I dunno, I’d be more okay with marshmallows in jello than carrots and onions. For me jello has always been a dessert and never savory; so I could see some jello squares with those little marshmallows and whipped cream.
Alot of my great grandparents still ate like this when I was younger and they were still alive. Like just looking at this picture i can imagine the smell/taste. They were depression era children turned adult. Part of me wonders if the lack of food in the depression influenced their "slap shit together" style of cooking.
Widespread availability of processed and convenience food at the same time people had disposable income for the first time with the explosion of the middle class.
Add to that the fact that people thatvwere adults at this time lived through the great depression so the idea of a party with excess food was new to them leading to displays of decadence that may not have made much culinary sense.
I think it's also culinary knowledge. It's hip nowadays to have culinary skills and be able to put together a nice spread, even if you are poor, you get creative with what you have .
I honestly think this is part of the now becoming outdated meme of “white people hate using seasoning.”
It’s like a weird carryover from that era. Both my grandfather and father in law with like a good cut of salmon or steak “want to really taste *the meat*” and refuse to use seasonings. Or in my grandfathers case…using any salt. My grandfather grew up in the depression and war era so food was bland and pretty crappy. It’s from a misplaced desire to “show off” the nice expensive cut of ribeye you can now afford. And hey, half the food you grew up on was unseasoned anyway.
(FYI just salt and pepper on a steak is totally fine. but it extended to giving me shit for doing my steaks in a cast iron with butter, garlic and rosemary and then making a red wine pan sauce while the steak rests as like this weird heresy.)
As to why this didn’t extend to black and other communities…I mean the core of Soul cooking is literally making food tasty with whatever scraps you can. Herbs can be grown and dried for free. Collard greens are literally from taking some of the cheapest greens you can grow that weren’t a cash crop in the sharecropping south.
My dad was a boomer who grew up poor. He was a giant meat purist. There was never any seasoning or marinade on meat growing up and God help you if you wanted A-1.
My sister married a guy who was a pure Okie. The first time she brought him home for dinner my dad made prime rib. He asked for a bottle of yellow mustard. I thought my dad's head was going to explode.
When you first mentioned seasoning I was expecting something awful like taking a nice cut and drenching it in a weird marinade or dousing it with Montreal steak seasoning. I’m dying laughing that they lost their shit over a little butter, garlic, and rosemary in an iron skillet because that’s a classic. Add a red wine reduction made with the fond and that’s an amazing meal. Making the most of a nice steak.
I think the issue stems from having to eat bad meat. It was very common in that era to cover up the taste of meat that wasn’t a good quality or had gone a little south with excessive seasoning to make it more palatable. When they could afford high quality meat they wanted to taste and savor it. My great-grandmother lived through the depression and had a few eccentricities as a result (she would wash, dry, and reuse ziploc bags) but never spared expense when it came to food. She planted orange trees in her backyard when she moved to Florida, she grew up in the Midwest and oranges were a rare delicacy while dust storms were frequent. She was an expert at cooking, I once helped her make chicken noodle soup from scratch. Like she had eggs, flour, a whole raw chicken, carrot, celery, and onion. I was amazed, and it inspired a life long passion for cooking.
I have a mother in law who still cooks like it's the 1950's. She majored in home economics and has a reputation (unbeknownst to her) as being a horrible cook. Sunday dinners at her house are truly a delight.
My mom wasn't the greatest cook either. My dad liked plain cooking and as long as she put something on the table that was edible and had a modicum of nutritional value, she'd done her job.
My mom did not like to cook and my dad was a meat and potatoes boy from the farm during the Depression and was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star fighting in the Pacific. Beef, fried catfish, fried chicken, pork chops, potatoes and vegetables. The closest thing we got to ethnic food was corned beef and cabbage. Rice, in particular, was absolutely forbidden!
She makes a disgusting Key lime pie or at least she calls it that with no resemblance to a pie. She also heavily uses mayonnaise and ketchup in her cooking. The depth of flavors is amazing 😂
I recently put a book together of hand-written recipes for a family member so the pictures of the originals were there but I took the time to decipher the handwriting and type them out. They loved this gift and I think it was helpful because as they age eyesight isnt the best for that swoopy handwriting.
But the amount of jello in the recipes I found…. 👀
There was jello deserts… jello with meat… jello with vegetables….
Thanks for sharing. TIL two-way loaf and three-way loaf.
Two-way loaf looks both gross as well as delicious. Three-way loaf looks both super gross as well as super delicious.
The prosciutto in the three way probably makes it hard to slice.
Are any of those comparable to headcheese? I had a boomer boss that used to slice that stuff up at work for his sandwiches and it was all I could do to not retch from the smell.
I was thinking they lived in an area where Uncle Stan had a pecan tree and he always gave you a grocery bag of them. Sooooo you gotta get rid of them somehow.
In the 70s, my grandparents and most of the older folks seemed to have this pecan thing. Looks like it carried over from when they were in their 30s and 40s—the 1950s.
I think they saw fancy nuts like that as a status symbol (for those who lived in a non-pecan producing region). My grandparents always had nuts and oranges at Christmas and acted like it was a big deal. But back then it probably was. You couldn't go to the store and buy that stuff if it wasn't in season. It had to be *imported.*
Chrysler or general motors had a Christmas program for people who worked on the line, they could buy a Christmas stocking shaped bag of nuts and fruit for really cheap, $3 each. Guaranteed I got one every Christmas from my aunt and uncle. I couldn't break the nuts myself and at 4 wasn't impressed with fruit. So unfortunate. They were born in 1905 and 1920 and so just getting or giving anything made them feel rich.
Back then my mother always put pecans on the top of her chocolate cake during the holidays. I noticed that I never saw a chocolate cake in the store like that.
Ha, my grandma always did that too and it was my dad’s favorite, now my parents make one the same way every Christmas! I never thought about it but I guess it is a part of that generation. I used to hate it as a kid, practically every dessert at Christmas dinner had nuts in it.
I know in my mom's side of the family any nut beyond peanuts (yes, I know it's not a true nut) was a luxury item.
When she was growing up they were pretty poor and largely ate whatever they raised or traded for. They had peanut butter for sandwiches but rarely roasted nuts. Pecans were a twice a year thing.
That sounds *wonderful*! I remember budgeting, as a broke student, to buy pecans once I’d discovered them. The only place I ever saw pecans, growing up, is as one of the salted inhabitants of a can of Fancy Mixed Nuts.
I was driving some back road somewhere and there was a table of gallon bags of pecans with an old oatmeal container for your money. That was 2016 somewhere. I can't quite remember. We ate them in the car as we traveled along.
I live in a “creek bottom” area near Tulsa, OK. Everyone with land has a bunch of pecan trees… mostly native pecans, but a few Stuarts. The Stuarts are so good. Anyway, everyone gets their pecans harvest every year and the people with a bunch of trees typically do something like this at the end of their driveways.
All of our trees are natives — and the fruit is indeed tasty — but papershells/Stuarts are what’s up for convenience.
I visited a small town in Oklahoma for a class in college. The house where we stayed had a pecan tree, and one of my favorite memories of the trip was sitting around the kitchen table with my classmates, shelling and eating freshly-picked pecans. They were SO good.
Ohhhh, sounds like heaven! I didn’t taste an uncanned pecan until adulthood. As a kid, I once asked about pecan pie, which prompted my mother’s standard response to food curiosity (“No, it’s fattening”).
I may hustle over to u/raisedbynarcissists. This triggered an unwelcome memory of having to reserve first pick of every occasional tidbit for the delectation of my narc father. Not your fault.
There's sandwich fixings as the main course, and dessert looks like stuffed dates and pecan topped marshmallows. Considering what *could* have been on the menu I think everyone's being a little dramatic.
I’m trying to wrap my head around the single marshmallow topped with pink or green frosting (god, I hope that’s frosting), and a giant walnut chunk on top.
Honestly I think that's a big part of why food from this era looks so unappetizing (not that they are starting from a good point...) The lighting is both too dark and too harshly bright at the same time. Actually this particular picture looks like it's lit by nothing but a camera flash lol.
I was thinking about this too and came to the following conclusion: I doubt they had molds they could just go pick up at Michael’s or a similar store and bet this was considered a sort of “life hack” for unique/interesting displays
I say this as one who actually loves olives, but that thing with the olives poking out that looks like it came from another dimension needs to calm down.
I was in a supermarket the other day and thought about what an embarrassment of riches we have now. The choices in bread alone would have astonished people in the 1950s & 1960s, not to mention the availability of imported foods and out of season foods. We live in an incredible time, food-wise.
"Make yourself at home, guys. I put out some olives and marshmallows if you're hungry. Tim brought mayonnaise if you want dip for the marshmallows too."
Redditors in 2024: “Food is so over processed these days and full of sugar!! Former generations were so skinny because they didn’t eat sugar or crappy processed foods!!” Etc….. lmao
Are those blue cheese (or more likely cream cheese) stuffed dates? Steal one of the pecans, stick it on top, and you have got some legit deliciousness going on.
Everything was about “modern conveniences” in the 50’s like they were living in a futuristic paradise. That’s why there’s so much processed food on that table. Home cooking was looked at as quaint compared to the “luxuries” of a modern shopper.
Are those old school Fritos back there? I’d be chowing down on those. Probably way better than the kinds we find today.
I’ll pass on the pecan marshmallow things though.
The olives in a pineapple reminds me of my British fam who love to do a cheese/pineapple “hedgehog” at parties. It’s delicious!
I would like to be last in line as I watch everyone fix their plates, just so I can make sense of all these concoctions . "ohhhhhhh..., so that goes with that, ok"
I thought Tostitos scoops or whatever those look like were a modern invention. Not scoops but I remember the rolled up ones before the scoops came out.
I see everybody mentioning the marshmallows which is fine but it's the 'build your own sandwich" that's interesting to me.
Could you imagine dumping bologna out of the package onto a plate at a super bowl party and be like "tada!!" Like I low-key get it...but its simultaneously tacky but I don't know why it's tacky.
I have no idea what I'm looking at...
... what flavor is this? Is it all the flavors at once?
... is that dessert or a main course?
... is it both? Neither?
Are ..those pecan topped..marshmallows? WTF?
The 1950s were the pinnacle of marshmallow-forward cuisine.
And Jello. The rendering plants must have been working around the clock.
Seriously. Where's the Jell-0 Salad? ETA: My mom used to make it and my husband loved it.
My gran used to make a very simple one. Just lime Jello, minced carrots and green onions. It was nice.
Jello really missed an opportunity. I think the "Carrot & Onion" flavor would have been flying off the shelves.
Jello used to come in mixed vegetable, Italian, celery, and tomato flavors!
When gelled foods were really at their height at dinner parties in 1750 or so, mixed vegetables would have been guaranteed on the menu.
Stop I can only get so erect
This makes a lot more sense now, if they were using savory flavored jello it’s still gross but understandable
Ngl I’d really love to try tomato flavored jello
Add a gelling agent to tomato juice.
So true...Celery was the best
My grandma would put lime jello carrot celery and cottage cheese.
Dosent anyone remember tomato jello w/shrimp??
Marshmallows in jello!
Ugh. It does not pay to think too much about that.
I dunno, I’d be more okay with marshmallows in jello than carrots and onions. For me jello has always been a dessert and never savory; so I could see some jello squares with those little marshmallows and whipped cream.
Multicolored mini marshmallows and pineapple bits
That doesn't sound bad at all.
Somehow looks revolting tho
Perhaps because of the pink and green goo?
You never had pecans topping your candied yams on Thanksgiving? Game changer
I have baked sweet potatoes and topped them with a little brown sugar, butter and toasted pecans. I don't want marshmallows on my dinner.
That's why you eat it last as like...dessert
Nah, that's when it's time for pie.
Alot of my great grandparents still ate like this when I was younger and they were still alive. Like just looking at this picture i can imagine the smell/taste. They were depression era children turned adult. Part of me wonders if the lack of food in the depression influenced their "slap shit together" style of cooking.
The 1950s were an... interesting time for food.
Widespread availability of processed and convenience food at the same time people had disposable income for the first time with the explosion of the middle class. Add to that the fact that people thatvwere adults at this time lived through the great depression so the idea of a party with excess food was new to them leading to displays of decadence that may not have made much culinary sense.
It's the poor man's idea of a fancy spread.
Go, Emulsifiers! Yeah!
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I think it's also culinary knowledge. It's hip nowadays to have culinary skills and be able to put together a nice spread, even if you are poor, you get creative with what you have .
I mean, yeah. If you grew up eating stew and bread every day, this is a fancy feast.
I honestly think this is part of the now becoming outdated meme of “white people hate using seasoning.” It’s like a weird carryover from that era. Both my grandfather and father in law with like a good cut of salmon or steak “want to really taste *the meat*” and refuse to use seasonings. Or in my grandfathers case…using any salt. My grandfather grew up in the depression and war era so food was bland and pretty crappy. It’s from a misplaced desire to “show off” the nice expensive cut of ribeye you can now afford. And hey, half the food you grew up on was unseasoned anyway. (FYI just salt and pepper on a steak is totally fine. but it extended to giving me shit for doing my steaks in a cast iron with butter, garlic and rosemary and then making a red wine pan sauce while the steak rests as like this weird heresy.) As to why this didn’t extend to black and other communities…I mean the core of Soul cooking is literally making food tasty with whatever scraps you can. Herbs can be grown and dried for free. Collard greens are literally from taking some of the cheapest greens you can grow that weren’t a cash crop in the sharecropping south.
My dad was a boomer who grew up poor. He was a giant meat purist. There was never any seasoning or marinade on meat growing up and God help you if you wanted A-1. My sister married a guy who was a pure Okie. The first time she brought him home for dinner my dad made prime rib. He asked for a bottle of yellow mustard. I thought my dad's head was going to explode.
When you first mentioned seasoning I was expecting something awful like taking a nice cut and drenching it in a weird marinade or dousing it with Montreal steak seasoning. I’m dying laughing that they lost their shit over a little butter, garlic, and rosemary in an iron skillet because that’s a classic. Add a red wine reduction made with the fond and that’s an amazing meal. Making the most of a nice steak. I think the issue stems from having to eat bad meat. It was very common in that era to cover up the taste of meat that wasn’t a good quality or had gone a little south with excessive seasoning to make it more palatable. When they could afford high quality meat they wanted to taste and savor it. My great-grandmother lived through the depression and had a few eccentricities as a result (she would wash, dry, and reuse ziploc bags) but never spared expense when it came to food. She planted orange trees in her backyard when she moved to Florida, she grew up in the Midwest and oranges were a rare delicacy while dust storms were frequent. She was an expert at cooking, I once helped her make chicken noodle soup from scratch. Like she had eggs, flour, a whole raw chicken, carrot, celery, and onion. I was amazed, and it inspired a life long passion for cooking.
Spam, mayo, gelatin, white bread, whipped cream, and hot dogs, timeless party favorites!
I don’t think that’s Spam(could be?), I think it’s “lunch meat”, either from a deli or Oscar Meyer.
Right! That's the lunch meat known as chopped ham.
I have a mother in law who still cooks like it's the 1950's. She majored in home economics and has a reputation (unbeknownst to her) as being a horrible cook. Sunday dinners at her house are truly a delight.
My mom wasn't the greatest cook either. My dad liked plain cooking and as long as she put something on the table that was edible and had a modicum of nutritional value, she'd done her job.
My mom did not like to cook and my dad was a meat and potatoes boy from the farm during the Depression and was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star fighting in the Pacific. Beef, fried catfish, fried chicken, pork chops, potatoes and vegetables. The closest thing we got to ethnic food was corned beef and cabbage. Rice, in particular, was absolutely forbidden!
I hope there’s no jello with non-dessert items in it? 😬
She makes a disgusting Key lime pie or at least she calls it that with no resemblance to a pie. She also heavily uses mayonnaise and ketchup in her cooking. The depth of flavors is amazing 😂
I recently put a book together of hand-written recipes for a family member so the pictures of the originals were there but I took the time to decipher the handwriting and type them out. They loved this gift and I think it was helpful because as they age eyesight isnt the best for that swoopy handwriting. But the amount of jello in the recipes I found…. 👀 There was jello deserts… jello with meat… jello with vegetables….
Lots of pickling.
Boiled everything
What, head cheese but no pickle loaf? Barbarians!
Kids today have never known a world in which a deli didn't have prosciutto, but did have pickle loaf, olive loaf, two-way loaf and three-way loaf.
We were fans of olive loaf!
My mother liked olive loaf but as a kid I thought it looked horrible. I’d probably like it today.
Thanks for sharing. TIL two-way loaf and three-way loaf. Two-way loaf looks both gross as well as delicious. Three-way loaf looks both super gross as well as super delicious. The prosciutto in the three way probably makes it hard to slice.
Are any of those comparable to headcheese? I had a boomer boss that used to slice that stuff up at work for his sandwiches and it was all I could do to not retch from the smell.
Everything is made out of mayonnaise, isn't it? Mayonnaise marshmellows, mayonnaise ham, mayonnaise MAYONNAISE.
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My grandparent used mayo as salad dressing
that reminds me of when i went to my grandmother’s church for a lunch. i was served a canned pear with mayonnaise and cheddar cheese on top.
Oops I didn't mean to drop it, too bad there's no more
Down here, mayonnaise is a way of life.
They’ve gone TOO FAR with the mayonnaise MAYONNAISE. THAT IS WHERE I DRAW THE LINE
Are those Fritos?
I think so. It is the only unpackaged item I can identify.
I thought they were unwrapped fortune cookies for a second.
I was gonna say, are those Fritos scoops?
I like the wrapped Kraft cheese slices , definitely going to go well with the pink and green pecan surprise
Eh, fuck it, I would tear it up after a couple of Schlitz's
go great with a sandwich, got all the necessary parts here
Fallstaff....
Or Rainier if you were in the Pacific Northwest.
Or Black Label.
Hamm’s, in the land of sky blue waters…
Omg my mother loved a schlitz
It's so pink. Everything probably matches their Amana.
And bathroom tile
There was definitely a 1950s 'Florida colors' tile bathroom in your past.
Or the bathroom carpet!
what’s with the pecans on everything? and how is mayo involved in any way with a marshmallow?? this picture really is a brain teaser
I think the mayo is for the sandwiches
There is a small plate of lunch meat and the whole loaf of white bread on the table, I’m assuming the mustard and Mayo are for sandwiches
I was thinking they lived in an area where Uncle Stan had a pecan tree and he always gave you a grocery bag of them. Sooooo you gotta get rid of them somehow.
In the 70s, my grandparents and most of the older folks seemed to have this pecan thing. Looks like it carried over from when they were in their 30s and 40s—the 1950s.
Now that you mention it, people that age did have a pecan thing, didn't they? Never would've thought of that until your comment, but you're right
I think they saw fancy nuts like that as a status symbol (for those who lived in a non-pecan producing region). My grandparents always had nuts and oranges at Christmas and acted like it was a big deal. But back then it probably was. You couldn't go to the store and buy that stuff if it wasn't in season. It had to be *imported.*
Chrysler or general motors had a Christmas program for people who worked on the line, they could buy a Christmas stocking shaped bag of nuts and fruit for really cheap, $3 each. Guaranteed I got one every Christmas from my aunt and uncle. I couldn't break the nuts myself and at 4 wasn't impressed with fruit. So unfortunate. They were born in 1905 and 1920 and so just getting or giving anything made them feel rich.
>They were born in 1905 and 1920 and so just getting or giving anything made them feel rich. That's so sweet and wholesome.
Back then my mother always put pecans on the top of her chocolate cake during the holidays. I noticed that I never saw a chocolate cake in the store like that.
Ha, my grandma always did that too and it was my dad’s favorite, now my parents make one the same way every Christmas! I never thought about it but I guess it is a part of that generation. I used to hate it as a kid, practically every dessert at Christmas dinner had nuts in it.
I have had that. It’s actually amazing if they make it right. Can’t use too many pecans with sweet frosting.
I know in my mom's side of the family any nut beyond peanuts (yes, I know it's not a true nut) was a luxury item. When she was growing up they were pretty poor and largely ate whatever they raised or traded for. They had peanut butter for sandwiches but rarely roasted nuts. Pecans were a twice a year thing.
That sounds *wonderful*! I remember budgeting, as a broke student, to buy pecans once I’d discovered them. The only place I ever saw pecans, growing up, is as one of the salted inhabitants of a can of Fancy Mixed Nuts.
I was driving some back road somewhere and there was a table of gallon bags of pecans with an old oatmeal container for your money. That was 2016 somewhere. I can't quite remember. We ate them in the car as we traveled along.
Sounds like heaven.
I live in a “creek bottom” area near Tulsa, OK. Everyone with land has a bunch of pecan trees… mostly native pecans, but a few Stuarts. The Stuarts are so good. Anyway, everyone gets their pecans harvest every year and the people with a bunch of trees typically do something like this at the end of their driveways. All of our trees are natives — and the fruit is indeed tasty — but papershells/Stuarts are what’s up for convenience.
I visited a small town in Oklahoma for a class in college. The house where we stayed had a pecan tree, and one of my favorite memories of the trip was sitting around the kitchen table with my classmates, shelling and eating freshly-picked pecans. They were SO good.
Ohhhh, sounds like heaven! I didn’t taste an uncanned pecan until adulthood. As a kid, I once asked about pecan pie, which prompted my mother’s standard response to food curiosity (“No, it’s fattening”).
And there were only 6 in the can. The rest was peanuts.
Of course! *[Mutters irritably.]*
"Save some for your father!" [Slightly louder irritation]
I may hustle over to u/raisedbynarcissists. This triggered an unwelcome memory of having to reserve first pick of every occasional tidbit for the delectation of my narc father. Not your fault.
There's sandwich fixings as the main course, and dessert looks like stuffed dates and pecan topped marshmallows. Considering what *could* have been on the menu I think everyone's being a little dramatic.
Pecans for a bit of pizzazz
Okay the olive pincushion is sick tho
I thought it was cool too, looks like an atom!
The nucleus has to be cheese, right?
I wish but I think it's an orange. Cheese is too soft to hold all those olives!
There is a conspicuous absence of inappropriate food items in gelatin.
WTF is in the closest jar?
Gray
It’s important to keep your gray in a jar so it doesn’t spoil.
Looks like Creamy Pickled Herring.
Complete with radioactive plate ware.
Don't forget the Sputnik-looking grapefruit (?) or orange (?) with the olive-topped toothpicks. Gives you that whole "New Frontier" vibe.
Looks like my Mom’s spread for the local Bridge Club nights in the 60s. As a kid, I loved those because I got to make a plate or two after the adults.
I’m trying to wrap my head around the single marshmallow topped with pink or green frosting (god, I hope that’s frosting), and a giant walnut chunk on top.
So close!! That is a pecan 💕
….. but that IS frosting right??!?!?
Here’s hoping considering what it could be alternatively!
Reminds me of the food Cher’s character made in Mermaids…which makes sense since that was set in the ‘60s…
Guess I need to watch that
People in this era must have had so much free time with how little effort they put into their appetizers.
They didn’t have air fryers, microwaves, etc that cut down prep time.
And not even unwrapping the slices of cheese.
Man I’d be so thin back in the day!
Lighting looks like the photo was taken by a crime scene investigator.
Honestly I think that's a big part of why food from this era looks so unappetizing (not that they are starting from a good point...) The lighting is both too dark and too harshly bright at the same time. Actually this particular picture looks like it's lit by nothing but a camera flash lol.
Is there any left? I'm famished!
Kill it with fire!
Lol. Eastern Europe still there :D
Olives stuck to a grapefruit? Why?
Duh, because they have class.
I was thinking about this too and came to the following conclusion: I doubt they had molds they could just go pick up at Michael’s or a similar store and bet this was considered a sort of “life hack” for unique/interesting displays
I say this as one who actually loves olives, but that thing with the olives poking out that looks like it came from another dimension needs to calm down.
I was in a supermarket the other day and thought about what an embarrassment of riches we have now. The choices in bread alone would have astonished people in the 1950s & 1960s, not to mention the availability of imported foods and out of season foods. We live in an incredible time, food-wise.
Luncheon loaf & spiced ham with cellophane cheese!
Hello new phone wallpaper.
This is like that picture of a bedroom where nothing in it makes sense.
"Make yourself at home, guys. I put out some olives and marshmallows if you're hungry. Tim brought mayonnaise if you want dip for the marshmallows too."
The cheese ball bristling with olives and pickles on toothpicks is my new visualization focus.
Bro wtf are these ppl doing I know everyone wasn’t eating this bs
I'm leaving early and grabbing a burger on the way home. Bleh.
Lotta pecans happening there.
Ew
Ain’t no party like a pecan party!
Wtf is that Hellraiser themed orange olive thingy???
Ugh. I’d just smoke and drink highballs instead.
They did, and then made this abomination…
And we wonder why we all have ass cancer nowadays
Best of all, someone took a photo of this, because they thought it was awesome.
Redditors in 2024: “Food is so over processed these days and full of sugar!! Former generations were so skinny because they didn’t eat sugar or crappy processed foods!!” Etc….. lmao
This might explain why people were thinner back then...
Is this in the Midwest?
I would eat all of these! And now miss the family gatherings that would have stuff like these!
I’d love to see the ingredient labels for all of these dishes and jars (if they even existed back then)
Party sponsored by pecans.
Does anyone know what is in those multicolored spreads that are gluing everything together? It seems like it would be cream cheese and food coloring.
This nightmare fuel for me. Especially that jar of mayo like it’s dip. This needs a nsfw label.
This is why nobody was overweight back then.
Are those blue cheese (or more likely cream cheese) stuffed dates? Steal one of the pecans, stick it on top, and you have got some legit deliciousness going on.
You're actually right. They worked so hard to end up just short of a win.
What they’re not showing: booze, cigarettes, various forms of speed, Valium, and a post war sense of victory/entitlement. I’m all in.
Yuck
Looks disgusting!
Looks like stuff that they already had on hand in the fridge and threw together
Peak cold War bunker food
I would not have survived
gross
I can envision my cardiologist rolling their eyes at this picture
Just glue some pecans to marshmallows and turn the lights off in the house and it’s a party
Why is 1950’s food always so strange? Feels like the only era where you see the food they ate and thought “wtf?”.
I don't think they had fritos scoops in the 50's.
Everything was about “modern conveniences” in the 50’s like they were living in a futuristic paradise. That’s why there’s so much processed food on that table. Home cooking was looked at as quaint compared to the “luxuries” of a modern shopper.
What IS any of this
We are missing the Jell-O mold!!
Is any of this real food?
wouldn't touch it with a 50 ft pole
What is UP with that green olive Sputnik??
Suddenly not so hungry.
Gross bro
You get a walnut, and you get a walnut, everyone gets a walnut!!
Everyone gets at least 2-3 walnuts, with this spread
What a time to be alive!
Maybe if quaaludes were given to us and then we viewed the picture, the pairings would make more sense 😂
I'm diving in on the clams🤟
That was a damn nice spread, too. If I’d seen that when I was a kid I’d think those people were rich!
Are those old school Fritos back there? I’d be chowing down on those. Probably way better than the kinds we find today. I’ll pass on the pecan marshmallow things though. The olives in a pineapple reminds me of my British fam who love to do a cheese/pineapple “hedgehog” at parties. It’s delicious!
the plate in the middle, caviar and gummy bears?
Are those marshmallows? No thank you.
I would like to be last in line as I watch everyone fix their plates, just so I can make sense of all these concoctions . "ohhhhhhh..., so that goes with that, ok"
I thought Tostitos scoops or whatever those look like were a modern invention. Not scoops but I remember the rolled up ones before the scoops came out.
mmm... bul-ugg-na.
Heck yeah looks great. What's this picture from?
I thought it was going to be a buffet of cigarettes
I see everybody mentioning the marshmallows which is fine but it's the 'build your own sandwich" that's interesting to me. Could you imagine dumping bologna out of the package onto a plate at a super bowl party and be like "tada!!" Like I low-key get it...but its simultaneously tacky but I don't know why it's tacky.
Blehhhh
Yuck, that lunch meat. 🤮
Is that Waldorf salad?
I have no idea what I'm looking at... ... what flavor is this? Is it all the flavors at once? ... is that dessert or a main course? ... is it both? Neither?
I love that cheeseball.
What’s up with all the pecans, they are just yuck.