Here's a blast from the past. Remember these packages in the grocery stores?
Starting sometime in the late seventies, these generic products began showing up on grocery shelves. I did a little research, and found out that Chicago based Jewel Food Stores pioneered the introduction of generic grocery products into the US market, with a range of 44 items in February 1977. The program was so successful that Jewel Food Stores quickly increased its generic line to about 100 items.
About the time we turned 18, the generic rage was in full swing. I remember thinking the beer was just about the funniest thing I'd ever seen. It was nasty beer, too. Especially the light beer. Bleh!
Remember how all of the generic products were lined up side by side on their own store shelves?
For a couple of years there, you could buy generic everything! Then it turned into a joke...
Then suddenly, the novelty faded. A couple of years later, the packaging disappeared from the shelves and it was all over. Amazingly, most of the people I work with today have no idea this ever happened.
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