I’m going to give it a try. And after the grahams, I may even order the Turkish Taffy—the long, flat artifically-flavored chewy stuff that the ‘candy girls’ in my elementary school proudly toted around in their basket—that is, after I’ve reached my goal weight.

Flashbacks: www.vermontcountrystore.com.