These 8 Popular ’70s Snacks Defined a Decade Before Disappearing From Shelves
The 1970s were a golden era for bold, inventive snack foods. Braided candy bars, fizzing powders, flavored peanut butters and cheese you could squeeze from a tube — the decade pushed processed food creativity to its limits. Most of these products eventually disappeared from shelves. But a few have found surprising second lives.
Here’s what happened to eight snacks that defined the era — and which ones you can still track down.
Marathon Bar
Mars Candy Company introduced the Marathon Bar in 1973. At eight inches long, it was made of braided caramel coated in milk chocolate — a distinctive shape that set it apart from anything else in the candy aisle. The bar was discontinued in 1981 after declining sales. If you want to know what it tasted like, a similar product called the Curly Wurly is still sold in the U.K. and available through online retailers.
Space Dust Sizzling Candy
General Foods produced Space Dust, a carbonated candy similar to Pop Rocks, during the 1970s. The fizzy texture made it a novelty hit — until public concerns about Pop Rocks, including rumors that the candy could be dangerous when consumed with soda, led to its discontinuation in the 1980s. Pop Rocks were later reintroduced, but Space Dust never made it back.
Kraft Squeez-A-Snak
Kraft’s Squeez-A-Snak was a processed cheese spread packaged in tube-like containers. It came in flavors including garlic, pimento, bacon and hickory smoke and was designed to be spread onto crackers. The product has been discontinued, though other Kraft products like Cheez Whiz remain on the market.
Koogle
Kraft introduced Koogle, a flavored peanut butter, in 1971. It was sold in flavors such as chocolate, banana, cinnamon and vanilla. The line was discontinued by the end of the 1970s.
Jell-O Pudding Pops
Jell-O launched Pudding Pops in test markets in 1978, followed by a national rollout in 1979. The frozen dessert came in flavors including chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch and banana. The numbers tell the story: the product generated $100 million in its first year and tripled that amount within five years. Pudding Pops were discontinued in 2004 due to declining sales, but Jell-O has a recipe on its website for making your own at home.
Pizza Spins
Pizza Spins were pizza-flavored snack chips introduced in the late 1960s that carried over into the early 1970s. Their run was short — the product was discontinued in 1975.
Reggie Bar
The Reggie Bar, produced by Curtiss Candy Company and named after Reggie Jackson, was introduced in the late 1970s. It contained peanuts, caramel and chocolate. The bar was discontinued in 1981 and briefly re-released in 1993 following Jackson’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Here’s the discovery worth noting: the candy returned in 2023, produced by Sai Chocolates in Pennsylvania with input from Reggie Jackson himself.
Jell-O 1-2-3
Jell-O 1-2-3, introduced in 1969, was a layered gelatin dessert mix that separated into multiple textures during preparation. The multi-step process was part of the appeal. It was gradually phased out beginning in the mid-1980s and discontinued in 1996.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
