Nostalgia Sunday

June 8, 2008 - 11:56 AM by Rachel Neiman

The entire country has been in the throes of commercially-generated nostalgia for some time now. Not only because of the State of Israel’s 60th Anniversary celebrations. But more importantly, because supermarket chain Super-Sol is celebrating its 50th birthday this year. In honor of this illustrious occasion, the major suppliers like Strauss-Elite were convinced to bring back old fashioned logos and labels, repackaged in vintage-y looking boxes and cans.

Alma gum tim

For its part, evil milk monolith Tnuva delved into the decades of files it had squirrelled away and created an amazing historical website dedicated to telling the story of how it grew from a tiny cooperative of immgrant farmers in a strange new land into the unbustable Gordian knot we know today.

Happily, Tnuva did not bring back the Israeli milk I knew from my childhood visits here – small glass bottles of strange tasting, unhomogenized dairy product with a layer of cream on top. If even a little bit of a floater got into your “Shalva” puffed wheat or “koren flaks”, it was a major culinary disaster and parents had to be summoned to fish it out.

Tnuva later launched milk in bags (always nice when one of those accidentally dropped on the floor), milk in boxes and now uses Tetra-Paks like everyone else in the west.

Tnuva milk packaging through the ages

I went through Tnuva’s archive of old TV commercials to find this commercial from 1991 for “Shelly” youghurt. It tells a Nine and A Half Weeks meets Sex And The City-like story of a girl who can’t choose between three guys; a parable for the three kinds of Shelly yoghurts. “My name is Shelly, at least that’s what I think,” she warbles. “Yes, you want me. But I won’t let you devour me / I don’t want and don’t have to choose” — and so on and so forth, blah blah blah, sexual innuendo, blah blah blah. In the end, we learn, you don’t have to make a choice – you can have them all!

Click to see Shelly yoghurt ad

If I could only find the commerial for alcoholic milk drink XtraMood, my life would be complete, but I’m sure all copies have been burned and buried. This is a great story: Tara Dairies spent a million dollars developing “the first alcoholic milk beverage in the world, produced by a dairy” only to have it yanked off the shelves within weeks by the Ministry of Health, spurred on by the Israel Society for the Prevention of Alcoholism (ISPA). The XtraMood TV ad was banned even before that, after one screening. Racy doesn’t begin to describe it – the story line started with the morning after a one-night stand and went on from there to feature partial nudity, simulated masturbation and gender-bending. (What is it about milk products and sex in this country?) Anyway, a version pixilating the naughty bits went back on the air, the ad agency was all set for a well-publicized fight over censorship all the way to the High Court of Justice, and then – the company pulled the product and our attention went elsewhere.

Where was I? Oh yes, bad-mouthing milk products. I’m not alone – NGO Anonymous for Animal Rights has gotten in on the act, protesting the exploitation of overworked, overblown cow udders that must keep up the pace of holiday production. Remember, Shavuot is about the summer harvest! So eat up on fruits, veggies, nuts and grains and remember: the Jews may have been chosen at Mount Sinai (that’s what the holiday celebrates) but lactose intolerance comes with the deal! Happy holiday!

Tags: • Category: Business, Food, General, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture 

Comments

3 Comments on Nostalgia Sunday

  1. Israelity » Nostalgia Sunday on Mon, Jul 21st 2008 11:02 AM

    2. [...] Now is a good opportunity for serious students of Israeliana to stock up on knick-knacks and doo-dads. The supermarkets have put all the nostalgia-themed items on the sale shelf and books have been discounted. One of these, “Haatzmaut Road” or “The Pathway of Independence”, is an amazing treasure trove of Israeli kitsch over decades, a portion of which is presented online. [...]

  2. Israelity » Nostalgia Sunday - Simchat Torah flags on Mon, Oct 20th 2008 1:02 PM

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  3. Israelity » Nostalgia Sunday - Mommy’s trip to Sinai on Sun, Nov 9th 2008 10:44 PM

    4. [...] Nostalgia Sunday – Mommy’s trip to Sinai Nostalgia Sunday – Powdered instant coffee Nostalgia Sunday – 1967 Nostalgia Sunday -Simchat Torah flags Nostalgia Sunday – Heaters Nostalgia Sunday – Yom Kippur Nostalgia Sunday – Rosh HaShana Nostalgia Sunday – Old Coins Nostalgia Sunday – Historic Homepages Nostalgia Sunday – Tango Nostalgia Sunday – Tel Aviv Night Run Nostalgia Sunday – Missing Dad Nostalgia Sunday – Clique HaClick Nostalgia Sunday – Tel Aviv 100 Nostalgia Sunday – Eurovision Nostalgia Sunday – Old Israeliana Nostalgia Sunday – Classic Movie: The Blaumilch Canal Nostalgia Sunday – Plaid Bedroom Slippers Nostalgia Sunday – Historic Photo Shop Shuts Its Doors Nostalgia Sunday – “new” Israeliana Nostalgia Sunday – High Windows [...]

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