15. Tang’s Original Orbit
This last entry is a bit different, as the product itself, Tang, never went away. What disappeared was its cultural meaning. When General Foods introduced Tang in 1957, it was a moderately successful orange-flavored breakfast drink powder. But in 1962, everything changed. NASA selected it to be used on John Glenn’s Mercury flight, and later on Gemini missions.
Suddenly, Tang was no longer just Tang. It was “the drink of the astronauts.” General Foods leaned into this association with tremendous success. Advertisements explicitly linked Tang to the space program, presenting it as a futuristic, high-tech beverage. For kids in the 1960s and 70s, drinking Tang was like drinking rocket fuel. This marketing was so effective that a common misconception, which persists to this day, is that NASA invented Tang. Historical information available from sources like the Smithsonian clarifies it was a commercial product that NASA simply adopted.
While you can still buy Tang today, its identity has completely shifted. It is no longer the symbol of the future or the Space Age. It is simply an affordable, fruit-flavored drink mix, popular in many parts of the world. The original Tang—the cultural artifact, the symbol of American ambition and technological prowess—is a forgotten food of the mind. Its story shows that sometimes what we’re nostalgic for isn’t the product itself, but the powerful idea it once represented.
