Changes in Food
1943 - 1961
1943: Most of the class of '61 were born in 1943
- wartime rationing begins.
1944:
- The world is at war...Ration Coupons
1947:
- Reddi-Whip was introduced - the first highly-artificial convenience food.
1948:
- Campbells' introduces V-8 Juice.
- McDonald brothers
opened their first fast-food stand - McDonalds.
1949: We entered the first grade.
- Prepackaged cake mixes were introduced as a convenience food.
- Oreo cookies debut.
1950:
- Minute Rice debuts.
- The Open Kettle, a coffee and donut shop in Quincy Mass. is renamed Dunkin' Donuts.
- KRAFT® Deluxe process cheese slices - the first commercially packaged sliced process cheese - are introduced.
- First food processor (the Kenwood Chef)
1951:
- Sugar Pops, a sugary breakfast cereal is introduced.
- Earl Tupper introduces Tupperware.
- Swanson introduces beef, chicken, turkey pot pies.
- J.D. Salinger published Catcher in the Rye.
- J. Andre-Thomas invents the first heart-lung machine, allowing advanced life-support during open-heart surgery.
- American automobile manufacturer Chrysler Corporation introduces power steering.
- The first Jack-in-the-Box opens in San Diego.
- S&H Green Stamps get their start at the Denver store chain King Sooper.
- The U.S. Congress ratifies the Twenty-second Amendment, limiting presidents to two terms in office.
- Still camera gets built-in flash units.
- Rosenbergs convicted of selling atomic secrets to the Soviets.
- A Crosley automobile with a steering wheel on the right side became the first such vehicle placed in service for mail delivery - in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- Unemployment: 3.3%
1952:
- Sugar Smacks (56% sugar) and Sugar Frosted Flakes (29% sugar) are introduced.
- Plastic kits of model aircraft are produced and soon model cars.
- Teabags introduced into Britain
- Clarence Birdseye marketed the first frozen peas.
- The typical U.S. grocery store now carries about 4,000 different items, up from about 870 in 1928.By the mid-1960s the grocery will be a supermarket carrying some 8,000 items.
- Lipton onion soup mix comes along.
1953:
- The French Sardine Co. (in existence since 1917) becomes Star-Kist Foods. Charlie will appear in 1961.
- Irish Coffee is introduced at San Francisco's Buena Vista Cafe at the foot of Hyde Street Hill on the Beach Street cable line.
- Dow Chemical creates Saran Wrap.
- Kraft Cheez Whiz is introduced.
1954:
- M&M Peanuts are introduced.
- Swanson TV dinners debut.
- The first l6 oz beer can introduced by Schlitz, The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous!
- The first Burger King opens.
- Kraft introduces CRACKER BARREL® brand natural cheese.
- M&M's Peanut Chocolate Candies were introduced. Also, the universally loved M&M's Brand Characters and the famous slogan, "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand," slogan debuted.
- The Butterball brand and the self-basting turkey are introduced. Through genetics, Swift develops a broad-breasted bird without the tough tendons and uses a hot-water bath to remove feathers.
- Trix, 46.6 percent sugar, is introduced by General Mills.
- A revolution in an aluminum tray! The TV Dinner.
1955: We entered junior high school.
- Tony the Tiger appears in 1955.
- Instant Oatmeal is invented by the Quaker Oats Company.
- Ray Kroc starts McDonald's chain of fast food.
- Not only is Del Monte Stewed Tomatoes (inspired by the recipe of an employee's mother) introduced but so is Pineapple Grapefruit Drink. You heard it here first.
- Campbell's home economists develop the recipe for the Green Bean Bake, which continues today as one of the company's most popular recipes. Some estimates go as high as 20,000,000 servings a year.
- Kentucky Fried Chicken starts.
1956:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture formulates the four basic food groups.
- Budweiser Brewery introduces Busch beer
- Certs, the first candy breath mint, is introduced.
1957:
- The average American family now consumes 850 cans of food each year. Sales of Mason jars and other labor-intensive canning and preserving supplies plummet.
- General Foods Corp. introduces TANG breakfast beverage crystals.
- Margarine sales take the lead over butter.
- Better Homes & Gardens prints its first microwave-cooking article.
1958: We entered high school.
- The Jolly Green Giant appears on TV with less than stellar results! In his first incarnation he looks like a monster which scares kids. So they lightened him up and added "Ho, ho, ho" and the lilting "Good things from the garden" song.
- Eighteen-year-old Frank Carney sees a story in the Saturday Evening Post about the "pizza fad" among teenagers and college students. With $600 borrowed from his mother, he opens the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kan.
- Sweet n' Low is introduced as an artificial Sweetener
- Friskees introduces the first dry cat food.
- Rice-a-Roni, The San Francisco Treat, is introduced.
- Cocoa Krispies breakfast food is introduced by the Kellogg Company; it's 45.9% sugar.
- Cocoa Puffs is introduced by General Mills; it contains 43% sugar.
1959:
- Hawaiian Punch is introduced.
- Teflon-coated pots and pans go on sale.
- Danny's Coffee Shops are renamed Denny's.
- U.S. supermarkets number 32,000 and account for 69 percent of all food store sales although they comprise only 11 percent of food stores.
- Maxwell House inaugurates the "Good to the last drop" ad campaign.
- One billionth can of Spam sold.
- Aluminum beer can introduced by Coors of Golden, Colorado.
- food stamps authorized.
1961: High school graduation.
- Coffee-Mate, the first 'coffee lightener' is introduced.
- Instant Oatmeal is invented by the Quaker Oats Company.
Contributions for this page were taken from http://www.menziesera.com/menziesera/index.htm and http://www.fiftiesweb.com These sites are recommended for more facts and fun memories.
Others sites made contributions as well.
1943-1961: Food World Events Miscellaneous Happenings Television Things Said