What I Loved in the 80's-Food and Drinks

Things I loved in the 80’s-Food and drinks

I loved being a child of the 80’s. The TV was great, the movies were great, and the music was great. Heck, even the food was great.  The 80’s had a lot of unique foods, some I loved and others were more a curiosity. I thought I would list the top 5 uniquely 80’s foods I still miss to this day.

#5. Tab Soda.

How could I do an 80’s list and not have this on here? One of the best things about Back to the Future is that the movie memorialized this little product which everyone has forgotten existed. This was a true 80’s product, and I am not even sure if I ever drank it but I had to put it on here. It’s too bad Diet Coke’s debut wiped this drink out, but it is still sold internationally.

#4.Pudding Pops.

Man, I loved these things. I am refering to the original, not the popsicle variety that came out later. Basically frozen pudding on a stick, simple as that. I used to love when they came out of the freezer all iced over, and then watch it melt as I ate it.

#3.Bonker Fruit Chews.

What happy memories this product brings back. This was a fruit candy like Starburst, but the gimmick was that in the center of the candy, was a fruity center. I know, it sounds weird but it was like double strawberry. I loved these, and have fond memories of eating them.

#2. The Cereal’s.

I don’t know if they still do this because I don’t buy cereals, but in the 80’s anything and everything became a cereal. I loved C3PO’s, those were real good. Of course they didn’t stop there. They had cereals for ET, Mr.T, Teenage Mutant Turtles, Pac-Man, Ghostbusters, and whatever else you could think of. There were even some real strange ones, like “OJ’s” which were little balls of orange juice. Can’t imagine why that one didn’t last. There was also Ice Cream Cone Cereal which was just gross. They were cute and clever, and while none of them ever lasted long we sure enjoyed them when they were around.

#1. Fun Fruits.

If there is one thing that takes me back to my childhood, this is it. Fruit snacks aren’t that unique. They had fruit by the foot and fruit roll ups (which tasted like plastic). These were different somehow. Made by Sunkist these little drops of fruit were just so good. I loved the strawberry, but the grape one’s were pretty good too. It was probably a good thing I was too young to shop for myself, or I would have bought these by the case. As it was, my mother restricted me to two boxes a week which meant conserve them, or wipe them out and wait until she went shopping again. How much did I love these? When they were discontinued, I was upset. I mean “I just broke up with my girlfriend” upset. I have never loved a food product like these, and never will again. Yes, fruit snacks still exist but these were unique. By the way, the image is the best I could find I ate the plain old variety not the stupid dinosaur one's.

Here are a couple honorable mentions before I end. I realize slush puppies were a huge thing in the 80’s, but I never tried them so can’t vouch for them. Ice and syrup just never appealed to me. I’ll stick with Coca-Cola (wait a second….). Besides I think they still make these.  Of course there was Big League Chew; a packet of shredded bubble gum which to this day I am convinced led to a cavity. It was fun to stuff that crap into my mouth though. Finally, I don’t even want to talk about how much I hated Nerds candy. They make me nauseous just thinking about them.

I love the 80’s. Is there a food I forgot? Which was your favorite?

I promised the last time I did one of these that I would talk about 80’s cartoons, which obviously I didn’t do. I will next time, the reason I am resisting because it is very hard to talk about He-Man without the whole “He-Man is gay bullshit” that everyone insists on. However, I will give it a try. Now I gotta go have me some fruit snacks.