Throwback Snacks We Forgot We Loved—and Hated

This article is part of our monthly issue “#ThrowbackNovember,” in which we’ll explore various aspects of childhood memory through the lens of food. We’ll share fun recipes that riff on those memories and a slew of fantastic videos featuring our team in hopes that you’ll watch, share, and comment on with your own nostalgia-filled takes. Check out this link to find an overview of all our weekly topics, stories, recipes, and more.

Whether it’s remembered with love or hate, or sometimes both, we all have vivid memories of the snacks we grew up eating. For me, there was no snack that encapsulated the love-hate relationship better than licorice: As a child I found it both disgusting and delicious at the same time. My grandpa always had salty licorice candy pieces packed into the glove compartment of his car. Although I never really liked it, he always offered me a handful—or, more accurately, he tried to sell the idea of licorice to me—and I couldn’t refuse. Licorice, for me, was inseparable from my childish idea of adulthood, just like the smell of my grandpa’s Tabac Original After Shave.

Other flavors were far less controversial. I’m thinking now about Firecracker popsicles, which tasted like an outdoor pool or beach vacation. Or Fruit Loops, which to a child, must seem like the ideal snack, day or night. Artificial food coloring and flavors didn't scare us back then; on the contrary, the brighter the colors and the sweeter something was, the more we insisted on it as being delicious.

For our monthly issue #ThrowbackNovember, we asked our team to share their most loved and hated childhood snacks. What found its way into our office? From dark chocolate banana jellies to dried squid, jawbreakers, and Bum Bum (the German equivalent of Bubble Play), get ready for a wave of nostalgia for all the snacks we once loved and hated in the video below.

#ThrowbackNovember: Snack Swap Vol. 1

• 05:59 min.
• 14.1k views

#ThrowbackNovember: Snack Swap Vol. 2

• 07:20 min.
• 28.7k views

#ThrowbackNovember: Snack Swap Vol. 3

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• 17.1k views

#ThrowbackNovember: Snack Swap Vol. 4

• 05:45 min.
• 1k views

Did you see a childhood snack that you loved or hated in the video? If not, let us know in the comments about some of your favorite and least favorite snacks—we look forward to reading them!