Being educated in a three school system meant that at age eleven my gang were kings of the School. (this not actually true, bullys were kings of the School but showed a lax attitude in this reign except getting tribute from those too weak to argue). Anyway we could swank around with a degree of insousiance and affect the airs of the sophisticat. I say this because I still find two litre bottles of fizzy pop to be somewhat aspirational and this attitude stems mainly back to these days.
I remember in the summer wandering home from school with my mates, and on the way stopping off at the sweet shop where previously our only interest was in the solids. All of a sudden the large bottles took our fancy. I can only assume a new demand on fluid making in our pubity wracked bodies was leaving us dehydrated and in need of sugar. Well we were kids, we were always in need of sugar. So our hard won pennies, instead of being sopped on Fruit Pastilles or Black Jacks stretched to Happy Shopper Cola two litres. With bottle in hand we would swank out of the shop and swig from the bottle like an alcoholic on his first can of Spesh a day.
It soon became clear that our various tastes in pop diverged. We all found R Whites Lemonade two harsh bubblewise for bottle swigging, and my developed taste buds found Happy Shopper drinks a bit too weak. The others baulked at Dandelion and Burdock (the fules) and had a penchant for 7-Up which annoyed me since it only came in 1.5 litre bottles and was therefore BAD VALUE. There was one thing we were all agreed on though. Brightly coloured liquids ruled. Cherryade was a favourite but nothing ruled the roost like Limeade. Being a colour completely unlike limes, and not really tasting like limes, this light sabre of a drink marked us out as the top nobs of the high street. Until one day in the shop we saw a bottle of Mellow Yellow.
I am still not quite sure what Mellow Yellow is or was. We could not afford it (it was in the premium bracket and we could pool enough for Londis Cherryade only). It was quite patently a thick radioactive yellow though. We were only used to translucent drinks, even the broown drinks of our acquaintance were see through. But Mellow Yellow looked almost gloopy in its radience. I think it might have been made by the Coca-Cola company, and had the logo of something that was decidedly not fly by night, but my memory could be playing up since I have never seen it since.
Some research suggests that it does exist as some sort of Mountain Dew knock off. Since MD lasted about four months over here (see entries passim) it is not surprising that Mellow Yellow was so elusive. The fact it existed at all is remarkable. But I still look upon two litre bottles with fondness, despite knowing the bulk is generally a false economy. And I can still drink one handed out of one, without the plastic crumpling under my firm grip.