I remember Hydrox. They had a more dark chocolate flavor, but their failing as far as I was concerned was that they skimped on the filling. It was about half that of Oreos.
I was raised Jewish which meant I was supplied with Hydrox as a kid. The reason is that until the 90’s the Oreo filling was made with lard. That complicated keeping relatively kosher. To me, Oreos have a bad processed junk-food taste/texture/something that Hyrdrox never did. But that’s likely just because I was brought up on one and not the other.
That’s because Sunshine was the manufacturer of Hydrox.
Weird, so they were made in my neck of the woods. How is it that I don’t ever recall seeing or hearing of Hydrox cookies? I grew up in Chicago in the late 70s/80s (and have spent most my life here.)
I was going to add something on this too: it was a big hoop-dee-do in some circles when Oreos got Kosher certification.
What did they eliminate? (Besides essence-of-pig-elbow that made all the difference?)
Unless I’m misunderstanding your question, isn’t it the lard?
Hydrox is the chocolate creme filled cookie of the devil!!!
I’m an… um… oreo fan. I never buy it because a box will be devoured in one night in my proximity.
I used to work with a girl who was very diet concious. She once said how amazed she was that people would eat more than one of those at a time. She was aghast when I told her that in my house once that package is opened it’s Game Over, pass the milk, we’re killin’ the box.
I was a Hydrox eater. Oreos cookies were too sweet, and the filling wasn’t as good.
Since Hydrox was first, I’m not sure why they faltered. Maybe Nabisco was better at carpet bombing advertisements. I don’t think Sunshine dominates with any of their lines, so that kind of indicates that they were too cheap to hire a good marketing team.
The Wiki article mentions this explanation. It’s the most lame and over-reaching statement that I’ve heard in a long time. I think a sixth grader concocted it. I notice the cite is from About.com, which is about as prestigious as Yahoo Answers. Still, Oreos have been a decent contributor to Nabiscos bottom line from early on, it’s surprising that nobody knows where the name came from. I like the Wizard of Oz theory best, even though it is chronologically impossible.
Hydrox were kosher back when Oreos were not, so that’s what I grew up with. Oreos re-formulated in the 90s and became kosher, so I always wondered if those few sales losses were enough to do in Hydrox.
Sunshine manufactures Cheez-its, which at least come close to dominating in the cheese-flavored cracker line. And their marketing department’s not bad…they did come up with the “immature cheese” ads, which are funny. I just don’t think they really pushed Hydrox all that much…it seemed to be basically a legacy line that had steady if not amazing sales for decades. As someone mentioned above, Oreo went kosher in the early 90s and suddenly Hydrox was dead. Correlation or causation?
When I was a kid, Hydrox was a brand of soda pop. I didn’t know about the cookies until later, and never could disassociate the name.
Even though I knew intellectually that they were two different things, cookies with the same name as soda pop weirded me out just enough to make sure I always stayed away from them.
I’m guessing you don’t eat Dove chocolate either, then?
Why would anyone want to eat soap? 
I never got the dipping cookies in milk thing. But then I never really liked milk, other than on cereal. I guess it works the same, but somehow it seems different in my head.
I’m fond of the Golden Oreos. I like vanilla cookie.
It used to be we could only get Hydrox when we were vacationing on the Outer Banks; Oreos weren’t carried by the area’s sole local mom ‘n’ pop grocery store. I ate a few Hydrox back in the day but never particularly craved them; I like Oreos very much and don’t miss Hydrox in the least.
I forgot about Cheez-its. They were one of my favorite snacks before they became too expensive. I’ve since switched to a generic brand that I believe is produced in the same factory. And yes, the current ads are pretty good, but one campaign in a hundred and ten years is insufficient proof for me. Particularly since they were bought by Keebler Company in 1996 and Kellogg in 2000. Kellogg knows how to sell product.
Sunshine____________Nabisco
Hydrox______________Oreo (winner)
Hi-Ho_______________Ritz (best selling cracker in the US)
Krispy______________ Premium (winner)
Cheezits (winner)_____Tid-Bits (I thought Goldfish outsold both but apparently I’m wrong)
The White Cheddar Cheez-Its are like crack to me. Love 'em!
That’s a shame. My cousin who is allergic to milk could eat Hydrox as a kid, but not Oreos.
Never heard of Tid-bits. Nabisco makes Cheese Nips.
Turns out Nabisco used to make Tid-bits, but stopped making them in 2002.
Nabisco also makes Better Cheddars. They’re better.
Since the question in the OP has been answered, let’s move this over to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator