When Did We All Decide That Slim Jims Were Gross

Today, we're getting the skinny on why we stopped snapping into Slim Jims. 1929. 16-year-old Adolph Levis dropped out of his Philadelphia school to help earn money for his family, and he quickly established a business supplying local delis and bars with things like condiments, cabbages, relishes, and various pickled meats. After a while, he noticed that his runaway bestseller was pepperoni. He sensed there was more money to be made. Levis brought on his brother-in-law, Joseph Cherry, as a partner, and the two hired a meat packer to bring their vision to life. That vision was of a slim, spicy stick of dried meat, which would cure much faster than ordinary pepperoni. These meat sticks could then be distributed to bars, which would store them in jars of vinegar behind the counter to keep them fresh. The product would need a new name, and Levis insisted on something that sounded mature and respectable. Somehow, that name turned out to be Slim Jim. They kept on making snack foods into the 1950s, when they started individually wrapping Slim Jims in cellophane, which made them much easier to transport and store. The change also meant Slim Jims could be sold in grocery and convenience stores. The new markets kicked the business into overdrive, and eventually drew the attention of food manufacturing giant General Mills, who bought out the company in 1967 and moved the whole operation to North Carolina. And for the next 15 years, all Slim Jims would be produced at that North Carolina plant. Slim Jims changed hands a few more times, and today they're owned by ConAgra Brands. Slim Jims were already successful, but they didn't become the must-have snack of 90s kids until professional wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage growled out the catchphrase, Yo Simon, snap into a Slim Jim, oh yeah! Of course, nothing lasts forever, and that includes the Snap into a Slim Jim campaign. Over the years, consumers had become increasingly health-conscious, and as you might have guessed, processed snack foods like Slim Jims aren't exactly what you might call healthy. Changing tastes and an increasingly competitive snack market weren't the end of Slim Jim's troubles. Remember that plant in North Carolina where all those Slim Jim products are made? Well, on June 9, 2009, it was the site of a devastating natural gas explosion. Four workers were killed, and over 70 others were injured. ConAgra ultimately made the decision to shutter the facility on May 20, 2011. Ironically enough, the same day Randy Macho Man Savage shuffled off this mortal coil and headed off that great wrestling match in the sky. So, that was a real tough day for Slim Jim fans. The brand certainly faced its share of trouble. But, in recent years, the iconic meat snack seems to be making something of a comeback. In fact, Slim Jims are arguably more popular than ever. ConAgra currently makes over a billion of them every year to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in profit. The basic process of creating a Slim Jim isn't really much different from making a sausage. In other words, part of the reason Slim Jims have had such a long shelf life is that they aren't anything more than they claim to be. A delicious spiced snack stick of various meats sent to brighten your afternoon.