It's a commonplace enough piece of nostalgia. Lots of people have it. You definitely DIDN'T read it here first, but I am old enough to remember when crisps came in only one flavour* and had a twist of blue paper containing salt that you could add or not add according to your taste.
The plethora of World Cup themed flavours is a far cry from those times. As I sat on a stool in a corner drinking Vimto and eating my crisps (with the salt added) I never dreamed that one day there would be American Cheesburger flavour, Australian BBQ Kangaroo flavour or Italian Spaghetti Bolognese flavour. I never even dreamed of Roast Chicken or Prawn Cocktail flavours. Not even Cheese and Onion or Salt and Vinegar crossed my mind.
It occurs to me that those among my, admittedly limited, readership who call crisps, "chips" might never have had the pleasure of untwisting the blue packet of salt and tipping it into the bag; holding the top tight and shaking to distribute the condiment evenly. I have no idea if such a thing ever existed outside the UK.
Of course someone from a nation raised on root beer and Coke might also not know what Vimto is.
I'm sure someone will be able to enlighten me.
(*potato flavour, that is.)
6 comments:
From the '60s on, I have never seen or heard of a bag of chips without the salt already pre-applied. Vimto does not ring a bell either, and I was mildly confused when offered a Orange Squash shortly after entering the UK for the first time in '76.
Anyone know about pre-60s?
Not being from the colonies, I can't help with the answer to your question but I do remember that about twenty years (?) ago a firm (was it Smith's?) brought out a 'retro' packet of crisps to try to appeal to the oldies. However, instead of being in a twist of blue paper, the salt was in a sachet that required tearing open before its contents could be applied to the crisps. I haven't seen them for years, so I assume the idea didn't work.
I also remember that sometimes the machinery for inserting the salt twist repeated itself and you'd end up with three or four packets. Once, while greedily cramming my face with crisps, I managed to bite on one of the salt bags...
I remember that some pubs sold little triangles of cheese (a bit like DairyLea only it wasn't) with three crackers that were a bit like Ritz biscuits only much nicer. I would have thought that too was due a comeback.
Arnie's right about the short-lived reincarnation of DIY salted crisps. These revivals never seem to work. Anyone remember Cadbury's reintroduction of the Aztec bar that tasted absolutely nothing like the original Aztec? I think they were banking on nobody remembering the original and took the opportunity to use up some surplus ingredients with the aid of a short-lived marketing campaign.
David
I have seen some odd pub snacks over the years. Two that I recall were people coming into the pub to sell sweets and chocolate - snacks that just don't go with beer - and other people coming in with a selection of fish snacks - prawns, mussels and the like.
I recall seeing people trying to sell them but I can't recall ever seeing anyone buy them.
Cockles were great. We regularly used to have a bag off the fish mon in The Villiers. He'd even put the vinegar on for you.
David
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