Vintage "Sam's Choice" Flashlights...Anyone else remember them?

ericjohn

Enlightened
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Jul 12, 2011
Messages
575
Location
1 Alpha Louisiana
Yesterday, at my local Good Will, I scored a vintage dark green Sam's Choice 2 AA flashlight, for a whole 59 Cents! After purchasing that one, a plethora of childhood memories came flashing back.

It is built very similar to the Rayovac Industrial flashlights of the 1990s. The main difference is that the wider rib is not in the center, but rather 45-90 degrees to the left of the switch, instead of in the center like on the Rayovac. Also, the tail cap doesn't have the "Rayovac" stamp molded into it, rather just "Made in U. S. A." I've also owned the official Rayovac version, so that's how I know the difference. A few minutes ago, I put two AA batteries in and it fired right on. I don't know how long the bulb will last me though.

I first purchased one of these in mid to late January of 1999 which I had purchased with money I got for my 12th birthday a week or two earlier. Since the age of seven I had been a huge fan of 2 AA Industrial Style flashlights. Green was also my favorite color at the time, so I gladly purchased it. Though there have been recent changes to the climate in my area, when I was younger, the January and February always meant tornadic activity for Louisiana. I do not believe in global warming, but I do believe in naturally occurring climate change. A few days after I purchased this flashlight, it was a Friday morning, in fact, we were waiting for the bus and my grandparents almost decided not to let us go to school that day because the weather was so foul. I always kept a flashlight or two or three in my school bag, and I remember having this one, just in case on that day. I was not a popular kid during these years and was harassed quite frequently, so I kept my flashlight obsession to myself for the fear of receiving more harassment. Now I am very public about my flashlight interest and if people don't like it, they don't have to associate with me. My aunt, who was a teacher at a different school, also carried a flashlight with her that day, but I believe it was one of those 2 AA 84 cent black plastic Rayovacs with a slide switch. Rayovac made awesome and affordable flashlights in the 1980s and 1990s. The weather lasted throughout the school day and even into the night. During recess, kids were trying to play baseball, but the wind was interfering with how the ball was pitched and hit. I remember watching the ABC TGIF lineup and the power was knocked off for a few seconds. Of course I whipped out the flashlight, but was almost angered to see the power come right back on. The next day, I went back to my local Wal Mart and purchased one of those Garrity Touch Lites. So I had that green flashlight into my early teens but then misplaced it. What I really think happened to it was I left it in the glove box of my dad's 1992 Ford Taurus GL and forgot about it. He sold it for scrap in 2002 and probably forgot to take all the stuff out of it. At that time, my flashlight interest had waned and I was more into radio communications.

Anyway.

There was also a 3 D cell version of this flashlight, but I cannot recall the price. There might have been a 2 D model as well. Both the 2 AA and 3 D versions of this flashlight came in the colors dark green, blue and maroon. They came with Krypton filled PR bulbs and were sold at Wal Mart in the late 1990s under the Sam's Choice brand. Even though they were either knock-offs of the Rayovac Industrial or actually made by Rayovac for Wal Mart, they were American made. I always wanted the maroon 3 D model but never got around to purchasing it. It reminded me of a flashlight Hank Hill used in a certain episode of "King of the Hill." I didn't fully appreciate 3 D model flashlights until my mid 20s. Of course Wal Mart discontinued them and for what reason I don't know, but many awesome flashlights of all brands get discontinued. I would rather these over most of those Ozark Trail (another Wal Mart brand) flashlights made nowadays.

I remember discussing these flashlights on The Flashlight Museum a little over seven years ago and one person gave me kudos for my good memory.

Does anyone else remember these?

On a slightly unrelated note, there is another flashlight I had as a child but can't seem to find any information on, whatsoever. All I know is that it was a Brinkmann made out of a plastic, probably ABS, had a black body and a glow in the dark head, that you would twist to turn on and off. It ran on 2 AA batteries and later models came with a fiber optic extension. These were sold positively at Wal Mart from 1996 to 1998 and possibly a greater range of dates than that.

Thanks for taking the time to read...
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,351
Location
Dust in the Wind
Don't know how I missed this one.

I have one of those WalMart brand lights called "Ever Active". A 2x aa bulb'd plastic number with a see through body, which was great for spotting leaking batteries.

I found it in my truck a while ago and did a restore to it and added it to a "throw away" flashlight thread in the budget section... brb

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?414380-Re-hab-d-disposable-lights-thread
Here's the thread... had to fix some linx.
 
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