Old School Snacks

I just love nostalgia. Maybe because I had such a fun childhood. It’s just fun remembering the past. But favorite things go by the wayside. You grow up, and move on. On the rare occasion, you cross paths with something that sparks a fond memory and for a moment, you are taken back in time to that magical place, where all the world is right again.

Every so often I will blog about nostalgia in my “Old School” category.

Those of you born in the 60s, get ready for a blast from the past. Today I’m remembering fun snacks that we used to consume when we got home from school. I remember watching Bozo the Clown, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Felix the Cat (a nostalgia category for another time) while we ate our snacks. Here are some of the snacks that I loved!

Peanut Butter and Fluff
A Fluffernutter is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme, usually served on white bread. If it’s not Wonder bread, it’s not a Fluffernutter in my opinion. We loved the sweet, salty and savory ingredients.

The sandwich was first created in the early 20th century after marshmallow creme, a sweet marshmallow-like spread, was invented in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Archibald Query of Somerville, Massachusetts, invented a product he called Marshmallow Creme in 1917. During World War I, Emma Curtis published a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich, which is the earliest known example of a Fluffernutter. Meanwhile, Query sold his recipe to Durkee-Mower Inc., who renamed it Marshmallow Fluff and continues to sell it under that name today. The term Fluffernutter was created in 1960 by an advertising agency hired by Durkee-Mower to find a more effective way to market the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.

Cheeze Wiz

I know, I know, this stuff is disgusting, but we loved it. I used to spread it on toast and saltine crackers.

Cheez Whiz is a thick processed cheese sauce or spread sold by Kraft Foods. It was developed by a team led by food scientist Edwin Traisman (1915–2007) and was first marketed in 1953. The bright yellow, paste usually comes in a glass jar and is used as a topping for cheesesteaks, corn chips, hot dogs and other foods.

Nabisco Chocolate Snaps

These were my favorite cookies. They also came in Chocolate Chip. They were really cheap, but tasted like chocolate fudge. We used to by them at convenient stores. Boy I miss these. You can buy them again at Wal-Mart . They come in a variety pack now.

Devil Dogs
An unfrosted devil’s food cake sandwich with vanilla creme with round edged cake wafers resembling a hot dog. This is still one of my favorite snack items. Unfortunately Drake’s only distributes east of the Mississippi, so I don’t get to experience this snack anymore. I hate to admit it but, people have actually sent me boxes from back east several times.

The company’s founder, Newman E. Drake, baked his first pound cake in Brooklyn, New York, in 1888. He sold it by the slice.Popularity increased, and soon a whole line of cakes was produced.
At their peak, Drake’s bakery operations spread to thirteen states. In New York City and New England, Drake’s popularity came to rival national brand Hostess. In New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, Drake’s cakes compete head-to-head with that area’s popular Tastykake brand.

Snack Pack Pudding
A pudding snack that came in all sorts of pudding flavors. We used to like the chocolate.

Hunt’s Snack Pack was introduced in 1968 as a shelf-stable pudding in single-serve aluminum/metal cans. Hunt’s sold the pudding in plastic cups in 1984—the first brand in the category to do so—and clear plastic cups beginning in 1990.

Scooter Pies
A Scooter Pie was a marshmallow between two crumbly graham crackers covered with chocolate, named after NY Yankees shortstop Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto. Made by the Bury Company of Ohio. The year was 1965.  Had to have a glass of milk with these. You can’t get these anymore, but Moonpies are similar, and I see them everywhere.

Barnum’s Animal Crackers

A small cracker or cookie baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal one might see at a zoo or circus. We always got these little boxes of cookies when we went to the Barnum and Bailey Circus in New Haven or New York. So when we weren’t going to the circus, they were an extra treat to have! I used to love the little string on the boxes, it was like carrying my very own purse.

In the late 19th century, animal-shaped cookies (or “biscuits” in British terminology) called “Animals” were imported from England to the United States. The demand for these crackers grew to the point that bakers began to produce them domestically. Stauffer’s Biscuit Company produced their first batch of animal crackers sometime around the start of the 20th century in York, Pennsylvania.  “Barnum” refers to the famous showman and circus entrepreneur P. T. Barnum.

What’s your favorite “Old School” snack?

(History courtesy of Wikipedia)