Remember those embarrassingly poorly produced after-school specials? How about those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books that almost always ended far too soon? These treasures and many, many more can be found within the pages of, “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes & Trends of the ’70s & ’80s,” that will leave even the most unsentimental heart weeping for the days when the only real thing to worry about was Hugo, Man of A Thousand Faces coming to life and eating you in your sleep.
Chosen as an Amazon Editors’ Pick for the month of June, the book by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont is an alphabetical compilation of all of the things that molded the youth of the ’70s and ’80s into the adults they are today — for better or for worse. Each entry is accompanied by an “X-tinction rating” that documents the item or trend’s resilience, a note of what it may have been replaced by and a fun fact (when applicable).
With entries like “John Hughes Movies,” “Judy Blume Books,” “Love’s Baby Soft” and “Pen Pals,” it’s hard not to go into a state of nostalgic euphoria while reading “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?” The authors run a commentary that reads like a print version of “I Love the ’80s,” either lovingly recalling something or openly mocking it. And though there might be a few items that you don’t recognize, there is more than enough content to guarantee that something in this book is going to get a reaction from every single reader.
While it might have been more effective to arrange the passages by category, the fact that they’re short, snappy blurbs colored with wry wittiness makes up for any deficit in organization. Plus, it would probably be hard to classify a piece like “Decor Mistakes.”
The biggest downside? Photos aren’t included with every entry, so trying to recall exactly what Jem’s garish makeup looked like or who, exactly, graced the front of the box of Freakies cereal requires the immediate assistance of some kind of search engine or photographic memory.
As a whole, “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?” is more than just a novelty that will wear off after one or two glances through. It encompasses all of the things that made “Generation X” what it is, and it’ll sit on the shelf like a VHS home movie: You don’t really need to actually see it all the time, but it’s nice to know it’s there when you need a good laugh.
Rating: W W W W W
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