Image: ABoxofBroken8Tracks / YouTube

When it comes down to it, you can essentially divide Americans into two age groups — those who cut their tongue licking the metal lids of their Hunt's Snack Pack, and those who grew up with safe, plastic pudding. 

The Hunt's Snack Pack is perhaps the most nostalgic food item in pop culture. No treat seems to trigger an emotional reaction like those little cups of creamy goodness. A stash of metal Snack Packs made an appearance in the Netflix sensation Stranger Things, a series set in the early 1980s. The scene prompted thousands of fans to call up Hunt's and demand a return of the retro aluminum packaging. Believe it or not, ConAgra Foods, the current parent company of the pudding cups, suggested that the throwback Snack Packs could return to shelves in the near future.

There's likely one thing holding up the return — those things were rather dangerous. The lid was like a blade.

Hunt's Snack Pack is nearly half-a-century old, having made its debut in 1968 after Hunt-Wesson developed a shelf-stable milk pudding. The product launched with a mascot, a horse named Snack Pack. Yes, that was a pretty great name for a pony. Snack Pack (the horse) was seemingly related to Mister Ed, as he talked to children with a similar voice. (Actually, he sounded a bit like Yogi Bear.)

"Slowly now," Snack Pack cautiously neighs. "Keep your finger in the ring," he warns. "Don't play with it or lick it or keep it in your hand."

Clearly, the lid was a hazard, as the ads treated the thing like a ninja's throwing star. A few years later, Hunt's modified the packaging, tauting "Child Safe Life." Alas, Snack Pack the Horse was gone, too.

Let's take a quick look at the history of this beloved lunch-box staple.