1965 Spaghetti-O's were sold for the first time.

[Valin]

Spaghettios

 

“I did not get my SpaghettiOs, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.”
– Last words of a 1995 Death Row inmate.

The mere mention of some foods transports us right back to the kitchen table of our youth. Such is the power of SpaghettiOs, those tiny rings of pasta packed in a strangely-sweet orange sauce. They have left an indelible mark on our memory thanks to their decades-old catch phrase “Uh, oh, SpaghettiOs” and that’s why, even when we know we shouldn’t still be eating such things, we are still compelled to grab a can and toss it into the shopping cart when nobody is looking.

In 1965, the year that brought us such wonders as Cool Whip, Pampers and the Pillsbury Doughboy, the first can of SpaghettiOs was sold by Franco-American, a subsidiary of Campbell’s Foods. They were the brainchild of Donald Goerke (recognized now as the “Daddy-O of SpaghettiOs”), a mixture of kid-friendly pasta loops and a tomato-cheese sauce. They were quick and easy to make – even for a kid lacking in culinary skills. “The neat round spaghetti you can eat with a spoon” caught on quickly with children and adults alike, becoming one of the biggest-selling items of all time for Campbell’s.

 

 

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