Indian Brand Pumpkin Seeds memories...
Another Halloween has come and gone,
and I've carved another pumpkin and have the seeds left over. I used to salt
and bake them, but none were anywhere near as good as Indian Pumpkin Seeds.
I remember paying 3 cents for the box at the mom & pop school store in
Chicago back in 1960; we used to shake 'em to see which ones had the most
seeds. Now that I have moved to Florida, I can't find them anywhere. Sure
glad to know that they're still available... my mouth is watering as I can
remember the taste even now! ~ Patrick from Florida
More memories... Thanksgiving 2004 had just passed. The adolescents that I work
with in a Massachusetts shelter-care program had just made homemade pumpkin
seeds from their Thanksgiving pumpkins. While eating these very overcooked, very
brown, not very well salted pumpkin seeds, I was brought back in time within my
mind to my 9th grade year in junior high school and to one of my favorite snacks
... Indian Pumpkin Seeds. I shared my memories with a fellow staff member, along
with my disappointment in never being able to find these pumpkin seeds on any
present day store shelves. I described the red package, the fact that they were
thinner than present day pumpkin seeds, along with the additional information
that eating the seeds in there entirety (who threw away the shells?) was pretty
much the norm in those days. Impulsively, I went onto my work computer and
looked up those three well-remembered words on the Internet ... Indian Pumpkin
Seeds. To my surprise and delight, I found this website, and sure enough, there
they were ... Indian Pumpkin Seeds ... and there in front of me was that well
remembered red package of long ago.
I was in ninth grade and I loved Indian Pumpkin Seeds. I remember holding each
seed in my mouth, cracking the shell with my teeth, eating the inside seed, and
then eating the outside shell. Sometimes I couldn't wait that long and I simply
ate the shell and seed together. Either way, the taste was a delight to the
senses and to a salt-loving person like myself, I was in heaven. Many times, I
was asked to share my pumpkin seeds with different classmates and I willingly
shared them whenever I had them. Everyone seemed to enjoy them and I guess you
could say that I went into business. I began to buy Indian Pumpkin Seeds, which
I would then sell to other classmates. There was one individual with whom I did
not get along, but when it came to Indian Pumpkin Seeds, we were two of a kind
... she became my best customer. I really didn't make money on them, but I did
get satisfaction in the fact that others enjoyed them and wanted to purchase
them.
I look back with nostalgia on Indian Pumpkin Seeds, as corny as that may sound.
Maybe it’s just the acceptance gained by selling them - what adolescent doesn’t
look for acceptance? Maybe it's the nostalgia of remembering my younger years -
that also seems true. However, most of all, it's that salty taste ... that thin
pumpkin seed that was edible in its entirety ... so much less work that present
day pumpkin seeds where you have to throw away the shells. Fond memories are
triggered by all sorts of things I guess. Fond memories of junior high school
... those small red packages ... both intermingle for me. Who would have thought
that that package would still be so vividly recalled after so many many years?
So ... Here I am working with adolescents, and remembering my own adolescence.
All because I was eating some very overcooked, very brown, not very well salted
pumpkin seeds in the present. Not that those home-made seeds weren't good - I
have to say that just in case some of the kids I work with happen across this
web site - but nothing will ever beat the taste or texture of Indian Brand
Pumpkin Seeds. What a shame that our younger generations are missing them. So
now that Christmas is over, I guess I will put in my order on this website. A
little nostalgia - and a lot of salt - is just what is needed to make this New
Years a nostalgic one. I am excited. Indian Pumpkin Seeds are the best and will
always be the best. A thank you to this website for making my memory a
present-day reality. ~ Mary from Massachusetts
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