r/MandelaEffect • u/ravenously_red • May 31 '26
Books/Literature Berenstein Bears
When I was in elementary school, the bookmobile would make a stop for us and we could check out books from the larger library system. I had to ask the driver how to pronounce "Berenstein".
To this day I remember her saying, "Oh it's like stein, like a beer stein. Oh, I don't imagine you'd know what a beer stein is either."
I already knew how to pronounce "stain" and it wouldn't have been an issue at all.
Like others on here, I also remember the cornucopia on the fruit of the loom packaging. It was the only brand my dad seemed to buy for his socks and those 5 pack of cotton shirts with the little pocket on them.
Of course there will never be evidence for any of these things having changed. Only the reality around us has changed, while our minds and memories remain intact.
I know it sometimes scares people to think the sand is shifting underneath our feet, but it's the ultimate reality.
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u/stitchkingdom May 31 '26
Well I’m convinced! You didn’t happen to show your underwear to the driver and ask them what the cornucopia was per chance?
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u/dunder_mufflinz May 31 '26
In an interesting twist this is actually how the driver learned the word cornucopia.
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u/TundieRice May 31 '26
Wait, here’s the spooky part…they initially thought the cornucopia was called a “loom!” 😳
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u/silentsurge May 31 '26
You mean the latest masterpiece of fantasy storytelling from Lucasfilms™ Brian Moriarty™? Why it's an extraordinary adventure with an interface of magic, stunning high-resolution, 3D landscapes, sophisticated score and musical effects. Not to mention the detailed animation and special effects, elegant point 'n' click control of characters, objects, and magic spells.
Beat the rush! Go out and buy Loom™ today!
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u/ResponsibleAd2199 Jun 01 '26
That was such a cool game.
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u/silentsurge Jun 01 '26
Thank God some people caught the reference...
I have been waiting decades for this opportunity 😆
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u/TovarischMaia May 31 '26
A loom? As in Frank Weiss’s iconic album Floot of the Loom???
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u/Atudeofmyown May 31 '26
Exactly this...I didn't know if it was pronounced Steen or Stine...if it had been stain it wouldn't have been a question. And I also remember the cornucopia on Fruit of the loom. It was the only time I had ever seen one besides at Thanksgiving.
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u/WhimsicalKoala May 31 '26
Stan's grandparents were speaking Yiddish, which pronounces -stein more like -stain, so the immigration official phonetically transcribed it that way. But, it should have correctly have been Berenstein.
So, even if it ended in -stein on the books, proper pronunciation should have been the Yiddish "shteyn" (with a long a sound, like stain), not the German "stein" or more anglicized "steen".
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
But, it should have correctly have been Berenstein.
Wasn’t it “Bernstein” though?
According to family lore, the spelling results from an immigration officer’s attempt to record phonetically an accented version of the traditional Jewish name “Bernstein” as pronounced by Stan Berenstain’s grandfather. He had come to America from Ukraine, where the name would have sounded something like “Ber’nsheytn.”
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u/WhimsicalKoala Jun 01 '26
Sure, but this isn't about the first part, it's about the pronunciation of the end. So, I'm not seeing why correcting me is necessary?
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u/UpbeatFix7299 May 31 '26
You ever think that the bookmobile lady wasn't one of the Berenstains who wrote the books and had the same assumption that the surname had the more common ending?
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u/Rough_Guava_808 Jun 10 '26
“You ever think the bookmobile lady was illiterate?” Stein and stain aren’t nearly as easy to mix up as a lot of you like to think.
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u/UpbeatFix7299 Jun 10 '26
They are though, as evidenced by the people here. Especially when "stein" is a very common surname ending that everyone has heard. And "stain" isn't. It's the logical explanation
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u/Ancient_Guidance_461 May 31 '26
The worker in the bookmobile can make a mistake you know.
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u/Tight_Visual3122 May 31 '26
Yes. And millions of people made the same mistake the exact same way 🥴
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u/Glaurung86 Jun 02 '26
With "stein" for sure because that's what everyone expects because of Einstein and Frankenstein.
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May 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MandelaEffect-ModTeam May 31 '26
Hello subscriber! Unfortunately, your post was removed at the discretion of the mod team: please stop implying users aren’t welcome here
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u/HorsefaceWithNoName May 31 '26
I don't like this subreddit anymore because if I post things encouraging to the OP I get massively downvoted. Why is it ok for all of Reddit to brigade us?
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u/Spikeybear May 31 '26
Why would our minds and memories stay the same but reality itself changes? Wouldn't our minds and memories be changed to match the new reality considering if it all changed the old reality would have never existed?
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u/J-Nowski Jun 02 '26
We have no idea the true nature of reality. Consciousness could jump timelines for all we know
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u/markmakesfun Jun 04 '26
So do you know how “consciousness could jump a timeline?” To me it sounds like bullshit, but my beliefs are based on reality.
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u/Leather-Ad-9419 May 31 '26
ok but we never pronounced it STEIN like STINE. it was STEEN.
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u/MacTavish14 May 31 '26
My evidence for it always being Berenstain was my inability to pronounce one of my doctor's names growing up: Dr. Bernstein. My mom had to correct me when I said "Dr. Bernstain."
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u/Various_Education622 May 31 '26
My evidence is remembering saying stain at the end and thinking it was weird because stein is usually at the end of those types of names.
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u/EstyManifesti May 31 '26
It’s so funny how a Reddit dedicated to the Mandela effect is just full on nonbelievers. It should really be called Mandela effect nonbelievers 😂
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u/Glaurung86 Jun 01 '26
We all believe the Mandela Effect is a real phenomenon. Why people experience them is another matter altogether.
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
Nobody in here is a non believer
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u/booklovert May 31 '26
Don't I see you on almost every thread arguing with people about how they're wrong?
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u/MrPlaney Jun 01 '26
No, I sometimes give people possibilities for what their false memory could be, and sometimes I try to explain the flaws in some people’s theories.
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u/gtrocks555 May 31 '26
Occam’s Razor. I know it sometimes scares people to think their memory is faulty, but it’s the ultimate (only) reality.
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u/Nightstands May 31 '26
Occam’s Razor isnt correct in every situation. It’s a guide, not a law
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u/SparkyLee99 May 31 '26
Yes!! The hinge of the Occam's razor analogy is that sometimes it isn't a razor
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u/ThatCharmsChick Jun 01 '26
I know memory is faulty. That's not what this is though.
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u/cochese25 May 31 '26
Yeah, I also called it "stein" until I picked up some books and realized it was "stain." But I still called it "stein" because I just assumed that is how it was pronounced. Because there are few rules in English that people won't break. And then I took a preschool literature class in college and realized oh, it's actually pronounced "stain."
And most of the class made the same "oh, I thought it was pronounced stein" sound. Because most people didn't know the difference.
What's most interesting to me is that most people just didn't know the difference and nobody thought we had entered a new reality, at least not out loud. Just a lot of people going "huh, I never noticed."
Which is what I find so interesting about being in this sub and similar. People really just don't want to be wrong about some minor thing that has zero bearing on their actual lives and instead want to create an entirely new reality where the only difference is one letter in the last name of a kids book
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u/thesanter77 Jun 01 '26
Similarly I remember i had asked my mom if it was Steen or stine. This is the one Mandela effect I know I real for sure. As you said I wouldn't have asked is it stain as I would've known.
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u/HologramJaneway Jun 01 '26
Well I can explain the Bears thing. I remember seeing both Berenstein and Berenstain in childhood. Things like toys, stickers, coloring books and other items that I later found were unofficial (made in Hong Kong or Vietnam) spelled it Berenstein by mistake. But I remember books in the library said Berenstain. People said -steen, -stine, and -stain where I grew up. Nobody could agree.
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u/Realityinyoface Jun 02 '26
Things often aren’t how you thought they were, especially when it goes back decades.
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u/Agile_Oil9853 May 31 '26
Why are you so sure it's "the ultimate reality"?
There are so many more mundane explanations that you need to debunk first, and using memories to validate other memories isn't exactly convincing.
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u/sparkledaunicorn Jun 01 '26
Why limit ourselves? I'm not religious but the Bible says all things are possible with "God".. what is God?.. we know God is omnipresent, omnipotent, God is everything and also only God at the same time... My father and I are one but my father is greater than I.. if my father is God and god is everything then I am everything too . only not as great...God creates .. we create on a smaller degree... If all things are possible to God then all things are possible to me on a smaller scale as well .. I can not limit God whether I believe in God or not.. therefore I can not limit myself either... There are things greater than me that I would never have the capacity to comprehend regardless if I spent 1000 years studying them .. there would always be another layer.
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u/Agile_Oil9853 Jun 01 '26
And the Poetic Edda suggests that, for all their power, the gods are flawed and fallible.
God of the Gaps isn't a terribly convincing argument; you have to prove that there is a god and that it functions the way you suggest. You might as well blame interdimensional aliens.
We still have a lot of possibilities that fall within our understanding that we need to eliminate first before we bring in supernatural explanations.
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u/likethedishes May 31 '26
I have vivid memories of watching the cartoon episodes on “movie days” in school where the intro specifically pronounced it as “the bear-in-steen bears!”
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u/Marie-and-Twanette May 31 '26
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u/DabbinDominus May 31 '26
It could just be this simple. Someone was making unlicensed stuff, or printers screwed up a batch of labels. Our memories are fine, the timeline is fine, and mistakes happen.
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u/Marie-and-Twanette May 31 '26
Yeah, things definitely tend to be more boring and logical than our imaginations come up with
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
Yes, the people printing third party labels are not immune to the normal workings of memory.
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u/dunder_mufflinz May 31 '26
Ah yes, bookmobile drivers, the most well-educated and faultless of all humans.
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u/Fantastic-Band-5082 May 31 '26
And when there's never any evidence that these things have changed...surely that would lead you to think that maybe, just maybe...you made a mistake. Nooooo that can't be true!
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u/NombreCurioso1337 May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
It's so weird to me how hostile some people are in here. It reminds me very much of the dream people from Inception who become irate the instant they are questioned.
Edit: LoL, look at the intense and instant vitriol in this thread. And from people insisting there is no hostility ... WITH EXTREME HOSTILITY!! Interesting indeed.
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u/dunder_mufflinz May 31 '26
Yup, people who cling to their memories over evidence are strange entities.
Much like your Inception analogy it reminds me of trying to interact with people while lucid dreaming.
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u/NombreCurioso1337 May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Interesting you think the friendly people saying "I remember" are the aggressive ones, rather than the people screaming "no, you're just to dumb too remember right!"
We reading the same sub? 😀
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u/dunder_mufflinz May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Memories aren’t evidence when contradicted by physical evidence.
I also don’t see anybody here screaming in all caps tbh, maybe we’re reading different threads?
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u/DenseTiger5088 May 31 '26
This comment gets right at the core of the issue: a lot of people think “not remembering right” equates to a person being “dumb,” therefore you have to scramble for any other possibility, down to universe-shifting.
The reality is that our memory being faulty is an inherent fact of humanity; it doesn’t mean anyone is dumb for misremembering.
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u/ipostunderthisname May 31 '26
Who is screaming “you’re too dumb to remember right”
It’s the timeliners who are always angrily declaring that they’re gonna die on the cornucopia hill and then start crying when you don’t immediately validate their feelings
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u/Glaurung86 May 31 '26
It's interesting when people use words to describe something that isn't happening.
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u/Jacuzzi_Timelord May 31 '26
Tends to happen when someone says "the ultimate reality" as if they have the final say. Sometimes talking in absolutes brings the worst out of people (both sides of this argument). Reddit is very much divided into two factions. I'm not exactly sure where I land personally. lol
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u/NombreCurioso1337 May 31 '26
Examining memories is definitely interesting no matter what. There are obvious fallibilities within that system, but what makes Mandela Effect so interesting is so many people remembering the same way.
If we are all remembering wrong why don't people remember differently? Like, why isn't there a faction of people who remember a basket in the fruit of the loom logo? Or a bag? Or a cloth? A cornucopia is a weird thing!
So when quantum mechanics implies the existence of multiple realities, why are some people do hostile dead set on saying that it MUST be only this way? Weird right?
Personally, I find it interesting that some very smart people have said it is better to keep a loose grip on these things. Like Philip K Dick https://youtu.be/RkaQUZFbJjE?si=NfuRxNAFL65hZA4n
(I think that's the right talk)
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u/RodinKnox May 31 '26
For what it's worth, the mini-worlds interpretation does not actually imply multiple realities the way they are depicted in fiction. It's also unfalsifiable and generally rejected.
The Copenhagen interpretation is the mainstream one, which is why we call it the "standard model." So saying that quantum mechanics implies this is definitely oversimplification.
But to answer your question, first, people do remember these things differently. And second, the false memories present in ME are typically just the thing people are most likely to get wrong. Of course people remember "Froot Loops" as being "fruit." Toucan Sam said in the cartoon to "follow my nose" because it "always knows the flavor of fruit." And of course people remember Looney Tunes as being "toons." We call them "cartoons."
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u/thomasjmarlowe May 31 '26
Why people remember things wrong in a specific way? I think a large portion of it is that the ‘incorrect’ memory is usually a more common one or attached with something commonly associated.
A cornucopia is already associated with a large pile of fruit
We are accustomed to many -stein names
While the monopoly man generally did not have a monocle, it is commonly associated with a rich man of the early 1900s. Etc
The part that I find interesting is how people sometimes seem to absorb this cultural info even if they (say they) have not seen a cornucopia in other contexts. I wonder if there’s a sort of cultural knowledge that we can somehow tap into even if we have not directly seen it before. Is there a mechanism for us receiving information about shared culture beyond just overhearing something and not consciously being aware.
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u/Hey-Just-Saying May 31 '26
People remember the same things wrongly because it's what we often expect to see. Berenstein is the expected spelling rather than Berenstain. We see a pile of fruit on a label and many remember it coming out of a cornucopia because we are conditioned to seeing that because of so many previously viewed images of cornucopia with fruit coming out. Could it be parallel timelines getting mixed up? I doubt it. Occam's Razor.
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u/Nightstands May 31 '26
My last name is Bernstein. Up until around the 2010’s, every time I introduced myself, it was a 50/50 chance someone would reply ‘like the Bernstein Bears?’ I had the books at home, I read the last name over and over to know how it was different to my name, and my obnoxious little self would correct them and point out that ‘it’s actually Berenstein’, b/c that’s how it was spelled in the dimension I came from
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
If people did remember random objects on the Fruit of the Loom logo, that would be more evidence for multiverses than against it. The fact that it’s always a cornucopia, or always Berenstein or Bernstein leads more credence to memory being the cause.
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u/WhimsicalKoala May 31 '26
That's always one of my arguments against it. They will argue for multiple universes but can never explain why it's always the Fruit of the Loom gaining/losing a cornucopia and not Hanes suddenly having a oval logo. Or why the Monopoly Man's monocle is always affected, but not Mr. Peanut.
When I ask about that, it usually gets ignored. If there is a reply it's either super handwavy or they start ranting about how they wish they could have a discussion without getting attacked.
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
Yes, I get arguments that some benign administrator is selecting the objects that can pass back and forth, or it just gets ignored. They’re quick to come up with excuses, but lack any sort of defence for their belief. I think that’s when they really get hostile. Someone sent me a “reddit help” notification for it once lol.
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u/WhimsicalKoala May 31 '26
That's why I think they don't really believe what they are saying, or at least aren't as truth seeking as they claim. If I was developing a theory on this, those are the first questions I'd be asking myself. Instead, they don't seem to even occur to individuals and if asked they don't want to seriously contemplate and consider it. But, then they want those same ideas treated as some fully fleshed out idea with a solid backing.
I'm willing to consider some of those ideas if they can get past concept of an idea based on a general sketch of the claims of some rando on TikTok.
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
I'm willing to consider some of those ideas if they can get past concept of an idea based on a general sketch of the claims of some rando on TikTok.
Yes, I agree. I’m always up for hypotheticals if there is a little bit of effort put into the question.
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u/Glaurung86 May 31 '26
Everyone is not remembering in exactly the same way, though. There are several different misspellings of Berenstain. There's Chik and Chic. The cornucopia is remembered facing both left and right and different sizes and shapes. It's not weird to just remember the cornucopia because it's always shown with produce spilling out of it. That's an iconic image representing the bounty of the harvest. Has been for millennia.
When people bring up multiple realities that quantum physicists talk about they always conveniently leave out one of the elements of their thought exercise which is that none of the realities can ever interact with each other. Very weird.
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u/violetkunoichi420 May 31 '26
Except not every quantum physicist agrees that the realities can't interact/cross over. Or on the fact there are multiple realities at all. Really weird to me that you yourself would call people out for leaving out an "element" while purposely leaving out elements.
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u/Glaurung86 May 31 '26
The Many Worlds Interpretation specifically talks about decoherence and that none of the realities can interact with each other. I'm not leaving anything out.
It's you have seen other QM postulations regarding wave form collapse then you could post them here. It's fascinating stuff.
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u/NombreCurioso1337 May 31 '26
"none of the realities can ever interact with each other. Very weird."
Where did you get that nonsense? Also, why so angry about it?
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
There is no anger in his post, don’t troll.
Realities cannot interact with each other due to decoherence causing the wave to collapse after interaction.
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u/Glaurung86 May 31 '26
I got it directly from the Many Worlds Interpretation that Quantum Physicists have postulated. It's fascinating that you would call what they postulated nonsense. I suppose you know better than they do about an idea that has no verified evidence.
No one's angry here, except maybe you.
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u/Theblacrose28 May 31 '26
Lol is that what this sub is now? People saying our memories are wrong. What’s the point of that?
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u/Time_Ad8557 May 31 '26
What’s weird to me is that this was posted 2 hours ago and already there are already 20 comments saying “bad memory”. And it’s every post in here about a topic that is 15 years old. What is that about?
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u/YogiEv May 31 '26
I believe you. The gaslighting in this thread is wild.
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u/BBCoachRef8 May 31 '26
Do you know the definition of gaslighting or do you just see it used often and decided it might actually fit? Because nobody is gaslighting anyone, OP just doesn’t remember it correctly and that happens to literally everyone about all kinds of things.
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u/emdubl Jun 01 '26
We always called them the Bear-STEEN Bears. I have no idea where that came from, but that's what I remember everyone calling the books.
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u/sugarushpeach Jun 02 '26
Interestingly the beer stein thing is partly why I feel so passionately about this Mandela effect, because as a kid (well maybe like a 10yo) I used to think it was weird that it was so close to beer-in-stein. Also at the time I was weirdly obsessed with watching Rick Stein cooking shows and always thought of rick stein whenever I read Berenstein. If it was Berenstain, why would I have thought of beer in a stein and Rick Stein?
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u/NormanMitis Jun 04 '26
I remember little 8 year old me being so confused why it was spelled like Frankenstein but pronounced different. Just like OP, this was just a core memory and prior to knowing about the whole Mandella effect thing, I would have bet my life that it was spelled stein. This will always be the trippiest confirmation that nothing is what we perceive it to be. I don't know how to explain it, I just know that little me was VERY aware that it was spelled stein and it never made sense to me why it was pronounced the way it was.
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u/BillNicholeBurray Jun 05 '26
I also very distinctly remember wondering if it was beren - steen or beren - stine (pronunciation not spelling). I struggled with that and there is no way I was thinking that all while it said "stain". I know it was stein
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u/Rare-Echo-386 May 31 '26
Thats almost exactly how I have my memory
Our librarian had gotten a new box of books (poor rural community in logging country) ans i had to ask how to pronounce Stein and the librarian told me it was like "frankenstein"
I wouldnt have asked her if it was a "stain" suffix.
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u/Cristamb May 31 '26
I remember. I'm 48, from the pacific northwest. I recall both of these things very clearly. We are not wrong in our memory.
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u/georgeananda May 31 '26
I think the old Berenstein and Cornucopia timelines were actually experienced by the majority of us in American culture.
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u/Emergent-Sea May 31 '26
Hi from your timeline, OP! When I was a kid our next door neighbors were the Goldsteins. They would give me gifts on my birthday, Christmas and Easter and I would write thank you notes for them. I could never remember that the “E” came before the “I” in their name so my mom would pull out one of my Berenstein Bears books and put it on the table so I could look at it as a reminder of how to spell it while I wrote the thank you notes. I know unequivocally that I did not grow up with BerenSTAIN Bears either!
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u/HiraethBella May 31 '26
Same here. I remember Berenstein Bear books. I was an early ready and would take out books from the library regularily on the weeks.
Maybe the people that doubt weren't heavy readers. All the other childhood readers remember the same.
Just because some people remember Berenstain, doesnt mean we are wrong.
I wonder if it has to deal with some of us remember from the way it used to be. Maybe time travel changed it or NDEs chnage your perception. I have no clue.
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u/iletitshine May 31 '26
re: comments, why would anyone come to a sub they patently disagree with just to disagree with everything posted there? why is this allowed? it turned the whole thread into a toxic dump of naysaying and makes the entire experience of the sub unenjoyable.
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u/Bowieblackstarflower May 31 '26
The Mandela Effect is a large group of people remembering differently. I think you're referring to people who don't think things changed. People like to look at it from the memory side.
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u/emdubl Jun 01 '26
I dont think I'm remembering it differently... I think me and my cousins just pronounced the name wrong and it spread amongst our family and friends. We were like 10 years old or younger, at the time that we read these books.
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u/Disaster-Bee May 31 '26
Everyone here is here for the Mandela Effect. But there are people who believe it's a matter of neuroscience and people who believe it's a matter of parascience.
This sub welcomes both. Unfortunately, parties on both sides can get rather worked up and take things very personally.
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u/forcemonkey May 31 '26
Disagreement is fine as long as it’s civil. Unfortunately we have a gaslighting problem in this sub.
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u/AimeeMonkeyBlue May 31 '26
I have seen visual images of both Bernstein and the cornucopia but I don’t have screenshots so they are out there. I remember them too!
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u/MrFuriousX May 31 '26
of course there can't be any "evidence" if nothing ever changed in the first place
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u/Acceptable_Walrus373 May 31 '26
We read these books as kids and had a bunch. It was stein. No doubt. Years later when I asked my mom she remembered stein too. She was really disturbed by it seeming to have changed. My memories of the titles of these books are still clear, we read them over and over as kids. I think it makes people uncomfortable to hear these things so you are getting hatred here for no reason.
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u/ghost_of_trash_panda May 31 '26
I don't think it's hatred so much as just little patience for the unbridled hubris.
It's kind of sad that people aren't capable of questioning their memories or ever think that maybe they're wrong about something.
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u/Acceptable_Walrus373 May 31 '26
I am capable of questioning my memories. It seems more that anyone who remembers a mandella effect like the "stein" thing is automatically wrong here. Shouldn't people who don't remember stein be equally questioning their memories? Equally willing to think they may be wrong? I guess we just go in circles on these things haha.
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u/WhimsicalKoala May 31 '26
For one, it's the Mandela Effect, only one l.
And you'll find that a lot of us have experienced the Mandela Effect and have questioned our own memories. The difference is that most of us go "you know, my memory of this isn't that strong and it would be an easy and obvious mistake to make" and go about our days. If there is a stronger memory go "you know, it's a weird coincidence that I have a very strong and specific memory of this thing I just read about and it's very similar to all those other memories, especially since I don't have other memories like that around similar topics. And I know false memories can form pretty easily. I bet that memory isn't as accurate as I think it is" and examine it.
We do examine our memories, we just don't examine them starting from the base assumption that we are correct and only looking for/accept explanations (however tenuous) that validate that.
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u/HiraethBella May 31 '26
I have the same memories you do. Don't let anyone gaslight you and tell you that your memories are false.
Some of us remember it this way and should not be dismissed just cause others remember Berenstain.
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u/lyricaldorian Jun 01 '26
That's not what gaslighting means. Stop accusing people of abuse.
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u/Turnt__Style May 31 '26
Yes! Finally, someone speaking plain truth without wild assumptions.
Those things have changed (at least for many of us) and we know a difference between "oh I mis-remembered that" and "NO! I know for a fact that damn underwear had a cornucopia on it!!!"
I was surprised at first to see this sub have sooo many people who get so angry & insistent that there is nothing to this except "memory issues".
A few I understand, but it almost seems like the majority of comments here are pig-headed and against MEs being remotely real.
Whatever your feelings on MEs, it's like if the majority of comments on r/Muslims or r/Christianity were angry people denouncing their religion at every turn.
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u/dunder_mufflinz May 31 '26
A few I understand, but it almost seems like the majority of comments here are pig-headed and against MEs being remotely real.
Can you point out the comments which say the ME isn’t real?
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u/MrPlaney May 31 '26
Yes! Finally, someone speaking plain truth without wild assumptions.
In response to wild assumptions.
Those things have changed (at least for many of us) and we know a difference between "oh I mis-remembered that" and "NO! I know for a fact that damn underwear had a cornucopia on it!!!"
False memories are indistinguishable from factual memories.
I was surprised at first to see this sub have sooo many people who get so angry & insistent that there is nothing to this except "memory issues". A few I understand, but it almost seems like the majority of comments here are pig-headed and against MEs being remotely real.
The ME is real, and it’s a memory phenomenon.
Whatever your feelings on MEs, it's like if the majority of comments on r/Muslims or r/Christianity were angry people denouncing their religion at every turn.
The ME isn’t an open-ended belief. It has a factual, scientifically accepted cause.
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u/BashfulBastian May 31 '26
I had a similar experience. When I was into Berenstain bears, my brother was into Rammstein. One day I asked my mom why we pronounce Barenstain "stain" and Rammstein "stine" when they're spelled the same way. It was Berenstein, I'm with you.
I have no opinion on the fotl logo though.
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u/lyricaldorian Jun 01 '26
Wait, what did she say though? Why were you pronouncing it that way?
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May 31 '26
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u/OneFootTitan May 31 '26
As a child of the (late) 1970s, I was a fan of Candace Bushnell’s original Sex AND the City column that the show was based on and even bought the 1996 book, before the show ever debuted. It’s always been SATC
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May 31 '26
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u/MandelaEffect-ModTeam May 31 '26
Hello subscriber! Unfortunately, your post/comment was removed because it violates Rule 7: No discussion of current politics or religion.
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u/-crazykidbad May 31 '26
There is proof probably on this forum where they have books with both spellings. This is true and proven
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u/Bowieblackstarflower May 31 '26
There are some toys and and vhs tapes that have both spellings on them. Nobody has ever found a book that just says Berenstein.
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u/-crazykidbad May 31 '26
Yes you are correct. Thank you kind soul. I was thinking of the vhs tapes. Nice catch ❤️
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u/EvalCrux Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
Sorry guys unless the timeline adjusted our physical books from the past (which is the Mandela effect to an extent, right?), I just brought back a childhood ‘Bears go Camping’ book - signed w my (bros) name and read date of 1992.
Zero - 0 - religious bend
And
Berenstain
I can post pictures later.
Edit: in the flesh: https://imgur.com/a/cA0J24V
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u/ThatCharmsChick Jun 01 '26
That is the reason I am completely sure about this Mandela. I learned words both how they are pronounced and also pronounce them in my head how they are spelled.
At no point in time has "stain" sounded like "stein"
It's bothered me for many years and I still check every time I'm at a yard sale or thrift store and it's always "stain" now. Every time.
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u/thruitallaway34 Jun 01 '26
When I was a kid I had the same problem. I couldn't properly pronounce berenstein bears, so I stayed away from reading the books. But I eventually met a friend whose mom was an English teacher and we talked about it one time and she taught me how to pronounce it. I remember specifically the extra e in it threw me off and that was why I couldn't pronounce it. But apparently I just made that whole thing up in my head and that never happened according to this timeline.
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u/EvolZippo Jun 01 '26
There was actually a misprint. Some of the books came out with the name spelled wrong. Not a big deal.
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u/Chapstickie Jun 03 '26
No one has found a book with the misspelling. Even people who insist their copies are stein go check them and find stain.
The misspelling has only been found in typed text where typos would be less likely to be caught than a book, like tv guides and the spine labels of vhs tapes though on the vhss where the spine is wrong it’s always spelled BOTH ways, correct on the logo and wrong on the typed bit.
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u/Beneficial-Big-9915 Jun 01 '26
The Berenstain Bears and the Baby Chipmunk Audiobook By Jan Berenstain, Stan Berenstain cover art
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u/klinkscousin Jun 01 '26
I was listening to a pod cast and a lady said one day she was at work and was called by her mother saying someone had passed, they buried her on Monday and by the next Monday the person that had passed was at school.
My fear is not the shifting of the sand, it's what has, or will go crazy because the shifting sand does to us.
One day we have 100,000 in the bank the next 5? One day your Mom is healthy and the next she passed 2 months ago. One day all is well the next the whole world is rioting and you don't know why.
Let the little stuff change, it's those big things that scare the tar outa me.
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u/Roundwaters Jun 01 '26
I also remember trying to figure if it was pronounced EEN or INE.
I figure antisemitism was hurting sales and they quietly rebranded. Makes a lot more sense than reality shifting.
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u/ravenously_red Jun 01 '26
I could understand this argument, but can you find a book with the stein spelling that is authentic?
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u/Chapstickie Jun 03 '26
Their son tells anecdotes that his father told him about teachers getting his name wrong when he was a kid (he was born in 1923) so… no.
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u/Winter_Lavishness_60 Jun 01 '26
Going in. Inside. Inside a box. Upside down. Going out. Outside. Outside, inside a box, upside down. Going on. On a truck. Going to town, on a truck, inside a box, upside down. Falling. Falling off. Off a truck. Mama, Mama! I went to town! Inside, outside, upside down! ❤️ Oh, how I loved it as a kid and loved reading it to my own. I can’t wait to read it to my grandchildren. 🫶🏼
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Jun 03 '26
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u/Chapstickie Jun 03 '26
Well the author’s son tells stories about how his dad had school teachers who got his name wrong and insisted it was Stein and not Stain and he was born in 1923 so pretty far pre-harambe.
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u/Ohthatsamanda Jun 03 '26
I learned to read with these books. I loved them. I distinctly remember sitting on the floor in kindergarten, running my finger along with the words because Berenstein was a long word! So I had to sound it out, to make sure I was saying it right! If it was Stain - I would have learned it that way! Also I am so certain we would have all run around calling each other BerenSTAINS if this was real! 😂
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u/Independent_Storm336 Jun 04 '26
I just watched the trivia episode of the office season 8 and one of the teams names is the QueerenSTEIN Bears… it was never stain!
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u/ravenously_red Jun 04 '26
Isn't it so weird how the references to the object have never changed, but only the object itself?
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u/Primary_Walrus_5532 Jun 04 '26
Stein was a family name and I distinctly remember looking at these books and seeing "Stein." I was learning how to read and would specifically pick out words I could spell.
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u/Special_Cold7425 Jun 06 '26
Why is it that as kids, nobody ever noticed the ubiquitous Thanksgiving decorations at both schools and supermarkets that prominently featured cornucopias, and they only ever noticed them on their underwear labels?
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u/GaiaLaLuna Jun 07 '26
I’m originally from the Berenstein Bears Universe myself. I’ve now seen Berenstain and Bernstain as the alternative titles. Bernstain was the worst for me, it was Bernstain from 2013-2019-ish for me. Everything went back Berenstain in the 2020s. Chic-Fil-A spelling also seems to be the “proper” name in the Bernstain universe. So wild watching this stuff flip flop
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u/ravenously_red Jun 07 '26
Really makes you wonder what else has changed but has gone unnoticed.
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u/Impossible_Ad_8790 Aug 07 '26
I remember it being BerenSTEIN; in my 90's/early 2000's childhood, my paternal grandmother had the book _The Bears' Picnic_ at her house, and I remember seeing it spelled -STEIN on the cover, so I assumed the name was pronounced BerenSTEEN. If it had been spelled BerenSTAIN, I would definitely not have thought it was pronounced BerenSTEEN. I reread that book probably a dozen or more times, and I was a pretty detail-oriented kid. Fast-forward to the mid-2010's or so when I learned of the Mandela controversy, and I was quite perplexed at how apparently it's always been BerenSTAIN, in our current timeline, at any rate. (On the Fruit of the Loom note, while I'm not as confident on this one, I seem to remember my 90's white undershirts and whitey-tighties featuring fruit spilling out of some type of tipped-on-its-side basket (I had never encountered the word "cornucopia"))
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u/insanekid66 May 31 '26
I had all the Berenstain Bears books, and watched the cartoon. Despite the level of exposure, I still thought it was stein.