Snack Food History Lesson (2024)

Year It Began: 1912

Bite of History: This dunkable delight debuted in the spring of 1912 by the National Biscuit Company (now known as Nabisco and owned by Kraft). But it wasn't a stand-alone offer. The Oreo was packaged as part of the Trio: the Mother Goose, the Veronese, and the Oreo Biscuit. It soon became clear that the Oreo was the star of the bunch, and the other two treats became a matter of historical record.

Various iterations of the Oreo were introduced over the last century, from a lemon-cream variety in the 1920s to Double and even Triple Stuf Oreos more recently. In 1921, Nabisco dropped the "Biscuit" from the name and changed it, more appropriately, to the "Oreo Sandwich." It morphed to the "Oreo Creme Sandwich" by 1948 and today, it's marketed as the "Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookie." Whatever Nabisco wants to name it, and however they want to jazz it up — Mini Oreos, Double Delight, Milk Chocolate Covered Mint Oreos — we'll always know them as "America's Favorite Cookie."

Fun Fact: Since its introduction, Nabisco has produced nearly 500 billion Oreos all around the world.

Year It Began: 1893

Bite of History: Chicagoans were the first to get a taste of the sweet and salty combination of peanuts, molasses, and popcorn at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Lewis and Frederick William, aka F.W., Rueckheim were responsible for the treat, but not for its clever name. According to Frito-Lay, upon tasting the treat a salesman exclaimed, "That's cracker jack!" Being a shrewd businessman, F.W. trademarked the name and thus a brand was born. In order to maintain freshness they added a wax-sealed package, an invention of Henry Gottlieb Eckstein, who became co-owner in 1902.

A baseball game just wouldn't be the same without Cracker Jack, right? Well you can thank Jack Norworth who wrote the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in 1908. Cracker Jack was reported to be sold at ballgames as early as 1866 and at a Major League park in 1907.

In 1912 the company introduced tiny toys into every box. No doubt, Cracker Jack is good enough to eat even without the bonus tattoo or riddles, but we'd sure miss the fun of digging for the surprise.

Fun Fact: Why did the iconic sailor Jack become the brand's mascot? No factual evidence could be found, but it's said the seaman's pal pup, Bingo, was based on a stray dog named Russell who had been adopted by Eckstein.

Year It Began: 1897

Bite of History: It's no wonder that cough syrup and Jell-O share similar flavorings. In 1895, a cough syrup maker by the name of Pearl B. Wait adapted Peter Cooper's 1845 patent for gelatin dessert. But we all know, behind every successful man there is a woman. It was Wait's wife, May, who coined the name Jell-O. Wait sold his business to Orator F. Woodward of the Gennesse Pure Food Company in 1899 for a mere $450. Sure, back then that was a lot of money, but little did Wait know that sales of Jell-O would reach the $250,000 mark in three short years. That may have been aided by Woodward's clever use of advertising in Ladies Home Journal.

Over the years flavors came and flavors went. Strawberry arrived at Jell-O's inception and cherry soon followed in 1903. Coffee came and went in 1918. Cola? In and out in 1942. As everyone's lives got busier, the Jell-O innovators thought it important to reduce the preparation time. In 1974, it was sold with the notion that the gelatin would "set in 15 minutes." Now we are used to varieties like sugar-free, Jigglers, and X-treme flavors. We'll still take the classic recipe any day, and we're not alone: Strawberry is still the all-time favorite flavor.

Fun Fact: Talk about a smart way to gain brand loyalty: In the early 1900s, the company decided to offer Ellis Island immigrants a bowl of Jell-O as "Welcome to America" gift!

Year It Began: 1920

Bite of History: Massachusetts deserves all of the credit for Marshmallow Fluff. In 1917 Archibald Query sold his homemade marshmallow cream door-to-door in his town of Somerville, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Sadly, wartime shortages halted his small business. After the war, Query decided to move on and sell his formula. H. Allen Durkee and Fred L. Mower were the lucky pair to purchase Query's secret recipe for just $500, and they began selling their sweet stuff for $1 a gallon under the name, Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff. Demand grew, and the product went from being produced in their kitchen and sold door to door to being jarred in a 10,000 square foot factory in Brookline, Massachusetts, and sold at retail locations. In 1930, the company sponsored a radio program called the "Flufferettes," which aired just before the famous Jack Benny Program. Unlike similar packaged food companies, Durkee and Mower never sold out. Today, Marshmallow Fluff is still a family run business located in Lynn, Massachusetts. Though produced in a small town, their product reaches people in cities around the world from Jerusalem to Johannesburg.

Fun Fact: In 1966 Durkee-Mower, along with Kellogg's, promoted the classic recipe for Marshmallow Treat, before they were known as Rice Krispy Treats.

Year It Began: 1920

Bite of History: "Hey, Fruit Smack!" Doesn't quite have the same ring as, "Hey, Kool-Aid!" But that was actually the original name of this popular beverage. It began as a soft drink syrup offered through Edwin E. Perkins' mail-order business in Hastings, Nebraska. Perkins' father ran a general store in town and it was there that he first encountered Jell-O gelatin. Inspired by that treat, in 1927 Perkins decided to concentrate his syrup into a powder and rename it Kool-Ade Soft Drink Mix. While the Fruit Smack syrup was offered in cherry, grape, lemon, orange, root beer, and raspberry, Perkins swapped out lemon for lemon-lime and strawberry replaced root beer for the powdered Kool-Ade. The packets sold for just 10 cents each and by 1929 the mix was distributed across the country. Due to high demand in 1931, Perkins dropped his other products to focus solely on his Kool-Aid. By 1950 he was selling a million packets of Kool-Aid each day! In 1953, his little project that started out of his parent's home was sold to General Foods. Kool-Aid is still the pride of Hastings, Nebraska, and the beverage is the official drink of the state.

Fun Fact: Do you know how many ice cubes the Kool-Aid man has in his head? That would be three. He's also 8 foot tall by 5 feet wide and has his own footprints on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the famous Mann's Chinese Theater.

Year It Began: 1928

Bite of History: When Kraft first brought Velveeta to market, they declared it to "always melt perfectly." Velveeta's ads instructed housewives to melt a 1/2 lb. of the "famous cheese food" and gradually stir in 1/4 cup of milk. We know what you're thinking, they were suggesting to use it to make macaroni and cheese, right? Not quite. That "sauce" was recommended it be served, "over toasted sandwiches of peanut butter and sweet pickle relish." Hmm…

Prior to the launch of Velveeta, Kraft spent several years researching the nutritional benefits of whey, the bi-product that is part of the cheese-making process. In 1931, the American Medical Association gave Velveeta its official seal of approval. When the product was released there in 1937, it became so wildly popular in Germany that the plant in Lindenberg could not keep up with demand. In 1953, it was introduced as a spread with less fat and fewer calories. Over the years, Velveeta has been slightly altered and new varieties have been introduced including its newest member, Spicy Buffalo.

Fun Fact: The brand name Velveeta was intended to convey the product's velvety texture.

Year It Began: 1930

Bite of History: James Dewar invented Twinkies when he was working as a Hostess baking manager at their Chicago plant. According to Hostess, Dewar was looking to make better use of shortcake pans that sat idle when they weren't being used during the short strawberry season. According to sources, Dewar decided to inject the little golden cakes with a smooth creme filling (first banana and later vanilla following the banana shortage during World War II). The price was right, at two for a nickel(!) they fast became an American favorite. The advertisem*nts suggested that folks were more likely to eat fruit when served with a Twinkie. A 1957 ad even states, "Housewives have told us their families eat even more [fruit] when Twinkies are perched on side of the plates!" Ah, those were different times.

Fun Facts: The 89-year-old Lewis Browning of Shelbyville, Indiana, has been eating a minimum of one Twinkie every day since 1941, consuming more than 22,000 Twinkies in his lifetime. Compare that with Twinkie founder Dewar who reportedly ate more than 40,000. Today 500 million Twinkies are baked each year!

Year It Began: 1932

Bite of History: In 1932, the entrepreneurial Herman W. Lay started his small potato chip business in Nashville, Tennessee. That very same year C.E. Doolin sampled a bag of corn chips in a San Antonio cafe. Doolin loved those corn chips so much that he purchased the recipe and began to sell bags of the crunchy snacks out of his Model T Ford. While Doolin was making his corn chips, Lay was busy producing his potato chips. Lay purchased Atlanta's Barrett Food Company in 1938 and then formed H.W. Lay & Company. Over the next few decades, the two businessmen independently grew their snack chip companies. In 1961 the men joined forces and thus created Frito-Lay. Lay's soon introduced their catchy slogan, "Betcha you can't eat just one." Clearly, Americans can't: Frito-Lay company products currently accounts for nearly 60% of the U.S. snack chip industry.

Fun Fact: Have you searched for Lay's Potato Chips in England? You won't find them unless you ask for Walkers, as they are sold under that mark in the United Kingdom; however in Ireland they are known as Chipsys. In Israel? They're known as Tapochips and in Brazil, Elma Chips.

Year It Began: 1933

Bite of History: You've heard that nuts are packed with protein, but that's old news. Really old, in fact. In 1890, a doctor in St. Louis invented an easily digestible protein-packed food: peanut butter. But in 1923, it was Joseph Rosefield who perfected the physician's spread by inventing a process that would prevent oil separation. By 1933, he registered his trademark for Skippy peanut butter, though the product wouldn't be available until 1935, when both the creamy and the chunky varieties were both introduced. In 1955, Best Foods Inc. acquired Skippy and the company spent much on advertising over the years. One of the most famous campaigns ran in 1979 and included former Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello who sold the product as having half the sugar as the other national brands. She ended each spot with their slogan of the time, "For good nutrition, it's hard to beat Skippy."

Fun Fact: In the early 1960s, Best Foods employed the famous American artist Normal Rockwell to create many of their magazine advertisem*nts.