Mo's Manic Monday - Orange

Posted: Monday, October 01, 2007 by Travis Cody in
26



Welcome to the 36th edition of Manic Monday with Morgen. Today's theme is Orange. Don't forget to cruise over to MM HQ at It's A Blog Eat Blog World.

I had an immediate and powerful memory when I found out about today's word.

My folks divorced when I was 11 years old. My father almost immediately moved to Houston, where the oil boom had created a massive surge in the real estate market and he was determined to get his piece of it.

My sister and I were sent to visit for the summer in 1976. We got hooked on a soda called Mr Pibb while we were there. It was about all we drank besides water. Yeah I know, he took real good care of us. We ate pizza and burgers and drank soda.

When we got home, we realized that we couldn't get Mr Pibb. It didn't matter that Dr Pepper sort of tasted the same. It wasn't Pibb and we just couldn't seem to adjust to Pepsi or Coke or anything else. We were desperate.

And then we found it.



It had that extreme carbonation that settled in the back of your throat and made it impossible to chug. You had to sip the Crush, and that made it last longer. And back then it didn't have that sweet aftertaste. It was better than Pibb, because it actually seemed like it quenched your thirst.

Of course, Mom was able to cure us quickly of the attitude that we'd only drink soda. But when we did get soda, we got Crush.

Years later, they did something to the formula that seemed to change the taste and it seemed sweeter. It got that aftertaste like most sodas have. Soda isn't really designed to drink when you're thirsty. And Crush became like that.

But it was the best soda ever for a short time in my youth.

26 comments:

  1. Anonymous says:

    Oh gosh, now I'm wanting a nice cold orange pop... errr, soda as you folks call it :o) Great post.

    Reba and I were here earlier but you didn't have your post up yet. You put the link on Mo's linky before putting the post up... you've been busted!!! haha.

    As orange
    As orange can be,
    My post is now up.
    Come see.

  1. Anonymous says:

    Whoof, woof. Do those Scooby snacks come in orange?? Arf, arf, arf.

  1. Isn't it funny how things like that pop into our heads? My grandmother used to keep Root Beer and Ginger Ale in her fridge for us grandkids...
    They just don't taste the same as they did when it was a treat and you were only a kid. And this was fifty years ago? No telling how the recipe has changed! It's all full of artificial crap today.
    Good post, Trav...

  1. It seems we both took up heavy drinking in the summertime.

  1. Julie says:

    Oh that DID make me thirsty! I could give up this mug of hot coffee for a Orange Crush right now!

    Good job my friend!

  1. Unknown says:
    This comment has been removed by the author.
  1. TopChamp says:

    Hi Travis - think you prob got the comment I deleted in your e-mail. I like the post - and I'm now craving an orangeade.

    Anyway - sorry for deleting but it showed my real name and scared me on the profile bit. Which I don't understand actually as when I checked the settings my display name definitely isn't and has never been my actual name. It's a mystery.

  1. Schmoop says:

    Love the Crush, but it is better out of a glass bottle. Cheers!!

  1. I am not a 'flavored' soda guy, but I did have a short-lived love affair with crush when I was in my teens....

  1. I like the line "it was the best soda ever for a time." I remember Mr. Pibb with fondness, but I'm still pretty much a coke or Dr pepper fan.

  1. Sandee says:

    I love orange crush. Love it to this day. Great post on orange Travis. Have a great MM. :)

  1. Lisa Ryan says:

    mmmm, pour it over vanilla icecream for an extra special treat.
    happy MM!

  1. Sophia says:

    Aww that's such a sweet story. I live in Texas and I thought Mr. Pibb was everywhere!

  1. Jay says:

    We were never allowed soft drinks as kids, except when we were having a babysitter, about twice a year. We'd go to the pop shoppe and pick out weird flavours, never anything so tame as orange!

  1. Meribah says:

    When I'm thirsty I head straight for the water. I'm not really into soda, although I will sometimes drink it. Diet Crush is good or Diet Fresca. Every now and then I'll have a Diet Pepsi/Coke (who cares) if I go to McDonald's.

  1. Alice: There's a Safeway brand of orange soda that puts me in mind of the way Orange Crush first tasted when I was a kid. When I'm feeling nostalgic I go for that. And I forgot about signing Mo's Linky before I put my post up!! Sorry!

    Reba: Scooby snacks come in all kinds of flavors. I'll be by in a bit to toss some for you!

    Gracie: And it was such a treat too! It got ruined for us a little bit because we drank so much soda that summer.

    Jamie: As much as I loved the Crush, I think I Slurpees were ultimately the best drink.

    Julie: I almost got one at lunch today!

    TC: I'll never tell.

    Matt: You are so right. Cheers!

    V: It seemed to have the right taste we were looking for at the time.

  1. Charles: It was some years before Pibb finally made its way west. I enjoyed it for awhile again, but it was more sweet than I remembered it. Or maybe my tolerance for sweetened sodas had just run low.

    Sandee: I'll still get is once in awhile too.

    Lisa: Oh now you're talking creamcycles!! Yum-OH!!

    Sophia: Nope. I don't remember exactly when it went national, but we could never find it when I was a kid.

    Jay: Sometimes we would mix Slurpee flavors, but never soda flavors.

    Meri: I definitely don't drink enough water. And soda seems to be a habit I have a lot of trouble breaking, although I have cut down quite a bit.

  1. oh yummmm...I haven't had an orange crush in forever....

  1. oh i love that stuff, but drink the diet ones.

    smiles, bee

  1. In my parents' living room is a very very old clock from my grandfather's store. It's an Orange Crush pendulum clock and it's beautiful. 1930's??

  1. Janna says:

    I could swear I saw Mr. Pibb sold in one of the gas stations around here... I'll have to check.

    Orange crush is good, but I like the strawberry kind even better. :)

  1. JAM says:

    We can get Mr. Pibb here in Florida, and I much prefer it to Dr. Pepper, though I do also like Dr. Pepper.

    As to sodas changing taste over the years, I think it was a dark day in soda-dom when the bottlers all started using cheaper corn sweeteners instead of cane sugar.

    When we lived in the Dallas area in the late 80s, there was a small town west of Fort Worth that had an ancient Dr. Pepper bottling plant that still used pure cane sugar in the mix; no corn sweeteners. They only sold it locally, but did a huge business from people who would drive from all over to buy cases of the stuff to take home. We did that a couple of times, and I can't describe how much better the drink tasted with sugar vs. corn sweetener.

    Viva la Mr. Pibb!

  1. Mmm...Crush. My mouth is tingling thinking about it. I don't drink it often, but it's good.

  1. Unknown says:

    I love to read about your childhood memories, my friend. So, besides Slurpee there are excellent memories about Orange Crush... and I can´t try anything of it *sigh*

    I have to book a flight =)

  1. Katherine: It has been some time for me as well. It might just be time for an orange soda break.

    Bee: Me too on the diet sodas.

    Mimi: Could be 1930s. Orange Crush came along in 1906. That sounds like a great clock.

    Janna: I had to look around for Pibb in California when it finally came out west. They have it in some stores here in Washington too. But not when I was a kid.

    Jam: I also prefer Pibb to Dr Pepper, although I'll drink diet Dr Pepper when I must. If I could consistently find diet Pibb I might by that. Sugar vs sweetener...that is the dilemma.

    Mags: That's exactly it! Crush makes your mouth tingle when you drink it, and no other drink did the same thing.

    Sanni: I wonder if a Slurpee would keep its Slurpee goodness if it was packed in dry ice.

  1. Unknown says:

    Here in the South, it would go something like this:

    "I want a Coke."

    "What kind?"

    "Orange Crush."