The Old-School Canned Dessert From The '70s You Don't Really See Anymore

As canned foods go, some items are particularly associated with metallics. Soup's a big one, followed by vegetables, and then maybe beans. But you'd have to get through quite a few "Family Feud" answers before anyone shouted out dessert. Even then, they'd likely be thinking of something like pumpkin pie filling or puree, which very few folks consider a sweet treat without several more steps in between. But back in the swinging '70s, one tinned confection was almost ready to serve: Libby's Fruit Float.

Libby's Fruit Float was one of many canned foods that may have been popular 50 years ago, but are largely forgotten today. But those who do remember, remember it well, even longing for contemporary dupes on social media. What they're hoping to approximate was a kind of syrupy goo made of several purportedly "real fruit" varieties, which was mixed with cold milk to achieve what an ancient TV commercial implies was a kind of ice cream/pudding compromise in botanical flavors like strawberry, raspberry, and peach, all in 30 seconds. And, unlike the also beloved vintage pizza spins, this is one old-timey bite that might not be so hard to recreate.

Advertising implications aside, Libby's Fruit Float mostly just looked like pudding in that old, archival footage. Its aggressively asserted "real fruit" would have presumably more closely resembled canned than anything freshly sliced. So it isn't super hard to imagine that combining these items might net something pretty similar to the original goop.

Supposed taste testers at the time, albeit of somewhat dubious provenance, weren't much more descriptive than placing the stuff on a scale from bad to good, or marginally more helpfully calling it out as too sweet. So maybe reserve some extra sugar if you want that classic Libby's Fruit Float experience. Just whip up a box of a fairly neutral pudding like vanilla (you could also theoretically use pudding cups), stir in something like a can of diced peaches, and take a gastronomic trip back to a more innocent time when this kind of product was even possible.