Retro Food: 60s Snacks That You Can Eat Today
Have you ever looked down at your half-eaten bag of crisps and wondered, when was it born?
Probably not, but I have. I only realised this was a weird thing when one day, my boyfriend was subject to a fact attack about Pringles. I began telling him the date they popped and the controversial stories that surrounded its release. When I was done, he just stared at me with an open mouth. I’m not sure if he was impressed or sickened by my knowledge.
I find the stories behind what we eat fascinating, and even more so when they’ve been around for a long time. These ten snacks below were popular in the 60s as well as today.
Starburst, 1960
Mars introduced these flavoured hard squares as Opal Fruits at the start of the decade. They came in “sunshine” flavours which are now known as the original flavours that you can buy today. In the US, they were introduced as Starbursts and the UK followed suit later in the century.
After Eights, 1962
If you were a poor woman in the 60s, you could become a little bit classier by buying After Eights. They were also very helpful in telling women where their place was. Thankfully, After Eights ditched their feminist campaign in the ’70s and focused on their packaging instead.
Creme Egg, 1963
These foul chocolate pockets of slime were originally called Fry’s creme eggs until the 70s. The flavour was practically unchanged until recently in 2016, they changed the recipe and their sales plummeted by £6 million. You could say people didn’t like it.
Pop Tarts, 1964
Kellogg’s new pastry first popped out of toasters in 1964 but completely unfrosted. They released them with apple currant jelly, brown sugar cinnamon, strawberry or blueberry fillings. Three years later they decided to add some frosting with additional flavours such as Concord Grape, Dutch-Apple and Raspberry. Although they say that there are now more than 30 flavours, I still only see 2 in stores.
Doritos 1966
A restaurant in Disneyland concocted up the first Dorito before having it made nationwide in 1967 by Frito-Lay. Their original Mexican-inspired snack wasn’t flavoured at all until consumers demanded it. The first flavour was ‘taco’ in 1967. Since then, Doritos come in a number of flavours and even became 3D during the 90s (although I didn’t rate them).
Mini Eggs, 1967
The nations favourite Easter snack was first introduced in 1967. The original colours were yellow, light blue, purple and pink to resemble real eggs. It’s now became a staple of Easter food.
Pringles, 1967
A chemist, researcher and a mechanical-engineer all contributed to inventing the Pringle, commissioned by Procter & Gamble. But when it was released, there was much controversy surrounding the ingredients- it was less than 50% potato. How dare they call themselves a potato crisp.
Twix, 1967
Twix was created by Mars and originally called Raider in Europe. In the late ’70s, they made a peanut butter version that apparently just “doesn’t taste as good” like the peanut butter ones they have now. Millennials, we’re missing out.
Revels, 1967
The original flavours for Revels were orange creme, coconut, toffee, peanut, turkish delight, Galaxy Counters and Malteasers. Eventually, the much despised coffee replaced the coconut and the humble raisen replaced the peanut. The turkish delight was just dropped quicker than an employee who tweets an opinion.
Tic Tacs, 1969
Ferrero introduced their “refreshing mints” at the end of the decade. They got their name in the ’70s ‘Tic Tac’ from the rattle they make in the packet. The two flavours were orange and fresh mint. Since then they’ve had a melange of new flavours including wintergreen and aniseed. There was also a grape but was discontinued after it made people ill.
Hopefully, with all this valuable information about these snacks, you can astound people with your snack knowledge, just like me. Which one is your favourite?
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