9 school tuck shop favourites you'll remember if you grew up in the 60s or 70s, including 'dentist kryptonite'
They are gone but not forgotten
- School tuck shops used to sell all manner of sweet, fizzy and salty treats
- People still have fond memories of buying their favourite treats there in the 60s and 70s
- Below are some of the most popular sweets, drinks and crisps you could buy back then
The youth of today will never know the wonders of the school tuck shop, after they were banned a decade ago from selling chocolate and confectionery.
But for people of a certain age, the mere mention of those two words is enough to leave them salivating as they recall the sweet, salty and fizzy treats they grew up devouring.
For many people, the 60s and 70s were a golden age for confectionery, salty snacks and sugary drinks.
But many of the most popular snacks from that era have been discontinued.
Below are some of the most-missed tuck shop treats from the 60s and 70s that people who grew up then would give anything to taste one more time.
Burton’s Potato Puffs
These first hit the shelves in the 60s, and they remained a popular lunchbox snack during the 70s and 80s.
The crisps came in flavours including ready salted, tomato ketchup, beef, and cheese and onion, but Burton’s stopped making them in the 90s due to ‘declining sales’.
A Facebook group calling for their return has 15,000 members, with one person calling them the ‘best snack ever’.
Sadly, Burton’s Biscuits has quashed hopes of a comeback, saying: “Although we are thrilled that you and many others enjoyed them very much, we have no plans at present to bring them back, as unfortunately we no longer produce potato-based or fried snacks, and do not have access to the machinery required to produce them.”
Toffos
Toffo toffees, made by Mackintosh’s, came in a variety of flavours, including chocolate, strawberry, banana and mint.
They were first sold in the 60s and became a popular treat at many school tuck shops
The advertising slogan was ‘a man's gotta chew what a man's gotta chew’, and they had a fearsome reputation for removing fillings.
One person recalled: “I loved them as a kid, my parents always used to say they couldn't eat them because of fillings, and now I say exactly the same thing.” Another described Toffos as ‘dentist kryptonite’.
Top Deck
These low-alcohol drinks came in silver cans in limeade and lager (green), lemonade shandy (yellow), and lemonade and cider (orange) flavours.
They were found in school lunch boxes and tuck shops. Although the alcohol content was very low, many people who grew up back then remember how drinking a can of Top Deck made them feel very grown-up.
One person said: “Anyone else used to sit upstairs on the bus home from school swigging from a can of Top Deck and thinking they were the bees’ knees? Or just me?!”
Another person recalled: “We bought these from the chippy with a bag of chips and gribbles, then sat in the back lane with our friends. I used to love the cans of Cydrax too.”
Candy cigarettes
It’s hard to believe this sweet treat was ever marketed to children as candy cigarettes, glamourising cancer sticks for the next generation.
As awareness grew of just how deadly smoking is, they were eventually rebranded as candy sticks, but they continued to be sold in boxes resembling cigarette packs.
One person recalled: “I used to copy my parents with my candy fag. I’d be horrified if my grandchildren were doing this now. I’ve never ever smoked in my life, by the way.”
The white sticks, which were chalky and slightly chewy, were most popular, but you could also get chocolate and bubblegum versions.
KP Sky Divers
Lots of people remember these crisps, which were shaped like actual parachutists, with their limbs outstretched.
They came in beef, cheese and onion, and salt and vinegar flavours, with one person describing the latter as ‘particularly potent’, and they cost just 6p a packet in the late 70s.
One person called them ‘my favourite crisps of all time’, while another said they were ‘absolutely fantastic’ and it is impossible to find salt and vinegar crisps today that are as strong.
A third person commented, tongue in cheek: “It’s disgusting that KP have discontinued them. They have no right to do that. They should be imprisoned for cultural vandalism.”
Texan bars
Like the Toffo sweets above, this was another notorious destroyer of teeth, based on the memories people have shared online.
The nougat and toffee bar, covered with chocolate, was launched in the 70s but didn’t last too long, being discontinued in 1984.
Despite its short life, lots of people remember it fondly. In a 2004 survey, it was even voted the best sweet of all time.
The adverts were equally memorable, featuring a cartoon cowboy who asks for a Texan bar as his last request after being captured and takes so long to eat it that his captors fall asleep and he’s able to escape.
One person commented: “How could anyone forget a Texan bar! Sure is a mighty chew.”
Another said: “Exciting, delicious treat from the 70s which disappeared all too quickly despite the memorable TV ad campaign, whilst the boring Mars and Milky Way are still with us after all these years. Go figure.”
Cider Barrel ice lollies
Despite the name, these apple-flavoured ice lollies were alcohol-free, but children still felt very grown-up eating one during the 70s and 80s.
One person said: “We were convinced we were drunk after eating a couple of these lollies.”
Lamenting their disappearance, another person recalled the ‘unique’ taste and said they ‘never, ever lost their flavour’.
Space Dust
This popping candy ‘sent your tongue mad’ and ‘made your head feel like there was a firework display going on inside’, one person said.
Another person joked: “A great after-school snack, and there are definitely no known cases of people dying after eating two packets and then drinking a whole bottle of lemonade.”
Gold Rush bubble gum
This bubble gum was popular during the 70s and was loved as much for the cute drawstring bag in which it came as for the sweets themselves, which were designed to resemble gold nuggets.
Many people recalled using the little bags to store their favourite toys or dolls.
What was your favourite sweet, drink or make of crisps from the 60s or 70s that you can no longer get?
If you enjoyed this blast from the past, you might like our look back at the most popular ice creams and lollies of the 60s, 70s and 80s that have been discontinued.