Did you know our beloved fast food chains like McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Burger King, only became popular in the 50’s? Turns out, fast food is just one of many food trends that popped up over the decades–it just happened to stick. From a fat-free craze in the 90’s to ramen burgers of the modern age, foods have been a defining factor of American culture since our brave homeland was born: so, let’s dive into some trends.
Starting with the 50’s and the 60’s, the emergence of fast foods with the new interstate highway system struck the country in wild ways. “It was in 1955 when my mom took us to “Steer In” before McD’s became a “staple” that I ate my first hamburger in our car,” said Judy Shepherd, a science teacher at Loudoun County High School. Not only did fast food chains begin to spring up in the middle 50’s, but also the “TV Dinner,” a little aluminum pan with a turkey dinner in it that could be heated and eaten within minutes. “Not the best,” Shepherd said.
In the 50’s, candy was also quite different, and a lot more fun! “My favorite was a “flying saucer” shaped like a UFO and filled with little candies inside,” Shepherd said. This was also the time period where Laffy Taffy and cream sodas gained momentum. Vending machines sold all types of candy and treats; sometimes, you could even purchase a full meal. “Popular at that time were the snacks and treats we would get from the “soda fountain,” black and white ice cream sodas, real French fries and yummy grilled hamburgers,” Shepherd said.
Moving into the 70’s, the height of the space race was evident throughout American foods. Take Tang for example, a drink that became immensely popular due to its advertisement as a “space drink.”
“Tang, it was just an orange drink, but it was the big thing. So think like Kool-Aid, but ‘good for you’ because the astronauts drink it,” said English teacher Kathryn Ives. From freeze-dried ice cream (which is still sold in gift shops at air and space museums today) to pop-rocks, the late 60’s and 70’s saw the dramatic growth of “space food”. “A lot of snacks and candies jumped on the whole going to space thing,” Ives said.
Following that, the 80’s saw increasingly diverse foods, a result of the rapid globalization and immigration occurring throughout the world during that time period. “When you get into the 80’s and the 90’s as well, that’s when you start to get candies and snacks that are tied to how openly diverse America is becoming,” Ives said. Chips in particular gained the most traction from this trend. “Doritos was the first time tortilla chips, in any form, were coming to mainstream America,” Ives said.
The 90’s also saw a massive fat-free craze, for better or for worse. “Everybody was trying to do away with fat in everything,” Ives said. Turns out, the craze was indeed for worse, as everything instead turned into sugar. Luckily, the trend quickly reversed on itself, bringing us to the 2000’s and 2010’s, during which we are still living. What the next food trend may be is hard to guess, but one thing’s for sure: you can learn a lot about a country just by analyzing the popular foods of each decade!
