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MEMORIES:
PHOTOS:
“I did not get my SpaghettiOs, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.”
- Last words of a 1995 Death Row inmate.
Childhood foods, though often bland, tend to leave an indelible mark, forming tastes and preferences that often last a lifetime. Alphabet soup, macaroni and cheese, bologna sandwiches and hot dogs fit that bill. With the exception Oscar Mayer bologna and its ever-so-catchy jingle, none of those names have a catch phrase that packs the power of “Uh oh! SpaghettiOs!”
In 1965, the year of Cool Whip, Pampers, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Green Acres and Herb Alpert’s greatest musical success, “Taste of Honey,” the first can of SpaghettiOs was sold. “The neat round spaghetti you can eat with a spoon” went on to become a household staple and a high profile item for the Campbell’s subsidiary, Franco-American. Created by Ralph Miller, the four sizes of noodly-rings came in a tomato-cheese sauce and were quick and easy to make for those needing to prepare meals with ease.
Since then, the product line for SpaghettiOs has grown to include versions with meatballs, small franks (sliced-up hot dogs), added calcium as well as a wide variety of kid-culture shapes, from Saturday-morning cartoons to the latest and greatest out in the movie theaters. There are even RavioliOs, for those who feel the little ringlets just aren’t enough. Packed with full servings of both vegetables (think tomato sauce) and grains (think noodles), it also packs a big punch with over a third of the recommended daily allowance of sodium. Not that it’s enough to stop fans of SpaghettiOs and those who end up with “must-have” cravings. For over three decades, when the reminiscent need kicks in, kids, moms and daddy-Os everywhere have been able to exclaim “Uh oh, SpaghettiOs!”
