What I Loved in the 80’s-Food and Drinks (re-post)

Last time I promised this year I’d do some re-postings of articles as well as follow ups.  The other day was a follow-up, so let’s try a re-write of an early article which could have been sooo much better. I wrote the original article way back in 2011, and there are lots of things I don’t like about it. The article is limited to five items, for some reason. I didn’t go into a lot for most of them, and the pics are long gone. It’s also a bad title, these are more snacks and junk food. So here is a larger look at this topic. I am leaving off cereal because that is an area I covered more in depth elsewhere.

Every generation has that food item, or items, that we loved as a child and then wondered what the heck happened to it when we grew up. 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. Here are ten examples from my childhood :



Tab Soda

I always loved the scene in Back to the Future when Marty tries to order a Tab in 1955. Course kids today are probably scratching their heads at that joke, but yes Tab was a think in the 80s. I don’t remember ever trying it, but it was all over the place. Until Diet Coke came along anyway. Oh and yes there was also such a thing as “Pepsi Free”.









SnackWell’s

Ok this was the 90’s but let’s talk about what a HUGE deal these were. These fat free cookies were all the rage, and I really mean that. They were everywhere! Until people realized that fat free doesn’t mean calorie free. The commercials for these were popular too, showing a wimpy cookie maker being harassed by three ladies for these things. Umm..somehow I don’t think that idea would fly as well today.







McDLT

What a stupid idea. I guess I get what they’re thinking, I hate soggy sandwiches too. But what does having two separate compartments really accomplish? Wouldn’t that lettuce be warm by the time the customer got it home (assuming it was drive-thru)? The amazing thing is how excited for this little idea they were! Oh, and a Styrofoam container is a real bonus fail. Still, wasn’t as stupid as the Arch Deluxe!







Pudding Pops

Why oh why do these no longer exist? Sigh. They were pretty much what they were advertised as, pudding frozen and on a stick. And man where they yummy! Of all the examples here this is the one i don’t get why it vanished never to be seen again. And yes the fact Bill Cosby promoted them (and all Jello products) is a tad unfortunate.







Bonkers Fruit Candy

This is sort of still around but not as the Bonkers I loved as a kid. This was a fruit flavored candy, like Starburst, with extra fruit flavored center. MMMM. These were advertised like crazy in comic books.







Big League Chew

I am pretty sure I got a cavity once from this stiff. What was it? Shredded bubble gum sold in packets you ripped open. And the commercials implied that major leaguers love to chew it. Uh yeah I think that’s something else they’re chewing. Still the ad worked making you feel like badass when you ate it. I used to love to stuff my mouth ull of this stuff as a kid. It’s kinda still around.







Hubba Bubba

Yeah I was a gum guy back in the day, before braces. As I said I left a lot off the other time and can’t believe I missed this one. I guess it is still around though not anywhere I shop. But this big chunk of gum was just fabulous, especially the Blueberry. I could eat the whole packet in one sitting. Yum!







E.L.Fudge

Wait, aren’t these around? Well you see my young friends being old and wise as I, I recall the original version of these cookies. Today they’re two cookies with a fudge center. In my day, it was simply shortbread cookies with a fudge back. And I simply adored them! The way they disappeared it’s a good think we can dig up the old commercials to assure myself I didn’t make them up. And I can’t figure why they vanished. Not that there’s anything wrong with the sandwich cookies, but I loved these!






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 very much exist (there’s even a Sunkist brand out there) but these were unique.







Ok ok it’s only fair to mention these one, even though I hated it:
NERDS

This was rock candy, but very small so you could pour a few in your mouth and just suck on them. These were so popular they were even a cereal. And I hated them, they were just awfil to me.






There’s plenty of 90’s stuff I overlooked, but since I wasn’t a child in the 90’s I can’t really comment. For instance, Dunkaroos. Sometimes someone will come up with an idea so incredibly simple..that people love them! Hey, just add some frosting to the crackers so kids can dip them. Genius! I haven’t a clue what they had in the 70’s. And if you’re wondering why no mention of Hi-C Ecto Cooler, I never tried it. Stuff seemed nasty to me. FYI Crystal Pepsi was awful.




Did I miss your favorite example? Comment and let me know.