Some photos just pop with almost blinding color, don’t they? I assume this one is a Kodachrome, because they tend to be the most vivid. I have virtually no information on this image other than my friend at the Petersen Automotive Museum that the two newest cars both appear to be 1955 Plymouths. I’m not sure which cookie Nabisco were asking us to switch from, but I guess it was the almost-identical Hydrox, which sounds like a name that Research-and-Development came up with, not the Marketing team.
** UPDATE ** – On the building in the background, it looks like it might be a Bekins storage logo.
** UPDATE ** – It looks like Hydrox were fighting back!
I would push the year to 1956 as the California license plates that were orange with black letters were issued in 1956. The two cars on the left look like they have the older plates which were black with orange letters. There is a Bekins moving van in the background. I wonder if the building it was next to was one of their warehouses? What I like is the color Oreo cookies flying out of a black/white TV of the era. Really ahead of its time.
My mom always bought Hydrox, too. And when I finally tried an Oreo, I actually liked the Hydrox filling better. And Hydrox were better for dunking in a glass of milk. You can still find Hydrox on Amazon and other Online Retailers.
It could be a switch from any other cookie brand, n’est-ce pas?
Yes, it could be any brand. But I’d never heard of Hydrox before I found this photo. And when I saw that they were almost exactly like – and preceded – Oreos, I wondered if that’s who they were talking about without actually mentioning by name.
Martin, I can’t believe you never heard of Hydrox cookies. I always wanted my mom to buy Oreos, but she always bought Hydrox. Knowing my mom Hydrox were probably cheaper but in my opinion not as good. But I still ate them. I think you can still buy them?
Yes, Mark, you’re in luck. You can buy Hydrox. As for never hearing of them, remember: I grew up in Australia and didn’t come to the US until the mid-90s.
Ok your forgiven. I have read in your other post about being from Australia. I have Irish DNA cousins there!
Oreos are sweeter than Hydrox.
I loved the Hydrox version! The filling had a better flavor. Oreos’ filling tastes like sweet Crisco to me. Also, the chocolate cookie part of the Hydrox was crisper than Oreos. I hate soggy cookies.
You can still by a re-boot of Hydrox, but they’re not the same, and not as good as the originals.
NPR had a podcast earlier this year about the origins of Oreo cookies and how they originally stole the idea from Hydrox.
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/24/1240613541/new-podcast-investigates-the-oreos-little-known-origins
Thanks for that, Gordon. A Canadian podcast called “Under the Influence” outlined the more-surprising-than-expected story, too.
The girl in the sign is twisting the TV knob. In a short time the ads will have the kids twisting the cookies themselves, and the television knobs will be gone altogether. And the old television sets will become fish aquariums. Next step should be fish flavored Oreos!
I’m thinking the blue car in the lower right hand corner is a Ford, not a Plymouth.
I used to be a big fan of Oreos until Double Stuf Oreos came along with much more filling.
Then I used to be a big fan of Double Stuf Oreos until Mega Stuf Oreos came along!
Life is sweet.
Dual round parking lamps/turn signals were a signature of the ‘52 Ford with center spinner. It was meant to give the rocket intakes look to complement the exhaust port design of the rear round taillights in the slab sides, thus completing the original design that started with the ‘49’s dorky setup. [Split windshields were gone, and brake pedal was hung from above.] They went off in ‘53 for rectangles. Not sure if they returned in ‘54 w/o that spinner. (The final version flathead was replaced in that year with the Y-block.) It was started as the Mercury project, but the Merc’s were upgraded to Baby Lincolns and the Ford stopped being a junior Merc. Chrome suffered as a result of Korean Conflict demands and sales dropped slightly in ‘52.Then they went back up. It has been suggested that the flathead suffered from not allowing the blocks to properly cure in those last years but I haven’t heard any confirmation of that. Cooling was altered too.