Y is for Yoo-hoo

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Y is for Yoo-hoo, next in the 90sNibbles series! I always got that high-pitched “Yoo-hoo” stuck in my head days after seeing the commercial. The Yoo-hoo was a cultural icon in my childhood. I always thought the beverage was a little bit suspect. “Chocolate drink” seemed a little shady. Have you ever seen a fully separated Yoo-hoo? It’s all powder at the bottom and water at the top. “Shake it! It’s great!” really means “Shake it! It’s necessary!”

Yoo-Hoo was actually invented way back in the 1920s by a man named Natale Olivieri in Garfield, New Jersey. His dream was to create a chocolate soft drink that would not spoil nor require refrigeration. So there’s my explanation for its shadiness. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, it gained a lot of popularity, advertised as the “drink of champions” by major league ballplayers. Yoo-hoo tried other flavors in the 70s, including Strawberry, Banana, and Double Fudge. None were as popular as the original Chocolate flavor.