Yum Junk

Interesting article in the New York Times about various junk food trends and how they got their start. I remember those early days of huge sodas, ushered in by 7-Eleven with their Big Gulps. I used to get mine on Northern Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, along with Ne-Mo's cakes (the only mass produced cake I actually enjoy). Oh the innocence of new found soda pop gluttony! It was as close a taste of everlasting life as one could get without embracing Jesus. Endless sodas where you could take a huge sip, and then another, and know that there was plenty more, and more than you could ever hope to consume (until you eventually learned to consume it all, and regained your liquid mortality).

1976

7-Eleven convenience stores helped launch the era of fast-food and junk-food supersizing that continues today by introducing the 32-ounce Big Gulp. But even the Big Gulp seemed small after a while. In 1988, the company started selling the 64-ounce Double Gulp.

In junk food, as in Silicon Valley, creativity is limitless. In 1998, the Big Gulp cup was refined and redesigned. The new cup was taller, and now it fit in most car cup holders. Progress, of some sort, had been made.

(N.Y. Times)