18 Retro Snack Trends That Were All the Rage in the 1970s!

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Take a trip back to the 1970s, when snacks exploded in popularity with big flavors and signatures that would enchant Americans. Starting with the tart crunch of Pop Rocks to the creamy sweetness of Jell-O Pudding Pops, snacks weren’t only tasty; they were social.

Professional food historians attribute the rise of these munchies to the economic boom of the decade. The invention of convenience foods also played a significant role. These factors turned them into popular choices for parties and home consumption. Here are 18 vintage snack trends that typified a generation.

Pop Rocks

If you were a kid in the ’70s, Pop Rocks were magical. This carbonated candy crackled and burst on your tongue, creating an explosive sensation that had everyone hooked.

They were invented by chemist William A. Mitchell in 1956, and weren’t widely available until the ’70s. By 1978, Pop Rocks sales had soared to over 500 million packets!

Jell-O Salad

Jell-O Salad is a delicious, whimsical, and experimental gem of the ’70s. The appeal of Jell-O Salad lay in its kaleidoscope of colors and textures: Fruity, sweet gelatin often added with savory mixtures, like vegetables, seafood, or marshmallows.

Illuminating its popularity in American households, Kraft Foods says they sold over 300 million boxes of Jell-O each year during this decade.

Long gone are the days when Jell-O Salad was a regal dish. The decline also had to do with changing tastes and an increased awareness of health and nutrition.

Space Food Sticks

Born from the space race era’s high-flying dreams and developed by Pillsbury in the 1960s for NASA’s Mercury missions, these chewy, cylindrical snack sticks soon invaded Earth with their futuristic allure in the 1970s.

Space Food Sticks appealed to both space enthusiasts and snacker supporters. They offered a taste of an astronaut’s mundane, daily life with a simple, portable, nutritious boost in energy for whenever you needed that little extra in your lunchbox or lazy afternoons.

Energy bars and snacks appear to be rising to the trend of healthier alternatives, putting Space Food Sticks firmly in a bygone era.

Cheese Balls

At every get-together, these crunchy cheesy spheres were a staple. Cheese Balls made for a hit of a snack whether enjoyed during a groovy game night or a lively TV viewing with their addictively cheesy crunch and bold cheese flavor.

They were irresistible to kids as well as adults. In response to health-conscious consumers wanting healthier options, demand for items with fewer artificial colors and additives was increasing.

Twinkies

With their bright packaging and promise of sweet satisfaction, Twinkies became synonymous with a quick, delightful snack-time fix. Hostess sold millions annually, with people savoring the soft sponge cake filled with creamy goodness.

Twinkies don’t elicit the nostalgia they once did, now existing more as a substitute for a bygone era of shiny food solutions.

Tab Cola

Many in the 1970s lived by the diet cola, Tab. Coca-Cola introduced Tab as one of the first diet sodas due to the low calorie count as well as it’s own distinctive taste.

Tab doesn’t have the cachet of other diet sodas—but it is the nostalgic reminder of a 1970s beverage trend that has waned.

Hamburger Helper

General Mills’ introduction of its Hamburger Helper in 1971 simplified meals by adding pasta or rice to ground beef. It spawned a household name with instant ramifications for both the corporation and its franchisees.

Family dinners usually would include one of these because of the variety of flavors and ease of preparation. It contributed a very significant 27 percent in its first year alone to the dry dinner mix market.

Ding Dongs

Foil-wrapped chocolate cakes with a tasty creamy center were known as Ding Dongs. They had a rich flavor and great, satisfying texture, and they were incredibly popular as a lunchbox treat. To expound, during his heyday, hostesses marketed them as luxurious snacks that you deserved to be able to treat yourself to.

A new WHO guideline calls for adults and children to cut free sugar intake to under 10% of energy daily, moving away from more-sugar-rich snack cakes such as Ding Dongs.

Devil dogs

A product of Drake’s Cakes, Devil Dogs rose to the occasion with their oblong chocolate cake sandwich and addictive cream cheese filling, captivating snack lovers nationwide.

Conceived by Drake’s Cakes, these tasty treats became a ubiquitous child’s lunchbox and a guilty pleasure of adulthood. Individually packaged with a complex mashup of flavors, Devil Dogs was a prime model of the decadent sweet tooth.

Despite their initial success, Devil Dogs declined as dietary trends moved toward health-oriented foods.

Koogle

Kraft introduced Koogle, the flavored peanut spread available in banana, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, and other temptingly appealing flavors.

The marrying of old school peanut butter with unexpected flavors turned Koogle into a way-fun, original addition to kitchen cabinets. It was especially appealing to the young daredevil and the parent who simply needed to make that dull lunchbox staple a little more fun. 

Tang

It wasn’t until the 1970s that Tang, the powdered orange-flavored drink mix, truly became emblematic of that decade. But it did so thanks to its role as the powdered product of choice for NASA’s Gemini and Apollo space missions.

Tang was marketed as the astronauts’ drink and captured the imagination of a generation in love with space exploration. Both adults and children were enticed by the idea of mimicking astronauts’ diets, which made Tang a must-have convenience cupboard staple.

Quiche

In the 1970s, this became a trendy type of dish, quiche Lorraine. A symbol of sophistication and continental cuisine, this savory tart was made with a pastry crust filled with eggs, cream, cheese, and sometimes bacon or ham. That was a very popular choice for brunch or dinner parties.

Quiche may still be loved in some circles as a classic, but now, it’s a table fixture more as a nod to the quiche of the 1970s dining landscape than at the leading edge of culinary trends.

Fondue

In the 1970s, fondue became a social eating sensation. The era’s love for interactive and communal dining experiences was symbolized by the communal dish. Fondue usually consists of melted cheese or chocolate, into which foods like bread or fruit are dipped. Fondue parties started becoming a thing to do and a way to socially eat food together.

Fonzies

Named after the iconic character “The Fonz” from the American television show “Happy Days,” Fonzies epitomized the era’s cultural exchange and fascination with American pop culture. They were cheesy goodness and perfect snacking texture, a go to snack to munch casually or for social events. 

While Fonzies was a hit for a time, they soured with the public once people started paying more attention to nutritional content, artificial flavors, and sodium.

Pringles

Unlike regular potato chips, pringles,the iconic stackable potato crisps in a uniform canister – of the kind with their very same curved shape and packaging – promised a fresh snacking experience without the standard of broken chips that resulted from normal potatoes chips.

The hyperbolic paraboloid—its unique saddle—like shape—was a technological achievement that not only kept them intact but also made Pringles a favorite snack of the decade.

Bubble Yum

In 1975, Bubble Yum burst onto the scene as the very first soft bubble gum, and changed forever the way that people enjoyed this chewy treat.

Most bubble gums before yum were hard and required a great deal of work to soften before blowing bubbles. Bubble Yum’s formula, however, made it incredibly soft right out of the wrapper — so soft, in fact, that it became an immediate hit with young consumers.

But what made Bubble Yum so irresistible wasn’t just its soft texture — it was also its colorful, shiny, vibrant marketing campaigns, the grand flavor adventures of the original and the grape.

Fruit Leather

In the ’70s, fruit leather became a healthier snack alternative. With convenience and a bit of nutritional worth, these chewy, dried fruit strips made a good snack.

Due to their natural sweetness and portability, they were popular with health-conscious consumers and kids alike.

Ring pops

And thanks to Ring Pops, which were introduced in 1979, candy and fashion hit it out of the ballpark by teaming up, with kids immediately taking to the candy. Massive, vibrant lollipop with a clear ring attached (so it can be worn as a bit of candy jewelry).

This interactive, portable treat was a must-have accessory of the ’70s and beyond that allowed children the chance to show off their sweet tooth in style.

Marketed with the catchy slogan “It’s a lollipop, without the stick,” Ring Pops quickly gained popularity not only for their clever design but also for the delicious variety of flavors like cherry, strawberry, and watermelon.

Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.