Terrible news - Spaghetti-O's creator dies at 83

There is not enough gold in Fort Knox that would get me to eat a can of Spaghetti-O's these days, but man did I love them as a little kid. One of my favorite lunches was a bowl of hot Spaghetti-O's and a Liverwurst sandwich. Preferably served during an episode of Captain Kangaroo!

DELRAN, N.J. - The Campbell Soup Co. executive who was behind the enduring brands SpaghettiOs and Chunky Soup has died.

Donald Goerke was 83. A Campbell spokesman confirmed that Goerke died of heart failure Sunday at his home in Delran in southern New Jersey.

Goerke was marketing research director of Campbell's Franco-American line in the early 1960s when his group started dreaming up pasta in shapes that would appeal to kids. He chose the o's. They were marketed with the unforgettable tagline, "Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs."

Later, he helped introduce Chunky Soup, a hearty ready-to-serve soup that stood out from the company's traditional line of condensed soups.

The Waukesha, Wis., native worked for Camden-based Campbell for 35 years, retiring in 1990.

[color=#BF4040]There is not enough gold in Fort Knox that would get me to eat a can of Spaghetti-O's these days, but man did I love them as a little kid.

I didn't even like them as a kid! To this day I can't stand the smell of them.

Sad news, indeed, Dave. I also loved all those kid foods then. Chef Boy-ar-dee, anyone?

I LOVED Spaghetti-Os too! Much to my family's disgust (we are Italian, and had the most delicious pasta dishes prepared for us several times a week). When I would have it at my friends' homes, it was like a treat for me. To this day, I would still probably eat some if offered. So now you know the real Maria...loves Big Macs and Spaghetti-Os (oh and Taco Bell, Hot Dogs, Spam, and really greasy diner food)!! LOL! Please still be my friend .

Funny Maria, my great love as a kid and young adult was IXL Tamale Pie. Oh, how I loved that and I would love to have a whole can of it right now. It was taken off the market when I was in my 30's I believe and I have missed it ever since. It tasted nothing like my mom's but I love it still. I still like Campbell's chicken with rice soup, although I swear those soups do not taste as good as they used to. I think there was another icky pasta that I liked from a can and I believe it had chunks of hot dog in it.

[Jenise]

There's plenty of unsnobby food I loved as a kid (canned tamales--YUM), and the Chef was in the house for my kid brother and sister, but I never did fall under the spell of spaghetti-O's.

I went through a Spaghett-O's phase when I was a kid. Ate them for lunch all one summer and loved them, but that was pretty much the end of it. My taste for Chunky Soup lasted a bit longer but I haven't had that in probably thirty years.

Oh, and Dave - I mentioned to my wife that the inventor of Spaghetti-O's died and that he was from Waukesha. Her reply was, "I guess that makes sense".

I don't recall if I ever loved them as a kid, but my mother almost certainly did. I was a complete PITA for school lunches, as I detested sandwiches (couldn't take -- and still can't -- the spongy "sandwich" bread of the mid-'60s) and hot dogs, and my elementary school didn't have a cafeteria. My poor, suffering mother got a small Thermos container to put hot things like Spaghetti-Os in as I would eat them. (She recently reminded me of a conversation we had when I was 6: Mom -- What foods would you eat in your lunch? Me -- Shrimp cocktail!) She's now getting her revenge, though, as our son Andrew is a very finicky eater, especially of lunches (deja vu). Jean recently got him a hamburger at Wendy's and he burst into hysterics because it was a cheeseburger!! Oh, the humanity!

Mark Lipton

Don't believe I ever forked - or spooned - or whatever the hell one does with them, a Spaghetti-O.

All I can say is "Uh Oh!"

Had the Ohs. So-so. Was more of a Boy-ar-dee fan. Slightly spicier. (Plus I loved the fact that an Italian (Boiardi) had to phoneticize his name so insular Murkans could understand it. )

Did like the Chunky Soups for a while, I'll admit. Haven't had those (or any of the other mentioned items, for that matter) for so many years I can't remember. But then, I can't remember a lot of things anymore. Except the things I'd like not to remember. Those, I remember.

I was already too old to like them when they came along.

I just remember my brother, fours years my senior, eating them cold right out of the can in high school or college. After seeing that, I don't recall even trying them.