Crisps That Were Popular in the 70s in the UK

If you grew up in the UK in the 1970s, crisps looked and tasted very different to what fills the shelves today. The bags were simpler, the flavours were fewer, and the brands that dominated had names some people still get misty-eyed over. This is a look at the crisps that were popular in the 70s, the ones that disappeared, and the ones that somehow made it through to the present day.

The 1970s crisp scene in the UK was dominated by Smiths, Golden Wonder, and KP. Flavours were basic by today’s standards, ready salted and salt and vinegar ruled the shelves, and most bags still came with a little blue twist of salt inside. Many of the iconic brands from that decade are gone, but a surprising number still exist in some form.

What Were Crisps Like in the 1970s?

The basics ruled the shelves

The 1970s were a long way from the 47-flavour wall you find in a supermarket today. Ready salted was the default. Salt and vinegar was the adventurous choice. Cheese and onion completed the set, and for most of the decade, that was more or less it. Prawn cocktail began creeping in towards the end of the seventies, but it was still considered a bit exotic.

Bags were small, thin, and often translucent. The crisps inside were lighter than modern versions, and greasier in a way people either loved or have completely blanked from memory. There were no sharing bags, no grab bags, no multipack cartons. You bought one bag, you ate it, and that was your lot.

The blue bag of salt

If you were a child in the 1970s, you almost certainly remember the little blue twist of salt that sat inside certain bags of crisps. Smiths were the brand most associated with it, though others used the same format. You would fish the blue packet out, sprinkle the salt yourself, fold the top of the bag over, and shake.

It sounds basic now. At the time it felt like a ritual. The brands that used the blue salt bag and what happened to them is a question that still gets searched thousands of times a month, which tells you something about how vivid that memory is for people who grew up with it.

The Big Brands of the 70s

Smiths Crisps

Smiths was the dominant crisp brand in Britain for decades before the 1970s, and it was still a major force throughout that decade. Founded in 1920, Smiths had been selling crisps with a blue bag of salt since the 1930s, and by the seventies they were a household staple.

The brand went through ownership changes and eventually ended up under Walkers, which phased out the Smiths name for most of their mainstream range. Some retro Smiths products do still exist today. Smiths retro snacks including Frazzles, Scampi Fries, and Bacon Fries are still made and still sell well, carrying the brand name on into the present day even if the original ready salted crisps in a plain bag are long gone.

Golden Wonder

Golden Wonder was the other big name. Founded in Edinburgh in 1947 and based in the UK throughout the sixties and seventies, Golden Wonder gave Smiths a genuine run for their money. They were the brand that really pushed flavour variety in Britain, and cheese and onion being in a green bag rather than a blue one is a Golden Wonder legacy that still confuses people today.

Golden Wonder still exists, though the company has had a complicated few decades. They went into administration in the 2000s before being bought by Tayto, the Irish crisp company, and have traded under that ownership since. The brand is very much alive, and their products are still widely available.

KP Crisps

KP, short for Kenyon Produce, was the third pillar of the 1970s crisp market. They were better known for nuts and snacks than straight crisps, but their crisp range was a fixture in pubs and corner shops throughout the decade. KP Skips launched in 1974, which means they have been going for over fifty years. Hula Hoops, another KP product, launched in 1973. Both are still going strong.

Flavours That Defined the Decade

Ready salted and the basics

Ready salted was king. Not as a consolation prize but as a genuine first choice for most people. The potato flavour was the point. Anything else was secondary. Salt and vinegar was the most popular departure from plain, and cheese and onion was close behind. Beyond those three, the 1970s crisp aisle was pretty sparse.

Prawn cocktail and beef

Both prawn cocktail and beef flavours existed in some form during the seventies, though they were not yet everywhere. Walkers launched beef crisps in 1977. Prawn cocktail took longer to become a staple but was beginning to appear by the end of the decade. These flavours felt novel at the time in a way that is difficult to imagine now, when they sit alongside truffle and balsamic vinegar options.

The flavours that never made it

Plenty of flavours from the seventies did not survive. Some were regional. Some were strange combinations that seemed like a good idea and turned out not to be. Chicken flavour crisps had a moment. So did tomato. A few brands experimented with game flavours. Most of these disappeared quietly, and nobody really mourned them. The eighties brought a different wave of flavours and a different set of brands chasing the market.

Brands That Came and Went

Tudor Crisps

Tudor was a major crisp brand in the 1970s, particularly popular in the north of England and Wales. They were known for slightly thicker, crunchier crisps than Smiths or Golden Wonder, and they had a loyal following. Tudor was eventually acquired by Golden Wonder and then quietly discontinued. The name comes up regularly in conversations about crisps that people miss.

Quarterback Crisps

Quarterback crisps had a strong following in certain parts of the UK during the seventies and into the eighties. They disappeared from shelves at some point and have been the subject of occasional nostalgia ever since. The brand name still gets searched regularly by people trying to find out if they are still made. They are not. At least not in any mainstream form.

County Crisps and other regional brands

The 1970s crisp market was much more fragmented than today. Regional brands operated in specific areas, often made in small factories, selling to local shops and pubs. County Crisps was one. There were others, most of which have no web presence because they ceased trading before the internet existed. These brands are almost impossible to research now, which makes them more mythologised in the memory of the people who ate them.

What Survives from the 70s Today

The brands that made it

A fair amount from the 1970s crisp era is still around. Hula Hoops launched in 1973 and are still one of the biggest-selling crisp brands in the UK. Skips launched in 1974 and are still going. Quavers launched in 1968 and survived the decade comfortably. Space Raiders launched in 1978. Space Raiders are still being made, though some flavours have come and gone over the years.

Frazzles, Scampi Fries, and Bacon Fries all have their roots in the seventies too, sold under the Smiths name and now continuing under it still. If you want them, they are available as retro Smiths snacks and still taste exactly as they always did.

The flavours that survived

Ready salted, salt and vinegar, and cheese and onion are the same three flavours that anchored the 1970s market. They are still the three biggest-selling crisp flavours in the UK today. Everything else came later. The core has never really changed.

That is the thing about 1970s crisps. Strip away the nostalgia and what you are left with is a market that was genuinely simple. Three flavours, three major brands, one classic format. The complexity came later. But the basics that were established in that decade, the flavours people default to and the brands people grew up with, are still the foundations of the UK crisp industry today.

Find Retro Crisps and Classic Brands at One Pound Crisps

Some of the brands from the 70s are still here. Browse Smiths retro snacks and classic crisp brands at One Pound Crisps, with every bag at £1 or under.