Walk down memory lane with Zoya Akhtar’s ‘The Archies’

The Archies. (L to R) Mihir Ahuja as Jughead Jones, Yuvraj Menda as Dilton Doiley, Agastya Nanda as Archie Andrews, Suhana Khan as Veronica Lodge, Vedang Raina as Reggie Mantle, Suhana Khan as Veronica Lodge, Dot as Ethel Muggs in The Archies. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
| Photo Credit: Manpreet Singh/Netflix

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.

The Archies by Zoya Akhtar
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Special Arrangement

 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.     

Yoyo: Before the fidget spinners, yo-yos ruled the roost. The hand-held spinning toy consists of a pair of discs connected by a deep groove through which a string is looped.

Food: With The Archies, there is a distinct food connect with the timeless treats like jam cookies, sundaes and picnic baskets.