30 Foods That Were Normal in '80s America — and Seem Strange Outside the US

A ring of gelatin called a salad. Cheese you could write your name with. A smiling glove on a dinner box. Welcome back to the American table of the 1980s. This video counts down thirty foods that made perfect sense in a U.S. kitchen, lunchbox and freezer in the 1980s, from casseroles and canned pasta to TV dinners, Pop-Tarts and the snack cake at number one. Along the way, it follows how a tight family budget and a long recession pushed dinner out of the pot and into the box. Which of these was on your table, and what did your family call it? Tell us in the comments. Sources and references U.S. Department of Labor, minimum wage history Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis / BLS, consumer price index data Federal Reserve History, Recession of 1981-82 Campbell's and Stouffer's / Nestle brand histories General Mills, Hamburger Helper and fruit snacks history McDonald's, Chicken McNuggets history Pop-Tarts, Our Story Little Debbie / McKee Foods Wikipedia (articles on the individual foods), n.d. #80sfood #nostalgia #1980s