Snacks From the 1960s That Deserve a Comeback

The maker of favorites such as Premium Saltine Crackers, Animal Crackers, and Honey Maid graham crackers had a misfire with Chit Chat Crackers. The barbecue-flavored product was introduced in 1964 and did not have the longevity of its other offerings.

Advertised as having “hot-popped taste,” these salty treats were made with a pinched shape designed for dipping. They failed to have legs among the snack-eating crowd.

General Mills introduced what was advertised as a “snack that looks like a daisy” with “a flavor like oven-puffed popover — only crunchy!” Some of the ads for the product featured a young woman with a flower clenched in her teeth, a campaign the company could probably not get away with today.

This was a snack made up of five parts: Toasted peanuts, pretzels, rice squares, wheat squares, and cheese Tid-Bit Crackers. Fans of this snack swear its taste is superior to Chex Mix. Competition from chips, crackers, and other snacks led to its demise in the 1990s, despite the addition of various flavors.

This Pillsbury product was a baked snack created to look like french fries (which is where the “fraud” came in) and onion rings. An advertisement suggested customers have beef stroganoff and tossed salad before sinking their teeth into these snacks.

Jell-O 1-2-3 was one of the more famous missteps by General Foods. The popularity of Jell-O convinced the company to make gelatin dessert with two toppings in flavors including strawberry, raspberry, orange, cherry, and lime. Jell-O 1-2-3 was on shelves until the 1990s as it and other gelatin treats declined in popularity.

This General Mills snack befuddled consumers — it was part corn and part potato. And who was Joey anyhow?

The spiral-shaped corn twists were marketed as great for dipping. Nabisco called the fans of Korkers “krunchers” who can “unwind” by “getting twisted up in a box of Korkers.” The snack disappeared in the 1970s.

To try and goose Jell-O sales, Nabisco created Mr. Wiggle. This was candy-flavored Jell-O that came in six flavors but made without sugar. The varieties were Gumdrop Grape, Candycorn Orange, Jellybean Strawberry, Lollypop Lime, Rockcandy Raspberry, and Candyball Cherry.

When Nabisco introduced these barbecue-flavored chicken snacks in 1966, the company boasted they were “something to cluck about.” Apparently, they weren’t.

These crunchy snacks look very much like the Chex line of snacks and were advertised as “fun but not filling.” The box for each flavor featured a character associated with that flavor: Corn (Native American), cheese (Swiss or Austrian), barbecue (cowboy), and potato (leprechaun). Doubtful those ads would fly today.

Screaming Yellow Zonkers were a treat produced by the now-defunct Nebraska-based Lincoln Snacks Company. Zonkers were known for their striking black packaging featuring various illustrations and humorous tips on how to open the box. They were discontinued when Lincoln Snacks was purchased by Conagra in the early 21st century,

This cheese-flavored product from Nabisco was said to be made to pair with drinks and “designed to fit the curve of your hand.”

The Triple Decker was made of three thin layers — a semi-sweet chocolate bottom, white chocolate middle, and milk chocolate top. It was popular at the start but faded quickly.

These salty cheese-flavored snacks shaped like little tubes were part of the same group of snacks as Daisys and Bugles. Only Bugles survived. All of the snacks were branded as “televittles,” and consumers were encouraged to “crunch along” with the new television shows.