If the good weather holds, our thoughts will soon be turning to picnics and barbecues. There are many products available deemed to be essential in making this transition to alfresco dining, but here is a frivolous item with a retro feel.
These Salad Servers are red with a retro floral pattern and the heads of each server is flower shaped. They are made from melamine, which makes them ideal for use outdoors.
They cost £9.95 from Cocoa Bean.
Over 10 years since being removed from the sweet shop shelves, Opal Fruits are back to ‘make your mouth water’ – but only for a very limited time.
Mars is bringing back the sweets for just 12 weeks from this week – and only in Asda stores. Our spies have already been in and seen them, so get a pack while you can. The packaging is authentic too – the manufacturers having visited the Museum of Brands, in Notting Hill, and studied copies of the original distinctive yellow packaging.
Expect the original four flavours – orange, lemon, lime and strawberry – but this time with no artificial colours or flavours. But it’s not all good news – Mars bosses said that there are no plans to bring back Opal Fruits beyond the three months. Although they haven’t commented on the return of the Marathon.
Asda website
The last time the sun was out in Manchester (a couple of years back), we featured the Memphis retro Barbecue from B&Q. Well, the sun has returned and so has the Memphis – this time with a built-in audio system.
Yes, you read it right – the two-burner gas barbecue now has a sound system and a connector for an MP3 player. So plug in your player and dance the afternoon away whilst flipping your burgers. Other features of this black steel unit include a stainless steel cooking area, warming rack, vaporiser bars, a storage cupboard and wheels for portability.
You can pick one up now, priced at around £230.
What could be better than chocolate? Simple – the Meiji Tetris-style chocolate game.
Straight out of Japan, it’s a chocolate bar with a difference – choose your type (white, milk or plain – going up in order of difficulty), then break up the bar in Tetris-like pieces.
Scramble them up, then try and re-create the block with the Tetris chocolate. Apparently, it’s not that easy – especially if you eat some. And if you can’t do it in one sitting, a plastic box is on hand to store it. Available online and yours for the equivalent of £3.50.
Find out more at the Strapya World website
Morecambe is rapidly becoming the retro capital of the north – the refurbished art deco Midland Hotel is about to open its doors, vintage property all around is getting a makeover, there’s a 1950s seaside weekend coming up – and now there’s a 1950s ice cream van on the front.
Everyday Is Like Sundae is an authentically-restored classic Bedford CF van, decorated with original/tradiitonal signage and selling locally-produced ice cream made on a farm – or you can go for the dairy-free (soya-based) option.
And you can hire the van too, should you have any kind of event upcoming. Just drop Sunset Ices a line for pricing/availability. or ask them if you happen to be on Morecambe sea front this summer.
We are forever featuring mugs and cups to drink from, but what about somewhere to store your tea and coffee? This set of Retro Tea, Coffee and Sugar Tins could be the storage solution you need.
They are produced by Disaster Designs and whilst they are new product, rather than a genuine vintage set, they do look to be based on sets from the 1960s or 1970s. In fact, I’m pretty sure we had a set just like this back in the mid-seventies.
They are available to buy on the Iggloo website and cost £20 for a set of three jars.
