Lucky Mango

Now that I am a parent, there are random memories from my childhood that come flooding back to me from time to time. Late at night when my husband and I are talking about days gone by is when the memories seem like yesterday to me.  My brother and sister and I were very fortunate to have a Dad who enjoyed taking day trips on the weekends.  Often after Sunday service the four of us would head off to the park, the beach and many times the Los Angeles Zoo. 

I think everyone has a favorite thing to see at the Zoo maybe its the monkeys, the elephants or the gorillas.  My favorite part of the Zoo was the end because at the end of the day is when we got our souvenirs.  The best souvenir by far was a plastic animal from the Mold-A-Rama machine.  This was the coolest thing I had ever seen.  It cost about 50 cents, which made our Dad happy I am sure.

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When you operate a Mold-A-Rama, polyethelene plastic at 250 degrees is pumped through a pipe at the bottom of the mold. A second pipe then blows cold air to force the plastic into the crevices of the mold. The plastic hoses which give the machine that cool techno-Frankenstein look, pump automotive antifreeze to cool the mold quickly.

After your animal came out you had to hold it upside down for about 10-15 minutes until it hardened completly.  I remember that you could only get certain animals in certain places of the Zoo, so you had to choose wisely.  Also, they came in a variety of colors.  I found some images of some animals that my brother, sister and I had. The King Kong is from Universal Studios, California.  The Giraffe is from the L.A. Zoo.  Above is a picture of the Mann’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California.

I think I have a new obsession and will be researching the Mold-A-rama machine and posting more info soon-please post a comment if you know more about this topic and have something to share.