You might be showing your age if you remember some of these items on your school tuckshop menu! What was your favourite tuckshop food item? I loved to order a sausage roll with tomato sauce from the tuckshop.
If you went to school in Australia during the 60s, 70s, or 80s, you’ll remember ordering tuckshop by writing your order on a brown paper bag. You’d include your name, class, food order and total. You’d then slip the money into the brown paper bag and hand it in before school. All the kids were hopeful that the money would stay in the bag so that you got everything that you ordered. You also hoped that your calculations were correct. There’s so many memories of ordering big lunch on a Friday. Only the lucky kids got to order little lunch too, unless you snuck your pocket money to school. Then you could get extras!
From sausage rolls to buttered finger buns, the list of unhealthy items was extensive. The food was cheap and it was junk food all the way! If you were lucky enough to have loose change, you could get an ice block after lunch, like a popsicle or a sunny boy for about 10c.
The menus were updated each semester and printed on a dot matrix printer on a flimsy piece of paper. It’s very different to what you see nowadays.
These days, orders are placed online and the menus include salad kits, lasagne and sushi. Most of the old discretionary tuckshop foods don’t even make the cut on anymore. Healthier snacks are a strong feature, including vegetarian options, dairy-free options and gluten-free alternatives.
Although life has changed, ordering school tuckshop as a kid has always been a highlight for Australian children (even if the food was a little on the unhealthy side).
Tell us what you liked to order when you were at school? And were you lucky enough to get little lunch and big lunch each week?
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