I Was Always a Hydrox Girl

By Meredith Brody

Mass-market cookies were never a big deal in my life, but in the Hydrox-Oreo question, Hydrox was always the one. Not because it was more venerable (Sunshine Biscuits debuted it in 1908, and National Biscuit’s Oreo came along in 1912), or because its chocolate cookie held up better in milk (I’ve never been a dunker). Without consciously thinking about it, I preferred its less-sweet, less-chalky creamy filling.

The disappearance of Hydrox from grocers’ shelves in 1999 resulted from industry-wide consolidation. It followed the purchase of Sunshine Biscuits in 1996 by Keebler, who replaced it with a similar product named Droxies, removed from shelves in 2003 by Kellogg’s, who purchased Keebler’s in 2001. Whew.

Without sitting shiva, I did bemoan the treat’s passing: a few Hydrox and a glass of milk were not only an affordable treat but an instant excursion into nostalgia for the now-vanished after-school pick-me-up. (Was that why they named it after hydrogen and oxygen?) Others were more vocal, phoning Kellogg’s by the thousands and instituting an online petition to reinstate their favorite confection.

Whether by their efforts, or more cynically, because re-introducing an old brand costs less than launching a new one, Hydrox cookies are hitting stores again at this very moment. I remember red-and-white packaging, but the new Hydrox (at least partially re-formulated, with no trans-fats) are coming out in a very Oreo-like blue wrapping. As of last night, they hadn’t hit my local Safeway’s shelves. I valiantly managed to resist the lure of Orange Milanos, whose disappearance would change my snack life more than Hydrox’s had. But I plan, as so many of us do, to check back soon for the new old thing.

And start your engines: Hydrox is available for “a limited time only,” so if you want them to stick around, buy them like they’re going out of style. So that they don’t.