There reputation, in my generation, came from grandparents cooking up stewed prunes when they needed ‘regularity’ and feeding them to whichever grandkids were around as a preventative measure. And when I say stewed, I mean falling to bits so that it’s easy to fish the pits out with a spoon.
They weren’t too bad if they were still warm, but once they got cold they didn’t seem anything but medicinal. And of course if Grandma made more than she needed, she couldn’t throw them out because that would be wasting food. So they’d be waiting in the refrigerator for whoever visited next.
I’m not crazy about standard prunes made from the dark-blue oval Italian plums, which I think are a bit insipid, but dried Angelino plums are freaking amazing.
As snowthx mentioned upthread, the fact that stewed prunes have been served in most unappetizing fashion as part of school lunches (when I was in elementary and middle school c. late 60s/early 70s - no idea about later periods in school lunch history) wouldn’t have helped their reputation. I was not a cool kid, though; I generally ate my prunes, as I didn’t mind them.
Another possible factor is that they sometimes are (or were - I haven’t had any in a long time) preserved with sulfates. Not everyone can tolerate that. I fart copiously and stinkily if I consume dried fruit preserved with sulfates. I found this out in college when my parents sent me a gift basket that included a large bag of assorted dried fruit. My dorm room was almost uninhabitable for days, until I figured out why I was suddenly so gassy. To this day I have pretty much sworn off of dried fruit other than raisins and cranberries, just in case.
That sounds like Jamie Lee Curtis and her Activia commercials.
When my friend’s daughter, who will be 24 in a few weeks, was starting solids, she offered her prunes only because her then-husband could buy them for $1 a short-dated case, because he worked for the company that packaged them. She loved them, which surprised them because, as my friend put it, “They have an awfully strong flavor.” IDK if she still likes them.
I agree that they’ve had a bad rap because of their “old people’s food” reputation, and that they aren’t the prettiest food out there. I do buy them occasionally, and not because I “have” to.
I rediscovered prunes lately, and it turns out they’re lovely (though I don’t think I’ll try stewed prunes again; just the descriptions here brought back mild emetic memories).
I think the association with crapping doesn’t help their reputation - the reverse of oysters, where their sliminess is countered by the promise of sexual prowess.
What about prune juice? I loved it when I was a kid and had no idea of its laxative properties. I haven’t had any since. In fact, I haven’t SEEN any since. Do people still buy it?