8 Popular Foods From The 1970s That Kids Still Pack In Their Lunchboxes

The 1970s were a period of significant cultural growth for many aspects of the United States, and food was no exception. The decade saw the fast food industry in full swing after first finding success in the 1950s and 1960s, providing many menu items that we wish still existed today. Parents of the time were tasked with providing their kids with school lunches that could last within their tin or aluminum lunch boxes until the time arrived for them to dig in.

While school lunches have evolved over the past 45 years since the 1970s came to an end, some vintage items that kids would bring along with them have persisted, whether it's due to parents' nostalgia or the enduring nature of the food in question. Thus, even with better-insulated lunch boxes and some schools allowing students to use microwaves to heat their food, it's clear that nothing quite beats the classics, and many of today's most common and beloved school lunches actually date back to "The Me Decade" and the food that kids of that era routinely indulged in.

Also known as deli-meat sandwiches, the cold cut was (and is) the quintessential school lunch, as few foods are as simultaneously simple and delicious as the lunch-meat-adorned sandwich. While this most often comes in the form of turkey or ham sandwiches in this day and age, the 1970s were the era of bologna, a type of deli meat with ancient origins that became an American staple in the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, today's youth might get to enjoy an array of different types of store-bought bread to have their sandwiches on. The '70s were also defined by a nationwide obsession with Wonder Bread, which was believed to be an incredibly convenient and versatile loaf for families to utilize, partially due to its advertising as bread that "helps build strong bodies 12 ways" in commercials that aired at the start of the decade.

While Wonder Bread was the go-to for sandwiches during the 1970s, its fellow ITT Continental Baking brand, Hostess, provided a similarly can't-miss snack to lunchboxes across the country, that being its chocolate Ding Dongs. The delectable snacks first debuted in 1967 under the names of Big Wheels on the East Coast and Ding Dongs elsewhere throughout the country. One thing that set them apart from other chocolate-based snacks at the time was that each Ding Dong was wrapped in aluminum foil specifically so that it wouldn't melt within lunchboxes, making it an obvious addition to make for school lunches. The cream-filled chocolate dessert rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, and while some insist that they are no longer quite as good now that they aren't packaged within aluminum foil, Ding Dongs remain an incredibly popular sweet treat for kids to enjoy during their lunch.

Raisins are a perfect side for a good school lunch, and the standout among raisin brands both in the 1970s and today is undoubtedly Sun-Maid Raisins. Coming in small red boxes with the iconic Sun-Maid logo on them, the raisins' packaging allowed the beloved dried fruit to take up minimal space in lunchboxes and thus was a convenient add-on. Today, Sun-Maid Raisins are particularly useful for parents who want to be health-conscious while still shopping for affordability and convenience. The classic lunchbox addition remains a great choice for any kid who wants a sweet snack to complement the rest of their meal when lunchtime arrives.

Another classic sandwich that has become synonymous with school lunch is peanut butter and jelly. It was indeed a 1970s food, but it is enduringly popular today. Becoming widely eaten across the country from the 1920s through the 1960s, PB&Js were an obvious choice for school lunches by the time the 1970s came around. In fact, considering that many families of the 1970s were in search of convenience when it came to their food, the introduction of Smuckers Goober — which brought peanut butter and jelly together in one jar — in 1968 helped make the sandwich even more of a lunchtime staple throughout the decade. This love of peanut butter and jelly lives on, with many parents and children alike finding ways to take the classic meal to the next level to make it all the more desirable.

While Doritos arguably grew in popularity the most in the decades to follow the 1970s – in part due to the chip brand's iconic Super Bowl commercials from the 1990s to the 2010s — the chips were an undeniable staple of school lunches in the 1970s. While the brand was initially well-known in the 1960s for its standard tortilla chips, Doritos rolled out taco-flavored chips in 1967 and the iconic nacho cheese-flavored chips in 1972, both of which became massively popular additions to school lunchboxes in the following years. Known for their unmistakable crunch and cheesy taste, Doritos were a favorite of many '70s kids, and even after countless design changes and dozens of new flavors, the chips remain a must-have for school lunches today.

Whether it was Oreos, Chips Ahoy!, or even Hydrox, a lunch was not complete without a couple of cookies alongside it. Especially delicious with a carton of milk — which has long been the go-to drink for school lunches — just one or two cookies could go a long way to making a '70s kid's lunchtime a much more enjoyable experience. Plus, while the variety of different brands and types of cookies kids bring to school has changed over the past 50 years, the classic debate between Oreos and Chips Ahoy! wages on at the lunch table to this very day.

For the kids who weren't particularly crazy about raisins but still needed their daily helping of fruit, one of the best ways to provide the food group while ensuring it lasted throughout the day was in the form of canned fruit. With no prep needed, canned fruits or fruit cocktails were an easy snack to throw in kids' lunchboxes to ensure that either a fruit or a vegetable made an appearance in some way, shape, or form. While, as time has gone on, many have found that some canned fruits are healthier and more tasty than others, and some parents have switched to plastic fruit cups in place of the canned variety, there are still many kids who can't wait to crack open their container of fruit each day at school.

While you might actually find this entry outside of a lunchbox, depending on its size, bringing soup in a thermos to school was a frequent technique of parents willing to cook some up before the school day began. The soup in question could sometimes be homemade minestrone or beef stew, but was most commonly from Campbell's, a brand that gave '70s kids flavors like Chicken & Stars, Tomato, and Chunky Chicken, the latter of which first debuted alongside several other "Chunky" soup products at the beginning of the decade. Similar to their use in the 1970s, these soups are especially beloved lunchbox inclusions in this day and age during the cold winter months, as they can give the kids who have them packed some much-needed warmth during their lunch hour.