Tasting 100-year-old food: The good, the bad and the dusty

Yahoo

2 days ago

I gathered some of the most iconic unopened food items on the planet — some over a hundred years old. From a 1940s Coke to a 1990s petrified Twinkie, I spent over $16,000 collecting forgotten snacks and canned chaos from every decade of the past century. My friend Parsa joined me for the taste test, though there were moments he probably regretted that decision. Based on our experience, definitely don't try this at home.
We kicked things off with food from the 1920s — an era when canned goods and preserved items were everywhere, mainly because fresh produce was limited. Cars were still new, and shelf-stable food was revolutionary.
The almond paste required a small battle to open, and chunks of it shot out like a sticky grenade. It smelled like molasses, not almonds. The can was practically disintegrated, so it was clear that it had not been fully sealed shut in years. Too unsafe to eat, but it smelled nice and the packaging was eye-catching.
The honey, on the other hand, looked well-aged and tasted incredible — until it numbed my mouth. That freaked Parsa out. He started panicking about flushing it out with water, which made me more nervous than I wanted to admit. While it tasted great and nothing bad happened to me, I definitely won't be eating this again. If I were in the 1920s, this honey would hate to see me coming.
I also purchased cloves, a popular spice during this era. The cloves still smelled like Christmas, and to the bare eye, looked brand new. The wheat-based supplement called Imperial Granum that I also found came with instructions inside of it, with some pretty outdated information. It was wild holding paper that old — and even crazier reading the directions on how to feed it to a baby.
In the 1930s, the Great Depression reshaped America's diet. People leaned heavily on affordable, shelf-stable items like crackers, porridge and syrup powders to survive.
The penny drink, similar to a modern-day Kool-Aid, turned water into a suspiciously purple hue, while giving it a slight fizz. It tasted like something brewed in a chemistry lab, not a soda shop. There were also chunks of the powder that wouldn't dissolve, no matter how much stirring I did.
I'm one of what seems to be the few people who love Grape Nuts. The 1930s version of Grape Nuts smelled like an old attic and looked like mouse food, leaving me thankful to be in the 2020s. Surprisingly, the Quaker Grits and Jiffy Porridge looked totally fine but unleashed a wave of dust when opened. Most of the food here wasn't scary — it was just bland and ancient.
The 1940s were defined by World War II and food rationing. People got creative, substituting sweet vegetables like carrots for sugar since it was so hard to find and used powdered eggs for breakfast just to stretch meals a little further and save fresh animal products for important, special occasion meals.
I wanted to know if an 80-year-old Coke would still be fizzy. To my disbelief, it was. I lost a bet with Parsa and had to admit defeat. As for the flavor, well, we both immediately spit it out. It tasted nothing like the Coke we have today, but it's probably from sitting in a bottle for 80 years.
The vintage Kool-Aid from this era dissolved and came alive with color — until I tasted it. It was seriously sour. I tried to find Kool-Aid from every decade to compare the evolution, and this was the oldest package I could get my hands on.
In the 1950s, convenience food exploded. TV dinners, casseroles and neon-colored desserts became staples in post-war America. Jell-O completely ruled this decade. We also saw a rise in fast food chains during this decade, including the start of McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut and more.
Confetti popcorn was a popular item, looking like a circus in a jar. Once popped, it was plain white and totally stale. The colored shells were just marketing. Honestly, my expectations for this were low, but I was completely surprised that the kernels popped normally.
We tried vintage Jell-O, but it refused to set. Canada Dry had gone flat, but 7-Up still held a crisp fizz. This was the era of TV dinners and bright branding, and you could feel food getting more fun — but also more fake.
In the 1960s, people still wanted fast, colorful meals. Instant soups, freeze-dried meals and fun packaging were everywhere. Color TVs were becoming the new normal and food advertisers worked to make their products super colorful for the full effect on television.
I found a can of the classic Campbell's cream of celery soup, a popular pick in this decade. It was a horror show, to say the least. It stained my cutting board, smelled like decay and was unrecognizable upon opening.
Golden butter candies were a hot commodity back then, and looked like literal chunks of gold. They looked and smelled perfect, as if they were brand new.
I loved to see the transition in marketing and packaging for Grape Nuts since we last tried them in the 1930s category.
Just in this example, you can see how brands began to use more eye-catching packaging as a way to bring in new consumers. The red color also popped on television more than a lighter hue of yellow and blue would, grabbing the attention of viewers better. This was just the beginning of the revolution in food marketing.
In the 1970s, branding became everything. Characters like Mr. Peanut, the Kool-Aid Man and colorful cereal mascots dominated packaging. Microwaves and canned goods ruled the kitchen. This decade felt like food entered its first real marketing boom. Bright labels, mascots with catchphrases and the promise of "instant everything" defined the experience.
We started with an old-school Coke bottle that only cost five cents in its day, but I paid $200 for it. It fizzed just a little, like a soda trying to remember what it used to be.
We tried maple syrup next, only to learn it wasn't maple at all — just sugar syrup with a fancy label. Still, it tasted perfect, which kind of annoyed me.
By the 1980s, indulgence was the trend. People wanted sweet, deep-fried and convenient treats. Fast food continued to boom, and microwave snacks became essential. This decade had some hits — and major misses.
The funnel cake mix worked like magic. All you needed to do was add water to the packaging, shake it up and pour it into hot oil. It fried up normally as if it were a freshly made batter.
The olive oil from this era, on the other hand, looked and smelled like it belonged in a car engine. Whatever chemicals and ingredients in the olive oil bottle separated at one point, leaving a solid white settlement on the bottom and a nearly clear oil on top.
Star Wars was a giant franchise at this time, at its peak of popularity. The Star Wars-branded fruit snacks were once colorful, distinctive shapes. But now, they were all just black blobs, except the green ones. It seems like the packaging color dyed the gummies darker.
Count Chocula cereal still smelled like chocolate, but like someone left it in a dusty attic. Still looks super similar to how it's made today, which is pretty cool. I think I'll stick to the fresh boxes now, but I love seeing how some food staples have remained iconic for decades like this.
One thing I noticed throughout this exploration is that a lot of items don't have safety seals. In a world where nearly everything has one now, it was wild to open things up and just have them be unsealed. While it would be easier if things didn't have a seal nowadays, it's certainly safer to have them.
The 1990s were the snack generation. Every brand had a mascot, a color and a jingle. Lunchables, Go-Gurt and Gushers turned every kid into a mini foodie. I was born in this decade, and that foodie culture clearly never left me. And yes, we didn't dare open the Michael Jordan Wheaties box. It is too sacred.
The Lifesaver gummies have always been a hit in my book. In the '90s, they were booming in popularity. The tropical flavor is my favorite, so I was excited to see what they looked like in the '90s.
Let's just say, my disappointment was obvious. How these turned black, I will truly never know or understand.
We also opened Skittles from 1995 — they fused into one massive rainbow block. The lemon chiffon cake, originally from this decade, rose into a dense, springy volleyball. It smelled like eggs, and probably wasn't safe — but the cake mix still worked.
Orbitz was a lava lamp in a bottle. I remember it tasting a lot better as a kid, but honestly, that could be because it's almost 30 years old.
The 2000s were when the internet started influencing food. Viral recipes, snack fads and early YouTube food content were all beginning to take shape.
We entered the 2000s with Lipton Cup-a-Soup and Chef Boyardee. I tried the Chef Boyardee, and it was clearly expired — one bite was enough. The soup, on the other hand looked radioactive. I hesitated, but curiosity almost got the better of me. Almost. I stayed strong and didn't taste it, thanks to Parsa who knocked some sense into me.
Then there was the petrified Twinkie. It cut like a rock, and I handled it with gloves. It looked like a fossil. It was sold to me as "petrified," which is the same word they use for dinosaur bones. Honestly, I'm no archeologist, but it seemed pretty close to a dinosaur bone. Dry, hard and somehow dusty.
The 2010s were peak snack culture. Nutella became a food group. Coconut water exploded. Brands started marketing snacks as meals — and we all bought in.
Nutella ruled this decade. Nutella even gave me a jar with my name on it, and it's my most prized possession... besides family, of course. Chips like Takis and Doritos also blew up online. Parsa pointed out the Lay's chip bags held less than the bags we saw in earlier decades.
So far, the 2020s have offered hyper-engineered snacks. From high-protein cookies to seaweed snacks, modern food is optimized for taste, marketing and endless snacking.
Modern snacks are also engineered to be addictive, now more than ever in my opinion. Flavor-blasted Goldfish hit harder than anything from the '90s. Chicken chips, moon cheese, seaweed snacks, low-sugar candies, protein cookies… these aren't just snacks — they're edible tech. Present-day food is all about modifications for health, while still enjoying the flavor of it all.
This experiment was honestly a battle of the packaging styles – some foods survived perfectly. Others turned to black goo or fossilized bricks. But across 100 years, the 1990s felt like magic. Lunchables, Gushers, Go-Gurt — it wasn't healthy, but it was unforgettable. It's probably because that decade is the most nostalgic for me. Someone who grew up in the 1940s might feel totally different from how I did about the almond paste or Imperial Granum. That's the beauty of food: everyone has a personal connection to something, and no matter how stale or petrified it gets, it will still give you that heartwarming, nostalgic feeling, edible or not.
And if I had to eat from one decade forever? I'd take the present day, although I'll always miss the one with powdered candy tattoos, fake cheese and way too much neon.
Want to see me taste these in action? Check out my video below: