I think I only tried it a few times. I was NOT impressed. After that, I took a lunch from home throughout Elementary and Junior High. In High school it was usually a run to McDonald's.
Having The Urge For School Lunches
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Was ketchup considered a vegetable back then, op?
I think pizza joined the vegetable ranks as well.
Was ketchup considered a vegetable back then, op?
I think pizza joined the vegetable ranks as well.
Originally Posted By: EdwardC
I remember our chicken rings (with cheese dip) and slices of pizza. And of course the cartons of chocolate milk.
Didn't ya ever wonder what part of the chicken they made those rings from?
I say they either sliced up the neck or...the other end.
;^)
The only thing I ever liked in my school lunches was the hash browns, they were really mushy and served with a scoop. Sounds gross, but they were heavenly.
I generally brought lunch except when I was on a free hot lunch plan when my dad was out of work for several years. I remember one of my teachers questioning me closely when she asked in a class discussion for a show of hands from kids whose fathers had lost their jobs and I didn't raise mine (this was in the early to mid '70s, when the US economy was in the dumps). She knew I was on the poor kid's lunch plan and cornered me on the playground and was pretty nasty with me...I wasn't trying to hide anything, my dad had been out of work for so long at that point that I didn't think of him having had a job to lose. That teacher ended up notifying the school administration and my mom had to go in and present more proof that we were in need...she was working three jobs at that time (secretary or telemarketer during the day, waitress at night, different waitressing job for the weekend) and was none too happy about having to get more paperwork together and be grilled at the district office.
In high school, I stopped bringing a bag but also never stood in line for food in the cafeteria. If I ate anything, it was junk from the vending machines...there was a really old one with little loaves of something like pound cake that were really good, and the machine would malfunction a lot and there would be two or more cakes in one slot. I think I scored four with one purchase one day and was the most popular guy at my table for sharing them with my friends.
I remember our chicken rings (with cheese dip) and slices of pizza. And of course the cartons of chocolate milk.
Didn't ya ever wonder what part of the chicken they made those rings from?
I say they either sliced up the neck or...the other end.
;^)
The only thing I ever liked in my school lunches was the hash browns, they were really mushy and served with a scoop. Sounds gross, but they were heavenly.
I generally brought lunch except when I was on a free hot lunch plan when my dad was out of work for several years. I remember one of my teachers questioning me closely when she asked in a class discussion for a show of hands from kids whose fathers had lost their jobs and I didn't raise mine (this was in the early to mid '70s, when the US economy was in the dumps). She knew I was on the poor kid's lunch plan and cornered me on the playground and was pretty nasty with me...I wasn't trying to hide anything, my dad had been out of work for so long at that point that I didn't think of him having had a job to lose. That teacher ended up notifying the school administration and my mom had to go in and present more proof that we were in need...she was working three jobs at that time (secretary or telemarketer during the day, waitress at night, different waitressing job for the weekend) and was none too happy about having to get more paperwork together and be grilled at the district office.
In high school, I stopped bringing a bag but also never stood in line for food in the cafeteria. If I ate anything, it was junk from the vending machines...there was a really old one with little loaves of something like pound cake that were really good, and the machine would malfunction a lot and there would be two or more cakes in one slot. I think I scored four with one purchase one day and was the most popular guy at my table for sharing them with my friends.
I ate soggy tuna sandwiches that I made, the night before, and that sat in my locker all day. I can't imagine eating like that now.
I had never eaten Tuna until I started elementary school. It was dipped with an ice cream scoop onto a piece of lettuce. Almost 60 years later, it's still the best I have ever eaten, and the standard on which I judge any Tuna I've eaten since.
Originally Posted By: Silk
No lunches when I went to school, you took sandwiches. Then there were the swaps - a baked bean sandwich was worth 2 jam and cheese.
Ditto, the same,
All the way Eastern Europe.....
First world problem for you my American Friends.
We got used as cheap workforce and half our vacation time was to go and work for nothing to gather whatever was the neighboring crop.
You had to bring your food and water. They provided nothing! Hurray for the glorious leader!
No lunches when I went to school, you took sandwiches. Then there were the swaps - a baked bean sandwich was worth 2 jam and cheese.
Ditto, the same,
All the way Eastern Europe.....
First world problem for you my American Friends.
We got used as cheap workforce and half our vacation time was to go and work for nothing to gather whatever was the neighboring crop.
You had to bring your food and water. They provided nothing! Hurray for the glorious leader!
"We got used as cheap workforce and half our vacation time was to go and work for nothing to gather whatever was the neighboring crop."
^^ Not a lot unlike growing up on a family farm in the USA in the 50's and 60's....at least you got half your summer vacation
^^
^^ Not a lot unlike growing up on a family farm in the USA in the 50's and 60's....at least you got half your summer vacation
For us it was the sloppy joes and chicken patties. The rest was garbage.
Originally Posted By: gman2304
"We got used as cheap workforce and half our vacation time was to go and work for nothing to gather whatever was the neighboring crop."
^^ Not a lot unlike growing up on a family farm in the USA in the 50's and 60's....at least you got half your summer vacation
^^
[off-topic]
for the rest of the summer Dad had dreams of of gardening; so i had the blisters (from carying buckets of sand and manure) and sunburn to show it.
oh, and at least you/your family got/owned the farm... the communists just took it and still made you work on it...
[/off-topic]
"We got used as cheap workforce and half our vacation time was to go and work for nothing to gather whatever was the neighboring crop."
^^ Not a lot unlike growing up on a family farm in the USA in the 50's and 60's....at least you got half your summer vacation
[off-topic]
for the rest of the summer Dad had dreams of of gardening; so i had the blisters (from carying buckets of sand and manure) and sunburn to show it.
oh, and at least you/your family got/owned the farm... the communists just took it and still made you work on it...
[/off-topic]
Aha! Confirmation of yellow gravy!
Having spent 31 years in and around school cafeterias, there is very little to look forward to.
The worst I ever witnessed: food that was prepared about 8 blocks away from the building and was hauled to the building in the lone district pick up truck complete with a cap with a broken rear window, which hauled everything from dirt to soiled football uniforms after away football games.
The worst I ever witnessed: food that was prepared about 8 blocks away from the building and was hauled to the building in the lone district pick up truck complete with a cap with a broken rear window, which hauled everything from dirt to soiled football uniforms after away football games.
Chili and cinnamon rolls. The rolls were gooey and baked in the same big pans as regular rolls. Hamburger and pinto bean chili with crushed saltines.
Mmm.
Mmm.
I've recently started doing one of my high school favorites: chili over a baked potato, but the chili is much better as I make it...
Virtus_Probi,
What a nasty [censored] teacher. Lots of them today should be working in a Walmart and not brainwashing children.
What a nasty [censored] teacher. Lots of them today should be working in a Walmart and not brainwashing children.
My high school had awesome pizza and French fries. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast were great too.
If you were lucky enough to have the last lunch period, they would sometimes bring out huge trays full of the leftover fries for everyone to take for free. Guessing they can't do that anymore.
If you were lucky enough to have the last lunch period, they would sometimes bring out huge trays full of the leftover fries for everyone to take for free. Guessing they can't do that anymore.
Interesting topic! I haven't thought about school food in a while.
I went to the same school system K-12, 3 schools. The food in elementary school in the 1990s wasn't very good...it was all very "institutional." They would send home lunch menus for each week, so at least we knew what to expect. Depending on what the lunch options were, most days my mom would pack my lunch, and some days I would get the school lunch. The pizza was one of the better things, but was still pretty bad. It was rectangular and the meat, whatever it was, was square. The tater tots and macaroni and cheese were okay, but most of the food was slop. They had some breakfast food in the mornings...one of the items was microwaved bagels doused in industrial butter.
The middle school was right next to the elementary school, but the food was a LOT better. Still institutional, but more like real food. The pizzas were round, with normal slices, and round pepperoni. And it was actually pretty good for school pizza, better than what you'd find at Golden Corral or something. Probably on par with Little Caesar's. The fries were great as well. They were a lot like McDonald's fries, but maybe better. Most people had pizza and fries for lunch.
The other stuff wasn't terrible either. There was a good selection of Hostess junk food and ice cream treats too. It was a pretty progressive school system, but the healthy food in schools thing hadn't really caught on yet.
In high school, the food got better still. There was a Jersey Mike's in the cafeteria. They didn't make the subs there, they were brought in from a local Jersey Mike's store, but it was a nice upgrade. Even though the other food wasn't terrible, the Jersey Mikes was my go-to until junior year when I could leave campus for lunch. Once I could leave campus, I don't think I spent another lunch at school.
I went to the same school system K-12, 3 schools. The food in elementary school in the 1990s wasn't very good...it was all very "institutional." They would send home lunch menus for each week, so at least we knew what to expect. Depending on what the lunch options were, most days my mom would pack my lunch, and some days I would get the school lunch. The pizza was one of the better things, but was still pretty bad. It was rectangular and the meat, whatever it was, was square. The tater tots and macaroni and cheese were okay, but most of the food was slop. They had some breakfast food in the mornings...one of the items was microwaved bagels doused in industrial butter.
The middle school was right next to the elementary school, but the food was a LOT better. Still institutional, but more like real food. The pizzas were round, with normal slices, and round pepperoni. And it was actually pretty good for school pizza, better than what you'd find at Golden Corral or something. Probably on par with Little Caesar's. The fries were great as well. They were a lot like McDonald's fries, but maybe better. Most people had pizza and fries for lunch.
In high school, the food got better still. There was a Jersey Mike's in the cafeteria. They didn't make the subs there, they were brought in from a local Jersey Mike's store, but it was a nice upgrade. Even though the other food wasn't terrible, the Jersey Mikes was my go-to until junior year when I could leave campus for lunch. Once I could leave campus, I don't think I spent another lunch at school.
Originally Posted By: Cujet
I ate soggy tuna sandwiches that I made, the night before, and that sat in my locker all day. I can't imagine eating like that now.
Me and my brothers took our brown bag lunch everyday, usually a sliced cow tongue sandwich with mustard on white bread. Actually pretty good, put enough salt and pepper on it. I don't know why, but no one would swap with me. The best thing in our high school cafeteria was that cute redhead from history class
I ate soggy tuna sandwiches that I made, the night before, and that sat in my locker all day. I can't imagine eating like that now.
Me and my brothers took our brown bag lunch everyday, usually a sliced cow tongue sandwich with mustard on white bread. Actually pretty good, put enough salt and pepper on it. I don't know why, but no one would swap with me. The best thing in our high school cafeteria was that cute redhead from history class
The main reason those lunches were tasty (at least occasionally they were!) was because the cooks were allowed to add salt to the food when being cooked.
On the subject of vending machines, in the day the sports coaches were the sole operators of any vending machines, probably to fund sports. For 50 cents you could get a cup of a cold beverage from whichever vendor kicked back the most money to the team.
One day the regular soda machine was replaced with a ZIMI machine, a slushy ice beverage.
Each time it dispensed a cup it told a joke, which it then laughed at.
(http://tulsatvmemories.com/gb092407.html, search down the page for ZIMI, as this is the
only page on the Internet that remembers what a ZIMI machine was, and who the joke teller is.)
Well, the jocks immediately started pounding on the machine every time it laughed.
That machine got the snot kicked out of it. You'd hear a joke starting to be told, then
wham, wham, wham!, as a jock came from nowhere to wale on the machine.
The coaches tried yelling at everyone to not beat on the machine, but that didn't work very well.
In short time it had become a running sport to buy a drink and wale on the machine.
Even the nerds would give it a kick.
People would also beat on it when they didn't get a joke with the drink, but that
was somehow not as rewarding as beating on a machine telling you a bad joke and
laughing at it.
I think the fourth time or so it broke down from abuse the coaches pulled it and put
in a non-verbal machine, then sent home the next few people who tried hitting that machine.
One day the regular soda machine was replaced with a ZIMI machine, a slushy ice beverage.
Each time it dispensed a cup it told a joke, which it then laughed at.
(http://tulsatvmemories.com/gb092407.html, search down the page for ZIMI, as this is the
only page on the Internet that remembers what a ZIMI machine was, and who the joke teller is.)
Well, the jocks immediately started pounding on the machine every time it laughed.
That machine got the snot kicked out of it. You'd hear a joke starting to be told, then
wham, wham, wham!, as a jock came from nowhere to wale on the machine.
The coaches tried yelling at everyone to not beat on the machine, but that didn't work very well.
In short time it had become a running sport to buy a drink and wale on the machine.
Even the nerds would give it a kick.
People would also beat on it when they didn't get a joke with the drink, but that
was somehow not as rewarding as beating on a machine telling you a bad joke and
laughing at it.
I think the fourth time or so it broke down from abuse the coaches pulled it and put
in a non-verbal machine, then sent home the next few people who tried hitting that machine.
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