Cryptic creatures called “fruit snacks” showed up at my parents’ house in the mid 80s—along with leg warmers, shoulder pads, and some creepy-looking dolls that had been hanging out in cabbage patches. At first, these snacks seemed a little strange. Were they actually fruit? Were they candy? What were they thinking? What were they up to, lurking in the dark corners of the pantry?
The fruit snacks pretty much kept to themselves, wrapped in foil pouches that could fit in a pocket, lunch box, or behind a wall of big hair. They were a staple after school, while watching General Hospital or As the World Turns. I would alternate between the fruit snacks and jars of peanut butter that I’d eat with a spoon, in order to achieve the perfect peanut butter and jelly effect, but without the bread.
Soon, my brother and sister and I outgrew the fruit snack craze. Yet, my parents would continue to buy boxes of them—and offer them to us, until they gave up and fed them to the neighbors’ Cabbage Patch Kids.
But just last week, a co-worker came into the office with a huge box of fruit snacks and doled them out to us while we were working, and I never realized how good these were. So, I went to the store and bought a box of Minion-shaped fruit snacks. Here’s my detailed analysis of this experience:
–The box says that fruit juice is used in these snacks, which is nice to know, but…. You might want to take a multivitamin anyway, which also comes in gummy form. This act is also known as “adulting.”
–Eating real fruit, as part of a well-balanced diet, would most likely be better than eating fruit snacks, but real fruit doesn’t grow in the shape of a Minion. And for those of you shouting, “BANANANANA!” You have a point. Bank yu!
–I’m not sure which flavors of fruit are represented in a fruit snack. It’s just all kinds of tangy and bursts of bright flavor that hit your mouth at the same time. The technical name, I think, is oragrappinepurplered. It doesn’t grow naturally on trees. It’s only found in the elusive fruit snack.
To sum up, fruit snacks are still cryptic critters, but they make for a pear-fectly sweet trip down memory lane–unless your memory lane is bordered by cabbage patches with little doll arms reaching out for your snacks. In that case: Run, BANANANANA!!!
Your Turn: What are some favorite snacks from your childhood?
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 
Those Cabbage Patch dolls sure were creepy. For snacks from my childhood, the big special treat was root beer Fizzies.
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Ooh! That sounds good!
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😀
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Those cabbage patch dolls were horrible. They looked like little corpses. Chucky’s cousins, I’m sure!
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Ha! These things are true 🙂
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My favourite childhood snack would be Mum’s pikelets and scones. After school or on weekends when we’re home she’d make them and we’d enjoy them.
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Yum! That sounds delicious!
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We were never allowed these as kids because they had too much sugar, just like we were never allowed all the cool cereals! As an adult, I eat Corn Pops and fruit roll-ups whenever I want. When Kate was little, she loved these fruit leather things called Fruit To Go—a staple of her diet since she was so picky!
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Oh, no! I’m so glad you get to enjoy what you want (for the most part) as an adult, though 🙂
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That is so cute. It’s like I could taste them as you described the flavor. My parents never bought us these. Kinda sad you outgrew them (back then anyway). Probably sad for your dentist too.
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Oh, I’m still keeping the dentist in business, for sure. The other day, I misjudged my ability to eat a Ring Pop and nearly broke my teeth.
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Eeesh!
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Your post aee always so funny! Well, I don’t know such fruit snack, but: 1)when I was a child I loved to eat Nutella directly from the jar, with a spoon, and no bread. 2)My favourite snack was a deliciois wafer covered with chocolate, unforgettable
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Thank you! And Nutella is the best!!! I love it so much!
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Kit kats
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Yum!
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LOL. Cecilia. This was like a trip down memory lane. I had a ready supply of fruit snacks for my daughter – for lunch treats, after-school snacks, and just about any other time of day. I cringe now at all the sugar! And yesterday I went to a wedding and wore a dress from the back of my closet. My now-40-year-old daughter asked me, “Does it have shoulder pads?” She knows me so well. Yes, it does! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
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You’re welcome! And I love that the dress you wore had shoulder pads–Yay! 🙂
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