One true advancement of modern times: In those pre-Starbucks days, supermarket coffee was so ghastly that it is rather appropriate that Boris Karloff was doing a commercial for it.
Same with beer in the pre-Sam Adams days. They were no options, and what was on offer was utterly lacking in flavor and presence. I didn't like beer OR coffee until richer and more varied contemporary offerings started becoming available.
There is a book to be written about how by the 1960s, America's collective tastes had become so utterly bland, Wonder Bread-y and Kraft Cheese-y. That is one aspect of the "Mad Men" era I would NOT want to return to.
One thing about those times that may have a bearing: everyone in those days was smoking everywhere: restaurants, other people's homes, even hospitals. And no one noticed the smell back then....
Daniel, you are so right about that. I was a kid then (born in 1958), and I remember! So as people's taste buds became less corrupted as smoking started to wane, first slightly then precipitously, they became more receptive to flavor experiences - good coffee, good beer, international cuisines, etc. It makes sense.
I remember the first time I had genuinely good (and expensive) tea, in Korea - it was NOTHING like the supermarket tea I had grown up on. A whole other world.
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One true advancement of modern times: In those pre-Starbucks days, supermarket coffee was so ghastly that it is rather appropriate that Boris Karloff was doing a commercial for it.
Same with beer in the pre-Sam Adams days. They were no options, and what was on offer was utterly lacking in flavor and presence. I didn't like beer OR coffee until richer and more varied contemporary offerings started becoming available.
There is a book to be written about how by the 1960s, America's collective tastes had become so utterly bland, Wonder Bread-y and Kraft Cheese-y. That is one aspect of the "Mad Men" era I would NOT want to return to.
Interesting thought, Patrick.
One thing about those times that may have a bearing: everyone in those days was smoking everywhere: restaurants, other people's homes, even hospitals. And no one noticed the smell back then....
And THANKS! Bill!
You are, of course, welcome. As always.
Daniel, you are so right about that. I was a kid then (born in 1958), and I remember! So as people's taste buds became less corrupted as smoking started to wane, first slightly then precipitously, they became more receptive to flavor experiences - good coffee, good beer, international cuisines, etc. It makes sense.
I remember the first time I had genuinely good (and expensive) tea, in Korea - it was NOTHING like the supermarket tea I had grown up on. A whole other world.
Butternut Coffee wasn't available in my part of the country, so this was the first time I saw this commercial.
Boris Karloff was really good in this.
You might even say he was A-1!
Oh, wait ... that was the other spot he did, for a certain brand of steak sauce.
Anybody got that one up?
I'll take a look.
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