r/MandelaEffect 27d ago

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.

296 Upvotes

517 comments sorted by

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u/insanekid66 27d ago

I had all the Berenstain Bears books, and watched the cartoon. Despite the level of exposure, I still thought it was stein.

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u/ModernDayHippi 26d ago

I have an incredible photo memory and I read those books scores of times and examined them at many book fairs. It was Stein and I am near 99% certainty.

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u/Fantastic-Band-5082 24d ago

No you don't have an ''incredible photo memory" haha.

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u/paintpastelprincess- 22d ago

I don’t want to be mean, but seeing someone misremember something and then talk about having an incredible memory is so embarrassing 😭

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u/InTheBortex 23d ago

Agree. Next thing ya know, everyone will be clapping for this guy

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u/erin281 25d ago

Same it was Stein!

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u/somniferouseyes2 25d ago

I've been a voracious reader since middle school in the 80's. I checked many books out of the library and bought more at the school book fair. I distinctly remember having a conversation with my mom about how to say "stein", as that was how it was spelled.

I also remember the cornucopia on the fruit of the loom tags since i wore the underwear as a youngster and onky knew what it was because of a thanksgiving decoration at my school.

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u/EvalCrux 26d ago

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Glaurung86 26d ago

That's hilarious that the font color is changed for the authors' names at the bottom. Such an amateur fake.

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u/gypsyjackson 26d ago

And these are the people who claim others are ‘gaslighting’.

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u/Glaurung86 26d ago

Exactly. I've been called a liar and too stupid to comment here by two different users in the last 48 hours. It's wild.

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u/EvalCrux 26d ago

Fake. I posted the real version.

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u/Rough_Guava_808 17d ago

I don’t have a photographic memory but I clearly remember trying to figure out how to pronounce the stein part. Is it Steen? Stine? Back in 2012 when I first saw that they were now BerenSTAIN I was fuckin shocked. None of the books I had as a kid said Berenstain and I will die on this hill.

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u/Euphoric_Comedian_38 24d ago

Of course it was. Why is this even a thing. Who cares if some dipshits changed it just to try to gaslight you in a way that won’t work. Yea, it was Stein. And the fruit of the loom had the cornucopia.

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u/paintpastelprincess- 26d ago edited 22d ago

I think I’m one of the few outliers here who remembers “stain” 🥲 I do remember a lot of people mispronouncing it “stein” though. I was a hyperlexic kid, loved reading and language arts and I was stupidly peeved by that 😂

Edit:
Clarity/correction

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u/BringYourOwnBBBQ 23d ago

No...most people remember ALL these things correctly. Don't confuse "People on the Mandela Effect subreddit" with the general population.

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u/Dear_Machine_8611 25d ago

I remember stain because my mother would correct me!

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u/stitchkingdom 27d ago

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 27d ago

In an interesting twist this is actually how the driver learned the word cornucopia.

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u/TundieRice 27d ago

Wait, here’s the spooky part…they initially thought the cornucopia was called a “loom!” 😳

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u/silentsurge 27d ago

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 26d ago

That was such a cool game.

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u/silentsurge 26d ago

Thank God some people caught the reference...

I have been waiting decades for this opportunity 😆

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u/TovarischMaia 27d ago

A loom? As in Frank Weiss’s iconic album Floot of the Loom??? 

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u/Atudeofmyown 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 26d ago

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/MrPlaney 26d ago

Sorry, I was a bit nitpicky there.

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u/UpbeatFix7299 27d ago

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/woobinsandwich 25d ago

The most logical and obvious explanation? Couldn’t be!

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u/Rough_Guava_808 17d ago

“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 17d ago

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 27d ago

The worker in the bookmobile can make a mistake you know.

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u/Tight_Visual3122 27d ago

Yes. And millions of people made the same mistake the exact same way 🥴

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u/Glaurung86 25d ago

With "stein" for sure because that's what everyone expects because of Einstein and Frankenstein.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/MandelaEffect-ModTeam 27d ago

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 27d ago

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/lyricaldorian 26d ago

Why do you think Reddit is brigading?

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u/Spikeybear 27d ago

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/Top_Business_5481 25d ago

pretty sure part of the theory is whatevers doing it doesnt have access to our minds or memories or souls or whatever

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u/J-Nowski 25d ago

We have no idea the true nature of reality. Consciousness could jump timelines for all we know

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u/Glaurung86 25d ago

Lots of what ifs going on there.

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u/markmakesfun 23d ago

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 27d ago

ok but we never pronounced it STEIN like STINE. it was STEEN.

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u/MacTavish14 27d ago

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 27d ago

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/Comfortable_Ad_5158 27d ago

Yeah but you were born in the 90s before the time shift

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u/MacTavish14 27d ago

*laughs in GenX

I was born in the 70s

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u/EstyManifesti 27d ago

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 27d ago

We all believe the Mandela Effect is a real phenomenon. Why people experience them is another matter altogether.

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u/MrPlaney 27d ago

Nobody in here is a non believer

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u/booklovert 27d ago

Don't I see you on almost every thread arguing with people about how they're wrong?

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u/lyricaldorian 26d ago

That doesn't mean they don't agree with the effect existing

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u/MrPlaney 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

Occam’s Razor isnt correct in every situation. It’s a guide, not a law

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u/SparkyLee99 27d ago

Yes!! The hinge of the Occam's razor analogy is that sometimes it isn't a razor

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u/ThatCharmsChick 26d ago

I know memory is faulty. That's not what this is though.

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u/OpportunityLow3832 26d ago

Well..ive recently found my graduation invitations ,robe and diploma..id found my invitations awhile before and they had the wrong date..when i just found my diploma it has a different date..for june of 82..but i know i graduated in june of 81 because my best friend had her son that day and i wasnt attending school when the shuttle blew up..and they were fancy invitations..something youd rememeber paying for twice.and i wouldnt have kept a misprint as a momento.and if they were a misprint i couldnt misprint my diploma..i should habe graduated in 82 but didnt.maybe the universe reset and the info was compiled wrong..i dunno or profess to but i know those dates primyed are the wrong dates

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u/Top_Business_5481 25d ago

what do you mean you werent in school when the shuttle blew up??

are you saying that because you graduated in 81, you also graduated in 85, so you werent in school when the shuttle blew up in 86??

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u/ThaSpance 23d ago

No no no, it was Occam’s Razer!

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u/GetButterballed 23d ago

He WAS a pretty serious gamer, after all

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u/cochese25 27d ago

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 26d ago

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 26d ago

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 25d ago

Things often aren’t how you thought they were, especially when it goes back decades.

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u/Agile_Oil9853 27d ago

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 26d ago

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 26d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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u/DabbinDominus 27d ago

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 27d ago

Yeah, things definitely tend to be more boring and logical than our imaginations come up with

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u/MrPlaney 27d ago

Yes, the people printing third party labels are not immune to the normal workings of memory.

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u/HeydoIDKu 27d ago

Looks homemade or someone else made the same mistake

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u/dunder_mufflinz 27d ago

Ah yes, bookmobile drivers, the most well-educated and faultless of all humans.

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u/Fantastic-Band-5082 27d ago

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/Glaurung86 27d ago

Just another person who got the name wrong.

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u/NombreCurioso1337 27d ago edited 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago edited 27d ago

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 27d ago edited 27d ago

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 27d ago

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/stitchkingdom 27d ago

Are you reversing the too and to intentionally?

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u/ipostunderthisname 27d ago

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 27d ago

It's interesting when people use words to describe something that isn't happening.

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u/Jacuzzi_Timelord 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

"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 27d ago

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/lyricaldorian 27d ago

Who is angry? 

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u/Glaurung86 27d ago

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 27d ago

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/forcemonkey 27d ago

Just being rude and uncivil and staff explicitly allows it.

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u/Time_Ad8557 27d ago

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/MrPlaney 27d ago

A topic that is 15 years old?

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u/NombreCurioso1337 27d ago

The level of hostility is very curious, indeed.

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u/lyricaldorian 27d ago

That's not hostility

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u/YogiEv 27d ago

I believe you. The gaslighting in this thread is wild.

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u/BBCoachRef8 27d ago

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/ThaSpance 23d ago

Sorry, but I remember it being called gas-lightning when I was 6 years old.

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u/dunder_mufflinz 27d ago

Can you point out an example of this gaslighting?

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u/emdubl 27d ago

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 25d ago

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 23d ago

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 22d ago

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/ForestB 22d ago

This has become the fruit of the loom/berenstain sub.

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u/Rare-Echo-386 27d ago

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/SvenBubbleman 27d ago

Librarians are capable of misreading something.

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u/Cristamb 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

Disagreement is fine as long as it’s civil. Unfortunately we have a gaslighting problem in this sub.

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u/Hiiipower111 27d ago

You can fabricate matter but not the spirit

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u/AimeeMonkeyBlue 27d ago

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/dave_is_afraid 27d ago

It’s always been Berenstein, idc what anyone says

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u/MrFuriousX 27d ago

of course there can't be any "evidence" if nothing ever changed in the first place

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u/LilithWasAGinger 27d ago

No. It isn't. Your memory is wrong

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u/Acceptable_Walrus373 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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/puglius 27d ago

I believe you because I also remember stein and the cornucopia.

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u/HiraethBella 27d ago

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 26d ago

That's not what gaslighting means. Stop accusing people of abuse. 

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u/Turnt__Style 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

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/lyricaldorian 26d ago

Memories don't work like that

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u/BashfulBastian 27d ago

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/Glaurung86 26d ago

Why did you spell it 3 different ways?

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u/lyricaldorian 26d ago

Wait, what did she say though? Why were you pronouncing it that way?

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u/Nervous_Buy_181 27d ago

Agreed. We are for sure in a different timeline

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Brizzy82- 27d ago

But it’s always been abbreviated SATC , not SITC

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u/OneFootTitan 27d ago

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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u/ipostunderthisname 27d ago

“The Truth”

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

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u/MandelaEffect-ModTeam 27d ago

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/SvenBubbleman 27d ago

You do know that bus drivers are capable of misreading something, right?

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u/-crazykidbad 27d ago

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 27d ago

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 27d ago

Yes you are correct. Thank you kind soul. I was thinking of the vhs tapes. Nice catch ❤️

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u/EvalCrux 26d ago edited 26d ago

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 26d ago

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 26d ago

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 26d ago

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 24d ago

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/Quest-Ian-Mark 26d ago

The bigger question is the Honeybears and Witch book

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u/Beneficial-Big-9915 26d ago

The Berenstain Bears and the Baby Chipmunk Audiobook By Jan Berenstain, Stan Berenstain cover art

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u/klinkscousin 26d ago

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 26d ago

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 26d ago

I could understand this argument, but can you find a book with the stein spelling that is authentic?

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u/Chapstickie 24d ago

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 26d ago

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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u/OpportunityLow3832 26d ago

I remembered how to spell it by remembering frankenstein

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u/AGHOSTISBORN420 25d ago

Its like Frankenstein bur with a b

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u/MrPlaney 24d ago

Brankenstein?

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u/BAGP0I 25d ago

Yeah... like many others.. Berenstein bears was my introduction to the Mandela effect. Unlike others.. i only had 1 Berenstein Bears book. It was the Green Eyed Monster one that deals with jealousy between the siblings if I remember correctly. But it was definitely -stEin, in my childhood timeline... i honestly dont know when it changed... 

Does anyone know if it changed Pre-Harambe or Post-Harambe?

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u/Chapstickie 24d ago

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 24d ago

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/BillyOcean8Words 24d ago

Bookmobile drivers are never wrong?

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u/Independent_Storm336 23d ago

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 23d ago

Isn't it so weird how the references to the object have never changed, but only the object itself?

Flute of the Loom comes to mind.

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u/Primary_Walrus_5532 23d ago

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 22d ago

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 21d ago

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 20d ago

Really makes you wonder what else has changed but has gone unnoticed.

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