Nostalgic Aussie man shares his old primary school canteen menu from 1986 – so how many of these snacks do you remember?
- Australian man has found his old school canteen menu dating back to the 80s
- 1986 Mount Gamier North School canteen menu offered items for less than $1
- The nostalgic menu had many reminiscing about a time gone by on social media
A nostalgic man has taken a trip down memory lane after he unearthed his old school canteen menu dating back to the 80s.
The man, from South Australia, found his 1986 Mount Gamier North School canteen menu showing how a $2 gold coin can get you a chicken sandwich, a sausage roll, yoghurt, and a fruit juice with 20 cents to spare.
The 35-year-old menu offered most items costing less than $1 – including a 70c pizza, a 50c Vegemite bread roll, and a 50c devon sandwich.
Old school favourites like Burger Rings and Tasty Toobs cost just 35c while a single Arnott’s Shape was sold for a measly 1c.
‘My parents are getting their kitchen renovated and I found my old primary school canteen price list at the back of a cupboard mum was clearing out… look at those prices,’ Dave wrote in Old Shops Australia Facebook group.
The man, from South Australia, found his 1986 Mount Gamier North School canteen menu showing how a $2 gold coin can get you a chicken sandwich, a sausage roll, yoghurt, and a fruit juice with 20 cents to spare
Primary school students in the 80s had the option between white and brown bread rolls and sandwiches, with prices starting from as little as 40c.
The menu shows the vast difference between the simple foods from more than three decades ago and the gourmet options served today.
Modern school canteens have since succumb to strict health guidelines, with most of the food items from the 80s, 90s and early 2000s no longer available.
Sugar-sweetened drinks including cordial, fruit drinks, soft drinks and energy drinks, have been banned from sale in NSW public schools since 2007.
School canteens now offer healthy ‘everyday’ meals, snacks and drinks from the five food groups – including grains, vegetables, fruit, milk, yoghurt, lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu and legumes.
The nostalgic menu had many reminiscing about a time gone by on social media.
‘I was in primary school in the 60s and 15c would get me a sausage roll, sauce and a pineapple cream doughnut with 2c change for a bag of lollies,’ one woman wrote.
Another said: ‘Well half of that stuff would be in today’s canteen red zones. Take me back to the canteens days where food was yummy and no one gave a continental Frankfurt.
While one woman added: ‘I work in a school canteen and it’s becoming harder and harder to survive with these regulations – bring back the old days.’
Some Aussies asked what ‘fritz’ sandwiches were, with many explaining it’s a commonly used term in South Australia for devon or luncheon meat.
While others said they didn’t know what ‘bush’ biscuits were, with one woman saying: ‘They were like a giant square biscuit, taste a bit like a milk coffee but with more malty.
‘They were harder than normal biscuits so you could dip them in coffee without them breaking. My school used to sell them with butter and we’d gnaw away on them like rats. A bush biscuit would last all recess and lunch.’