06/23/2005 Entry: "Twenty-year-old Raspberry Bubblicious."

Group 008 of The Cereal Prize Project is online, with everything from a twenty-year-old pack of Bubblicious to an ink stamper that hates money. I've got a question from the Jersey Shorians out there, if any are reading: Have you been to Wildwood lately? Anything new sprung up in the past two years? Was thinking about going, but the combination of now being either ten years older or thirty years younger than everyone there puts a cramp in it. Plus, I hate looking at the spot where Castle Dracula used to stand.

Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 06/23/2005 09:18 PM EST

mmm, gum! Does anyone know what ever happened to Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum? My favorite was Blueberry, which I missed for years and years, til I went to Japan and found gum called, what else, "Blue Berry". It is the best!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 06/23/2005 09:35 PM EST

I totally had that rattlesnake bike thing - I don't recall if it ever worked though.

I noticed that the Cookie Crisp coupon included with the gum has no expiration date! If I were you I'd totally go down to the grocery store and try to use it.

Chestnuts roasted by Gozer @ 06/23/2005 09:36 PM EST

Say-No-To-Money Stamper = an anti-theft device patented by Gyro Gearloose to ward off the Beagle Boys. Stamp it all over your Junior Woodchuck mini-Money Bin!

Chestnuts roasted by Carri @ 06/23/2005 09:54 PM EST

Ok, first of all, I live in Wildwood, two blocks from the boardwalk, and I can say with all sincerity that Fat Daddy is alive and as well as a man the size of Jabba the Hut who randomly scratches his crotch will ever be.

I totally understand about Castle Dracula; I don't like to go past where it was, either. I never went in, but it was the oldest ride on the boards, and one of my sisters and a lot of her friends practically lived there for several summers. Half the town was in an uproar when it went up.

Hope everyone likes condos. The developers have been going hog wild in the past few years knocking down everything they can to build condos. Why, I'm not sure. They're so expensive, only quad-zillionaires can afford them, they drove my rent up, they're butt-ugly (don't they have any other color aluminum siding but dirt beige?), and they keep replacing parts of Wildwood's history. They're putting up a condo next to a freakin' WaWa, for crying out loud. Someone didn't check the lay of the land when they decided on THAT project.

If you can afford it, Matt, I'd still recommend coming down. Gateway 26 still has cheap cranes. Most of the major rides are still around, as are psychics, candy stores, and the infamous 99 cent stores. (That one 99 cent store still has the R2-D2 cooler on the top shelf.)

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 06/23/2005 09:56 PM EST

The link that's supposed to show us 'The Gum' takes us to another pic of the undeserving yo-yo.

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 06/23/2005 10:21 PM EST

Fixed now.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/23/2005 10:27 PM EST

Thanks Matt!!

Any one else see that DeVito was at Coachella this year?

Snow Patrol, Bauhaus, and Fantomas.
And he was wearing a Phish hat.

I never would have guessed.

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 06/23/2005 10:36 PM EST

I want to go to wildwood this summer but I have split days off so I can't spend a decent amount of time anywhere. I am going to quit in about a month so I'll definitely get down there and maybe fantasy island casino (haven't been there in about 12 years)

Chestnuts roasted by Modern Day Pirates @ 06/23/2005 10:42 PM EST

Mike patton PWNS

Chestnuts roasted by LG @ 06/23/2005 10:43 PM EST

DeVito likes Phish?!?! ALL RIGHT!, that's the coolest thing I have heard all day! Or at least the last 5 minutes!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 06/23/2005 11:30 PM EST

Wildwood isn't quite as sad as Cape May's faded splendor, particularly around the casino arcade there.

Chestnuts roasted by Anne Packrat @ 06/24/2005 12:49 AM EST

At this point I really need to be with the right people to really enjoy Wildwood anymore.

One of us should do a tribute article to the fallen Castle. I've never taken pictures of it though.

Chestnuts roasted by Mike Fireball @ 06/24/2005 02:06 AM EST

what about the chocolate bubblicious that came with cocoa puffs? i hope i'm not the only one who remembers THAT shit.

Chestnuts roasted by Asshole @ 06/24/2005 06:07 AM EST

Mike - I've long planned to, but I've gotta find the right off-day to go to my parents' and sort through their boxes of pictures -- early Castle Dracula theatrics rocked, especially that GIANT billboard that used to hang near the pier on the boardwalk: "MORE GHOULISH THAN EVER." I'd kill to own it.

Fun fact: Pieces of the crumbled castle are regularly sold on eBay. For serious.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/24/2005 07:28 AM EST

Haven't been to Wildwood in ages. Honestly, it's just too expensive now.

Chestnuts roasted by James @ 06/24/2005 09:05 AM EST

It is expensive -- that's one of the reasons we stopped going. We'd go during the peak of the season and get charged like 300 bucks a night. Granted, we'd always be cramming 6-8 people in those rooms, but still -- a thousand bucks for a three night stay in Wildwood seems a bit much.

But it's calling my name. If anticipation of Christmas got me through half the year, anticipation of Wildwood got me through the other half. Plus, it's a given that I'll get a story out of it, so even if I have a miserable time and ruin every memory of the place I have, at least I'll come home with good pics.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/24/2005 09:20 AM EST

Yeah, that's the spirit Matt! You gotta keep those happy thoughts going!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 06/24/2005 10:05 AM EST

I agree with everyone on here. Just about 80% of all the motels in North Wildwood are gone now, with condos in their place. It happened about 3 years ago. One summer it was normal, next summer it looked like a completely different place. The boardwalk is almost completely the same though...Gateway, Condor, Sea Serpent, Log Flume, Ferris Wheel, giant green & white slide by Morey's Pier, all still there. The thing I miss the most though is the Greyhound Races, where you used a lever to get your little black ball in different holes to make the little greyhound move. Anyone remember that? I used to spend hours there. All for those stupid little framed pictures of Twisted Sister and Michael Jackson.

I am with Matt. As soon as Christmas was over, I started looking forward to the week in Wildwood in July. As soon as that was over, I looked forward to Chrismas. It was a vicious cycle.

It's funny...I used to love the boardwalk, but now that I am older I love it for the bars. I barely even go on the boardwalk anymore, and I haven't gone on the rides in ages.

Chestnuts roasted by Y2JB78 @ 06/24/2005 10:24 AM EST

That's what happens when you get "old". You lose that sweet, angelic innocence, and head straight into the gutter of drink and drugs!! .
.
.
.
.
,of course!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 06/24/2005 10:32 AM EST

That Sugar Bear yo-yo intrigued me because he looked pretty old. First of all, he looks stoned, not like the bright-eyed Sugar Bear of our youth. I did a really quick search and if this is the same yo-yo in question (back view here), then, based on dated boxes at the same site, I would date that yo-yo at somewhere in the late 70's. Honestly, I was thinking older than that, but it was still slightly interesting.

Here's the first Sugar Bear I remember.

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 06/24/2005 11:34 AM EST

Starwenn -- I can't tell you how happy it makes me to learn that the R2 cooler STILL sits in that 99 cent store. Yes!

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/24/2005 11:45 AM EST

I was reading the creepy house article last night and I saw that the coveted Pepsi had the legendary "Pepsi Points" promotion on the label.
I did a little research and if that's from the first summer of Pepsi Points, that Pepsi is a vintage 1996 OR 1997.

Chestnuts roasted by Ekkostar @ 06/24/2005 11:51 AM EST

I can confirm the Yo-Yo did come from the mid-to-late 70's. I remember both the regular one Matt has and the 3-in-one Lori has shown. Here's a quick bit you can disbelieve now and look up later: For a short while, Sugar Bear (last of the beatniks) used to Hulk out. Whenever low-budget villains would harass his kid cohorts, Sugar Bear would chomp down a handful of cereal, and bulk up into SUPER BEAR! Those ads were from the time the name was transitioning into Super Sugar Crisp.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash looks pretty young, but he's just back-dated. @ 06/24/2005 11:58 AM EST

Kingklash -- I have those ads, and will someday do an article on them. You described them perfectly...big, roid raging animal-based villains bite off more than they can chew as Sugar Bear eats his honey spinach and grows muscles like Ahhnald.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/24/2005 12:02 PM EST

I just found out about Staler & Waldorf From The Balcony. It is a good idea (since the Disney acquisition of the Muppets), but too bad they weren't the original voices. Pepe, of course, saves the day again. I wonder what Henson would have thought of the more mature language being used by the characters here and on talk shows?

Chestnuts roasted by ME @ 06/24/2005 12:39 PM EST

Ah, Bubblicious. I still remember the jingle

Bubbliciooouuuussss!!!
It's the ultimate bubble with the ultimate flayayvor!
Robotic voice says: "soft and juicy" at the end.

What was the gun where they'd have the bubble blowing showdowns? Was it Hubba Bubba? The nonstick bubble?

Chestnuts roasted by Pedro @ 06/24/2005 01:25 PM EST

You could go in early Sept. Its still warm, everything is still open and it is far less crowded and much cheaper. Unless you find the crowds part of the charm.

Chestnuts roasted by APK @ 06/24/2005 02:10 PM EST

It's not that -- but I do find WW in the fall kind of depressing. Everything's dying down. I'd prefer to go in early August. We'll see. Hope the crappy zoo is still there.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/24/2005 02:16 PM EST

Don't make me quote the Ataris again, I will:

Another lonely seaside town
Where the seasons closed it down.
But if you close your eyes
You can almost hear the sounds of crowds gone by.

On this lonely winter’s day
While all the crowds were still away
I realized the attraction
To temporary miles and holidays.

Boardwalk dreams all boarded up
Another souvenir made to be broken.

When summers gone I won’t be sad
As you cling on to all the good times that you’ve had
’cause being alone isn’t really all that bad.

Don’t ever tell anyone anything
Or else you’ll wind up missing everybody.
Don’t ever tell anyone anything.

Ooops, I did it again. Sorry, I had to.

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 06/24/2005 02:25 PM EST

The Cape May Zoo? As of last year, it was still there. Make sure you go in the boardwalk mall...lots of good material there I'm sure. And the Dolphin I and II...the stores that sell hermit crabs, statues of sea captains, and 20 different kinds of lighters, ashtrays and shot glasses with boobs on them.

Chestnuts roasted by Y2JB78 @ 06/24/2005 02:29 PM EST

If I don't get an update on Fat Daddy I might die.

Save me Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by bene @ 06/24/2005 02:48 PM EST

Love your site Matt.

I went to Wildwood Memorial Day weekend. Jeez, I'm your age, but let me tell you, I felt way older than that. The place is pretty run down, and I stayed at the ultimately crappy "Bonito" Motel. They have crazy rules in place where if you're under 25, or anyone in your party is under 25, they won't book you a room...which means you stay in motels designed for high school students. It was pure hell. The boardwalk is nice, but in my opinion, doesn't have anything Seaside doesn't have, not to mention Seaside is a lot closer...Anyway, love your site and keep up the good work!!

Chestnuts roasted by Mr Jay @ 06/24/2005 03:06 PM EST

okay, how much for a 20-year-old piece of raspberry Bubbalicious? the street value on that has to be astronomical...

Chestnuts roasted by DJ Elvis @ 06/24/2005 03:26 PM EST

Considerin' things like the long ago stint on SNL in the early days, JH might be ok with Statler and Waldorf using more sophisticated language for movie reviews.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash the self-governing @ 06/24/2005 03:51 PM EST

Man, you guys make me want to live in Atlantic City or Jersey now...

Sniff, still haven't seen Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Perhaps my son will like to join me as whenever he decides to come out is when they will be showing in "one night only" in the theaters around here.

Sigh, decisions, decisions.

Also if a Southerner goes North is he a damned hick?

Semper Fi,
Erik Majorwitz

Chestnuts roasted by EMajorwitz @ 06/24/2005 03:59 PM EST

"Snakeofabitch" hahaha, thats too funny

Chestnuts roasted by One More Red Nightmare @ 06/24/2005 06:07 PM EST

Yup, Matt, R2-D2 still guards that one 99 cent store. They're the best place on the boards to get cheap soft drinks. Try anywhere else, and you'll pay two bucks or more.

(And no, they still won't sell him...)

I pretty much side with what everyone here has said regarding Wildwood. My rent skyrocked in less than two years after three condos were built on the street, and I live in this tiny little three room apartment (the bathroom barely qualifies as a room). There's still a lot of older hotels in my neighborhood due to the proximity of the Convention Center (I know where the Bonito is), but they're disappearing everywhere else. I used to love walking in Wildwood Crest, where the so-called "Doo Wop District" is; now, I hate going there and seeing all the empty plots and junky, dull condos where hotels used to be.

The Cape May County Zoo is still around. I went there about a month ago when I was bored and had just enough money to get there and back. The Boardwalk Aquarium is also still around, though I've never been in it.

If Wildwood is bad, Cape May is worse. I really hate going there. I grew up there, but like North Wildwood, it's a differnt town...with no room for someone like me. I can't even afford the beach anymore. The Cape May arcades weren't wonderful when I was a kid; they're positively archaic now. They're turning the Victorian houses in to "luxury" condos. They can't tear them down, but they can tear up the INSIDES and even put spas and the internet in the remaining bed-and-breakfasts. Why? Isn't the whole point of staying in a VICTORIAN hotel experiencing the ambiance? And they're even more expensive than Wildwood. I went in the Pilot House, one of my parents' favorite restaurants when I was a kid, and everyone but me and maybe two other people in a full bar were over 65...and the food was overpriced and terrible.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 06/24/2005 06:48 PM EST

here's a terrifying old anti-drug ad. looks like Garbage Pail Kids!!

http://www.cca-canada.com/comm/wmv/Hip_Choice_30.html

Chestnuts roasted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 06/24/2005 07:13 PM EST

Starwenn, please don't tell me that the Bristol, Nassau and Waikiki are gone. PLEASE.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/24/2005 08:42 PM EST

"Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up: These are the best days of our lives."

"Life is Only/As good as the memories we make/And I'm taking back what belongs to me/These relics of remembrence/Are just like shipwrecks/Only they're gone faster/Than the smell after it rains

And when this hourglass
Has filtered out
Its final grain of sand
I raise my glass to the memories we had
This is my wish
This is my wish
I'm takin' 'em back
I'm takin' 'em all back"

Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up, guys... =(

Chestnuts roasted by Knegative @ 06/24/2005 10:31 PM EST

Matt, check your email for Kool-Aid goodies.

Chestnuts roasted by Vampyre 74 @ 06/25/2005 12:01 AM EST

Matt,
I remember getting an Alyssa Milano song from here a long time ago...."I Had A Dream". Well, I just d/l'd the entire album!!

I also got a Japan-only pop album released in 1992-3ish by guess who?
That's right, Eddie Furlong! Holy shit, this is some baaaadass tunesmithery! He does a really bad Christmas song, but the prize track is his cover of The Doors' "People Are Strange". Oh.My.God. This shit is unbelievable!

Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 06/25/2005 12:01 AM EST

Vamp, I'm not seeing it -- can you fwd to mattcaraxe@aol.com?

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/25/2005 12:07 AM EST

Hey this is my first post on X-E!!
Whoohoo! Anyways in my neck of the woods(Elko,Nevada) you can still get Hubba Bubba Bubble gum. Wow thats fun to type. I just bought some blue kind for my daughter.

Chestnuts roasted by Missa @ 06/25/2005 01:10 AM EST

Hello Missa, you just missad Christmas.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/25/2005 01:13 AM EST

Breathe easier, Matt: those three are still there. I go by there a lot - they're right next to the Wildwood Crest Library, where I spend a good chunk of my winters, and the bike path goes past them.

However, the area has had it's share of losses. The Palm Beach and the original Carousel, both within walking distance of the three hotels you mentioned, were torn down within the last year. They're building big, fancy condos where the Carousel was and for some reason renamed the Hileah the Carousel (I guess because it has the same color scheme).

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 06/25/2005 07:22 PM EST

"you just missad Christmas"
Haha!

Chestnuts roasted by Missa @ 06/26/2005 09:04 PM EST