Old school Burry's Biscuit Co. was created in the late 19th century and a big name in the cookie and cracker industry for decades. Famous for making Girl Scout Cookies, its factory in New Jersey was the largest producer of the assorted treats in the country in the 1960s. These days, the brand is basically unheard of and only makes baked goods such as bagels, English muffins, bread and rolls.
One of the first wheat-based cereal brands, Force was introduced by the Force Food Company in 1901. Its mascot was a cartoon called Sunny Jim, who turned from grumpy to happy after eating the cereal. After it saw success stateside, it crossed the Atlantic to the UK. Then 112 years after launching, it was discontinued in 2013.
Famous for Hi Ho crackers (launched in 1902) and Hydrox cookies (a chocolate and cream cookie launched in 1908), Sunshine Biscuits made many of America’s favourite cookies, crackers and cereals. However, when Nabisco started making Ritz Crackers (in 1934) and Oreo cookies (in 1912), its products were all but forgotten about. Now it’s mostly a defunct brand, with its name only appearing on Cheez-It crackers.
At the start of the 20th century, Curtiss Candy Company was one of the biggest brands with its name on many iconic treats including Baby Ruth (peanut, caramel and chocolate-flavoured nougat), Butterfinger (a crispy peanut butter chocolate) and Coconut Grove (a creamy coconut bar with a dark chocolate coating). In fact, Baby Ruth and Butterfinger are still around today, but sold under a different brand name.
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As if Jell-O wasn’t diet-friendly enough, in the 1920s General Foods launched D-Zerta, a new brand of sugar-free treats. Its fruit-flavoured gelatine products contained around 10 calories and its vanilla, chocolate and butterscotch puddings rarely topped 50 calories. Although, its adverts claimed “It tastes like a million”.
You could find the Schutter-Johnson Company of Chicago name on vintage candies such as Bit-O-Honey (honey-flavoured taffy) and Old Nick (fudge and nuts covered in chocolate) until it was bought by the Ward Candy Company in the late 1960s. Miraculously, Bit-O-Honey is still around but Old Nick was dropped.
A loved brand of peanut butter and jam, Sunny Jim was founded by a German entrepreneur named Germanus Wilhelm Firnstahl who bought a peanut roaster and factory during The Great Depression. By the 1950s, its manufacturer Pacific Food Products Co. supplied a third of all the peanut butter in Seattle. However, it was sold in the late 1970s.
A brand of appetite suppressant candy popular in the 1930s and onwards, Ayds came in chocolate, caramel and butterscotch fudge flavours and contained chemicals similar to those used in cough medicine to make people eat less. It was marketed by movie stars and magazines printed “real life stories” from people who had success with the candy. Its downfall was when it refused to change its name during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
Around 70 years ago when frozen foods were taking off, Snow Crop was the must-have brand. It produced the first orange juice concentrate, which everybody wanted, and single-handedly increased the popularity of the frozen aisle. Next, it brought out frozen peas, broccoli, spinach and strawberries, but was retired sometime in the 1970s.
Famous for its fried clams and 28 ice cream flavours, restaurant chain Howard Johnson’s was so successful it decided to foray into supermarket food. Suddenly you could get HoJo branded mac ‘n’ cheese, toasties, ice cream and desserts in the freezer aisle at your local grocery store.
Now take a look at more fast food chains we wish hadn’t closed
Buffalo-based frozen food brand Freezer Queen was a big player in the TV dinner market in the 1950s. Its much-loved products included Homestyle Gravy & Meatloaf Slices, Gravy & Sliced Turkey, and Gravy & Salisbury Steak. However, it was unexpectedly dropped after the factory failed its food safety inspection.
Do you remember Allsweet’s homely adverts featuring farms and baked goods from the 1950s? One of the early margarine brands, it was produced by Swift Independent Packing Company and boasted about its natural flavour and yellow colour – previously margarine had to be dyed white. Since the 2000s it hasn’t been available.
Thrifty 1950s home cooks loved Pream, a coffee creamer launched by H.C. Moores Company of Columbus, Ohio. It was super economical because one tin was equivalent to two bottles of milk and it didn’t need to be stored in the fridge.
We have frozen food brand Swanson to thank for America’s most iconic ready meal, the TV dinner. The original was a tray of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, that was reheated in the oven. Launched in the 1950s, around the time more women were going into the workforce, they were wildly successful. These days they’re sold under the Hungry-Man brand.
Take a look at the incredible story of how TV dinners conquered the world
One of the first meal replacement shakes, Metrecal was a hot topic in the 1960s. It came in flavours such as maple walnut, chocolate malted, mocha and strawberry, and it wasn’t uncommon to overhear people debating their favourite at cocktail parties. Later, the brand brought out wafers, soups and tuna salad. However, dieters had grown tired of skipping meals and by the next decade Metrecal was on its way out.
Want more? Take a look at these incredible dishes and desserts from the 1960s
Long lost Lucky Whip was a brand of dessert topping similar to Cool Whip. It came in a box as well as a spray can and was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. You may remember its adverts which featured cute kids squirting the whipped topping onto desserts. Sadly, by the 2000s it could no longer be found on shelves.
Younger audiences may recognise this brand from its appearance on Mad Men, a period drama about a New York advertising firm (it was only on shelves in real life for one year in the 1960s). However, the story of Patio is an interesting one. The name was created by PepsiCo for its new line of diet drinks as the multinational didn’t want them associated with its main brand. However, as soon as Patio diet cola took off, it was renamed Diet Pepsi.
What we loved about crisp brand Mrs Bumby’s was its cylinder tins and company mascot: a friendly old lady who was presumably Mrs Bumby. Its packaging boasted “Mrs Bumby’s taste even better than chips in a bag”. The product they’re most similar to is Pringles, but we haven’t seen them since the 1970s.
With its line of playful TV dinners for kids, Libbyland became the brand every child wanted their parents to come home from the supermarket with in the 1970s. They had different themes including Safari Supper, Pirate Picnic and Sea Diver’s Dinner. A typical box would have five compartments featuring fried chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, tater tots, corn and chocolate pudding.
An ingeniously-named brand of dehydrated meals from General Mills, Mug-O-Lunch was known for being quick, convenient and tasty. It was created in the 1970s, the era of all sorts of weird and wonderful convenience foods, and included varieties like mac ‘n’ cheese, spaghetti and beef noodles. It lasted on shelves a few years, before it was discontinued.
Only 1980s kids will remember Fruit Corners, a much-loved candy brand that included Fruit Roll-Ups (fruit-flavoured candy that you peel off a piece of rolled up tape), Fruit Wrinkles (gummy sweets) and Fruit Bars (chewy bars). It has since been discontinued by General Mills and remaining products are sold under Betty Crocker.
This jazzy brand of soda was actually supermarket Safeway’s own brand. Many families preferred it to big brands’ such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola as they could save money and it tasted just as good. Sadly, in the 1990s the store decided to unify its own labels to save on advertising costs and gems such as Cragmont were cut.
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Another long lost supermarket own brand from Safeway was Edwards Coffee. Great-tasting and consistent, it had a decent fan base. It was culled, along with Cragmont and Townhouse, in the 1990s and sold under the Safeway label instead. A company spokesperson said they believed the change would be more customer friendly. How wrong they were.
If you’re a Lucky Stores shopper you may be familiar with Lady Lee, which was the company’s own brand and on products including canned veg, soda, barbecue sauce, milk, sugar, rice and household products until the 1990s. Based in California, its basic products are now sold under the less charismatic Lucky brand.
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Every California kid growing up before the 1990s will recognise this brand. Bell Brand made a regionally popular line of snacks including plain crisps, crinkle-cut crisps, corn chips and sunflower seeds. Sadly, it went out of business before the turn of the century.
Wacky early 2000s flavoured milk brand Swerve was so amazingly bad it was good. It was 51% milk (the rest was water and flavourings), vitamin-fortified and came in three flavours: Vanana (vanilla and banana), Blooo (strawberry and blueberry) and Chocolate. The best part? It came in a can and was only available to kids through school.
Now take a look at the biggest foods fads and crazes from the decade you were born