Sometimes, the things we enjoyed as kids are shrouded in obscurity. That was the case of today's subject of Daisys, Bugles, Whistles, Buttons, and Bows.
These are shaped salty snack foods I'm talking about. And I know Daisys is misspelled, but notice that it is in the pictured ad, too.
According to the scant information I could find, Daisys, Bugles, and Whistles first appeared on the general market in 1966. They were produced by General Mills. And Bugles still survives today, but not the others.
It appears that Daisys and Bugles were similarly flavored. The plain-Jane Bugles you can buy today were the original flavor of 1966, salty corn. Daisys were shaped like, well, flowers, duh!, and seemed to be strategically aimed at dippers. Whistles were cheese-flavored. They were just the right size to fit on the ends of a kid's fingers.
There were two other salty snacks that were around in the early 70's. They were called Buttons and Bows. The spotty information I could find stated that Buttons were pizza-flavored (and button shaped), and Bows tasted similar to Bugles and Daisys.
For that reason, and because I vividly recall a commercial touting Buttons and Bows (but NOT Daisys, Bugles, or Whistles), I suspect that they were not a General Mills creation, but that of a rival.
And that, friends, is ALL I could find on these snack foods that must have been sold by the train-car load in the late 60's-early 70's!
I recall the aforementioned commercial jingle on TV that I could not find on YouTube in this way:
"Go out and get 'em, you'll never forget 'em. One's called Buttons and One's called Bows, they go together like buttons and bows!"
They were right. I never forgot them. It just seems that everyone else in the world has.
Thus ends this frustratingly short I Remember JFK remembrance. Now, readers, it's time for YOU to fill in the blanks. Perhaps together we can reconstruct the history of these uniquely shaped snacks of our childhoods.
Comments (8)
Oh boy, I remember these! I was a first-grader when they hit the market, and we kids just had to try them. By mere coincidence, Daisys happened to have been the last thing I'd eaten before becoming very ill with scarlet fever. As a result, I could never eat them again. Just the smell of them made me sick. I'm afraid I can't fill in any more details about the history of these products other than I seem to recall that Bugles were still available after Daisys & Whistles had been discontinued (though I could be wrong about that).
Posted by Karen in WI | February 7, 2010 7:46 AM
Posted on February 7, 2010 07:46
I remember Bugles, but not Daisies, or Buttons...All of then would be too salty for me now, because I have not eaten salt for years, unless it is in something that is already prepared.
One of the disadvantages of getting older...NO SALT...LOL
Thanks for the Memories...
Sharon
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
Posted by Sharon/Baby Boomer Queen | February 7, 2010 8:57 AM
Posted on February 7, 2010 08:57
wow do you really bromg back memories. i remember these. my sis and me ate these in front of our tv watching saturday morning cartoons. are there any other snack foods anyone remembers. there were potato chips cally valley maid that we JHS kids use to consume big time. but TOMS potato chips were the best. it was like they melted in your mouth. and their cookies were soft and good tasting. that and thold drakes cakes, like,drakes chocolate cupcakes,ring dings(in the golden foil) and the old and better tasting devil dogs,had our mother taking us to the dentist alot. lol lol.
Posted by vera | February 7, 2010 9:26 AM
Posted on February 7, 2010 09:26
I like the artwork/design on the boxes....sort of like cereal with a twist...actually, if you consider that cereal in those days was de facto candy, with three scoops sugar, what was the diff between cereal and candy anyway? I remember seeing them at parent's parties, displayed next to the ouveres dourves(sp#.....I think that preservatives just came into play about that time, so you got more national snacks that could keep, made by national firms#remember that all snacks were locally produced, ala local kidvid tv, until preservatives that didn't affect the taste came out....actually, if you look at it again, the snacks look like cereal as much as the boxes....as if Kelloggs decided to get tino the snack field, and still use the same size boxes and ingredients....like, hey, lets switch this capn crunch thing and call it daisys......what a concept....BTW, anyone remember screaming yellow zonkers? Still around, if you look for it....one of the strangest tasting popcorn candies in history....yellow goopy glaze poured liberally on popcorn, with some box artwork to kill for, as if R Crumb designed it.....
Posted by scott kuzminski | February 8, 2010 5:03 PM
Posted on February 8, 2010 17:03
I remeber Pizza Twirls. Wagon wheel shaped pizza snacks. Those and Buttons & Bows were created by General Mills.
http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/company/GeneralMills_History_Years.pdf
Scroll to just over halfway down to the snack flashback section.
Posted by Chuck | February 9, 2010 9:08 AM
Posted on February 9, 2010 09:08
I don't remember Daisys but I remember Bugles. We used to put them on the ends of our fingers like fingernails. One snack that always sticks in my mind is Mister Salty Pretzels. They were in a dark blue box and had a pretzel stick man with a sailor hat on I think. I don't remember a time when there wasn't a box of those in the cabinet. We loved them.
Posted by Rhonda | February 13, 2010 4:38 PM
Posted on February 13, 2010 16:38
PLEASE PLEASE,does anyone remember the box of PRIDE cookies by nabisco back in the 60s? tgey were some damn good cookies. they were chocolate cookie with chocolate cream,and vanilla cookie with chocolate cream. the box was a lavender or lilac colored. i wish they would make a comeback.
Posted by vera | February 14, 2010 2:01 PM
Posted on February 14, 2010 14:01
Oh oh, Ron.
Looks like you've started a whole new string of related Remember When (a la Herb Albert)... PRIDE cookies, MISTY SALTY PRETZELS... you've got your work cut out for you. :D
I remember Bugles very distinctly. Our family was big so we did not have boxes of snacks around the house - they would be gone in 30 seconds flat - huge waste of money.
BUT, my best friend came from a very small family and she had BUGLES on the table all the time! What a treat!
We, like Rhonda, used to cover our finger tips with them and tap them on the table like special little divas with long, gorgeous fingernails.
I tell ya... sights, sounds, smells, and tastes from the past is what really can grab a Boomer's attention. Was it a better time? I don't know - but it was OUR time.
Thanks again for the great post!
Posted by Patti | February 18, 2010 7:09 AM
Posted on February 18, 2010 07:09