Today we’ll be taking a look at the 1987-88 Randall’s Food Almanac. What is a Food Almanac, you might ask? Well, it’s a year round collection of recipes, paired with coupons and vintage advertisements. Using a Food Almanac as advertising was not unique to Randall’s, but its debut was tied to a much bigger event, The 1987 Randall’s Food Fest. This was the third year of the newest celebration Randall’s had to offer. From samples of in store products, to chef created dinners, the Food Fest not only provided a gourmet experience, but for most Houstonians their first glimpse into the George R. Brown Convention center. Built in the early 80s the GRB had only been open to private events since completion, in the two years before the 1987 Food-fest Randall’s had used the Astrohall. The booking of the GRB was a symbolic victory for Randall’s who would quickly take a dominant step forward in Houston’s grocery scene in the early 90s. At only around 40 locations by 1987 Randall’s was not the largest competitor in the Houston area, but they were popular, and growing. They were seen as somewhat of a “hip” grocery store, granted it was hip for Yuppies, but that lifestyle tends to pair with money.
The recipes in the cookbook are wildly varying, from a Middle Eastern feast of Tabbouleh, Kefta, and Labneh to an Easter Ham, whipped potatoes, and Yeast Rolls. I have opted to not include any of the recipes as they don’t see to be anything special and may have been the direct creation of one person. Today instead, we’ll be focusing on some of the incredible ads tucked away for the past 35 years. If you’re interested in learning more about the 1987 Randall’s Food Fest here is a Schedule of Events, and a Description of the Company written by themselves.
The cover page of the booklet is glossy and features the only color graphics.
While there were Menus by month, Remarkable Vegetables were just which veggies were in season, and the Money Saving Coupons had long since been clipped.
Robert R. Onstead, the “R” supposedly stood for Randall, but that isn’t where the company name comes from. Although that’s a story for another day.
While Frozen Chicken Nuggets were not brand new at the time, Microwave made frozen foods were still a bit of a novel concept.
Despite Borden only existing as a name past 2001, You can still buy Borden Cremora, and Borden Eagle Brand over 30 years later. ReaLemon is still around, but was never owned by Borden only licensed.
These white pages were some sort of Card Stock Material. While not obvious, these are all Georgia Pacific Brands
Bumble Bee Tuna.. if I put the Ace Venture quote in here, will I offend sensibilities?
I remember Citrus Hill! They sang that song, insane in the brain, insane in the citrus membrane!
Del Monte has a bit of an interesting history. The fresh fruit division was actually spun off in 1989 but retained the name through licensing. By the 2000s, they were mostly involved in pet food. After selling the last of their food lines they sold the Del Monte name and became Big Heart Pet Brands. – Aaron J., Carbon-izer
I can almost see the blue can jumping out of the picture
Finally something with a private label on it! Fresh Eggs, not those nasty stale ones
Randall’s Green Room Florist was a professional service that operated somewhat autonomously of the grocery store
The best part of waking up, is recognizing 30 year old logos!
Food Club, Topco, and Top Frost, were all private label brands supplied to Randalls by Topco
A beautiful difference? I’m not sure, my Italian is rustiano
Gatorade has was kids need, it’s got electrolytes!
Hunt’s and La Choy have been through multiple owners since this ad, but have managed to stick together.
These pizzas were made by Totinos and discontinued relatively recently in 2019 to some online backlash
It makes sense Minute Maid would be featured, as they were a prominent Houston employer until closing their offices as a result of COVID. Also remember Five Alive!
Chevron used to be a much more diverse company than it exists today.
You can still buy R&F Pasta in some limited situations, like food service packages!
Artesia Water has a long and strange story behind it, that I’m not fully aware of. This looks worth delving into.
Sunlight detergent are some of the oldest packaged soap on the market going back to 1884. I’m not sure if you can still buy the dish detergent in the U.S. but the laundry detergent is easy to find.
I’m not a pizza eater, but some light Googling leads me to believe this is the same as the Totinos Party Pizza that you can still buy today.
Skittles and Starburst! While the packaging has changed, the logo font on these is very closed to what Mars still uses in 2021.
The one recipe I did include shows off how seriously Randalls took their spirituality.
Senior Day would do very well right now given the circumstances.
Finally on the back cover we have our only other full color image, and ad for Randall’s Catering Department. Which was still going strong up through the Safeway buyout.
Well, I hope you all have enjoyed today’s look through some old literature. I tried to find any video or photographic evidence of the Randall’s Food Fest, and while I’m sure somebody somewhere has it, I couldn’t scrape up anything else for this post. So, I invite my readers, if you attended the Food Fest, what was it like? Were the descriptions in the paper accurate or overblown? I think we’re all curious to know!
I don’t remember Randall’s Food Fest 1987, but I do remember the excitement about the opening of the GRB in 1987. Given the excitement Houstonians had for Randall’s at that time, the combination of Randall’s and GRB would have been quite fitting!
I quite specifically remember the drawing in the Randall’s senior ad. Randall’s used to have weekly coupons just for seniors over by their courtesy booths. They were usually printed on blue pieces of paper. Nearby to those coupons were envelope-looking surveys that Randall’s obviously took quite seriously. I’m not sure why I remember this so vividly, but there you go!
I remember a lot of the products in these ads including Five Alive! In fact, I’m not completely aware if some of these products have been discontinued. For sure, in 1987, those frozen concentrate orange juice packages were still popular. OJ cartons were difficult to open. Once OJ cartons had spouts with caps, and then later when plastic bottles replaced the cartons completely for the fancy brands, those frozen concentrate packages seemed to almost completely disappear overnight. Oh well.
Those Totino’s Tempin’ Toppings pizzas may have been fancier versions of Totino’s famous Party Pizzas. That’s not saying much, lol.
Seeing an ad for Ortho Diazinon is quite strange for a Food Fest!
That Gatorade ad reminds me of a 1973 ad for the sugar industry that I have in an old National Geographic issue that I have. The implication in the ad was that kids were thin because they consumed so much sugar that made them go out and run and such. Yeah, this ad has not aged well I would say, lol: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Ky4AAOSw6a5fTArq/s-l900.jpg
Anyway, thanks for these great scans. I enjoyed seeing them.
Most grocers still stock a small selection of frozen juice concentrates, though it seems the products are now aimed almost exclusively at folks who mix them with alcoholic beverages. But even as late as the late 90s, the frozen juice section of most grocers was pretty large, larger than the refrigerated Pillsbury dough products section for example, if I recall correctly. Nowadays Minute Maid is about the only brand you’ll find in most stores other than a store brand.
Five Alive remains available in Canada and, I think, in some parts of the US. It disappeared from around here in the 2010s, if I recall. At least it’s still around somewhere, though, which is more than can be said for my beloved Minute Maid orange soda (Fanta made it superfluous, sure… but Fanta also isn’t half as good).
I grew up on the Food Club/Topco family of products in Michigan thanks to our neighborhood Meijer Thrifty Acres.
I can hear the old Gatorade jingle through that ad… “Gatorade is THIRST-AID! (ahh) For that DEEP DOWN body thirst!”
Nothing sells Crsip’N Tasty Pizza like “consumer preference”…
I don’t remember Randall’s Food Fest 1987, but I do remember the excitement about the opening of the GRB in 1987. Given the excitement Houstonians had for Randall’s at that time, the combination of Randall’s and GRB would have been quite fitting!
I quite specifically remember the drawing in the Randall’s senior ad. Randall’s used to have weekly coupons just for seniors over by their courtesy booths. They were usually printed on blue pieces of paper. Nearby to those coupons were envelope-looking surveys that Randall’s obviously took quite seriously. I’m not sure why I remember this so vividly, but there you go!
I remember a lot of the products in these ads including Five Alive! In fact, I’m not completely aware if some of these products have been discontinued. For sure, in 1987, those frozen concentrate orange juice packages were still popular. OJ cartons were difficult to open. Once OJ cartons had spouts with caps, and then later when plastic bottles replaced the cartons completely for the fancy brands, those frozen concentrate packages seemed to almost completely disappear overnight. Oh well.
Those Totino’s Tempin’ Toppings pizzas may have been fancier versions of Totino’s famous Party Pizzas. That’s not saying much, lol.
Seeing an ad for Ortho Diazinon is quite strange for a Food Fest!
That Gatorade ad reminds me of a 1973 ad for the sugar industry that I have in an old National Geographic issue that I have. The implication in the ad was that kids were thin because they consumed so much sugar that made them go out and run and such. Yeah, this ad has not aged well I would say, lol: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Ky4AAOSw6a5fTArq/s-l900.jpg
Anyway, thanks for these great scans. I enjoyed seeing them.
Most grocers still stock a small selection of frozen juice concentrates, though it seems the products are now aimed almost exclusively at folks who mix them with alcoholic beverages. But even as late as the late 90s, the frozen juice section of most grocers was pretty large, larger than the refrigerated Pillsbury dough products section for example, if I recall correctly. Nowadays Minute Maid is about the only brand you’ll find in most stores other than a store brand.
Five Alive remains available in Canada and, I think, in some parts of the US. It disappeared from around here in the 2010s, if I recall. At least it’s still around somewhere, though, which is more than can be said for my beloved Minute Maid orange soda (Fanta made it superfluous, sure… but Fanta also isn’t half as good).