When you think about it, the ’60s were a truly unique decade. Rolling Stone released its first issue, astronauts landed on the moon, and the modern feminist movement officially began. “Hippies” became a thing, and the first ever e-mail was sent. In the midst of it all, processed food was becoming more and more accessible. And while it was certainly easy on the wallet, some of the resulting recipes were honestly cringe-worthy.
If you can believe it, breakfast in the ‘60s was questionable. Sure, foods like eggs and bacon were staples, but it didn’t stop there. The rise of canned and boxed ingredients opened up the door for a lot of experimenting. Often, it seemed like folks were trying to find ways to make a full meal using only processed products. The convenience was a novelty back then, after all.
In true retro fashion, many of the creations ended up being hilariously terrifying. Thankfully, people have held on to the cookbooks and advertisements of yesteryear, which means that we can all get a good laugh (or cry) by viewing them.
If you’re up for the challenge and don’t have a queasy stomach, check out these bizarre foods people ate for breakfast in the 1960s.
1. Deviled Ham Pancakes
They turned this breakfast staple on its head.
Deviled ham, which is made of ground ham and spices like cayenne pepper or mustard, isn’t exactly what you may think of when you eat pancakes. But according to this vintage recipe, it was actually a thing once upon a time. One can only imagine how it tastes with pancake, butter, and syrup.
2. Roast Beef Hash
Oh, you know.
This is just your average roast beef hash in an orange topped off with a pickle and cherry. While this dish gets a thumbs up for the eco-friendly serving bowl, it gets a two thumbs down for ingredient combinations. We’ll just take the cherry and orange, please and thanks.
3. Piggy Backs
At first glance, this SPAM and mashed potato recipe doesn’t seem too bad.
Processed meat with potatoes certainly has its place in breakfast. Don’t let the photo fool you, though. The SPAM is layered on top of orange marmalade and the mashed potatoes are topped with instant potato flakes…
4. Stuffed Vegetable Pancake
How many people actually enjoyed this?
There’s a lot going on with this stuffed veggie pancake. The recipe features white asparagus spears, canned mushrooms, peas, tomato slices, and carrots arranged in a hilariously artful way. Talk about old school food styling.
5. Boxed Omelettes
Regular omelettes were too much work.
From pancakes to cake mix, you can’t deny the convenience and ease of “just add water” foods. Yet, there’s something unsettling about cooking an entire omelette out of box, considering eggs are the farthest thing from a powdered food.
6. Kream Krunch
Who really needs a balanced meal?
A “nutritious” cereal apparently isn’t complete without freeze-dried ice cream bits. But hey, if you want dessert for breakfast, Kream Krunch is clearly the way to go. Also, can we talk about that creepy ice cream man on the box?
7. Rice Cream Flakes
Why not get a head-start on dessert?
To do so, dip your cereal in freeze-dried ice cream. This reminds us of those cereal-dipped ice cream cones that are all over the internet these days. Clearly, the ice cream and cereal pairing was always meant to be.
8. Campbelled Eggs
Because regular scrambled eggs are boring.
When it comes to making scrambled eggs nice and fluffy, it’s often recommended to add cream, milk, or some kind of dairy. But if you want to take things up a notch, you can always add condensed canned soup… because there’s nothing like soupy scrambled eggs.
9. Corn Flakes With Instant Bananas
Freeze-dried foods were all the rage back then.
And to be honest, it’s easy to see why. Ingredients like instant bananas could last forever while sweetening up various dishes. Thankfully, though, actual bananas are easy to find these days. We’d like to think our cereal is a lot happier with the fresh stuff!
10. Liver ‘n Bacon Tropic Style
Here’s a warning.
If you’re offended by the idea of pineapple on pizza, this vintage recipe will totally make you cringe. We also can’t help but giggle at the title of this dish. Apparently, a meal just needs pineapples to be considered “tropic.”
11. Mr. Wonderfull’s Suprize
Another dessert designed as a breakfast?
You bet. We’re getting cavities just thinking about this “vitamin-charged” cereal. Here’s an interesting fact, though: The sugar industry paid scientists to frame fat as the “bad guy” in the 1960s. As a result, sugary foods like Mr. Wonderfull’s Surprize became all the rage.
12. Sunnyside Buffet Sandwich
This isn’t an average breakfast sandwich with bacon, eggs, and cheese.
With the increasing popularity of processed food, the obsession with SPAM was alive and well. This particular recipe, which featured SPAM spread on bread, included a questionable topping of mayo, mustard, and stuffed olives. How’s that for flavor overload?
13. Egg Yolk Baby Food
Why not keep it simple with boiled eggs?
If you’ve never raised babies, it can be difficult to imagine baby food made of anything other than veggies and fruits. But did you know egg yolk baby food is a thing as well? (Ham optional, of course.) It may sound strange, people still make this protein-rich food today.
14. Corn Lorraine
And you thought a regular quiche Lorraine would be okay.
Not in the 1960s. This casserole-like dish went heavy on the cheese and heavy on the corn. Maybe that could work for a dinner situation. But who wants to weighed down by such a concoction? Apparently, people in the ’60s did. And their combination, of course, wouldn’t be complete without a few strips of bacon, decorative bacon that.
