Derek sent a Westra sibling group text ...
Derek: Okay, I have a question: We gave the kids a Flintstones vitamin yesterday and I had a repressed childhood memory that I wanted to check with you all (if this is legit or not). Did we have a "vitamin dispenser" in our home (in my memory, it's like a creepy red clown) that dispensed Flintstones vitamins? Or did my psyche invent that?Mom/Margie: I couldn't remember until you mentioned the clown. That does seem vaguely familiar. I don't know why a little clown would be creepy though, meant to be fun!Chris: (shared an image)Derek: Oh my goodness! That's it!Chris: Yes, pretty creepy. Probably downstairs at Mom's house. Ha ha.Mom: I recognize it. I don't think we still have it Chris!Shane: I have fond memories/nightmares of that vitamin clown.Derek: The 1980s were not kind to the brand image of clowns.Jen: I remember it. Chris beat me to Google. The little pink fluoride tablets tasted better than the vitamins...Wendy: I definitely remember the clown dispenser! At one point we had these huge brown vitamins that were so nasty. I used to just pretend to take them and then dispose of them later. Sorry Mom! I did take the fluorides though.
Even though Chris had already found the image, I did my own Google search. I found a couple more pictures, showing the little "lift" that brought the vitamin up within reach, the hat on top. I was hoping for a little history on the piece (as I found about the Kool-Aid Mugs) but all I could find were some used sale listings. So, here's a few facts about Flintstones vitamins ...
- Flintstones vitamins hit the scene in 1968. The popular animated TV show "The Flintstones," aired from 1960 to 1966.
- The vitamins are shaped like the characters from the animated Flintstones show; Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, Barney, Betty, Bamm-Bamm, Dino, and The Great Gazoo. Betty was not included until 1995. Manufacturers said she looked too similar to Wilma. Plus, her thin waist caused her vitamin to break during production.
- The jingle "We are Flintstones kids — 10 million strong and growing!" was composed by Martin O’Donnell, who went on to compose the music for the intensely popular Halo video game series.
- Vitamins weren’t the only things that the modern Stone Age family hawked. One of the show’s original sponsors was Winston cigarettes: Fred and Barney were Winston men, all the way. One early cartoon featured Fred and Barney taking a “Winston break,” because “Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.”
Memory Moment - Commercial from 1988
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