#meijer

I turned around and saw:

For April Fools we're going a little bit silly. Today's model is an odd one, but nostalgic for me nonetheless. This is a squishy, stylized, stress-ball kind of figurine of Sandy, the coin-operated horse ride. Anyone who grew up near a Meijer store (might be unique to the US, I'm not sure) will probably recognize her. She sits at the front of the store, and you can use a penny to ride on her back for a few moments. She kind of goes up and down and back and forward. I'm not sure who made this little toy, but it was made for the Meijer stores.

I have many fond memories of riding on these penny horse rides when I was a kid. Mostly it was the Meijer Sandy here, with her distinct brown coat and socks, but other stores and places had different colors of Sandy. I seem to remember Meijer even having a white one at some point. Anyway, as soon as I found out there was a little effigy of her, I had to go get one.

I worry a little about Sandy these days. Now that pennies (1 cent coins) in the US are no longer made, I wonder if her price will change, or if she'll be phased out entirely. With Meijer capitalizing on our memories of her, I kind of doubt they'll get rid of her anytime soon. I hope that's true.

Anyway, here's a photo of a Sandy ride at a Meijer store, found on woodtv.com:

The little cup on the base is for people to toss pennies into, so that kids can have a free ride. From what I understand, this was an organic thing that people just started doing, and I think it's a really nice show of kindness in the world. It's a tiny thing, but sometimes that's a lot.

Former Rep. Peter Meijer on “strong strategic undercurrent” of Iran war – CBS News Watch CBS News Sources tell CBS News that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence about the U.S. military. Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan joins “The Takeout” to assess the state of the war. Source link

Name: Agatha

Pronouns: she/her

Brand: Dan Dee

Where she’s from: Meijer