16 Things Every Grocery Store Sold in the 1960s That Are Gone Today

In the 1960s, grocery stores had a lot more than just food and household goods. They had strange things on their shelves that showed how people lived, what was popular, and how hopeful people were at the time. People bought tokens for cigarette machines, wax candy bottles, liquid bluing, flavored milk straws, canned puddings, and even whole chickens that were packaged in cans. Families loved convenient foods, new snacks, and useful domestic items that later went away as technology, health awareness, and consumer tastes evolved. Today, they mostly live on through old ads, family recollections, old photos, and nostalgic stories about ordinary life in the vibrant and quickly changing 1960s.

1. Cigarette Vending Machine Tokens

In the 1960s, small grocery stores often had metal tokens for cigarette vending machines near the checkout desk. These tokens worked in cigarette machines situated inside cafes, transit stations, bowling alleys, and laundromats. People bought a few before going out for the night because it was hard to carry coins. Most of the machines were packed with brands like Marlboro, Winston, and Pall Mall. Store clerks frequently kept the tokens in tiny trays next to the register. Kids sometimes bought them for their parents without anyone worrying. The machines slowly went away as smoking laws got stricter and people stopped smoking. The tokens went away with them, leaving behind weird memories of a time when things were less formal.

2. Wax Bottles Filled With Candy Syrup

Grocery stores in the 1960s displayed colorful Nik-L-Nip wax bottles inside candy aisles and near front counters. Children bit the tops off the tiny bottles and drank the sugary syrup before chewing the wax itself like gum. The bottles came in bright flavors such as cherry, orange, lemon, and lime. Many parents grabbed a pack during routine grocery trips because the treats stayed cheap and easy to share. The candy became tied to Saturday afternoons, baseball games, and summer sidewalks. Over time, stores gave shelf space to newer snacks with better packaging and longer popularity. Wax bottle candies slowly faded from mainstream grocery shelves across America.

3. Laundry Bluing Liquid

In the 1960s, many grocery stores sold Mrs. Stewart’s Liquid Bluing alongside laundry detergent and starch. During washing, families utilized the deep blue liquid to make white clothes look brighter. Homemakers cautiously added little drops to the rinse water because too much would leave blue stains on the fabric. The substance also had some strange uses around the house, like making hair whiter and cleaning metal surfaces. Grocery stores used to think that bluing was a normal thing to have about the house. Modern detergents made it unnecessary to use separate whitening products, and younger generations no longer know the old washing method.

4. Instant Breakfast Eggs in Cartons

In the 1960s, supermarkets sold refrigerated liquid egg breakfasts aimed at busy families in a hurry in the morning. Products like Sego Liquid Breakfast Eggs promised instant nutrition without the trouble of cooking complete meals or cracking eggs. Ads were aimed at moms balancing work and school commitments. The boxes generally had pictures of happy families sitting around clean kitchen tables. Many people thought these items were the future of easy dining. As breakfast preferences changed and people began to prefer frozen meals, cereals, and fast-food chains, many early liquid breakfast egg items quietly disappeared from grocery store coolers for good.

5. Space Food Sticks

The Space Race made people excited, and grocery stores loaded their shelves with futuristic goodies in the 1960s. Pillsbury developed Space Cuisine Sticks after brainstorming cuisine ideas inspired by NASA astronauts. Grocery stores put the chewy sticks next to candy bars and snacks for lunch. There were flavors including chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel. Kids thought that astronauts were eating the same snacks while they were flying around the Earth. The packaging featured bold, dramatic space-age designs that complemented the burgeoning interest in rockets and moon missions. Interest slowly diminished after the Space Race cooled, and the once-popular snack finally stopped being sold in most grocery shops.

6. Paper-Wrapped Butter Squares

In the 1960s, many grocery stores sold butter pats wrapped in cardboard boxes at the dairy counters. Families often bought them for school lunches, dinners, and holiday meals since the little squares made less mess and waste. Restaurants also used the product a lot for breakfast platters and bread baskets. The wraps usually had basic printed logos and felt like waxy paper. During busy weekends, grocery store workers were always restocking the boxes. Over time, changing how things are packaged and ways to save money made people less interested in buying individually wrapped butter quantities at stores.

7. Charcoal Toothpaste Powder

In the 1960s, grocery stores often had tins of tooth powder next to ordinary toothpaste brands. Colgate Tooth Powder and Ipana Powder were two products that claimed to clean teeth and freshen breath with only a little sprinkle on a toothbrush. Many elderly buyers trusted the powders because they had used them when they were younger, before toothpaste tubes became popular. The powders frequently came in metal containers with twist-off tops, which made them easy to spill into bathroom cupboards. Kids didn’t always like the gritty texture, but adults liked the strong mint flavor and the way it made things shine. Tooth powders slowly went away from grocery stores and homes as toothpaste formulae got better and convenience became more essential.

8. Saccharin Tablets in Glass Bottles

In the 1960s, grocery stores carried saccharin pills in small glass bottles. Long before colorful packets of artificial sweeteners dominated restaurant tables. People who were trying to cut back on sugar and follow dieting trends liked brands like Sweet’N Low. People put the tablets in their coffee, iced tea, and grapefruit halves during breakfast. The tablets were not wrapped up, so the bottles rattled around in purses and kitchen drawers. Grocery stores treated saccharin as a new scientific discovery. People were worried about artificial sweeteners, which sparked debates and revisions to the law that hurt sales. Today, the original saccharin containers are mostly forgotten, except for historical kitchen collections.

9. Aspic Gelatin Mixes

In the 1960s, supermarkets sold boxed gelatin mixtures made just for savory aspic dishes served at parties and family dinners. Brands like Knox pushed recipes for gelatin that tasted like tomatoes, vegetables, and meat, and had olives, celery, shrimp, or ham floating inside colored molds. During holidays and neighborhood get-togethers, homemakers proudly showed off their exquisite crafts. Recipe cards and grocery magazines advised people to try out more and more decorative combinations. In suburban America, refrigerators were full of gelatin salads that looked like rings, crowns, and domes. Aspic recipes quickly fell out of favor as cuisine trends moved toward simpler meals and fresher ingredients.

10. Canned Whole Chicken

In the 1960s, grocery stores sometimes sold whole chickens in large cans, often next to canned ham and other meats that didn’t need refrigeration. Sweet Sue and other brands sold completely cooked birds in broth, which were ready to eat for quick dinners or when you needed something to eat in a hurry. The product looked useful in the store, but it was often unusual to open the can in the kitchen. The chicken came out pallid, mushy, and weirdly shaped, and it needed careful seasoning to taste well. Still, busy families liked how easy it was to use before rotisserie chickens became popular. As ready-to-eat meals in the fridge got better, canned chicken stopped being a common grocery item.

11. Flavored Milk Straws

In the 1960s, grocery stores marketed flavored milk straws that made ordinary milk taste sweet when kids drank it. Flav-R-Straws, for example, had little beads of chocolate or strawberry flavor inside a plastic straw. Parents thought they were a fun way to get kids to drink more milk in the morning or after school. The notion seemed smart, easy, and new. Kids noticed that the milk changed taste with each sip, making a regular glass feel exceptional. But the novelty wore off when flavored milk in bottles, powdered mixes, and ready-to-drink cartons became simpler to find. Most grocery store aisles lost their straws over time.

12. Canned Puddings With Pull Tabs

In the 1960s, many grocery stores sold small cans of pudding, ready to eat for lunchboxes and quick desserts. Hunt’s Snack Pack and other brands first came in metal cans. Later, plastic cups became the standard. The kids pulled back the sharp pull tab and used a spoon to eat chocolate, vanilla, or butterscotch pudding. Parents appreciated the product because it didn’t need to be prepared and lasted well on the shelf. The small cans felt modern, clean, and reliable. The metal edges could still be dangerous, especially for kids eating at school. Plastic pudding cups took the place of the old cans in the 1980s, and the pull-tab pudding era came to an end.

13. Bacon Drippings Tins

In the 1960s, grocery stores often sold beautiful tins made just for storing bacon grease after breakfast. Companies sold them as useful cooking tools because families used bacon drippings to sauté potatoes, season vegetables, and add flavor to cornbread. The tins were frequently next to pots and pans for the stove and things for the home. Housewives carefully drained the hot grease before putting it in the container for later use. As people became more worried about the health effects of pig fat and cooking oils became more popular, bacon grease storage steadily disappeared from households and grocery store shelves.

14. Powdered Soft Drink Tablets

In the 1960s, grocery stores sold fizzy drink tablets that quickly turned into flavored drinks when they were dropped into water. Kids loved brands like Fizzies because the pills made a big mess inside cups. Grape, root beer, orange, and cola were some of the flavors. Families liked the product during hot summers since it was fun, cheap, and looked like it came from the future. Ads for groceries generally portrayed happy kids observing the colorful, fizzing movement. Concerns over fake sweeteners later hurt the brand’s popularity and sales. As canned sodas and bottled beverages became more popular, powdered drink tablets slowly disappeared from grocery store shelves all throughout the country.

15. Household Ammonia in Glass Bottles

In the 1960s, many grocery stores sold transparent glass bottles of strong household ammonia for tough cleaning jobs. Families used it to clean windows, polish kitchen surfaces, remove stains, and make laundry smell better. During weekly cleaning, especially on weekends, the pungent stench pervaded dwellings. Bottles were next to bleach, soap powders, and floor wax products in the grocery store. But the glass packing typically cracked easily during movement or storage. Eventually, plastic containers and safer cleaning chemicals replaced the older ones. This made the original ammonia bottles disappear from grocery store shelves.

16. Frozen Salisbury Steak TV Dinners

In the 1960s, supermarkets had entire freezer sections devoted to aluminum tray TV dinners like Swanson Salisbury Steak. While the kids waited in front of black-and-white TVs for dinner, their parents put the trays in the ovens. The dinners normally came with meat, mashed potatoes, veggies, and a little dessert. Busy families appreciated the convenience, as making an entire dinner every night took time and effort. Grocery ads used TV dinners as examples of modern life and its efficiency. Over time, people started to prefer fresher frozen meals and packaging that could be used in the microwave. The original foil tray Salisbury steak dinners progressively went away, leaving behind a decidedly mid-century shopping experience.

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• 1960s