(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Those Gen X drinks back in the day just hit different. If you’re a kid who grew up in the ’80s or early ’90s, you know what I mean.

 

I had a paper route starting age 12. Every afternoon, after school, I would deliver the Wakefield Daily Item to subscribers in my neighborhood of Greenwood. The Item was published daily, five days a week, and a weekly subscription for home delivery cost $1.65. Every Thursday, I would collect from my customers, and almost all of them would tip me. Some gave me $2 ($0.35 tip), others gave me $3 ($1.35 tip!) Usually, I’d clear about $30 in tips. $20 would go in the bank, and $10 would go in my pocket.

 

That’s a decent amount of walkin’ around money for a middle-schooler. And I spent a decent amount of it at the Greenwood Pharmacy. They had a Slush Puppie machine that we abused so egregiously (2 pumps in a medium? Try 5!) that they finally moved it behind the counter. Luckily, a Pump’n Pantry had recently opened on the other side of Main St., so my friends and I took our business there. Because their Slush Puppie machine was still ripe for misuse and abuse.

 

Gen X Drinks: Which One Did You Love as a Kid?

By the time I became a regular at Pump’n Pantry, I had graduated to more mature libations. What was better back in the day than walking around town with an IBC Root Beer? It looked like you were drinking an *actual* beer! And remember OK Soda? The quintessential Gen-X soft drink. Those two are in the mix for this week’s 12-Inch Poll, alongside a bunch of other throwback beverages. Refresh yourself with a selection of back-in-the-day refreshments, vote for your favorite, then hit the ROCK 92.9 Facebook or

From New Coke to Crystal Pepsi, we have 21 beverages that defined Generation X.

So which one's your favorite?
https://t.co/iF1EhEaMWG

— ROCK 92.9 (@rock929ROCKS) April 26, 2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter to shout out any others I might have missed.

  • Capri Sun

    🎶It’s great-tasting fun when you punch open one!🎶

  • Clearly Canadian

    New York Seltzer for the more sophisticated Gen X palate.

  • Crystal Pepsi

    Nobody drank this. Hell, the SNL parody was more popular than the actual product.

  • Fresca

    Fresca’s popularity dates back to the ’60s, but I remember getting cans out of the soda machine at the Wakefield Bowladrome in the late ’80s.

  • Fruitopia

    I mean, they got Kate Bush sign off on the commercial, so that’s a win, right?

  • IBC Root Beer

    IBC knew their bottles looked like beer bottles. And they smartly played into it.

  • Icee

    Like a Slurpee, but you can only get it at the movie theater!

  • Jolt Cola

    100% the sugar, double the caffeine. Children should not have been allowed to drink this.

  • Little Hugs

    For ’80s, and ’90s kids, this is the taste of summer.

  • New Coke

    A marketing disaster. The ultimate Gen X “you had to be there” moment.

  • New York Seltzer

    These were SO GOOD. Black Cherry and Lemon Lime, in particular.

  • OK Soda

    The quintessential Gen X soft drink. Marketed and sold.

  • Slurpee

    A staple for any Gen X kid who grew up with a 7-11 in their ‘hood.

  • Slush Puppie

    Then there were those of us who grew up on Slush Puppies. Fun in a cup!

  • Snapple

    The Snapple Lady! A ’90s legend!

  • Sobe

    The lizard told me to be myself and also to drink Sobe beverages and who am I to argue with the lizard?

  • Sunny D

    Or “Sunny Delight,” if you’re old enough to remember.

  • Surge

    The unofficial beverage of rap-rock and nu-metal.

  • Tang

    The Boomers that raised us were all: “we drank Tang growing up so you will, too!”

  • Veryfine Juice

    From right here in Massachusetts!

  • Yoo-hoo

    Another soft drink that transcends generations. But Generation X drank our fair share.