Mass-Produced Rarities

[MarketStEl]

Paging through another discussion on this forum ("Slummin' it!"), I ran across a post that mentioned a product sold at The Vermont Country Store -- My-T-Fine pudding mix.

Seeing this, I wondered, Why is this specialty goods purveyor offering for sale on its Web site something I could get on the shelves of any supermarket?

Judging from the catalog description, the answer is: Because I can't just run to my local supermarket for a box.

It appears this once-popular brand has all but disappeared from store shelves and has been reborn as a premium product.

Rummaging through the shelves of the store's food section, I ran across many more products that I swear I have seen on supermarket shelves, such as:

Durkee Famous Sauce

Campbell's Pepper Pot Soup (Pepper pot soup is a Philadelphia New Year's tradition, and most area supermarkets carry it)

Aunt Jemima Buckwheat Pancake Mix

Seven Seas Green Goddess Salad Dressing

And, of course, I Want My Maypo!

How do these products survive if you can't find them at your local grocer? Why is it that these longtime kitchen staples are no longer staples? What other packaged foods do you remember growing up with that you no longer see, and wish you did (or are glad you don't)?

While you're discussing these questions, maybe you might want to drop by the Vermont Country Store and shell out way more than you remember paying for these fine products to get a taste of mass-produced scarcity.

[ScorchedPalate]

How do these products survive if you can't find them at your local grocer? 

I suspect that many of these products survive in select regional markets. Like top-slice hotdog buns, which are unheard-of in the west. There are a number of Lawry's products that are commonly found only in California.

~A

[Chris Amirault]

Maltex seems to have gone the way of the dodo, or, more accurately, the piping plover; we can only find it now and then on grocery shelves.

[Popcorn]

Peanut Chews. I think they are made in baltimore or Philly.

[MarketStEl]

Peanut Chews.  I think they are made in baltimore or Philly.

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They're a Philly product, known for decades as Goldenburg's Peanut Chews.

Goldenburg's was acquired by Just Born of Bethlehem, Pa.--the makers of Marshmallow Peeps--and the Peanut Chews were dressed up in new packaging minus the Goldenburg name. A big ad campaign this spring announced the change locally. They are still widely available throughout the Philadelphia region.

[jvictor930]

My fiancé went to a conference where they brought Tastykake products to San Antonio...they were advertising Philadelphia as a location and you can't get those goodies down in the Lonestar State.

From what I understand, it was mass produced baked good mayhem!!!

[MarketStEl]

My fiancé went to a conference where they brought Tastykake products to San Antonio...they were advertising Philadelphia as a location and you can't get those goodies down in the Lonestar State.

From what I understand, it was mass produced baked good mayhem!!! 

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Simple! That's because...

<jingle>

"Nobody bakes a cake as tasty as a Tastykake."

</jingle>

[rooftop1000]

Welches Strawberry soda....havent seen it in 20 yrs in NJ....found some at a gas station in VA monday....should have left it there

but seriously isnt finding local or "missing" foods a great part of traveling

[mrbigjas]

Peanut Chews.  I think they are made in baltimore or Philly.

←

They're a Philly product, known for decades as Goldenburg's Peanut Chews.

Goldenburg's was acquired by Just Born of Bethlehem, Pa.--the makers of Marshmallow Peeps--and the Peanut Chews were dressed up in new packaging minus the Goldenburg name. A big ad campaign this spring announced the change locally. They are still widely available throughout the Philadelphia region.

←

except they changed the formula and they taste totally different now.

goldenberg's: RIP

just born: FU

[MT-Tarragon]

Rummaging through the shelves of the store's food section, I ran across many more products that I swear I have seen on supermarket shelves, such as:

Durkee Famous Sauce

←

I can get Durkee's from certain food chains here in Seattle. One thing I noticed about Durkee's, though, is that they have changed their formula. I don't know what they changed, but it's now more thick/mayonnaise-y where it used to be a bit more liquid, like a thick dressing. I think it may be less tangy, too, but perhaps that is my imagination. I liked the older version better.

[MelissaH]

My-T-Fine pudding mix.

Seeing this, I wondered, Why is this specialty goods purveyor offering for sale on its Web site something I could get on the shelves of any supermarket?

Judging from the catalog description, the answer is: Because I can't just run to my local supermarket for a box.

←

I can: my Price Chopper has all sorts of flavors on the shelf. This from a store that doesn't have a great selection of many things!

Now, what I can't find at all here: malted milk powder. We used to have easy access to Carnation brand in both chocolate and normal flavors when we lived in Ohio. Here, nada! We've taken to importing it from our trips to visit the in-laws in Michigan.

What marketing whizzes decided that nobody would buy the stuff here?

MelissaH

[jgarner53]

B&M Baked Beans! I noticed that the Vermont Country Store had it. I have looked and looked and looked here and can't find it. It was a big favorite of mine when mom served it along with franks & beans.

Long gone, but not forgotten - Jello Spoon Candy - pudding mix (vanilla, peanut butter, and caramel, I think) with a pouch of liquid chocolate topping, akin to Magic Shell, that hardened when you put the pudding in the fridge to set. You had to tap through the topping to get to your pudding.

[purplewiz]

Drake's Cakes. Devil Dogs, Ring Dings, Yodels, Coffee Cakes. I grew up on them in the lunches my mother made.

Imagine my surprise when I moved to California and they were nowhere to be found. I used to bring boxes back in my suitcase when I went back to visit my folks.

Then we moved to CO, and there were two grocery stores that carried them. Finally, I had a place to get my Devil Dog fix! Of course, then one store stopped carrying them and the other went out of business.

I wonder if my Chocodile supplier is still in business.

Marcia.

[munchymom]

Lipton Cup-A-Soup, as I found out some 3 1/2 years ago in the throes of a pregnancy craving, is almost unavailable in Charlotte, NC. (Though still alive and well in New Hampshire where I grew up.) I finally found some at the seventh grocery store I visited. If I hadn't found it, I was going to ask my parents to Fedex me a few boxes.

[lesfen]

Most markets have Maypo here in NE Ohio. Sorry. Love that stuff.

The only thing that I WANT that I can't get are Mother's brand cookies. I got hooked on Flaky Flix when I lived in Anaheim and now that I'm home I can't get them. I still have some friends in Cali that are nice enough to send me a couple of packages for Christmas... but... but... that's still three months away! (Sniffle) I don't know if I can wait that long.

[BarbaraY]

Lipton Cup-A-Soup, as I found out some 3 1/2 years ago in the throes of a pregnancy craving, is almost unavailable in Charlotte, NC.  (Though still alive and well in New Hampshire where I grew up.)  I finally found some at the seventh grocery store I visited.  If I hadn't found it, I was going to ask my parents to Fedex me a few boxes.

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Serendipity! Last time I went to the grocery, I was perusing the soup shelf. A young stocker offered to help me. I told him I was looking for Cup-A-Soup. He looked puzzeled until I told him last time I bought it he probably wasn't born.

It was a stand-by for backpacking. My niece still laughs about having it for breakfast when the bears got our food.

[ScorchedPalate]

I hadn't seen Fresca since the 70s until we moved to Seattle 3 years ago -- it was everywhere. Now we're back in SF and I can find it sporadically.

On a similar note... anyone else remember Aspen, the apple-flavored soda?

~A

[bigbear]

I have found stuff, that I thought wasn't being made anymore, at Hometown Favorites.

[tejon]

B&M Baked Beans! I noticed that the Vermont Country Store had it. I have looked and looked and looked here and can't find it. It was a big favorite of mine when mom served it along with franks & beans.

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I buy B&M Baked Beans all the time at the local Ralph's here out by Los Angeles. I know stock varies with what people tend to buy in a given area. Perhaps a grocery store that isn't quite as close might carry it out there?

Edited September 8, 2005 by tejon (log)

[Aileen]

I remember Aspen! It was delicious.

I still miss Food Sticks (or Space Food Sticks). I loved the peanut butter flavored ones. My mom had trouble keeping them around, my sisters and I would eat them all immediately after getting home from the store.

[rooftop1000]

our local IGA in NJ has lots of Cup of Soup....

its even Improved flavor and 30% bigger

tracey

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

My mom, one of my sisters and I end up having to send care packages of Chili Cheese Fritos to my sister that lives in Jacksonville, FL. She can't find them out there.

[Rebecca263]

I still miss Food Sticks (or Space Food Sticks).  I loved the peanut butter flavored ones.

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Space Food Sticks! They're still around. I bought a caseload a couple of years ago and ate one package. The rest went onto ePay. Peanut butter was my old favorite, too, but they only had chocolate available at the time. If someone would tell me how to put up n eGullet frinedly link to a supplier, I'd be glad to.

[MarketStEl]

My mom, one of my sisters and I end up having to send care packages of Chili Cheese Fritos to my sister that lives in Jacksonville, FL. She can't find them out there.

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Interesting.

I never see this flavor on store shelves in Philadelphia.

Until, that is, several cases of them wound up as a "Special Buy" at the local Save-A-Lot about nine months back. (Guess a plant made too many.)

[DeVeaux]

I miss Grandma Brown's Beans, which we ate while growing up in Western New York - I've never seen them in the Midwest.

I'll have to see if they have a web site.