Canned Foods That Were Popular 50 Years Ago . . . That No One Eats Anymore
If you've ever dug through the deep recesses of grandma's pantry, you probably know some of these items.
Chowhound.com has a new list of "Canned Foods That Were Popular 50 Years Ago . . . But No One Eats Anymore." It's a trip down memory lane . . . and also, a little triggering for your gag-reflex. Here are a few:
1. Canned mac and cheese. Chef Boyardee had one.
2. SpaghettiOs. The original brand was "Franco-American."
3. Hunt's Pudding Snack Packs. (These last two may not be as mainstream as they were decades ago . . . but they're less wild than the rest of the list.)
4. "Canned whole chicken." (???) The brand "Sweet Sue" had one.
5. Canned tamales. Now, you can just buy frozen, if not fresh.
6. Boiled peanuts. Primarily in the South.
7. Canned brown bread. Primarily in the Northeast.
8. Campbell's pepper pot soup. Primarily in Philadelphia.
9. Canned pork brains with milk gravy. Thankfully it's still available on Amazon!
10. Deviled ham, which was ground-up ham . . . spiced and packed into a can . . . and used primarily as a spread on sandwiches.
11. Spam Spread. It's no longer available, sadly.
12. Old El Paso canned tortillas. They were made with just corn, water, and salt, but let you store tortillas on the shelf.
13. Canned ribs. The brand "Armour" had one. And they were specially cut to work with the can, then smoked with hickory chips for "great flavor."
14. For dessert: Libby's fruit float. Just add milk and stir . . . the result was a frothy milkshake-like dessert that was reminiscent of a pudding.
15. Betty Crocker Spoon & Bake Cookie Dough. Each little can had enough dough to make three-dozen cookies . . . and the varieties were chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookie.
(If you didn't eat through all your old canned goods during the pandemic, you might as well keep them for the zombie apocalypse. So your final meal could be . . . canned pork brains with milk gravy. Yum!)
Originally posted on July 29th, 2025