From the Snack Aisle: Nabisco Sooper Kookies

Sooper Kookies
Company: Nabisco
Years: 1973-???

Image from Dan Goodsell's - check him out!

Ah, Sooper Kookies.
Who duesn't reemembr thees wunderfull kookies from Nahbisko?
"I doent", I'm shure yore saing.

Whitch is funne, becuse I sayd the saim thing.

Alright, I can't do it. I can't keep spelling this article wrong on purpose.
You see, I had this whole bit I was going to do based on the purposeful misspelling of the words "Sooper Kookies", but I just can't do it. Between you, me and spellcheck, it's just really starting to hurt my head.

So instead I'm going to do some real hard research................................................

...researching...................

......................researching..........................


I got nothing.

Other then a few images from Dan Goodsell and poptartsbox on Flickr (check em both out!) I couldn't find much of anything. I did media searches over the last 50 years on newspapers, hoping to dig up an advert or something, but didn't find squat. Not a mention. All I know is they came in at least 3 flavors: Fudge Cream, Chocolate Cream, and Vanilla Cream. They were sort of a pop-tart, more or less. And that's about all I know.

They remynd me uv a cros beetween kookies and.......I can't do it. I just.....can't.....do it.

So I'm gonna pull the ol' "throw it back on the readers" trick, where I hope you can help me fill in the blanks.

Anyone remember these? Were there other flavors? Did they last more then one year?

Let me know in the comments below! Until then I'll file these under another mystery product without much history top be found.

NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

Attention customers: Were running a special in our deli department this week - buy one pound of mashed potatoes with homestyle gravy, get a second pound for half off! This is a great bargain for all you potato lovers out there (and gravy lovers too, I suppose, which is in itself, is kind of weird.)

Also, starting today, you can check out our Youtube page: Gone But Not Forgotten Commercials!

It's a whole truckload of awesome retro commercials from the 60's - 90's! Food! Cars! Video Games! PSAs! Cereal! A little bit of everything! Even Taco Ranch from Pillsbury!

So stop on by and check it out - I'll be adding new commercials daily as I work my way through my hundreds of hours of vintage video tapes of TV shows recorded with the original commercials.

We thank you for being not only a customer, but also a friend.

Thanks for shopping!

- Jason (Manager, stock boy, bagger)

From the Frozen Food Aisle: Toasta Pizzas

Product: Toasta Frozen Pizza
Company: Toasta Food Company
Years: 1971-?

So here's a product that I can't find much about, at all. I found this add while browsing some old newspapers. It seems that in the early to mid 70's there was a boom for at home personal pizza or some variation of them. There were Nabisco Poppins, Kellogg's had their Presto Pizzas, Buitoni had their Toasterinos, but here is one that I can only assume was a company (unsuccessfully) jumping on the bandwagon (though seeing that these were from the early 70's and the others came a little later, maybe this product was just ahead of it's time instead.)

Like I said, I don't know much about this product, except that TV Host and actor Art Linkletter was signed on as a celebrity sponsor of them, and even stared in a TV commercial for them (which I could not locate.....yet......)

Anyone remember these?

From the Beverage Aisle: Nestle's Choco Boom

Product: Choco Boom
Company: Nestle
Years: 1970-71

Hey Gone But Not Forgotten Groceriers! (wait, is that a thing?)
Every once in a while you come across an item that is so forgotten about that even the mighty internet is of no help to you.

I googled Choco Boom, and it told me I had cancer. (Come on Web MD....you're better then that).

I also found one other person, The Urban Archeologist (http://www.urbanarcheologist.net/) who didn't know what this stuff was either after finding several empty cans.

Image by the Urban Archeologist -  http://www.urbanarcheologist.net/

But yeah, I don't have much on this one. It's another weird mystery that I wish I could solve but can't. So what do I know?

It's a product put out by Nestle's in the early 70's.....a chocolate flavored drink. Think Yoo-hoo. Yeah, you got it....

The only other thing I know is that if they did in fact make liquid dynamite, under no circumstances drink it. I mean, come on...use some common sense.....you'd be blown up.

BOOM!
Choco Boom.

Legendary DJ Bruce Marrow of WABC/WNBC face (Cruisin' Brucie as he was called) was sort of the spokesperson as you can see by the comic book ad below, so maybe I should contact him and get to the bottom of this.

I have a feeling this mystery has only begun......hopefully more to come......

Expired Coupon Daze! - Pillsbury Squoze

I'm not even sure how to say the name of this product. I triple checked it several times after I typed it out and still think I have it wrong.

Can't say I remember this stuff. Basically 1/2 the sugar drink mix. Another 70's product that vanished.

Came in Lemonade, Cherry, Orange, Lemon Lime, Grape and Punch.

The demise of this product had to be it's name. Or it's freakish torn in half mascot, which I'm pretty sure is either lemon or a meatball.

From the Misc. Foods Aisle - Tuna Twist

Product: Tuna Twist
Company: Nabisco
Years: 1976

"I'm Sir Celery, I'm Ms. Parsley, We are the Onion Twins...
We're...in....Tuna Twist, a tuna taste, fresh as the garden"

Let me just start off by coming clean: I think Tuna is disgusting. It smells bad, it tastes bad, and the seafood industry wants you to believe that it's this wonderful high class product, when it's actually, in my opinion, the seafood version of Spam. Cheap, canned, and oh so gross. (There goes my big Tuna/Spam sponsorship money......)

I have to say, though, that I was intrigued the other day when I stumbled upon a product that I had never heard of in my life, called Tuna Twist. The product, made by Nabisco in 1976, was a "meal extender", which is a fancy term for "this is all the food we have in the house until next payday, so we need to make it last". Basically, it was seasoning packets that was to be added to tuna salad that somehow magically made your pound of tuna turn into a pound and a half.

Witchcraft? We can't be certain.

Actually, the packets contained textured vegetable protein. Remember this. It will be important later on.

Tuna Twist came in 3 flavors: Onion, Cheddar, and Italian.
"We are giving the consumer a way of adding variety to her tuna. Most housewives just don't take the time to do things like take an onion, dice it, and add it to the tuna, themselves". Stated a Nabisco Representative - From a newspaper article from July 27 1976.

This product was launched in the summer of 1976, and was going to be the new big thing in stores and kitchens around the country. Heck, they even had a commercial with dancing vegetables.....

But it turned out there was a problem.
That textured vegetable protein I mentioned earlier? Yeah....about that...
..it was making people sick. Lots of people.

So only a few months after it's launch, there was a recall on the product, and Tuna Twist was pulled from all store shelves. Considering that I couldn't find any advertisements or coupons from any year other then 1976, I'm pretty sure it never returned.

Did it ever come back? That's where I need your help. Do you remember eating Tuna Twist later then 1976? And can you be certain it was in fact, Nabisco Tuna Twist, and not some knockoff that came later.

You know, a product that had a name like Tuna Tonight! (and Tomorrow night...and the night after that....), or "Totally Tuna! (made with 92% Vegetable Protein). If you remember it, let me know below.

And as for the commercial - here you go. Watch 4 tuna sandwiches turn into 6!
(She's a witch! Burn her!)

From the Frozen Foods Aisle: Monster Freez'ems

Product: Monster Freez'ems
Company: Welch's
Years: Mid 70's

Boo!
(Did you know it's impossible to scare someone using text?)

So it turns out that Good Humor wasn't the only company offering a scary treat to kids in the 70's and 80's. Welch's also had a product in the mid 70's called Monster Freez'ems. They came in 4 different flavors: Grape, Orange, Cherry, and Lemon-Lime, or as my kids would call it, "That's it?"

My kids are spoiled rotten, you guys.

OK, so maybe technically  these shouldn't be in the Frozen food section. You actually buy these unfrozen, and you pour the juice into these little monster molds that come with it, place the stick in it, then freeze it. After some time, bam: You've got yourself some ghoulishly delightful treats. So I guess these could be in the Misc. Products aisle, but since they are consumed in a frozen state (Minnesota?), I'm leaving them with the other Frozen Foods.

Like the 3-D monster Pops, I wasn't able to dig up (Ha! Halloween puns FTW!) much info on these items. So if you have more info, fill in the blanks for us!

From the Frozen Foods Aisle: 3-D Monster Pops

Product: 3D Monster Pops
Company: Good Humor
Years: It's a mystery.....

Image not my own - if this is yours let me know so I can give you credit!

So here's a strange little treat that I honestly had never heard of, but there has been a small buzz around the internet (as it seems many people DO remember these). Problem is, nobody really knows much about them. Contacting Good Humor resulted in the usual "We don't keep track of our stuff" response, and online other then fuzzy memories and the box art there isn't much to go on.

These were orange, cherry and grape popsicles shaped like your favorite monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and other devilish creatures. A Mummy perhaps? A Skeleton? We just don't really know.

I do think these are totally rad, though (totally) - and knew they had to be on the shelves here. But as far as more info, that's where you loyal shoppers come in. If you know anything about these (fuzzy memories and all), let me know! Like what part of the country (or world) did you eat these in? What years did you remember them from? How were they? Did they give you nightmares? Cavities? I need your help!

Comment below if you remember these and want them back in stores!

And don't confuse these with Welch's Monster Freez'ems - another 70's/80's product I will be adding to the shelves here.

From the Snack Aisle - Nabisco Snaps

Product: Snap Cookies
Company: Nabisco
Years: 70's - maybe early 80's(?)


Hope everyone is having a fun summer! I know I haven't posted much lately, as family is dictating most of my time. Kids are busy creatures, so I spend many of my hours at the baseball/soccer fields and traveling too and from the baseball/soccer fields. But enough about me, lets talk about NABISCO SNAPS COOKIES!!!!

You know what?

I don't remember these.

The boxes are WAY cool, and I imagine I was around (as in living, not fat) when these cookies were around, but I just plain don't remember them. They came in 4 flavors, Chocolate, Chocolate chip, Ginger, and Vanilla.

How cool are these?

Like I said, I don't remember them, but enough people do to create a Facebook page for them. https://www.facebook.com/NabiscoSnapCookies

Yep, Nabisco Ginger Snaps have a Facebook page. (I'm pretty sure they would just send me annoying game requests, though, so I didn't friend them. No I won't play Farmville with you, Nabisco.)

Oh, shoot, I have to get my 12 year old to baseball practice ASAP.......talk amongst yourselves about these sweet treats from the 70's (and maybe 80's? Anyone know???)

If I could go back in time, these would certainly be on my list of must try treats.

Until next time, shoppers............enjoy your summer!

Expired Coupon Daze! - Planters Potato Chips (in a can)

Planters Potato Chips (in a can)

I fondly remember all the Planters canned snacks, like Cheese Balls, and Cheese Curls, but I missed out on the Planters Potato chips in a can. Which is a shame, because I've got this coupon...........

that expired.....

in 1975.......

Phooey.

Oh well, I've already got my favorite CHiPs, anyway....

From the Beverage Aisle: Aspen Soda

Product: Aspen Soda
Company: PepsiCo
Years: 1978-1982

Alert Reader Alert! (Wait, huh?) Loyal reader and all around standup guy, Mike Henry, recently sent me an email about a product we currently don't have in stock. That product was one that I hadn't heard of, which in a way, made me feel kind of sad. I like to think I know everything, based solely on my own observations of myself and what my mom tells me, and with two simple words, Mike brought me crashing down to earth.

Those 2 words were: Aspen Soda.

Wait, Whats this now? What in tarnation is Aspen soda? Are you making it up???

BUT I KNOW EVERYTHING!

Mild depression set in for a few days upon realization that I don't know everything. I spent an entire week on the internets, learning about all the things that I didn't know, including but not limited too: Wombats (real), trigonometry (was pretty sure the teacher was making it up as he went along), and now, Aspen Soda.

Aspen soda was an "Crisp and clear" apple flavored soda created by PepsiCo in the late 70's. It was meant to compete with all the lemon lime sodas on the market, which there were many of. For some reason, though, there wasn't an apple flavored soda, and PepsiCo stuck a bunch of money trying to fill this void.

Turns out the reason was that apple soda really wasn't that good. I mean, it wasn't BAD, or anything.....it just isn't something people really want a whole lot of. In the early 80's, Pepsi decided to rebrand this soda as Slice (another failed soda, for the same reason).

Then, Apple soda went away all together, like the wombats did.

(Correction, wombats are still around.)

Here's the Aspen commercial.

I can't believe this is a real thing. I die a little inside every time I watch this.

Expired Coupon Daze - Ralston Crispits

Ralston Crispits

Potato!!! Sour Cream!!! Taco!!! Corn? Yes....Corn!!!

Coupon Expired - Long Ago (1974)

Hey! I won! A coupon! Worth 20 cents! My life is horrible.

(But ma, it's got 20% Protein! I'm being healthy!)

From the Beverage Aisle: Sipity Doo Da

Product: Sipity Doo Da
Company - Blue Plate Foods
Years - 1974 - ???

I was contacted recently by someone asking if I would check out a forgotten product called Sipity Doo Da, a product that I wasn't familiar with at all. So I scoured the internet and tried to see what I could find out about this product. Sadly, it wasn't much. It seems that 40 years has reduced this product to nothing more then memories for most people. There isn't really a history at all attached to it. One commercial, a brief mention here and there, and that's it. But this is what I know:

Sipity Doo Da was basically the Grandfather to today's Capri Sun drink pouches. It came in 3 flavors, Grape, Cherry, and Orange. What set this product apart from what we know today is that you would actually puncture the pouch with the straw in the side of the package, like this:

It was made by a company called Blue Plate Foods in the early 70's (Blue Plate was owned by Hunt-Wesson Foods), and was Trademarked in 1974. Trademark expired in 1989 as it wasn't renewed. So you could buy it! Though, it would be a terrible name for a band. Unless that band drinks large amounts of beer on stage and covers only Disney songs. Then it would be brilliant! (not really).

So yeah, that's about all I could find out. I contacted Blue Plate/Hunt-Wesson but they had no info on the long forgotten product they could give me. So I guess it's up to me, and the memories of all of you out there who enjoyed this drink in the 70's, to keep it alive.

Here's the commercial! (A talking box??!!??! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!!)

Expired Coupon Daze: Nutrament Energy Food (1970)

Sorry, you're about 45 years too late to get this AWESOME Zodiac Necklace. It's a shame, too....would have looked nice with your unbuttoned butterfly collar shirt and hairy chest.

 

From the Frozen Food Aisle: Birdseye Cool 'N Creamy Pudding

Product: Cool N' Creamy Pudding
Company: Birdseye
Years - Late 60s - early 70s

Recently I received an email from a reader/fan/ downright awesome person named Amy Bernstein-Feldman. She was inquiring about a product that she knew she remembered, but couldn't recall exactly what it was. It was a Cool Whip like Pudding from the 70's, but Amy couldn't figure out exactly what it was she was remembering.

So using my magical extinct grocery powers, I started to do some digging. And some more digging. And some more digging. I broke 3 shovels, threw out my back, and possibly uncovered an old indian burial ground, so there is a good chance I'm now cursed. But at last, I hit gold, and came across this product: Birdseye Cool 'n Creamy Pudding. It was a frozen pudding that came in a container very similar to what Cool Whip comes in today. You would thaw the pudding out, and it would be a rich, smooth consistency that was very different then other brand pudding that you could get in the store, and would last in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

It came in 3 flavors, Chocolate, Vanilla, and Butterscotch.

So it turns out that Amy wasn't crazy after all. The product did exist.

And the best part? The awesome 60's Commercials:

From the Misc. Products Aisle: Tickle Anti-Perspirant

Product: Tickle
Company: Bristol Myers
Years: 1977-1984

Phallic shaped packaging - Check.

Sexual innuendo for a tagline - Check.

Weird Commercials with attractive women laughing continuously - Check.

This product had it all. It had the sexually charged 70's, wrapped up with very era specific package design, wrapped up with a dirty sounding tagline, wrapped up with commercials that make you blush, wrapped up with beans, lettuce and cheese in what I like to call a "Holy Crap, This Product is Amazing" Burrito.

It came in 4 scents, or as my wife hates when I say it, flavors: Herbal , Floral, Citrus, and Unscented.
Besides the obvious, well, um......shape of the "package", the ads for this product cleverly referred to this as the antiperspirant "With the big, wide ball", to which all the girls start to laugh.

The commercials are a whole new level of bonkers, and they were actually voted the worst commercials of 1977. Check em out:

Sex sells, but who's buying? Well, a few years ago a new Tickle stick (now THAT sounds dirty...) sold on Ebay for over $100. Some guy found it when cleaning out his parents bathroom cupboard, and now that guy is rich! Ok, maybe not rich, but he sold a deodorant shaped like a you know what to somebody who wanted to check out it's big wide ball, and that my friends, is pretty f-ing rich.

Expired Coupon Daze - Flintstones Yabba Dabba Dew Fruit Drink

Flintstones Yabba Dabba Dew Fruit Drink!

Coupon Expired - 12/31/75

10¢ off!?? I saved a Yabba Dabba Dime??

From the Snack Aisle: Nabisco Flings

Product: Flings
Company: Nabisco
Years: Late 1960's - 1980's (?)

Dear Nabisco,

Stop trying so hard. We get it already. You can turn anything, no matter what the flavor, into a delicious chip, snack, or cracker. Here at Gone But Not Forgotten Groceries, we stumble across something new (old/new) from you almost every day, and honestly, I've almost stopped keeping track. You are good at what you do, Nabisco, so why spread yourself so thin? Pick a core group of products and make those products the best damn products we have ever seen....and maybe, just maybe, you are already starting to do that. But in the 60s, 70s and 80s.......well, lets say you were snack aisle whores. You put it all out there year after year, every flavor.....every shape. "Don't like Curls? We have Sticks? Don't like Sticks, we have cones? Don't like cones? We have a goddamn chip shaped like a platypus. "Well that's random", you say? Goddamn right it is, because we're Nabisco, and we can make these chips/snacks and crackers into any M%#$@R F^&%ING shape we want? Got it......GOT IT???"
"Oh, and you can get that Platypus shaped cracker in 5 flavors, Cheese, Ranch, Papaya, Dandelion, and New Car Smell. "But New Car Smell isn't a Flavor" you say.....look, do you want me to lose my shit? Because Nabisco can lose it's shit REAL easy, and one day, when you wake up, all these shape and flavors will be gone.....and all you'll have left are Triscuits, Wheat Thins, and Chicken in a Biscuit. So don't push it, pal."

I'm almost certain Nabisco would say something like that if confronted. Maybe.

Box picture from Dan Goodsell

Flings were a chip that looked similar to today's Cheese puffs, and came in 3 flavors: Chicken, Cheese, and Ham and Swiss. These were mostly around in the late 60's/early 70's, but I did stumble upon a newspaper ad from 1984, where it appears Nabisco tried to bring back Flings, this time in a bag instead of a box.

Like the other hundreds (possibly millions, or possibly less) of Nabisco Products that have appeared on store shelves over the last 50 years, I'm going to guess that very few of you readers out there remember these. I don't. Which is pretty cool when you add it onto the vast sea of groceries that have filled up store shelves over the years...these could have been someones favorite snack to curl up with on a Saturday night. People have a weird nostalgia towards food, especially discontinued food (which is why I started this blog), so it's neat to find stuff like this that might bring someone a smile.

From the Cereal Aisle: Sweet Wheats!

Product: Sweet Wheats! Cereal
Company: Nabisco
Years: 1971-197?

Image By Jason B. on Flickr

Come on, Nabisco....quit yelling. There is absolutely no need to use an exclamation point in the name of your early 70's cereal called "Sweet Wheats!". I mean, you even went as far as to not use all caps, instead choosing the subtle approach of using all lower case letters. But then, boom, you drop in that exclamation point all willy-nilly, and damn it Nabisco, it's unnecessary.

But then again, so was your cereal, Nabisco, as it only lasted 2 or 3 years tops.

I know what your all thinking: Kellogg's Mini Wheats.
Yep, I was thinking the same thing too. Mini Wheats were introduced in 1971, same time as Sweet Wheats!!!!!, but the original Kellogg's offering was actually the larger size. The bite size version wasn't around until 1980. So I won't go as far as to say Nabisco copied Kellogg's, or vice versa. They both had an idea for a lightly sweetened wheat cereal. Kellogg's won.
Probably because they DIDN'T YELL AT THEIR CUSTOMERS, NABISCO SWEET WHEATS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nabisco did have a cool box design, with a quartet which included 3 children and a blue kangaroo, which from what I understand of the early 70's (mostly from watching Krofft), was completely normal. Willy, Milly, Big Boo and Blue Kangaroo. They would sit around all day, eating cereal, playing jams, playing with the Kanga-zoom that came free inside, and contemplating future career paths once the cereal was discontinued. 3 of them went on to form 80's pop group "Kajagoogoo",  and one ended up in the San Diego Zoo, which if you ask me is a horrible place to keep a little girl locked up.

What the hell was I talking about again?

Oh yeah, SWEET WHEATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool box, not as cool of a cereal. Just another blip in the breakfast cereal history books.

From the Candy Aisle: Snik Snak

Product: Snik Snak
Company - M&M/Mars
Years - 1973 - Late 70's


Remember Christmas, back in the 80's, when you'd open presents from relatives who you only saw a few times a year? What did they get you? Chances are, like most of us, they bought what they thought boys my age liked: He-Man, GI Joes, Transformers........but there was a catch. They were going to spend as little on your gift as possible. So instead of Transformers, you got the cheap knockoff called "Convertors" (it's a real thing...look it up). Or "Action Force" instead of GI Joe.

And you smiled, and thanked them, as you were taught to do. Then, a week later, they were blown up by firecrackers in a battle with the REAL GI Joe/Transformers/He-Man.

Knock offs. Nobody likes them.

But enough about my disappointing holidays. Lets talk about food knockoffs.  Specifically, Lets talk about the Snik Snak.

Image by Jason Liebig - Check out his history of Snik Snak here.

Snik Snak was created in 1973 by M&M/Mars to go up against Hershey's wildly successful Kit Kat bar.  And by "created",  I mean directly ripped off from.

Seriously, it's the same thing. A series of waffers covered in chocolate.......even the freaking name is a rip off! I honestly have no idea how Hershey didn't file a lawsuit against them.
I'm equally surprised that it lasted for at least 5 years on the market.
There is nothing original about this.
Oh, sure, it's 6 smaller sticks instead of 4 larger ones. Whoop-de-do.

These were a little before my time, so thankfully I didn't have to suffer through the crushing disappointment of getting one of these from a parent for a snack, or worse yet, on Halloween in my basket.

I guess there's a reason Kit Kats are still around today and Snik Snaks aren't.

It's probably the same reason I don't really talk to my uncle Sal anymore, either. I'm sure he had a good reason for getting me the "Treasures of the Temple Warriors" action figures instead of the He-Man toy I wanted back in 86.