Years: Late 60's-90's
Image from Jason Liebig
Another great Nabisco Snack Mix that people seem to fondly remember is doo dads. It was a snack made up of 5 different parts: Toasted peanuts, pretzels, rice squares, wheat squares and cheese Tid-Bit Crackers (which were so popular you could buy Tid-Bits by themselves).
I know it sounds like Chex Mix, but as it turns out, it was nothing even close, so much that if you even compare them to an avid doo-dad lover you will get beaten. They are nothing alike. doo dads are 100X better (or so I've been told).
Once a snack staple starting in the late 60s, they really became a childhood favorite of everyone in the 70's/80's. In the 90's, as sales stared to slip due to the influx of chips/crackers/snacks that were in the market, doo dads tried out some new flavors hoping to bring them back to life, but the as the 90's came to a close so did doo dads. (though I have heard people say they lasted into the early 2000's....if anyone can confirm that let me know).
90's "Flavor" box (Cheddar and Herb) - photo by ManKatt
I remember eating them as a kid in the 80's, but I don't have the same connection that a lot of people seem to have - eating them while playing board games with the family...snacking on them during long car rides....sharing a box with dad while watching football on Sundays.....doo dads were a popular snack that many people trace back to their youth.
Sadly, they are now gone. Will they ever return from extinction? People have been trying to get Nabisco to relaunch them for years now, but we will have to wait and see if doo-dad nation gets their prayers answered.
Oh, and if you turn the box upside down, it looks like "spap oop". I've seen lots of people make this observation, so flipping the box must have been a regular occurrence for kids in the 70's and 80's.
image by Jason Liebig