# US Dopers - 1980s - cherry pie in a can **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 27, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602 "2020-11-27T17:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/1 "2020-11-27T17:06:30Z")
In the 1980s, a friend of my family visited the USA and returned with two things for us. Amway (don’t want to talk about it), and a cherry pie in a can. This was a whole cherry pie, maybe 7 inches in diameter, sealed in a pie shaped can - similar in form factor to the Fray Bentos canned (savoury) pies we have here in the UK: [![](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/5d1f5e13-9f66-4dc5-b0d6-9e7e173384db.jpg) ](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/5d1f5e13-9f66-4dc5-b0d6-9e7e173384db.jpg) Does anyone recall this product? I don’t remember the brand, only that it was in a can this shape, with a general white and cherry-red design, maybe some gingham type print on the can. I do recall the ingredients being a horrific list of artificial stuff (I think the cherries may not have been actual fruit but instead, sort of reconstituted cherry-pulp-and-jelly spheres) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/2 "2020-11-27T19:06:40Z")
Wow. Not recognizing that at all. Cherry pie _filling_ in a can is **[bog standard](https://www.duncanhines.com/pie-filling/comstock)** stuff in the US. Cherries, sweetener goo, pectin, etc. Just dump the contents into a frozen store-bought piecrust, bake for 30 minutes, & Viola! Homemade pie! For very ersatz values of “homemade”. But a complete canned pie? I can’t recall even a close cousin of such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/3 "2020-11-27T19:15:53Z")
Nope, and I would’ve been first in line to buy something like that in the 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![JaneDoe42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janedoe42/32/14104_2.png) [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/4 "2020-11-27T19:30:42Z")
I don’t remember ever seeing something like that. I just asked mom and she doesn’t remember entire canned pies either. Both of us are from the west coast, USA. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/5 "2020-11-27T21:54:52Z")
What’s most perplexing is that I can find no trace of the thing ever existing ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/6 "2020-11-27T22:30:35Z")
Could it have been Cherry **Cobbler**? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/7 "2020-11-27T23:09:44Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Nope, and I would’ve been first in line to buy something like that in the 80’s. Yeah, me too, at least to try it. Cherry pie is my favorite. And being canned doesn’t necessarily make something less good. Hard for me to believe this was ever even slightly common in the US in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/8 "2020-11-27T23:52:13Z")
I do recall canned bread but not pie. Although I came from a pie baking family. Cherries seem to process pretty well. If you buy those 3" pies the blueberry ones are just jelly but the cherry has real fruit. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/9 "2020-11-28T00:43:02Z")
This is the first I’ve ever heard of Fray Bentos. Think I’ll order some online. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/10 "2020-11-28T01:05:33Z")
I’m curious how the crust stays even remotely crust-like. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/11 "2020-11-28T01:24:37Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I’m curious how the crust stays even remotely crust-like. - Based on the OP’s latest video, it sorta doesn’t. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DpFblhM-a7Q/maxresdefault.jpg "Cheese & Onion Pie - Weird Stuff In A Can #147") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpFblhM-a7Q) ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/12 "2020-11-28T01:30:31Z")
Ah I was assuming some sort of wonders-of-chemistry ready-to-eat situation. My bad for not viewing before posting. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/13 "2020-11-28T22:42:11Z")
Thanks - yeah, it was handling and opening this can that brought back the memory of the cherry pie - and I idly hoped that I might be able to get hold of one for the series (but alas, it’s almost like it never existed and I imagined it, but I’m sure it was real) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/14 "2020-11-29T09:03:42Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Could it have been Cherry **Cobbler**? It said cherry pie and the picture on there was a pie with a slice out of it. I think it might actually have been a full pie with a bottom crust, maybe canned after baking and preserved by some other method than the normal cook-inside-the-can method ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/15 "2020-11-29T14:12:12Z")
I know there are _frozen_ cherry pies, but I’ve never heard of one that’s canned. 🤔 [https://saraleedesserts.com/products/cherry-pie/](https://saraleedesserts.com/products/cherry-pie/) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/16 "2020-11-29T14:34:31Z")
I might be misremembering, but I feel like the top lid of the can was printed with a very similar design to that. I wonder if it was a Sara Lee product… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/17 "2020-11-29T14:46:38Z")
FWIW Sara Lee’s logos have changed very little since the 1980s, so that may help you. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/18 "2020-11-29T16:30:33Z")
Americans just aren’t used to eating things like pies from cans. I’m wondering if this wasn’t something Sara Lee (or another company) produced specially for foreign markets. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/19 "2020-11-29T16:54:40Z")
Or it could be something that was test-marketed for a short time and proved a failure - and the OP’s friend just happened to be visiting the States at the time and snagged a few. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602/20 "2020-11-29T18:23:29Z")
Same here. I’ve been known to eat cherry pie filling straight from the can so this would have been right up my alley. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-1980s-cherry-pie-in-a-can/926602.md?page=2)