Blast from the past: Brothers resurrect 80s-craze Freezy Freakies gloves

Lauren Glassberg Image
Monday, December 7, 2015
Brothers resurrect Freezy Freakies gloves
Lauren Glassberg has more.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Temperatures aren't expected to drop any time soon, but eventually, the cold will come this winter. And when it does, you'll need a great pair of gloves.

You may remember the Freezy Freakies gloves that were very popular back in the 80s, and now, a couple of local guys are trying to bring them back.

"This is my childhood right here," Hans Reichstetter said. "Fondest memories, probably the item I most liked to wear as child in the 80s."

And if you were a child during that decade, particularly in the northeast, you too may have loved Freezy Freakies.

"It also made going to school a lot more fun because we'd show up to school with these crazy gloves that were changing color," his twin brother, Karl Reischstetted, said. "And everybody at school was like, 'Wow, you're cool.' People no longer think we're cool, but they did in the second grade."

Now, they are channeling their childhood cool by bringing back the gloves, but this time, they're for adults.

"In the very early 80s, Swany started producing Freezy Freakies," Karl said. "Basically, in 1989, they stopped producing them, and the brand went quiet for several decades."

The brothers secured a license and last year waged a Kickstarter campaign to see if the allure was still there, and apparently it is.

"Everybody who grew up with them stops me, and they are super pumped," Hans said. "'Are those Freezy Freakies?' And sure enough. Most people just see them as the weird bizarre glove they've never seen before, but they're loud."

They're about to release two more of what they call "old-school patterns," and the magic is in the ink that changes when it dips to 40 degrees. And if they weren't a part of your childhood, it's never too late.

"We feel bad for those folks," Karl said. "But luckily, they're now available for people who didn't have them in the 80s."

For more information, visit GetFreezy.com.

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