Microwavable Milkshakes from Micro Magic and reverse nostalgia
Microwavable Milkshakes? Yes! In the late eighties or early nineties, when I first became aware of the Microwavable Milkshakes from Micro Magic, I was hooked. After all, I loved milkshakes and I owned a microwave. What is not to love?
Turns out, according to modern opinion, I appear to be in the minority. When I asked some age peers about it recently, most of them groused about their consistency and flavor or just rolled their eyes about drinking a shake that you microwave.
It is not clear to me if people really felt this way, or is this just some reverse nostalgia? Yes, I said reverse nostalgia.
I have yet to find the right words to describe this phenomenon. But if nostalgia is looking back on something with warm feelings. Reverse nostalgia is the eye-rolling snarkiness we see when people look back at something and say, “I can’t believe I/they used to enjoy that!” It is pervasive in the retro online community. While I find myself falling into it sometimes, I try to reserve it for larger societal issues and not microwavable milkshakes.
I would lump Microwavable milkshakes with oddly colored or styled clothing and simpler video game graphics. These are things worth discussing, but if done with a “can you believe this was a thing” smirk, you might be missing the point of why this stuff was important. Enjoyment of anything requires context. Nostalgia is mostly context.
I know reverse nostalgia is not a great term. If you have a better one, I would love to hear it.
Back to the Microwavable Milkshakes.
You had to watch these carefully and know your microwave when preparing them. Erring on the side of too little microwaving was always better. If you let them go too long, you made yourself a cup of ice cream soup. Which is pretty good, but not pleasantly drinkable with your microwavable burger and fries.
Microwavable Milkshakes still exist today. I occasionally see them in the supermarket, but have not picked them up. Why? Well, when I enjoyed them, I did not have money or a way to get to a real milkshake. Getting my Mom to buy me a box of these, was a major coup. I could have fast food while sitting on my couch. Nowadays, I just have too many options and when I want a milkshake, I can get to an ice cream parlor.
If you are not as lucky as I happen to be (being ice parlor adjacent), I say give microwaved shakes a try. I think you will find that they have the consistency/taste of a mediocre fast food shake. This is not great praise, but having an even mediocre shake at the ready at 1am, is a pretty amazing thing.