Sometimes, the things we enjoyed as kids are shrouded in obscurity. That was the case of today’s subject of Daisys, Bugles, Whistles, Buttons, and Bows.
These are shaped salty snack foods I’m talking about. And I know Daisys is misspelled, but notice that it is in the pictured ad, too.
According to the scant information I could find, Daisys, Bugles, and Whistles first appeared on the general market in 1966. They were produced by General Mills. And Bugles still survives today, but not the others.
It appears that Daisys and Bugles were similarly flavored. The plain-Jane Bugles you can buy today were the original flavor of 1966, salty corn. Daisys were shaped like, well, flowers, duh!, and seemed to be strategically aimed at dippers. Whistles were cheese-flavored. They were just the right size to fit on the ends of a kid’s fingers.
There were two other salty snacks that were around in the early 70’s. They were called Buttons and Bows. The spotty information I could find stated that Buttons were pizza-flavored (and button shaped), and Bows tasted similar to Bugles and Daisys.
For that reason, and because I vividly recall a commercial touting Buttons and Bows (but NOT Daisys, Bugles, or Whistles), I suspect that they were not a General Mills creation, but that of a rival.
And that, friends, is ALL I could find on these snack foods that must have been sold by the train-car load in the late 60’s-early 70’s!
I recall the aforementioned commercial jingle on TV that I could not find on YouTube in this way:
“Go out and get ’em, you’ll never forget ’em. One’s called Buttons and One’s called Bows, they go together like buttons and bows!”
They were right. I never forgot them. It just seems that everyone else in the world has.
Thus ends this frustratingly short I Remember JFK remembrance. Now, readers, it’s time for YOU to fill in the blanks. Perhaps together we can reconstruct the history of these uniquely shaped snacks of our childhoods.
Bring back the Whistles to Ontario… my family always had these as a weekend snack and I love them. Then they disappeared. Bring them back!!!!!!!!!
My sixth grade teacher’s , 1965/66, husband was an R&D guy for General Mills in Minneapolis. Mrs. Olson brought in samples of these products for us to try. To this day, pushing late 60’s, I still stick Bugles on my fingertips.
My uncle also work in R&D at General Mills. My 5 siblings and I were also encouraged to taste test the Daisys, Whistles and Bugles. We all agreed that Bugles were far and away the best. We thought it was great fun being on a test panel!
Bows purportedly tasted like buttered popcorn, and Bows like cheddar cheese. You’re probably thinking of Pizza Spins.
And don’t forget Onyums and Potato Crisps!
https://blog.generalmills.com/2017/09/when-pizza-spins-were-so-in/
Yes, Bows tasted like buttered popcorn. They were my favorite.
I remember Bugles, Buttons and Bows. They came out at the same time, sold in boxes rather than bags. Bows tasted like buttered popcorn, Bugles like roasted corn, Don’t remember the other flavor but it wasn’t cheese. I seem to remember Bows being my favorite, especially dipped in peanut butter!
Buttons and Bows were both General Mills also, from 1967. Buttons were cheddar but better; Bows were buttered popcorn. Ads showing similarly styled boxes exist.
I remember bugles were a salty corn flavor. Daises were BBQ flavored and Whistles were Cheese Flavored
If they made them the original way, I bet people would love Whistles more than Cheetos!
Instead of 25 flavors of the same thing, they should bring some of the old classics that the new generations may enjoy. Snacks like Whistles, Daisys, Pizza Spins, etc.