I swear…they came in a boat!

Jeff and I stopped by a McDonald’s tonight because he read in the paper that some of their coffee at the high end Royal Oak location was supposedly tastier than Starbucks (which I personally don’t care for all that much anway). I don’t have to go to work or school tomorrow so I figured why not stay up half the night with a caffeine buzz. Soon you’ll see where I used all the extra energy.

While we were sipping our premium coffees and Jeff complained how it “wasn’t all that”, a memory came back to me. I was 5 and I was enjoying a happy meal. Yes, my parents bought my sisters and I happy meals at age 4 and 5 (and throughout our childhood). We’re still alive and healthy as you can see. So it couldn’t have been THAT bad. Anyway, so the memory came back and I asked Jeff, “do you remember the happy meals that came in a boat and there were different colored ones…OHH! And stickers…..you could put stickers on the boats! My sisters and I LOVED those boats. We used to play with them in the tub and in the pool in the summer. We use to hope we would get one of the ones we didn’t have already. Do you remember those Jeff?! Must have been 1983 or so.“

Jeff said “no” and laughed like I was lying. So when we got home I went straight to my computer to start my research. At first I found nothing. Absolutely nadda.

Not one picture came up and I tried everything in the Google search engine; “Mcdonalds happy meal boat,” “mcdonalds kids meal boat,” “mcdonalds meal came in a boat,” “mcdonalds happymeal 1980s boat” and on and on. I eventually decided to call my mom to ask her if she remembered. Of course she was not around, so I called my dad all the way in Alabama.
“Dad, what are you doing?“
“I’m watching a basketball game. What’s up?!“
“do you remember Mcdonald’s kids meals coming in a 2 piece boat when we were little? With stickers you could stick on them? Remember us kids loved them?“
“No.“
“WHAT?!!“
“Maybe your mom remembers…did you ask her?“
“No! She wasn’t answering. GEEZ!! Why doesn’t anyone remember things I remember in my childhood. Errr…..well they did and I will prove it.“

Next, I called my year younger sister.

“Jessica? Do you remember happy meals from Mcdonalds coming in a boat and we used to have different ones and play with them in the bathtub, etc.?“
“No…..I mean kinda. No, not really.“
“Errrrrrrr…..“
After she started pretending to remember (to make me feel better) I got off the phone and decided not to call anyone else about it (considering everyone else seems to be having the early signs of Alzheimers). I decided I had to find it myself to prove to everyone that my memory far exceeds theirs when it comes to my youth.

Eventually I hit gold (sort of), I found this Wikipedia article which gave me a glimmer of hope. It was enough to show Jeff that I was not imagining my “happy meal boat”.
“Burger Chef. Not Mcdonalds!” he said.
“I don’t remember it being Burger Chef (whatever that is), but I guess my memory of Mcdonalds could be wrong.“
I was not convinced it was “Burger Chef” and even called my dad back to ask him if he recalled bringing us to such a place. He said “no,” so I continued my search…..eventually finding this link which then brought Jeff back to his own childhood. As if reverting back to his youth before my eyes, I witnessed Jeff’s voice go from a semi-deep to a high pitched prepubescent kid squeal, “WOW!! I used to have that. Man….I remember the little briefcase and those slimy worms. I loved those…” I let him live in the moment for a few before I nonchalantly said “yeaaaaahhhhh” and scrolled down past them looking for the highlighted cached words “boat” and “happy meal” as if on a mission. Must.Not.Lose.Focus. “Aha! See this person remembers the Happy Meal boats too!!“

I soon left Jeff in the living room where he must have continued to search, because guess who found photos of happy meal boats in less than five minutes?!

Jeff!!

Drum roll please……

Here they are……the “Ship Shape Happy Meals from Mcdonalds.”

Ahhhhhh…..the memories.

Now do you all remember?!!