30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, June 8, 2020

Lunch Box Snacks

Summer vacation is just around the corner.  I'm meeting with my students today and tomorrow to talk about current events, answer questions about their transition into high school, and saying goodbye to the Class of 2020

I'm actually kind of bummed that I wasn't able to make a connection with my 8th graders this year as much as I normally do due to the whole "distance learning" thing.

But those were the cards we were dealt.  Although I don't expect things to return to normal for quite some time, it does look like Santa Clara County is looking into reopening schools in the fall.  It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next two months.

2019 Topps of the Class #TC-65

Speaking of school, Kerry over at Cards on Cards offered a free group break last month.  The product was a promotional release called Topps of the Class.  I was very excited to claim the Oakland Athletics and land two Khris Davis cards from the break.

According to the Topps website, kids could bring their report card into participating hobby shops and get a free pack of cards.  Kudos to Topps for running this promotion.  Although I'm not the biggest fan of the current products, I'm impressed that they are still trying to expose baseball cards to our country's youth.

And kudos to Kerry for generously sharing the contents of twenty packs.  He also sent a few bonus cards.  This A.J. Puk rookie card definitely stood out:

2020 Panini Donruss Holo Pink #49

I can't speak for all Athletics fans, but I was excited to see how Puk would fit into Oakland's starting rotation.  He's been one of the A's top prospects the past few years.

In addition to Kerry's PWE, I also received one from John over at Johnny's Trading SpotTwo weeks ago, I participated in his Big Fun Game and walked away with these 70's Hostess cards:


These cards tie in perfectly with my end of the school year post, because Hostess cards will forever be linked to my childhood.  What elementary school kid from the 70's didn't want a Twinkie, Ding Dong, or raspberry Zingers thrown into their lunch box?


He also included a ticket for his end of the year raffle, which I've already slipped it into a box of miscellaneous stuff sitting on my desk, so I don't lose it.

Thank you Kerry and John for the cards!  It's always fun seeing a PWE waiting for me in my mailbox.

Today's question of the day...

What was your favorite elementary school lunch box snack?

I'm looking forward to reading your responses to see if people from different decades have different responses.

Have a great week!  Happy Monday and sayonara!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went to elementary school in Canada during the late 70s/early 80s. My favourite snack was 'Ah Caramel!' that was produced by a company called Vachon. They were a cake like substance that were coated in chocolate with caramel in the middle. Since they were super-unhealthy, I only got them a couple times a year (at the most).
-Anonymous Paul-

Jeremya1um said...

I like that Puk card.
I kind of missed the whole elementary school lunch snack thing as I only went to a school from 2nd to 5th grade and was home schooled from then until 11th grade. From what I remember I had Zingers a number of times and if it wasn’t them, I had some of those individually wrapped fruit pies what are shaped like a half circle. The zingers were better, so I would have to go with them.

Shlabotnik Report said...

I thought I hit "publish" but my comment went away. Apologies if I end up repeating myself.

Those Topps of the Class cards seem to be unique cards with the Big League design, not just Big League parallels. I'm mildly impressed. I might actually try to seek some out.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, my mom bought Drake's Cakes... so my favorites were Ring Dings and Yodels.

night owl said...

My mom didn't believe in buying junk food so lunch box desserts were usually homemade cookies. I don't recall a favorite, mostly I was hoping I could get something in the ice cream line.

P-town Tom said...

Favorite elementary lunch snack? Anything Little Debbie, but especially the Swiss Cake rolls. Mmmmm.
Did you see South Africa re-opened schools today? I saw some pictures... face masks, and then clear plastic "shields" over them. One classroom had 40+ students in it, but it looked like they spaced them out 6+ feet. The classroom was HUGE.They even had a pile of unused desks in the corner of the classroom. Students also had to enter the building through a sanitizing station which looked very much like a metal detector.
I wonder what it will look like when we go back in ten weeks or so.

Alex Markle said...

Hmmm. Favorite elementary snack is a tough one. I had a thing for Lunchables Fudge Brownies which are no longer made. I'm sure they were terrible (both from a nutrition and taste standpoint) but I absolutely loved the days I got to take one to school.

Jeff B - Wax Pack Wonders said...

I'd have to go with the Little Debbie brownies. Maybe the Nutty Bar as a close second. My dad always liked those. Did you notice they mysteriously changed their name to Nutty Buddy? Blew my mind one day when I saw them in the store.

sg488 said...

Twinkes.

Tim B. said...

I also had a bumper crop of Drake's Cakes available. I'd have to say that my favorite was probably a tie between the Devil Dogs and Coffee Cake.

Collecting Cutch said...

I always wanted a Little Debbie Cosmic Brownie, but usually got those bread sticks and fake cheese in my lunch bag

Sean said...

Fruit Roll Ups.

bbcardz said...

Can't go wrong with PBJ sandwiches but those raspberry Zingers and Hostess cherry pie thingies were the best.

The Lost Collector said...

Gushers!

Commishbob said...

Pabst Blue Ribbon...I went to a very tough school.

Peter K Steinberg said...

Wonderful cards! I think my favorite snack fell into two categories. Salty and sweet. Salty was those thin pretzel sticks in a little cardboard box wrapped in plastic. Sweet was Ho Ho's, Twinkees, those Zebra stripe cakes, and Hostess cupcakes.

gregory said...

My mom kept things pretty healthy, so a lunchbox snack for us was often a granola bar or a fruit roll-up. Even the fruit roll-ups were the "healthier" kind, made from pressed dehydrated fruit, or something like that. They were still good, though!

gregory said...

Hah!

Unknown said...

First off, I love the Puk card. He's my current favorite A's player. Favorite elementary school snack were the E.L. Fudge cookies that were shaped like an elf. Got two per day in a little sandwich bag. As an adult who works at an elementary school, I keep it healthy nowadays and do a lot fruit. I take the stickers off the fruit and put them on my notebook for my lesson plans and important papers. This year's didn't quite get covered, but it's one of the things I do every year.

The Snorting Bull said...

Not sure why I am unknown. Thanks Google.

Fuji said...

Survey says...

Ah Caramel 1 vote
Zingers 1 1/2 vote
Ring Dings 1/2 vote
Yodels 1/2 vote
Ice Cream from the lunch line 1 vote
Swiss Cake Rolls 1 vote
Lunchables Fudge Brownies 1 vote
Little Debbie Brownies 2 votes
Twinkies 1 vote
Drake's Devil Dogs 1/2 vote
Drake's Coffee Cake 1/2 vote
Fruit Roll Ups 1 1/2 vote
Hostess Fruit Pie 1/2 vote
Gushers 1 vote
Pabst Blue Ribbon 1 vote
Pretzel Sticks 1/2 vote
Assorted Hostess Treats 1/2 vote
Granola Bar 1/2 vote
E.L. Fudge Cookies 1 vote

Looks like Little Debbie Brownies beats out Zingers and Fruit Roll-Ups by a half vote.

anonymous paul - chocolate and caramel? those sound amazing

jeremya1um - i loved hostess pies too. although one of my students gave me one this year and it was kind of disgusting. way too sweet

shlabotnik report - no repeats on my side. it just disappeared i guess. the topps of class cards are cool. i mostly like them because of how they were distributed

night owl - sadly... i didn't get them very often either. my sweet treat was usually a can of fruit cocktail or maybe one of those individual puddings. but she'd hook me up every once in awhile. i think it's pretty cool that your school sold ice cream. my friends and i would have to wait until after school when the ice cream man parked on the corner.

p-town tom - wow. i'm not sure california has the funding to provide sanitizing stations like that for every school, but that sounds really awesome. although nothing is set, it sounds like we'll be doing some form of hybrid distance learning/modified class sizes in the fall. however things play out, it needs to be modified.

alex markle - never seen them, but when i used to bring lunchables to work for lunch (the buildable pizzas), but that was years ago.

jeff b - oh yeah... those are good. in fact, the next time i see them... i might buy a package

sg488 - that's an old school favorite. i don't think i've eaten one in decades

tim b - not sure what devil dogs are, but i'm interested. as for the coffee cake... if they're the cakes with crumbs of brown sugar and cinnamon on top, then i loved those too

sean - when i was a kid, they'd have a special section in the fruit area with a bunch of different flavors. when they were on sale, my mom would let me pick out a few flavors

bbcardz - i love pbj sandiches. raspberry zingers too. no longer into the pies though. loved them as a kid, but after eating one my student gave me... i almost spit it out. it was way too sweet

the lost collector - did you grow up in the 90's? i work with some women who are about 12 to 15 years younger than me and they were talking about gushers at lunch a while back.

commish - awesome. i know some of your friends.

peter k steinberg - totally forgot about ho ho's. nice call. not sure about those pretzel sticks, but they sound tasty. that's usually my goto snack

gregory - yeah, i'd get a fruit snack from time to time too. i don't think i ever got granola bars, but if i did... i wouldn't complain. i love them.

the snorting bull - that's funny you mentioned those fruit stickers. before i moved into my new classroom 2 or 3 years ago... my students would give me their fuji apple stickers and i had a collection of probably close to 100. i'd stick them to my old desk that i had to leave behind. they were a pain in the butt to remove.