Food tagged with 70s - 3/8

Coca-Cola

We, the people, sure seem to enjoy our Coca-Cola. It is a product as decidedly American as a warm slice of apple pie. Few products can boast a level of universal recognition comparable to this heavily sweetened cola-flavored soft drink that has been enjoyed by literally billions of people over the past century. Through the Great Depression, two World Wars, and every decade in between and beyond, Coca-Cola has held a special place in our hearts.

Count Chocula

Crazy Cow

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Finding one’s niche in the highly competitive market of breakfast cereals can be a daunting task. There are only a few specific grains used and only so many shapes they can be formed into. Sure, you can add some colored marshmallows to the mix, but beyond that, there is little that hasn’t already been tried. General Mills, however, slyly decided to take the focus off the cereal and put it on the milk, in a delightful concoction known as Crazy Cow cereal.

Dairy Queen

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To survive in the ice cream business for over 70 years with only one flavor is a pretty monumental feat. But from 1940 to the present, Dairy Queen has been milking their vanilla soft-serve delicacy for all its worth, creating a variety of frozen treats sure to sooth on a hot summer day. And perhaps their most successful concoction is the Blizzard, a sublime blend of soft-serve and candy/cookie chunks that is sure to satiate any sweet tooth. Let's take a look back.

Drake’s Cakes

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When one thinks of individually packaged snack cakes, the first word that probably comes to mind is “Hostess.” But for those who grew up on the East Coast of the United States, there has always been an equally-loved underdog known as Drake’s Cakes. For those east coasters who have relocated to places where their beloved Devil Dogs and Yodels are no longer available, Hostess snacks are considered a substandard substitute for the treats they hold dear to their heart.

Fluffernutter

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It’s a snack so decadent that one might immediately assume that the King of Rock and Roll first concocted it. Two simple slices of bread, coated with equal and generous amounts of peanut butter and a delightful product called Marshmallow Fluff. To many kids of generations past, it was the perfect afterschool snack; to those with less-nutritionally-minded parents, it was occasionally a resident of the lunchbox. And, to anyone who ever had the privilege of crossing paths with a Fluffernutter, it was a sandwich that seemed as if it was created through divine intervention.

Freshen Up

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Let’s face it, there have been few technological advancements in chewing gum since it first became popular. Sure, new flavors have been introduced, formulas have been perfected to produce better bubbles, and various shapes have come and gone over the years. But 1975 marked a new era with the introduction of squirting gum. The first company to go down this path was Adams, with their spearmint-flavored Freshen-up gum.

Fun Dip

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Packets of powdered sugar-dust licked from a vanilla-flavored candy stick. For a kid, does it get any better than that? The appropriately-named Fun Dip packed a punch like no other, pure refined sucrose with a bit of tartness that would send your blood sugar levels racing to heights never before achieved. And when the powder was gone, you could begin gnawing on the enclosed edible utensil.

Funny Face

7 Comments

Nothing says summer like a cold pitcher of powdered drink mix, ready to stave off dehydration and quench the thirst after a day of playing in the hot sun. At mere pennies a serving, these colorful and fruity concoctions have been a favorite of parents and kids alike for decades. Of course, we all know who the leader of the pack is, with their familiar mascot ready to burst through a wall at the first mention of his name, but even a star as recognizable as the Kool-Aid Man had to contend with a worthy competitor in the 60s and 70s, a fondly-remembered drink mix called Funny Face.

Gold Mine

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The art of creative packaging has sold a lot of candy to a lot of kids. Find a unique way to market your confection and you could be looking at a gold mine of profits. Perhaps that was the inspiration for Gold Mine gum, little golden nuggets of chewy goodness, cleverly packaged in a burlap sack.