Thursday, October 9, 2014

From the Snack Aisle: Nabisco Flings

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

1960s NABISCO Crackers FLINGS Advertisement Vintage Graphics

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.

Nabisco Flings
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.


38 comments:

  1. To be fair, Nabisco did do well when they did crackers and related stuff.

    I don't remember these, but the chicken one does seem tasty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The cheese Flings were so yummy. They were thinner than the cheese curls of today and much greasier. I love grease. I have a hard time today finding a snack that concentrates on grease rather than salt. Everything is so much saltier today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you remember the Nabisco Chipsters?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Flings were the absolute best cheese twist and k ever made!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I AGREE! I STILL crave them! Just the cheese ones - in the box.

      Delete
  5. Flings were the absolute best cheese twist and k ever made!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wish they would bring the Cheese Flings back! They were 100 times better than the cheese puffs out there today! They also made a yummy onion flavored flings. My Mom was not a favorite of junk food but she loved Flings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agree! Ham & swiss were the bomb! Was just looking to see if anyone still has them.

      Delete
  7. Bring them back! Swiss and ham were the best ever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! I googled flavored flings just to see if I remember correctly? I was 5 yrs old thought I had just imagined them!

      Delete
    2. i spent my entire freshman year in college eating about a box of cheese flings a day(1965-66)
      they were so superior to what poses in their place, it's sad. BRING 'EM BACK!!!

      Delete
    3. Yesssss!!!!!! Bring back Ham & Swiss Flings!!!!!!

      Delete
  8. I would grind up Chicken Flings and snort them if I could. They were my drug of choice during my formative years. It's probably for the best they're gone because they were probably horrible from a health standpoint and about as far removed from real food as is corporately possible, but God help me I loved them so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you tried Nabisco's Chicken In A Bisket? The color of the Flings chicken packaging is the same colors they use on that box!

      Delete
  9. Flings were the best. I worked as a meat cutter when I was young. Every Saturday night I would bring home a thick porterhouse steak and a box of Flings. I would sit in front of the TV and pig out. Bring them back, PLEASE...

    ReplyDelete
  10. As a kid my grandma got this for me i loved them

    ReplyDelete
  11. Please bring them back and I mean the original recipe we loved flings we still talk about them. Please bring them back especially the cheesy ones thanks .

    ReplyDelete
  12. I remember when flings and chipsters first came out. I believe that bugels came out around the same time. Loved them all but flings were my favorite.I would sure like to see them make a comeback.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have a picture with me eating these as a toddler

    ReplyDelete
  14. I used to love the ham and swiss flings.I wish they would bring them back

    ReplyDelete
  15. Flings were my absolute favorite. There is not a cheese puff out there that comes close to the yummy flavor of Flings. Bring them back...PPPLLLLLEEEEAAAASSSEEE. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I still think about Chicken Flings often. Wondered what happened to them. I wish I could get some right now!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Chicken Flings were the best, almost addictive! Loved them and wish they would bring them back. Ate my first ones in 1965!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Omg, flings was the bomb! The cheese ones. God we consumed so many boxes of these. I contacted the company to see if they would ever bring them back out. They told me that that they retired them , can't remember what year they told me but said once they retire a product it will never be brought back. I mean, if they was as good as everyone bragged about back then my thought would be try them again. His is a new generation. They may love them. I want some soooo bad. Brings back childhood memories.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I wish we could still buy these flings. The ham and Swiss were the best. Why do all the good snacks get discontinued. I hardly buy snacks anymore. I wish they would bring them back without changing them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree totally. Everything else makes a comeback why not flings.

      Delete
  20. I've spent the last thirty plus years, trying to remember what these were called. its been well over 40 years since I've had them but I could remember the taste, but not the name. I still try every new cheese snack that find trying to find that taste.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Nothing today can compare to the Cheese Flings I had growing up. As far as I'm concerned they were and always will be the best. Please bring them back.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Cheese Flings. What a great product. Many happy memories eating those when I was a kid. NOTHING BETTER. Nabisco, PLEASE consider bringing them back. I would pay 2X for them over anything on the market today. Damn, they were good.
    G Man

    ReplyDelete
  23. The flings were absolutely the best. 50 years later I never forgot them. Would love to have more. Where can I buy these?

    ReplyDelete
  24. I LOVED the texture of Flings. Such a CLEAR food memory - I can still taste them and feel that texture. And NOW, I'm craving them - bad!

    ReplyDelete
  25. The Swiss & Ham Flings were my favorite snack as a kid. I still crave their flavor, texture and that special something that made them so good. I can still remember that taste, just thinking about them. Nabisco should certainly think about bringing them back.

    ReplyDelete