Fruit Roll Up - 1995

I am a pack rat when it comes to anything Spider-Man related and this obsessive compulsive disorder that I have turned blue on Sunday. As part of an attempt to sort of clean out the closet in my bedroom at my parents house, I occasionally ferry home odds and ends that I have left from my teenage days.

So, I went in on Sunday before we left and grabbed a Sesame Street diorama toy that my grandmother had for me along with a collection of McDonalds toys and my grandfathers old cap. While in the closet, I looked up to see 2 empty Spider-Man cereal boxes and 2 boxes of Spider-Man Fruit Roll-ups, both containing 1 unopened roll.

I got the boxes down, trying to think of why I saved them in the first place. They dated back to 1995 when Spider-Man Adventures, an old FoxKids cartoon, was on the television and at the height of popularity. It caused General Mills to make a cereal which I ate in excess and had a corresponding Fruit Roll-Up which I also took in my lunch. I saved them because I thought they would be worth something. My idea of valuable was slightly skewed by my web colored glasses.

Anyway, I have the sense to know that no one wants these things and threw them out...except when I started looking over the unopened roll-up. No expiration date? How is that possible? Does it mean it is still edible? I had to know. My wife cautioned me against it and my mother sat screaming for me to stop but I opened the package and took a sniff. It smelled fruity and with a hint of nostalgia. I took my hands and ripped off the corner of the roll-up and threw it in my mouth. Chewy.

I proceeded to keep eating it, subsequently dying my tongue blue and making my mother queasy. It was just how I remembered a Fruit Roll-Up to be. I drove home expecting that at some point the snack was going to rebel but it held steady. Apparently you can eat a 14 year old lunch snack.

That is all,

Newt