Walk down memory lane with ‘The Archies’
The Hindu
The generation that read the Archie comics are drawing a strong connect from some of the props shown in the ‘The Archies’ film directed by Zoya Akhtar
Ever since Zoya Akhtar’s much-anticipated musical comedy The Archies dropped in Netflix, it has grabbed eyeballs of generations that grew up reading Archie comics as well as those who are more interested in the cast of this adaptation of the classic comic. series. Though the older generation struggles to connect with this Hindi version, they can relate to some of the props in the film, that are no longer around any more. Here is a short list of such references.
Gold Spot: The orange-flavoured soda was sold in glass bottles in shops. The soda burp from this would literally bring tears to the eyes and the orange tongue after a Gold Spot was an added bonus.
Cross stitch wall hanging: Cross stitch — name derived from the X-shaped stitches — on a special type of cloth called Aida, was a favoured pastime in the pre-streaming and video games era. Tablecloths, table linen and wall hangings with delicate cross stitch adorned homes of a particular vintage. Cross stitch done in a tiled, raster-like pattern were usually copied from embroidery pattern books.
Wing Sung pens: A prerequisite when stepping into High School was a fountain pen. And having Wing Sung pen in your pencil box was a matter of pride. Wing Sung is one of the oldest pen manufacturers in China, so the pens were popularly called Chinese pens. They came in two colours, black and green, with a silver or a gold cap.
Bicycles with basket: Bicycles with front baskets for girls were a common sight. Though movie features the basket filled with fresh flowers, in reality the basket was used to stuff notebooks, pencils, geometry boxes and purchase for homes. When pink bicycles were introduced, they were a must-have for girls.
Ribbons: Before fancy hairbands, ribbons, Bobby pins and French barrettes flooded the the hair fashion accessory ribbons of various colours were must have accessories. Nylon, satin and printed ribbons were all the rage for all lengths of hair, including short.
Puffed sleeves: This shape of sleeve, popularly called pot sleeves by local tailors, was a rage before the advent of bell and short bell sleeves. The sleeve style made a comeback on dresses in The Archies. Of late, these sleeves have been popular on designer blouses, but somehow not so common in dresses.
he Tamil Nadu Government will take appropriate decision to protect the welfare and livelihood of Manjolai tea estate workers as Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, which is managing the tea gardens for the past 90-odd years, is about to wind up its operations in near future, Speaker M. Appavu has said.