These vanished grocery store treasures have left an entire generation searching for flavors that modern food just can't replicate.
Remember that time you found something amazing in the grocery store, fell in love with it, then it just vanished forever?
I was talking to my neighbor last week, a guy in his sixties who spent ten minutes lamenting the disappearance of some chocolate bar from his childhood. His eyes literally lit up describing the texture, the wrapper, even the commercial jingle.
That conversation sent me down a rabbit hole of discontinued foods from the 70s, and wow, some of these do sound incredible.
Growing up in Boston, I missed the 70s by a couple decades, but my parents and their friends have some serious nostalgia for the foods of that era. After doing some digging and talking to dozens of boomers about their favorite lost snacks, I've compiled this list of foods that people genuinely miss. Some of these might surprise you.
1. Space Food Sticks
These weren't just snacks; they were the future. Pillsbury created these chewy, nutrient-packed bars that were supposedly developed for astronauts.
They came in chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel flavors, wrapped in futuristic packaging that made kids feel like they were training for NASA.
What made them special wasn't just the space connection. They had this unique texture, somewhere between a Tootsie Roll and a protein bar, but way better than either.
Parents loved them because they were "nutritious," kids loved them because eating astronaut food was cool as hell. They disappeared in the early 80s, and nothing has quite filled that void since.
2. Jell-O 1-2-3
This was pure kitchen magic. You mixed one packet with hot water, whipped it up, stuck it in the fridge, and somehow it separated into three distinct layers: regular Jell-O on the bottom, a mousse-like middle, and foam on top. No extra steps, no special techniques. Just chemistry doing its thing.
Every boomer I've talked to about this gets the same wistful look. It wasn't just dessert; it was entertainment. Kids would watch through the fridge door waiting for the layers to form.
Kraft discontinued it in the mid-90s, probably because modern desserts got fancier, but sometimes simple magic is what we need.
3. Marathon Bar
Eight inches of braided caramel covered in chocolate. Let that sink in. The Marathon Bar was basically an engineering marvel in candy form. The ruler printed on the back of the wrapper proved you were getting your money's worth of chocolate.
Mars discontinued it in 1981, claiming it was too expensive to produce. The braided design made it take forever to eat, which was part of the appeal. You couldn't just wolf down a Marathon Bar during recess. It demanded respect, patience, and probably a napkin or two.
The UK still has something similar called Curly Wurly, but Americans insist it's not quite the same.
4. Keebler Fudge Sticks
Before everything became "artisanal" and "small batch," Keebler made these perfect chocolate-covered shortbread sticks that somehow tasted better than any fancy cookie I've had at upscale restaurants. They came in a distinctive green package that boomers can still describe in detail.
The magic was in the ratio. Not too much chocolate, not too much cookie. They were sophisticated enough for adults but simple enough that kids loved them too. Keebler pulled them in the 80s, and while they've brought back other discontinued items, these remain stubbornly absent from shelves.
5. Buc Wheats cereal
General Mills took regular Wheaties and made them taste like maple syrup. That's it. That's the genius. This wasn't some sugar-bomb kids' cereal; it was Wheaties' cooler, sweeter cousin that adults could eat without shame.
Launched in 1971 and discontinued in 1983, Buc Wheats hit that sweet spot between healthy and indulgent. The maple flavoring was subtle enough that you could still feel good about your breakfast choice, but present enough to make mornings a little less mundane. People have been petitioning General Mills to bring these back for decades.
6. Danish Go-Rounds
Kellogg's created these in 1968, and they were essentially a breakfast pastry shaped like a spiral with fruit filling and icing. Think Pop-Tart meets cinnamon roll, but somehow better than both. They came in flavors like strawberry, blueberry, and apple cinnamon.
What set them apart was the texture. The spiral design meant you got filling in every bite, and the pastry was flakier than Pop-Tarts but sturdier than a real Danish.
They hung around until the mid-70s, just long enough for a generation to fall in love and then spend the next 50 years wondering why they disappeared.
7. Figurines diet bars
Before protein bars became a trillion-dollar industry, Pillsbury made these diet bars that actually tasted good. They came in flavors like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, marketed to women trying to lose weight in the 70s.
Here's the thing though: they were genuinely delicious. People bought them regardless of diet goals. They had this crispy rice texture with a sweet coating that made them feel more like candy than diet food.
When Pillsbury discontinued them in the late 70s, they took with them proof that diet food doesn't have to taste like cardboard.
8. Koogle peanut spread
Kraft decided regular peanut butter was too boring and created Koogle, which came in chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and banana flavors. The mascot was a googly-eyed jar, and the commercials had this incredibly catchy jingle that boomers can still sing word-for-word.
This wasn't Nutella before Nutella. This was something entirely different. The texture was smoother than peanut butter but thicker than frosting. It was controversial even then; parents either loved it or banned it from the house. Kraft killed it in the late 70s, but anyone who tasted it remembers exactly how it hit differently than anything we have now.
9. Carnation Breakfast Bars
Finally, we have the OG meal replacement bar. Carnation Breakfast Bars were dense, chewy rectangles that came in flavors like chocolate chip and peanut butter. They were marketed as a complete breakfast you could eat on the go, revolutionary for the 70s.
Unlike today's protein bars that can taste like sweetened sawdust, these were legitimately satisfying. They had a unique texture, almost like a cross between a granola bar and cookie dough. You'd eat one with a glass of milk and actually feel full until lunch. Carnation discontinued them in the 90s, right before the portable breakfast trend really exploded.
Final thoughts
Listening to people talk about these discontinued foods, you realize it's about more than just taste. These products are tied to memories of Saturday morning cartoons, family road trips, and simpler times. Sure, we have more food options now than ever before, but sometimes choice isn't everything.
Maybe that's why food nostalgia hits so hard. It's not just about the Marathon Bar; it's about being twelve and having enough time to eat an eight-inch candy bar. It's not just about Space Food Sticks; it's about when the future seemed full of flying cars and moon colonies.
Would these foods hold up if they came back today? Hard to say. Our palates have changed, our expectations are different. But the enthusiasm people have for these lost treats suggests that sometimes, just sometimes, they really did discontinue the good stuff.
