Tang is my favorite of the Old School beverages. It was created in the 1950s – a time in American history where all the scientists not busy making nuclear bombs were busy taking real food and making it fake. (See Sugar Frosted Flakes v breakfast, Cheeze Whiz v. cheddar, cookie dough in a tube v. mom, TV dinners v. all food on the planet.)

In the case of Tang, scientists took America’s fascination with all things Florida and our love of citrus and condensed it down to a grainy, day-glo orange powder that almost dissolved all the way in a glass of water. Tang wasn’t juice. Oh hell no. Tang transcended juice to become a whole new category – Instant Breakfast Drink.

(Sub)Urban legend has it that Tang was created for NASA. Not true, but Tang did latch on to the space race craze in the late 60s, which boosted its sales. Today, it’s been reclassified as a “juice drink” by Kraft and is available in a ton of flavors, including something called Jamaica Hibiscus, which I imagine was created especially for the College Kids Who’ve Run Out of Shit to Put Rum In market.

Check out this awesome Tang commercial from 1967. The music and camera angles make this feel like something Quentin Tarantino would create -- minus the bloodshed.