Foods of the 1950s-60s Not Eaten Today

The meals, beverages and snacks Americans ate over the decades have changed, even those items popular in the 1950s, 1960s and some beyond into 1970s and 80s.

If you or your parents grew up during these years, many of these food items might remind you of a different era. But these foods and products are not as popular as they once were.

There is the ‘Congealed Salads’ where Jell-O was once the main ingredient. This type of gelatin salad could have shrimp or tuna or other food items along with vegetables such as sliced carrots or beets. These are NOT popular anymore, but you just might remember having them.

A small container drink was ‘Hi-C’. Popular to be placed in the school lunches. As learned later this small box drink only had 5% juice and some 27 grams of sugar, way too much for even adults to have per day. So the demand for Hi-C went down very quickly.

Another drink but in a large bottle was Sunny-D. It was marketed as a good breakfast drink because it had orange juice. Yet revealed it was mostly corn syrup with only 5% orange juice. So its demand went down also.

A vegetable shortening used in many fried and baked goods instead of butter was Crisco. Only it also had trans-fats which were banned in pre-packaged foods in the 2000s. You certainly remember seeing the Crisco cans for many baked goods – especially cookies.

Photo: Crisco metal can 1960s

Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:

Favorite Foods over the Decades

Canned and Bottled Foods

Share Family Recipes for Family History