Discontinued Foods We Miss From the '70s & '80s

radical eats

Snack foods, insta-meals, cereals, and drinks tend to come and go, yet the ones we remember from childhood seem to stick with us — like a Willy Wonka Oompa candy stepped on by accident. Children of the 1970s and 1980s had a veritable smorgasbord of ill-conceived and nutritionally suspicious fare to enjoy, and still miss their unusual packaging, unique smells, off-the-wall flavors, and the sheer insanity that went in to conceptualizing them. If this junk food nostalgia isn't enough, there's plenty more to dig into on cereal alone.

hubba bubba gum

This late 1970s brightly colored bubble gum came in big cubes kids loved, but its popularity faced competition from Bubblicious in the 1980s. The original was discontinued, but Mars bought Wrigley and rebranded it in a tape form.

jell-o pudding pops

Pudding Pops hit stores in the late 1970s but were a kids' staple in the 1980s with Bill Cosby as their genial promoter. Over time they were discontinued, and Cosby is in prison.

swanson tv dinners

A turkey or fried chicken dinner encased in foil was where it was at in the 1970s. You had to perform surgery to extricate the peas and carrots baked into the fruit cobbler that lay between the potatoes and the veggies. A staple dinner for Friday nights ahead of "The Brady Bunch."

Keebler Magic Middles — GeorgeVHS/youtube.com

keebler fudge magic middles

Neither the chocolate fudge cream inside a shortbread cookie nor versions with peanut butter or chocolate chip crusts survived. But the 1980s fave gets rumored returns and tantalizing dead links from Walmart and Amazon.

ecto cooler hi-c

"Ghostbusters" sparked a licensing frenzy in toys and food items, and in 1989, HI-C rebooted its classic Citrus Cooler as a bright green lime drink featuring the film's Slimer character. In 2015, Coca-Cola renewed the trademark for the "Ghostbusters" reboot.

baron von redberry

In 1972 it was safe for Baron Von Redberry, a WWI German pilot who flew around spreading his berry-flavored oat cereal with berry marshmallows in a General Mills concoction that turned milk into fruit punch. Redberry's catchphrase was "Baron Von Redberry is der berry goodest!" while pilot Sir Grapefellow, with his own fruit cereal, replied: "Tally ho! Sir Grapefellow is the grapest!"

triple power push pops

Sugar-loving kids in the 1980s always had a Triple Power Push Pop at the ready. The slidable lollipop could be stored and savored at different times. Some retro candy websites have links where they can still be tracked down.

hershey's bar none candy bar

Hershey's Bar None was introduced to the world in 1987 (and in Canada was called a Temptation). Made of milk chocolate-flavored wafers filled with chocolate cream, covered with crushed peanuts and a coating of milk chocolate, it tried to compete with Twix. The "tame the chocolate beasty" candy fell into oblivion.

nabisco swiss cheese crackers

This 1980 snack cracker looked like a piece of Swiss cheese, complete with holes, but America didn't care. Canada still has access to Christie Swiss Cheese Crackers.

reggie! bar

Yankees legend Reggie Jackson was so popular that Standard Brands made a candy bar and named it after him, which fans used to throw when Jackson was at bat. This mid- to late-1970s confection had milk chocolate, peanuts, and gooey caramel, similar to the Baby Ruth bar.

danka

Toast'em rolled out their own 1970s Danka toaster snacks, which sort of looked like a real pastry. The Toast'ems of today don't have this continental flair.

pb max

Peanut butter and chocolate topped a healthy oat-filled cookie made with whole grains for a Mars confection that was ahead of its time. Now this describes just about every other energy bar out there.

koogle peanut butter spread

Before everyone was allergic to peanuts, this spread from the 1970s ruled. It came in a chocolate version — the closest most of us would get to Nutella for a while — and a handful of other flavors, touted as a spread that didn't make your mouth stick together.

aspen soda

The late 1970s was when Pepsi introduced the refreshing apple soda called Aspen. It was eventually revamped and rebranded as Apple Slice, before that brand also disappeared. A "crisp and crystal clear" drink with "just a snap of apple," Aspen was gone by 1982.

fruit brute cereal

The era was the off the charts for sugar consumption at breakfast. General Mills introduced this "fruit flavor frosted cereal + marshmallow bits" in 1974 with a werewolf mascot on the box. Quentin Tarantino sometimes plants this retired cereal as a prop in movies.

danish rings

Like Pop Tarts, this early 1970s toaster pastry — begun in the late 1960s by Kellogg's as Danish Go-Rounds — had all the required food groups (sugar, carbohydrates, and fat) in a convenient, handheld shape.

marathon bar

This 1970s treat was a long braid of caramel covered in chocolate, thin and very long — proven by the ruler graphic printed on the back of the wrapper. With a name suggested by the decade's fad of running and jogging but Old West-style marketing, it was tasty but confusing.

hostess chocodiles

The Chocodile was a chocolate-covered Twinkie with a reptilian mascot, Chauncey Crocodile, who claimed "It takes a while to eat a Chocodile." (It didn't.) This 1980s cult classic had a 2014 mini reboot when Hostess made it in a tiny fun-size form.

nabisco cheese tid-bit

Over time, competitors such as Goldfish and Cheez-Its stole the cheesy goodness thunder, but true fans can move to Canada and return to enjoying what are known as Christie Cheese Bits.

nintendo cereal

Gamers may have eaten up Ralston's Nintendo Cereal System, a box of paired crunchy colorful cereal that promoted "Super Mario Brothers" and "The Legend of Zelda." But not enough — it was game over after one year in 1989.

wonka oompas

The Oompas of the 1970s were similar to Reese's Pieces or Peanut Butter M&Ms, being crunchable discs of chocolate and peanut butter, before turning into a Skittles wannabe and going out of stock.

banana frosted flakes

Super sweet Frosted Flakes have never left the cereal shelf, but adding banana flavor seemed to go too far in the early 1980s. This cereal lasted only about three years, though there's a Banana Creme version back on those shelves now.

carnation breakfast bars

Before Kind bars and Luna bars, and a hundred others, there were these supposedly healthy breakfasts to-go, chocolate-covered but filled with oat and malt. They were advertised in 1970s magazines to combine with a glass of milk for a full meal experience.

mug-o-lunch

Betty Crocker rolled out hot dishes made in a mug in 1976. "My wife's a magician," says the happy husband who gets the macaroni and cheese version in a cup. Modern microwave versions make this seem less amazing.

hickory farms chocolate bars

These flavored chocolate bars were at Hickory Farms mall stores all across America in the 1970s. At least there are still some malls and Hickory Farms stores.

dinky donuts cereal

Early 1980s breakfast cereal Dinky Donuts started advertising by playing into the decade's weird business fetish, featuring kids in suits giving "expert" opinions about Ralston's cereal made of little doughnuts. Were the kids indicted for insider trading?

26 Foods We Miss From the '70s and '80s

radical eats

hubba bubba gum

jell-o pudding pops

swanson tv dinners

keebler fudge magic middles

ecto cooler hi-c

baron von redberry

triple power push pops

hershey's bar none candy bar

nabisco swiss cheese crackers

reggie! bar

danka

pb max

koogle peanut butter spread

aspen soda

fruit brute cereal

danish rings

marathon bar

hostess chocodiles

nabisco cheese tid-bit

nintendo cereal

wonka oompas

banana frosted flakes

carnation breakfast bars

mug-o-lunch

hickory farms chocolate bars

dinky donuts cereal

Live Well For Less

Behind every budget is a bucket list. From travel, food and lifestyle to product reviews and deals, we’re here to show you how to save and what’s worth saving for.

Money

Lifestyle

Travel

Kitchen & Food

Home & Garden

Health & Fitness

Tech

Automotive

All Reviews

26 Foods We Miss From the '70s and '80s

radical eats

hubba bubba gum

jell-o pudding pops

swanson tv dinners

keebler fudge magic middles

ecto cooler hi-c

baron von redberry

triple power push pops

hershey's bar none candy bar

nabisco swiss cheese crackers

reggie! bar

danka

pb max

koogle peanut butter spread

aspen soda

fruit brute cereal

danish rings

marathon bar

hostess chocodiles

nabisco cheese tid-bit

nintendo cereal

wonka oompas

banana frosted flakes

carnation breakfast bars

mug-o-lunch

hickory farms chocolate bars

dinky donuts cereal

Unusual Foods on a Stick

Fashion Brands We Miss

Classic Vacation Spots We Miss

Air Travel Perks We Miss

40 Amazing Snacks Americans Miss Out On

Live Well For Less

Behind every budget is a bucket list. From travel, food and lifestyle to product reviews and deals, we’re here to show you how to save and what’s worth saving for.