Food in the 1950s

EATING IN THE FIFTIES

Pasta had not been invented. It was macaroni or spaghetti.
Curry was a surname.
A take-away was a mathematical problem.
Pizza? Sounds like a leaning tower somewhere.
Bananas and oranges only appeared at Christmas time.
All chips were plain.
Oil was for lubricating, fat was for cooking.
Tea was made in a teapot using tea leaves and never green.
Cubed sugar was regarded as posh.
Chickens didn't have fingers in those days.
None of us had ever heard of yogurt.
Healthy food consisted of anything edible.
Cooking outside was called camping.
Seaweed was not a recognized food.
'Kebab' was not even a word, never mind a food.
Sugar enjoyed a good press in those days, and was regarded as being white gold.
Prunes were medicinal.
Surprisingly muesli was readily available. It was called cattle feed.
Pineapples came in chunks in a tin; we had only ever seen a picture of a real one.
Water came out of the tap. If someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than gasoline for it, they would have become a laughing stock.
The one thing that we never ever had on/at our table in the fifties ... was elbows, hats and cell phones.

[Jenise]

Some amendments:

EATING IN THE SIXTIES in Southern California

The word pasta did not exist. It was macaroni, spaghetti, fettucine, bow ties or wagon wheels.
Curry was a type of rice mix purchased from the "Gourmet Foods" section at Alpha Beta.
All chips were plain or BBQ flavor.
Bananas and oranges were available year round and many of us had trees for both in our yards.
Tea was mostly served over ice.
Sugar cubes were for polio vaccines.
Barbecue was a verb, not a noun.
Everyone had a barbecue. But only Dads were allowed to use them.
We barbecued Kebabs all the time.

From a 1950s New England perspective:

Tea came in small bags that made an individual cup. The only kind available had the mysterious name "orange pekoe".

Coffee was boiled in pots.

Vegetables came in cans, except at certain limited time periods in the summer.

"Barbecue" meant what we now call "grilling". That funny thing done in the South with a smoker was unknown.

Pickles were sold from a barrel.

Lobster was mainly sold live from a tank.

-Paul W.

In the fifties, I roller skated, took lessons, was involved in local skating shows, and had tons of fun. Our rink had a snack bar and while I never bought anything from them (mom said NO) I recall vividly being very thirsty and went there asking for a coke. I was told they did not sell coke because it was habit forming, and children should not drink it. I ended up with water, and I don't remember what other drinks they sold.

The very original formula for Coca-Cola used an extract from coca leaves that indeed did have a tiny amount of cocaine in it. This was changed when cocaine became a controlled drug in the USA, but the reputation persisted. Also, even today cola does contain a good bit of caffeine, which is mildly addictive. My parents never let me drink tea or coffee until I was in my teens. I never liked carbonated beverages as a kid because of the way the bubbles got up my nose. I used to stir soft drinks until they stopped fizzing before starting to drink them.

-Paul W.

I was born in 1960 so you all are old.