Food of the Seventies, Hostess Potato Chips-fruit Flavored

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Hostess introduced fruit flavored potato chips. I remember Grape and Cherry. No one I know can remember these chips.They came out in Mid-70's. Didn't stay around for very long, though.
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The following are comments left about Hostess Potato Chips-fruit Flavored from site visitors such as yourself. They are not spell checked or reviewed for accuracy.

Wayne - October 06, 2008 - Report this comment
Yes, I remember grape, cherry, and orange, but everyone I talk to does not remember these flavors.
junior - October 09, 2008 - Report this comment
I remember them well, but the BBq crunchits were the best - i think they were taken off the shelf because of a red dye colour didn't meet health standards - time to lobby hostess for a picture of thast little devil on the bag
munchies - October 21, 2008 - Report this comment
i remember grape,cherry and orange as well but only tried the orange.they tasted like chips with a slightly bitter tang powder on them.GROSS!!!!!!i think it was 1976.
Sher - December 03, 2008 - Report this comment
Iremember them too. I was really young. They were god-awful. No one else I know recalls them,
Kev - January 04, 2009 - Report this comment
I threw up about 10 minutes after eating the grape ones. I think I was about 8 or 9 years old
Barbs - March 12, 2009 - Report this comment
My husband remembers a Crunchits flavour from the 70's as sweet and sour or hot and sour. They were red coloured and had a devil on the bag. Were these the BBQ flavour or a different one? He'd die to taste them one more time.
Denise Briggs - April 21, 2009 - Report this comment
I remember those chips too!!! However no one else does! I thought they were Tang brand flavoured chips or something from Hostess. Remember Hostess chips in the foil bags? Those were the best! And so were their sour cream and onion chips back then, had like a powder to them, now they're gross :(
Robin - May 11, 2009 - Report this comment
Aaah ... sweet childhood memories and a marketing flop for Hostess. I remember them and thought they were cool even though they didn't taste very good. I forgot all about Crunchits!!! Now those were good!
peter - June 16, 2009 - Report this comment
A few years ago i had this God awful taste in my mouth and it triggered a deja vu feeling. For years afterwards I would get the taste again out of the blue usually and not be able to place it. I remember trying to recall where I had tasted that taste before. Then one day it came into my head out of nowhere that it was grape chips. I remember asking a few people if they remembered grape chips but nobody did. Now thanks to the internet I have proven that I haven't lost my mind but actually did have grape chips in the late 70s when i would have been about five or six. lol!
mitch - June 17, 2009 - Report this comment
I remember these fruit flavoured chips. They were gross and didn't seem to last very long.
Drew J. Marshall - June 29, 2009 - Report this comment
I certainly do remember those disgusting flavours of chips.....BLECH....they were awful. Does anyone remember in like 1972 or 1973 when Hostess introduced BBQ flavour and every bag came with a pre-wrapped gum ball....maybe just me then.
Richard - July 16, 2009 - Report this comment
Wow, I thought I was the only kook who remembers grape chips! I remember the foil Hostess bags - 25 cents each. Now I'm thinking about Bottle Caps, Ton O' Gum, Thrills, soap candies and all of the other junk I loved when I was 8 years old...
Luvey - July 16, 2009 - Report this comment
Why don't I remember these???? Were they maybe a regional thing? I have lived in PA all my life... Doesn't sound like I missed anything good! LOL
gigi - July 17, 2009 - Report this comment
I remember those chips!!! I was like 8-10yrs old. I am still a chip & junk food addict!!! (pretty slim STILL!! Remember the nacho flavoured Crunchits in the 80's......yellow in colour??? You can still order them at Hostess/ Frito Lay in Cambridge (head office) I bought a carton of them & enjoyed them!!!!! What about the Lifesaver stick gum,,,,,,,now wild cherry flavour was the BOMB!!! Oh , I want some now....lol.Awhile back for a limited time only they had the BBQ Crunchits,,,,soooooo goood!! Also, you must remember the Ketchup flavored stick by Hostess,,,now you only get the Hickory Sticks. PLEASE bring Back the KETCHUP FLAVOUR. I also remember the Hostess flavoured popcorn in a foil bag,,,,,the bbq, salt & vinegar & sour cream & onion WERE ALL GOOD!! I remember the Hostess Foil Bag of chips,,,,,think we got more in the 2 long white bags that were inside of the Foil or papery foil big bag...in the 70's. The Sour Cream & Onion must have been double dipped in the flavouring because they tasted soooooooo much better then!!. Chips & Pop were a Friday night treat in my house while watching THE LOVE BOAT & FANTASY ISLAND.....My parents were both teacher & very strict ABOUT JUNK FOOD,,,,which is actually a good thing,,,,your brain works better!!!
erica - August 25, 2009 - Report this comment
You can still buy Nacho Crunchits in Atlantic Canada.
Drew J. Marshall - October 05, 2009 - Report this comment
Yes Gigi......that flavoured popcorn was amazing....your family and mine must have been the only customers the bought it though, cause it vanished as quickly as it came.....Pizza Flavour was my favorite.
chipqueen - October 23, 2009 - Report this comment
I definitely remember the grape, cherry and orange flavoured chips. I am a self professed Potatoe Chip Queen...tried EVERY new flavour that hits the market. (these ones were NOT amongst my favorites!!) I'm remembering them coming out in the late 70's. I was living in Nova Scotia in 1978 and tried them that summer.
Ken Burgin - October 24, 2009 - Report this comment
Does anyone remember the TV commercial for Hostess Crunchits from the late 1970's? It featured Bob Cratchit and Ebenezer Scrooge. The dialogue began: (Scrooge) Cratchit, what's that crunching? (Bob) Crunchits Mr. Scrooge. (Scrooge) Cratchits? (Bob) No, CRUNCHITS! etc., etc. I wrote that!
mantis1968 - October 27, 2009 - Report this comment
I recall Hostess making Hot Mexican chips (loved them) and Green Onion chips -- NOT Sour Cream & Green Onion, which came later. I have no recall of fruit-flavored chips, but I grew up in a small town, and we didn't get everything that came to the cities.
kim - November 10, 2009 - Report this comment
Does anyone remember the peanut butter flavored cheesies?They were put out by Hostess in the early 80's.They lasted abuot 5 minutes.The corner store finally had to sell them off at 5 bags for a dollar!
Heather - December 12, 2009 - Report this comment
I remember the grape and the orange ones. What a horrible, horrible idea. I assume someone was eventually fired. The orange ones tasted like chips dusted with stuff swept up on the third shift at a Tang factory.
Michelle - December 20, 2009 - Report this comment
A few years ago when we moved here, I found a foil Hostess chip bag. The price on the bag is 69 cents. Wow what a find! Brings back memories. (Bag is empty and was folded, Still in excellent shape).
joad2 - December 26, 2009 - Report this comment
sell me that foil bag please! My email is joadhenry2@gmail.com
SynnAminn - January 05, 2010 - Report this comment
Can anyone find a picture of those foil bags (25 cents) on the internet? I'm having a heck of a time finding one.
Lee - January 15, 2010 - Report this comment
this was a Canadian thing for sure. i remember them but i remember the fruit flavoured chips coming out around 77/78. i couldnt believe how much good candy i got for a quarter back then. black bart gum, snow balls. remember when a big bag of chips contained 2 bags inside, 1 bag of chips lasted our family a week. now you pay for air.
Steve Donnelly - February 25, 2010 - Report this comment
Yup remember them well, probably 1979 I would guess, we used to go to the corner store every day and buy RC Cola and Thrills gum (it was the cheapest). When the Hostess Grape, Orange and Cherry chips came out, we bought a bag of each. Each of us tried one chip from each bag, and we threw the rest out. Coming from die-hard junk food fanatics, that's a pretty bad review. Oh also we'd buy Super 2 flavoured milk (chocolate, coffee, banana and strawberry I think). I can even remember the theme song for that one. Along with Dancerella and Digger the Dog.
Jeremy Dyson - March 20, 2010 - Report this comment
gigi! Couldn't agree with you more...I would do anything to have Ketchup flavoured Hickory Sticks again! even after all these years I can remember exactly what they tasted like. And even not so far back, the original Doritos, before all the different types...just the white bag with the clear window on the front...lol. Anyone ever see "Chunks" chocolate around anymore? Before they were individualy wrapped and just sat on the convienience store counter in a clear plastic tub...
Tim O'Brien - April 18, 2010 - Report this comment
I was just telling a friend about them !!
dana nicholson - May 13, 2010 - Report this comment
the best of the 3 butt so gross overall.i recall the delivery guy telling me they all ended up at the dump no one wanted them.i remeber the had pizza chips to but this was years before the fruit ones.
Trent - May 15, 2010 - Report this comment
I distinctly remember spending my hard earned allowance from Grandma on a bag of cherry chips. No one else I know remembers or even believes me, leading me to suspect that either I was the only kid in town gullible enough to try them or no one else will admit to it. Either way, 32 years later, I still can't get the taste out of my mouth.
Sherry - July 21, 2010 - Report this comment
Remember them well ... would LOVE to have the Sweet & Sour Crunchits again...they were my fave! As for the fruit flavoured chitps - i think i tried the grape once and that was just disgusting!! (BRING BACK SWEET & SOUR CRUNCHITS!!!)
Larry - September 05, 2010 - Report this comment
I am looking fot a Hostess Munchie Doll from the early eighties, does anyone remember them? I am looking for an orange one. dudax4@shaw.ca
Paul - October 21, 2010 - Report this comment
I guess I was aminority...I loved the grape and orange flavours...I don't remeber what the cherry ones tased like so I probably wasn't fond of them. I still dream of the grape chips. I guess I'll have to dip the plain lays in grape soda.
Paul - November 13, 2010 - Report this comment
Those chips are one of my clearest,most distinct childhood memories......and not a good one. I work in convenience retail and have spoken to many Lay's vendors who have no recollection of these heinous concoctions. I miss the old foil bags though....when we we were done our chips we would ball up the bags as tight as we could and just rifle them at each other.
am - December 09, 2010 - Report this comment
I'll always have a special place in my heart & stomach for Sweet 'n Sour Crunchits. The cunning little devil on the bag is the 2nd thing I remember about this beloved snack of my youth!
Steve - January 07, 2011 - Report this comment
I have told alot of people over the years about these nasty chips. Glad to see I am not the only one who remembers this horrible tasting part of history...Lol!
Jennifer - February 07, 2011 - Report this comment
I don't remember fruit flavored but I remember, miss and still call annually about pizza chips. They were the ONLY chips I ever really liked.
Steve - March 04, 2011 - Report this comment
I remember Orange, Grape and Cherry potato chips. They were so memorable I even remember where I tried them. I was on my way to Air Cadet Camp at C.F.B. Greenwood Air force Base and the bus stopped so that we could fill up on junk food. We all bought them, tried them and promptly punted them in the garbage. Quite a statement for a bunch of 14 year old kids.
terry b - March 05, 2011 - Report this comment
this thread reminded me that in the seventies our chips in canada were always a larger square bag with two smaller waxy white bags inside...enought for two brothers to share!
patrick m - April 11, 2011 - Report this comment
I so remeber them around 1978, hated them but around the same time some one introduced flavoured popcorn in foil bags, might have been Hostess, they were so good i got hooked on them and were discontinued as quickly as those nasty fuit chips.
CB - April 13, 2011 - Report this comment
Does anyone have or remember the Mini Hostess movie cards? I have couple and am wobering if they are worth anything.
PlmbCrz - August 08, 2011 - Report this comment
Sounds like it was an Atlantic Canada thing... while growing up in Nova Scotia, I LOVED KETCHUP HICKORY STICKS !! ...and still do... I can seriously taste them now. Unfotunately, I don't remember "the Sticks" ever containing "great stickers of all your favorite popular bands." All of my friends would be buying the chips with the stickers, but I would often opt for the "delicious combination of mildly crunchy sticks appropriately coated with ketchup flavoring." The ketchup chips can burn the tongue after a while. I still have a couple of those band stickers in a box somewhere. I think one of them was Platinum Blonde, and I always would get ZZTop. KETCHUP HICKORY STICKS and ALEXANDER KEITH'S INDIA PALE ALE.
Nadine Gauthier - August 17, 2011 - Report this comment
OMG i sure wish they would bring back all the good chips again like BQ chicken pizza flavor sour cream and onion chicken gravey chips I think hotess would make more money bye bring that stuff back oh the foil i remember opening it up on the side and pouring vinegar on the plain chip us to Friday night was our snack night too...Best of times
Tracy - October 16, 2011 - Report this comment
I remember the Cajun flavored chips were my favorite but i loved the Ketchup waffle chips and i don't think they were out very long. And i do remember getting the band stickers in my chips we would almost make ourselves sick eating them because we wanted the Motley Crue ones... and i wanted the Corey Hart as well.... he was a hottie ...lol :)
Yvonne - January 21, 2012 - Report this comment
I loved the ketchup stick and the Ketchup waffles, I wish they'd bring them back so my kids could taste them....but the fruit flavored ones we're horrible!!!! As for the band stickers, I had quite a few, but the one I remember most is the Platinum Blonde one because they we're out the same year they came to my hometown and it was my first concert, my sister and our friends made a large replica of the sticker and brought to the concert....can you say "lame" lol...
Gaetano - January 22, 2012 - Report this comment
I was in Toronto and was 5 at the time. I remember the grape chips and how they left this purple dye on my hands.
Magarac - February 07, 2012 - Report this comment
Best goddamned chips in history, hands down... Hostess Taco Flavoured Chips in a brown and orange bag with a fat Mexican dude on them! They had so much seasoning on them that you could literally scrape it off your fingers afterwards and roll it into a tasty pellet! Every Friday night my little brother and I would have Hostess Taco Chips and Dr. Pepper while watching The Dukes of Hazzard and The Littlest Hobo on CTV, and The Beachcombers on CBC. Ahhhh, the good ol' days! :-)
Darren - March 01, 2012 - Report this comment
Yeah! the late 70's.. that's when the Super-2 milkshakes came out. Can't verify.. but but I heard the chips were doomed from the beginning through tests.. and a corporate blunder produced them in mass. The "Hick" Maritimes, were part of an Experiential dumping ground.. to recover costs.
Tim - May 23, 2012 - Report this comment
I remember the grape orange and cherry, they weren't that bad but didn't last long. Does anyone remember when Hostess had free bags of chips by getting a coupon inside? They used to be folded into little squares, best thing was they had some chips in clear plastic bags. Some kind of sour cream and onion sticks, you could see whether or not you got a free bag......... hilarious
brent - June 09, 2012 - Report this comment
this week, farmers dairy in nova scotia announced that they would be bringing beep flavoured drink back for a limited time. while i did like that stuff, it got me to thinking about super 2 flavoured milk and another one called big m which was pretty much the same, sold side by side in convenience stores by competitors i seem to recall. and to steve donnelly, the little ditty went like this: ooo super 2, it's milk like milk has never been before--ice coffee, ahhhh, banana, chocolate and strawberry too! ooo super 2, it's milk like milk has never been before!
Shane - June 13, 2012 - Report this comment
I too remmber the fruit chips and i was addicted the the taco chips. The foil bags with a win a free bag contest you could cheat. Winning bags were actully marked with a tiny blue line on the top part of the bag. I ate free chips all summer on year...cinnamon danish bar mmmmmmmmm.....
brad - August 26, 2012 - Report this comment
I worked for Hostess in the 70s and 80s and have a long history with the company. I remember the fruit flavour chips coming in off the transport and having to load them on the sales trucks. Most of them never left the warehouse and they were pulled from the stores about 8 weeks after they arrived and destroyed. Most people do not know it but there was a fourth flavour that was tested that never made it to market. This flavour was apple cinnamon. The company was very innovative when it came to new flavours... the common flavours everyone remembers but do you remember hot dog, beef gravy or bologna? The mexican barbecue was in a class by itself. Sad to see what happened to a proud company after it was taken over by Lays.
kel - September 13, 2012 - Report this comment
@Kev I also threw up after 10 minutes after Grape, @brad I do remember Mexican barbecue. They seamed to be in the machine at the skating rink in Saskatchewan for way too long.
Peter - October 10, 2012 - Report this comment
I'd love to see a definitive list of Hostess flavours. I remember those awful fruit flavoured ones. I had a job as a paperboy back then and I'd treat myself to a new flavour each week ... there were dozens of different ones - those were the days !
Jeff - November 17, 2012 - Report this comment
Hostess Potato Chips defined my childhood. I remember, as a kid in the 70s, my Dad bringing home Hostess Potato Chips on a Thursday night, just in time for the Carol Burnett Show on CBC at 8 o'clock, sponsored by Kraft. You'd rip into the foil bag and, inside, there were 2 individual white plastic bags containing the chips. Good memories...good times...I miss that era and the Canada of the 70s.
marty - November 18, 2012 - Report this comment
You know I had some rcollection of Grape flovoured potaoe chips and had assumed that it was a figment of my imagination getting the best of me, if even told friends assuredly that they exusted even though I wasn't 100% sure myself. On another topic who remebers Hostess chips around 84-85 when they had those collectable rock band stickers inside the bags in a set of about 25 stickers to collect. I wish I kept those.
Lawrence Gaul - November 22, 2012 - Report this comment
I also liked the BBQ Crunchits,they were the best.
vinnieman - December 07, 2012 - Report this comment
My favourite chips were the Hot Dog Chips. It seemed that I ate them for years in the 70's. Does anybody know how long they were on the market??
Lee - December 13, 2012 - Report this comment
Omg!! This is a fabulous trip down memory lane! Ben - I was trying to find the commercial that you wrote with Scrooge and Crachit! No one else seems to remember it so I'm happy to hear I'm not losing my mind! And YES I remember the gravy flavor....seem to remember a turkey dinner favour of some sort! Lol. And Orange and Grape. Cripes - I remember when chips went up from 25 cents to 35 and I was outraged! So funny....thx for the memories everyone! :)
Dale T. - January 23, 2013 - Report this comment
I remember the fruit-flavoured chips for sure but I never did try them. I'm 43 and I would go with my Dad to work sometimes, especially in the Summer months when I was out of school. My Dad worked for Nabisco, so we went to 8-10 stores per day, sometimes more, and I remember seeing the chips in the stores probably in the late 1970's. I know they didn't last very long at all and I don't think they sold too well either. I remember wanting to try them but since I was young, I had no money of my own and before you knew it, they were gone!
Ana - October 03, 2013 - Report this comment
I thought I was the only one... Thank goodness I'm not crazy. 4 kids ... Myself, my sister and two brothers. Treats like chip were few and far between. We had gone into the big city and allowed to get a treat. We all chose the grape chips. We were warned by my mother to only take one bag ... But oh no we each had to have our own. I can not express how AWFUL these were. Oh and by the way my mother made us eat all of them. I think I cried through most of it
Kirk - November 09, 2013 - Report this comment
OMG, thank god i am not the only one. I thought they were soda flavoured like Orange Crush, Grape Crush, etc... I try to have this conversation with my wife about them but she never got a lot of the things we got as kids. I was a city kid from Hamilton and she lived in the country outside of Sarnia. Same thing with the Cinnamon Danish!
Barbie - November 20, 2013 - Report this comment
I remember these chips as well. I tried a cherry and all I remember is "YUCK",and usually kids will eat anything. None of my friends remember this product, so I'm happy to see it wasn't just a bad dream!
D.M. - January 14, 2014 - Report this comment
I was working in a convenience store when the fruit flavoured chips came out. They definitely were disgusting! Nearly every bag we sold was either dumped in the garbage can outside or returned to us in exchange for a bag of one of Hostess' regular flavoured chips (our sales representative took back all the returns and credited us for them - thank goodness, otherwise we would have had riots on our hands, particularly from the adults who bought them). Luckily the 'experiment gone wrong' didn't last very long. No one I talk to remembers them - but I sure do! Producing those chips will probably go down in history as the worst marketing blunder of all times.
christine - January 29, 2014 - Report this comment
I am a child of the 70's. I am now 43 and reading all the above posts surely brings back memories. All my friends my age do not remember the foil bagged Hostess fruit flavoured chips. I sure do... A trip to the corner store which acted as a butcher, vcr/vhs rental place, candy store and pop shoppe soda pop outlet. OMG the good old days... Guess what? I now own a candy store and some of my old time favourites as a child look me in the face everyday. Hello Bottlecaps :) Thrills gum, cinnamon toothpix and fruit stripe gum! This is the best kind of job... I get to relive my childhood day in and day out.
Karen - September 06, 2014 - Report this comment
I rememeber the hot mexican as well. Crave those still today. Use to sneak them daily in class and let jDLthem melt in my mouth hoping I wouldn't get asked a question...oh they were so good. Bring back some of the oldies!
Max - September 20, 2014 - Report this comment
I remember the fruit flavour trial in the summer of I think 83 or 84. Strawberry, Orange Grape or Blueberry and may be 1 or 2 more. Not sure if I liked any and I tried them all. Sweet with chips isn't my thing. Don't like the cinnamon flavour Lay's on trial now either.
Brian - December 29, 2014 - Report this comment
I remember the Hostess fruit flavored chips! I was in Grade 12 in Regina when they came out. There was Grape, Orange and Cherry. I tried all 3 and hated them all equally! At about the same time Hostess marketed a unique chip made from pea flour called Nutro or Nutri or Natura. I don't remember the name but they came in a small red plastic bag that was clear in the middle (so you could see the product), with blue lettering and had silhouettes of athletes (also in blue) across the top, above the name. The chips were about one inch square and had a very unique taste! I liked them a lot! I have been forever searching for anything that tastes similar!
Monique - September 08, 2015 - Report this comment
This is such an amazing thread and brings back so many childhood memories. i very distinctly rememebr the fruit flavored chips. My mom also warned us against thm but we tried them anyway. Totally GROSS!! I got the orange and I beleive my sister got grape. i also remember she got sick.Remember when the printed free bags of chips in blue ink inside the foil bags?? Good times. I think my favorite flavour were the Nacho cheese crunchits back then. They were the best. sucks they discontinued them. the should bring them back as a retro flavour. I also loved the heavily dusted sour cream and omion.Friday nights were treat night in my house when i was growing up. We would get the big bags of plain chips with the double sleeves, philidelphia dill pickle dip (in the tin container with the zip off protective strip)and schneiders pepperettes. We would also get the huge glass 2 litre bottles of pepsi. We would watch dukes of hazzard after going roller skating.My favorite choc bad was the wigwag.Wow. Amazing memories of an amazing era to grow up.The 70's.
viv - November 29, 2015 - Report this comment
I remember a bunch of us would walk to the corner store at the bottom of the hill(back in the days when kids could do that and our parents wouldn't even know where we went and didn't worry about it; we bought a bag of each of the fruit flavours and Nancy Anslow threw up orange all over my shoes..i still remember that gross smell..anyone remember Super 2 flavoured milk? It came in banana and strawberry- there was a commercial for it..the flavor popcorn was called Popcorn Plus I beiieve..my mother was a chef and wouldn't allow me to bring junk in the house so I had to indulge at my friends' house..I miss those days of great junk food and scary flicks like Mysterious Monsters..the 70s were the absolute best time to be a kid, I feel sorry for my kids
Kezzi - December 22, 2015 - Report this comment
We LOVED chips as kids and I loved all the new flavours, but the fruit ones? I think that was the day we realized adults DID make bad bad mistakes! lol
Kezzi - January 16, 2016 - Report this comment
You know what's really amazing? There doesn't seem to be a single picture online of those chips! I suppose we all threw the bags away in disgust and Hostess swept up the incriminating evidence. "It didn't happen people! You NEVER saw fruit flavoured chips! It was just a bad bad dream!"
Rick - August 22, 2016 - Report this comment
Kezzi - thats funny! Yeah, I can't find a pic either. Guess Hostess did a good job getting rid of the evidence. But yes - I do remember them. When I heard about them I had to try them out - so tried the grape. I also remember doing the `blahhh blahh ewww' with the tongue hanging out in disgust...
alex - September 12, 2018 - Report this comment
Hostess had the best Ketchup and salt and vinegar as well as cajon... best chips ever!!
David - May 20, 2019 - Report this comment
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