Growing up in Alameda, California, a small town nestled in the San Francisco Bay, going to local restaurants was always a fun outing for me as a child. The home where I grew up was only a ten minute walk from a quaint shopping center that is still home to my all time favorite pizza place called LaVals.

Though LaVals serves up delicious, thin crust pizza, it also housed a collection of vending machines that made pizza time even more memorable.  Sitting right near the entrance was the giant, looming, candy-claw machine that always seemed to miss your favorite flavor of Laffy Taffy.  Next to that was a racing game frequently populated by herds of young boys eager for their chance to play– but my all time favorite machine was directly across from the sounds of cars speeding by on the screen.  The elongated glass box held a smorgasbord of colorful stretchy choker necklaces.  For a small fee of 50 cents, you could plop your quarters in, wind it up, and then see your randomly selected choker roll down in its plastic bubble.

Every time that we would visit LaVals, be it with a babysitter, for my brother’s team baseball party, or a birthday party, I would plead for any spare change so that I could up my fashion game.  Soon enough, I had an impressive selection of orange, black, and even rainbow chokers to match with any outfit I put on.  I can still remember the excitement I felt when wearing my new orange choker on picture day in elementary school, and I can still recall my mom, a few years later, remarking how the choker looked like I had “a neck tattoo.” Regardless, those malleable, cheap accessories made me feel like a big shot.

Interestingly enough, the choker necklace is making a revival in the fashion world and I’ve spotted many girls wearing chokers identical to the ones I used to stretch over my head and on to my neck daily. Though they were forgotten for a little less than a decade, I guess everything old is really new again.