The 1980s were filled with so many snacks and treats that would become memorable, but sadly, some of those snacks would be gone before the 1990s rolled around.
Jell-O Pudding Pops
Pudding Pops were a childhood favorite of many ’80s kids. You could find them everywhere in the US at the beginning of the 80s, bringing pudding’s deliciousness to a handheld frozen treat.
Flavors included chocolate, vanilla, and swirl. Appearing frequently in commercials throughout the 1980s, they gained a huge number of fans. Sadly, the original Jell-O version was discontinued in 1993, making a freezer favorite all but nostalgic.
Carnation Breakfast Bars
Before protein bars and sleek meal-replacement snacks hit store shelves, there were Carnation Breakfast Bars. Targeted at busy families who didn’t have time to sit down for a good breakfast, these tasty bars were available in flavors like chocolate chip, granola, and peanut butter.
While they were originally introduced in the 1970s, these breakfast treats remained well-known grocery staples throughout the 1980s. They were discontinued by Nestlé in the early 90s.
Keebler Magic Middles
Magic Middles appeared to be your typical shortbread cookies from the outside. Once you took a bite, you discovered there was a soft fudge center.
Keebler came out with these in the 1980s, and the unique mix made them special enough that folks request them years later. Sadly, they were discontinued in 1994, and cookie lovers everywhere mourned the loss.
PB Max
PB Max came right at the decade’s tail-end in 1989. It’s a sweet treat many people still fondly miss from their childhood. PB Max was made up of peanut butter and oats, placed on a cookie base. The whole package was then topped off with milk chocolate.
This enormous treat could rival some of the biggest candy bars of the time. Despite its potential, PB Max was taken off the market in 1994 after just five years.
Oompas
Wonka Oompas were impossible to overlook at the candy counter. Tiny colorful bites made them easy to shovel into your mouth handful by handful.
The original version had a peanut-butter center rolled in colorful candy coating, but variations were added throughout the years.
Introduced in the 1970s, they continued to be seen around until the early 1980s. The Wonka brand lived on with many other candies, but the original Oompas became one of those forgotten candies that only kids who ate them remember.
Mr. T Cereal
When it comes to 1980s icons, a Mr. T breakfast cereal is right up there with the best. The sweetened corn and oat cereal from Quaker hit the shelves in 1984, boasting “T” shaped pieces and a box covered in that well-known TV star.
During that era, cereals featuring celebrities and cartoon characters were common, but their lifespans were typically short. Mr. T Cereal vanished from shelves not long after it launched.
Giggles cookies
Giggles were as whimsical as their name. Emerging in the 1980s, Giggles cookies had smiley faces with vanilla and fudge cream slapped between them like a sandwich.
They were a natural fit for their times where children’s treats heavily employed licensed icons, quirky shapes and commercials that could run uninterrupted on children’s television programs. Around ten years after their introduction, Giggles vanished from grocery stores sometime in the 1990s.
Jell-O 1-2-3
Jell-O 1-2-3 made the simple boxed dessert interesting by adding a mini kitchen illusion. Once the contents were mixed together and poured into serving dishes, Jell-O 1-2-3 separated into three layers as it cooled, with each layer having its own texture. But it was retired from production in the mid-1990s.
Bonkers Candy
Bonkers were chewy fruit candies that are remembered almost as much for their wacky commercials as for the candy. Ads featured huge pieces of fruit comically “bonking” people on the head.
This gave Bonkers a larger than life personality that really appealed during the 1980s. The candy came in fruit flavors, with strawberry and watermelon being popular choices.
Alpine White
Nestlé Alpine White was presented as something greater than your typical candy bar. The white chocolate filling was blended with almonds and promoted using memorable slogans from the eighties.
In a candy aisle packed with milk and dark chocolate, this pristine white bar was a real standout. But like so many other sweets, it eventually vanished from shelves. However, people still recall the bar and the advertisements from so many years past.
Gatorade Gum
Designed as a convenient way to hydrate and energize yourself quickly during games, Gatorade Gum was one of many childhood/teenage staples grabbed at the grocery store checkout in the 1980s.
The chewy tabs were aggressively sour and citrus-flavored, kicking your saliva production into overdrive. Sadly, the taste didn’t last long after chewing, and with improvements to portable energy products in the 1990s, Gatorade eventually discontinued its beloved green-pack gum.
Minute Maid Soda
Coca-Cola, eager to join the mid-to-late 1980s fruit soda trend, launched its own Minute Maid line in vibrant hues such as orange, grape, peach, and pineapple. The colorful cans were filled with a combination of real fruit juice and extra carbonation.
Minute Maid Soda became a staple at BBQ’s and school lunches, until fruit-based competitors like Sunkist and Slice forced Minute Maid Soda off the shelves by the end of the decade.
Nabisco Swiss Knights
Nabisco Swiss Knights were definitely a more sophisticated snack than many of the colored box cartoons of the 1980s. The bite-sized pieces of Swiss style chocolate were wrapped individually and presented in a box. Nabisco Swiss Knights were a readily available treat in grocery stores everywhere.
Hostess Choco-Bliss
Created in the 1980s for die-hard chocolate fans, Hostess Choco-Bliss was a decadent chocolate snack cake made with layers of chocolate cake and cocoa cream filling covered with a thick, shiny layer of chocolate frosting.
It was often found on shelves or in lunch boxes throughout the late 80s and early 90s. Much richer than your typical CupCake or Ho Ho, Choco-Bliss packs a bigger chocolate punch.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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