Is Nostalgia Worth .98 Cents?

     When I was a kid, there were these pop center shops in Michigan called Towne Club.  Every few weeks or for special holidays and parties, my brother and I would go with my mom and get a case or two (shown below) of "pop".  I believe part of the idea was saving money buying by the case plus the fact that you could mix 'n match the kinds of pop you wanted.  They had quite a few varieties all stacked in these cases in rows and rows organized by flavor with labels on the wall of the name of the flavor.  I believe our usual order was a half case of orange, half of cola and then sometimes another case of miscellaneous flavors mixed together.  My brother and I would fetch all the bottles and assemble the cases and the man who worked there would put them on a dolly and wheel them out to the car and help my mom put them in the trunk.  Pop was a treat back then (and still should be).  Was the pop the greatest tasting pop?  Not necessarily.  Did it have tons of sugar in it?  Most likely.  Do I ever crave Towne Club?  No....

     So then, WHY did I just spend $4.90 on five 16 oz. bottles of this Towne Club pop that I stumbled upon at...Walmart???  There could only be one reason -- pure nostalgia!!!  That's it.  Obviously, I could have easily picked up five 2 liters of pop for the same price.......  For that matter, we really don't even buy pop much anymore unless we are having people over.
     It got me thinking, what is it about childhood memories that makes me want to share this pop with my kids?  Really, the part that made it special was physically going to the pop center and picking out all the pop and then coming back with your empty case next time and doing it all over again.  Why did I get excited when Ramblings of a Suburban Mom recenty mentioned stumbling upon this same pop?  I guess childhood memories are often happy and powerful memories...and the desire to share them with your own kids, even more so.  So, soon I will share my Towne Club with my kids, but I doubt I will see fireworks.  Probably, I will just end up with a temporary sugar high and hyper kids. 
     Then, when we are done, I think I will put a flower in one of the bottles and keep it to remember the good ol' days!
     Here are some of the flavors I can think of (but there were many more): 

Orange

Cola

Double Cola

Tropical Punch

Grape

Peach

City Rush

Vanilla Creme  

     I love that they are trying to market the Towne Club brand again.  In the meantime, I am happy to have contributed my $5 towards this venture.  Anyone else have fond memories of going to Towne Club??  What was YOUR favorite flavor??  I'd love to know!

The old cases

Old School meets New School 

 

Towne Club Now Available at.......

Walmart!?