8 Retro Food And Drink Commercials From The '50s We Wish Were Brought Back

Watching retro television commercials from the 1950s is a wild experience. Some have aged horribly, with racial stereotypes and outright sexism, not to mention the glamorization of smoking cigarettes. Although they may not be nearly as exciting as those catchy commercials from the 1970s, some ads made their food and beverage products look so enticing that we might be tempted to spend our hard-earned money on the items today, should the black-and-white ads pop up while we're bingeing shows, and there are some we'd like to see come back. 

Looking back at these commercials of yore, we found endearing ads for candies, cake mixes, cookies, beverages, and more, but we narrowed our choices down to eight, none of which are in color, and whose images are thoroughly grainy. Still, the concept of the television commercial was groundbreaking at the time, and allowed millions of households to see and learn about these products in the comfort of their own homes during the midcentury decade. Many times, advertisers would plug a product ad directly into a television show, with the actors (not so) subtly pausing their dialogue to push a product to the audience, in a move that went way beyond clever product placement. Enjoy this look back in time.

Before the memorable "How many licks does it take?" commercial for Tootsie Pops from the 1970s, there were costumed kids singing and daydreaming about the sweet lollipops filled with a curiously named Tootsie Roll center, as we see in this commercial. Unfortunately, with the lack of color, we can't see what flavors are featured in the ad, but we do learn that on the back of the party pack boxes of 10 candies, there's a game for kids to play. Whoopy! If you believe everything you see on television, these lollipops are "triple good!"

What happens when four youngsters from the 1950s walk through the neighborhood whistling? A mom shows up and pours them all glasses of Kool-Aid, as the kids sing a jingle in appreciation. Right on cue, a talking Kool-Aid pitcher joins the song, and you'll recognize it as the famous brand mascot, which was created in 1954, when this ad first aired. Mom then chimes in and tells the audience that Kool-Aid is "pure and good," even garnering a seal of approval from "Parents" magazine. Oh, and it's only 5 cents per package, which is a total steal.

This ad is a great example of a product plug during a television show. During "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show," main character Gracie gushes over the cake she's made for George thanks to Betty Crocker's tutelage (spoiler: Betty Crocker isn't a real person) and the boxed mix she used to make it. Gracie calls it a calico cake because it resembles the colors of a calico cat. Even though you can't see the colors, it's explained that the cake combines vanilla, chocolate, and even a little mint flavoring, which still sounds pretty good to us.

Coca-Cola has always been on top of the advertising game, having created slogans since 1886. The iconic soda was immortalized in this commercial from the 1950s with a targeted audience: high schoolers. What's funny is that there isn't a teen in sight; the actors are clearly adults. But the ad talks about how Coca-Cola is great for Friday night lights, in other words, football night — whether you're at a school rally or partying afterwards with friends. 

This commercial is a great example of a product that was marketed to both kids and parents. The original Bosco chocolate syrup was described as a "milk amplifier," as it was fortified with iron and vitamin D, which would have appealed to parents in the hope that it would add these beneficial nutrients to their children's chocolate milk. The kids would have been mesmerized by the ads' tinkly sound and animated sparkles, and the dreamy images of the chocolate being poured on ice cream and cake.

In this commercial from 1954, television star and radio announcer Rex Marshall gushes about his affinity for Maxwell House Instant Coffee. He explains that the coffee isn't a grind or a powder, but rather "millions of tiny, hollow flavor buds of real coffee" which burst when mixed with hot water. That's a swanky way of saying that instant coffee is simply dehydrated coffee that's been ground into crystals. Still, we like the idea of fancifying something as mundane as instant coffee with flowery words.

This ad for Snickers candy bars incorporated a classic nursery rhyme into a jingle. In the commercial, Little Jack Horner trades in his Christmas pie for a Snickers bar, and his plum-pulling days are suddenly over. The description given for a treat that layers peanut butter and malted milk flavored nougat, caramel with crunchy peanuts, and milk chocolate sounds more than enticing. I think we can all agree with: "If you like peanuts and chocolate too, then Snic Snic Snickers is the bar for you!" The sentiment still rings true. 

At first, you might assume this commercial is for Yoo-hoo chocolate-flavored beverage. But then you realize that the actors are singing "yoo-hoo" in celebration of a sandwich cookie. The ad is clever because it suddenly dawns on you that the jingle is likely celebrating the famous yodeling of Switzerland, as these are Swiss Creme Sandwich Cookies from Nabisco. They are described as crisp, golden cookies with a thick cream filling, which we imagine are kind of like vanilla Oreos. And the jingle would definitely get into people's heads if this were aired today.