Snack Foods

Snacking—eating foods between meals—has always been a part of America’s diet. Until the mid-nineteenth century, snacks mainly consisted of natural foods: fruit, such as apples, peaches, pears, and (when available) bananas and citrus; nuts, such as walnuts, chestnuts, and pecans; grain-based products, such as bakery desserts, biscuits, and cookies; and occasionally cheese. Even though it was a common to snack in nineteenth-century America, many medical practitioners spoke out against this practice as they believed that eating between meals promoted indigestion. Snacking also took away one’s appetite for the upcoming meals, which had what medical practioners considered to be more nutritious and healthful food. Despite these concerns, pretzels, peanuts, ice cream, candy, popcorn and derivative products such as popcorn balls, were commonly sold at fairs, circuses, sporting contests, amusement parks, and other venues by the mid-nineteenth century. These were made and sold mainly by individuals in small kiosks, stands, or by vendors on the streets.
During the twentieth century, natural foods were replaced with commercially branded foods. For many people, snacking has become a continuous process indulged in at all times. Studies had demonstrated that almost 75 percent of Americans derive at least 20 percent of their calories from snacks. Snacking has replaced meals for many Americans. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Americans annually consumed almost $22 billion of salted nuts, popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, corn chips, cheese snacks, and other salty snacks.
Commercial snack foods—foods manufactured and distributed over wide geographic areas—burst onto the American scene around the turn of the twentieth century. Some commercial snack foods were based on foods previously prepared in homes, restaurants, and by vendors, such potato chips, gum, taffy, and chocolates. In these cases, manufacturers had to convince the public that their commercial products were better than existing products. Whether or not these products were better, in many cases they were less expensive because they were usually mass-produced.
Other commercial snack foods had no antecedents, such as chocolate bars and soft drinks, and manufacturers struggled to attract potential consumers. Introductions of new snack foods therefore required extensive advertising. The first new commercial snack food was Cracker Jack, a combination of popcorn, peanuts, and molasses. It was formulated in Chicago and was marketed at the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893, and perfected in the years following. In 1896 it was advertised broadly in many cities in America. Subsequent snack foods thrived because of extensive advertising. Planter’s Peanuts, founded in 1906 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, became successful through promotion and the invention of the Mr. Peanut icon. Baby Ruth candy bars were dropped by parachute over the city of Pittsburgh to gain visibility.
From the early beginnings, snack foods rapidly charmed their way into American life. Many social conditions contributed to their success. The temperance movement and Prohibition, for instance, encouraged the creation of soda fountains as gathering places and distribution centers for soft drinks and ice cream. The rapid growth of grocery stores and supermarkets helped disseminate snack foods and sodas. The advent of advertising convinced Americans to buy these new products. This is particularly important with the invention of radio and television, which could easily and effectively be used to market their products. The ambition and drive of snack food moguls, such as Milton S. Hershey, built snack food and drink empires. The vast increase in disposable wealth in the United States during the twentieth century meant that most Americans could purchase snack foods, at least on occasion.
Commercial snack foods fall into two major categories. The most prominent is sweet snacks. America’s craving for sugar blossomed after the Civil War. As sugar prices declined in the nineteenth century, candy manufacturers mass-produced candies that average Americans could afford. World War I brought attention to chocolate bars, when the U.S. Quartermaster Corps ordered 40-pound blocks of chocolate and sent them to the American soldiers in Europe. In the post-World War II era, sweets continued their relentless drive to stardom.
A second category of snacks are salty ones. America’s first salty snacks were popcorn and peanuts. These products appealed to children and both were associated with children’s holidays, especially Halloween and Christmas. During the late nineteenth century, potato chips were added to the salty snack list. Many factors contributed to the rise of salty snack foods in America; important ones were packaging and marketing revolutions. Prior to 1900, snack foods such as peanuts, popcorn, and potato chips were sold from barrels or large glass jars. Grocers scooped them and placed them in a twist of paper or a paper bag. Not only was this time-consuming but the snacks often went stale before they were sold. During the early twentieth century, manufacturers began experimenting with cans, wax paper, glassine, cellophane, and other packaging materials that made possible the sale of individual portions that could be easily examined by customers. The package also kept snacks fresh until the customer opened it. Other factors that contributed to the increase in consumption of salty snacks were the end of Prohibition in 1933 and food rationing during World War II. Bars reopened after Prohibition ended, and salty snacks were given free to customers to increase drink orders. The interest in salty snacks increased even more during World War II, because rationing caused a severe shortage of sugar, sweets, and chocolates, making many familiar candies unavailable. Salty snacks based on corn, potatoes, and peanuts were abundant during the war. Other salty snack foods include extruded snacks.
After World War II, the sale of sweet and salty snacks soared, greatly promoted by television advertising beginning in the 1950s. As the twentieth century progressed, the quantity and diversity of sweet and salty snack foods proliferated until every grocery store, kiosk, newspaper stand, and corner shop in America was heavily stocked with bags and packets of candies, chips, chocolates, crackers, pretzels, and much more. Thousands of snack foods have been manufactured in the United States. Collectively, these snack foods comprise a market niche generating billions of dollars of annual sales in 2004. While nutritionists complain about the consumption of snack foods, there is no sign that Americans are decreasing their consumption of them.