The Vintage Campbell's Canned Fruit Soup Boomers Might Remember

During the late 1950s, Campbell's wanted to follow up their prior successes with an innovation they were sure would appeal to their homemaker audience: fruit soup. Why not? Their canned condensed soups had revolutionized the kitchen. Shelf-stable food could be nutritious and taste good enough to serve to the family. If consumers loved their tomato and chicken noodle soups, why couldn't they love something on the sweet side? Thus, the Black Cherry with Burgundy Fruit Soup was born.

Campbell's advertised the fruit soup as an ultra-versatile secret weapon. It could be poured over cottage cheese, ice cream, or even meat as a sauce. It was a perfect addition to the Jell-O salads popular at the time. And it could be incorporated into desserts like chiffon pie. Not to mention its value as a standalone dish; Campbell's claimed a bowl of the stuff, hot or cold, in some fine dishware was about as classy and nutritious as it could get. Consumers were not convinced, and despite the popularity of Campbell's soups, there was just not enough interest in the new product. Soon, Black Cherry with Burgundy Fruit Soup was a thing of the past, and any households that loved the stuff were soon left wanting.

Black cherry wasn't alone in Campbell's fruit soup rollout; two other varieties were introduced alongside it. One was prune soup, which also had pieces of apricot and orange. A 1959 ad for the fruit soups describes the prune option as "healthful," and therefore "something that men like." The other type was orange soup, which featured a clear broth with pieces of oranges, apricots, and white grapes.

Alas, none of Campbell's fruit soups were popular enough to remain on the market. And you aren't likely to find a long-lost can of the stuff; even empty Campbell's fruit soup cans are rare enough to fetch a hefty price online. So, unless Campbell's brings its fruit soups back after all these years, they live on only in the memories of the Baby Boomer generation. But that doesn't mean you can't make your own fruit soup at home. In fact, fruity soups are a thing throughout the world, from Eastern Europe to China. For that cherry flavor, try Hideg meggyleves, a Hungarian sour cherry soup.