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MEMORIES:
Forget the fancy soups of today – puree this with the oil of that! Organic this and premium that! Give the masses their Alphabet Soup and call them happy.
Offered, most notably, as a part of Campbell's Condensed Soups brand, the origin of Alphabet Soup is murky. While Campbell's marketed its first Condensed Soup in 1897, but it is unclear whether the kid-friendly letter-shaped noodles were offered in its first line. What is known, however, is that it had become popular enough by the 1930s, when F.D.R's numerous New Deal agencies were referred to as "alphabet soup" thanks to their many and varied initials. (It has been adapted to describe more recent acronym collections, such as United States' federal agencies.)
Alphabet soup is a classic, and for good reason. It was fun; not inanely silly like chicken and stars, but good times for the aspiring writer in all of us (or at least for a precocious word-loving child). Parents appreciated the easy way to sneak veggies into their childrens' diets-- the soup was packed with goodies like corn, tomatoes, and green beans and labeled a vegetable soup even though the tasty and literary noodles were settled in a beefy broth with a tomato-packed punch that had enough sodium to take you through the day.
Every child whose parents bought them Alphabet Soup got to enjoy gobbling up words. Who needed space ships and cartoon characters when a kid could eat the whole story?! To this day, Alphabet Soup still sits proudly on the top shelf of cupboards across the country, just waiting for a child--or a child at heart-- looking for a justifiable reason to play with their food. And it will likely continue to for years to come (provided the super-high sodium doesn't get in the way!)
