Unexpected item in bagging area

We are what we buy

In the 40s it was all corned beef, linoleum and vacuum cleaners, in the 50s and 60s it was the washing machine and fish fingers, and the 70s were all about Smash.

For over 70 years the Office for National Statistics¹ has been using a typical 'basket of goods and services’ to measure inflation. Each year it updates the basket, dropping some items and adding others, to make sure it reflects what we’re typically buying.

In 70 years we’ve gone from gramophone records, cod liver oil and iron bedsteads to Netflix, condoms and air fryers.

This year its cushions, exercise mats and overnight hotel accommodation. I feel seen.

This intriguing insight into changing lifestyles over the years makes me wonder, how did the basket fare in the 80s and 90s, and what does it tell us about how we lived then?

Well among the microwaves and video rental services are some unexpected items in bagging area - let’s take a look.

The duvet

I’m ashamed to say I’ve never given much thought to life before the duvet, I’d assumed it was always there, with the cavemen. But of course, people were having to tuck themselves into layers of sheets, blankets and bedspreads before this. It’s not just something they do in hotels.

The ‘continental quilt’ started to become a thing in the 70s after Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran found himself under one in bed with a girl in Sweden. A few years later he was selling them as duvets on the King’s Road where they were marketed as the ’10-second bed’ because they were so easy to make. Gone was the need for hospital corners and scratchy blankets and in came this thick, warm, easy-breezy cover.

The duvet entered the ONS basked in 1980 and there’s something so 80s about it, now I think about it. It’s big, bouncy and convenient. The soft furnishing equivalent of 80s hair. It makes me think of Jackie Collins bonkbusters, Nescafe Gold Blend and Fruit n Nut. In short, it’s very Rivals. 10/10 for 80s-ness.

Muesli

I accidentally overheard a bit of EastEnders last week where a character was discussing the Full English he’d cooked himself, which further confirmed my opinion that EastEnders is actually now a period drama. Who in 2025 actually cooks themselves a full English breakfast? Apart from the health issue, who has the time?!

Muesli - a word I can never seem to spell – is where it’s at. Where would the 80s be without this rabbity, heath-conscious breakfast?

Muesli is said to have been developed by Swiss physician, Maximilian Bircher-Benner, who began to experiment with raw food as a cure for illness. He concluded that his own recovery from jaundice was proof of the health benefits of raw apple, nuts and oats mixed with water, lemon juice and condensed milk.

The first mass produced muesli was exported to the UK in 1960, but the 80s obsession with health and fitness no doubt explains the inclusion of it in the 1987 ONS basket. Muesli was the perfect light accompaniment to Callanetics, Jane Fonda and the Green Goddess on Breakfast Time.

Fromage frais

Yes, what exactly is fromage frais, apart from being incredibly 90s? Fromage frais entered the ONS basket in 1993 and is still there. At the time it was marketed as a healthier alternative to cream and full-fat yogurt - high in protein, low in fat.

At this point we were at the height of regular things becoming more desirable if they sounded French. Hence crème fraiche, crème cheese, fromage blanc etc. Even Germany leant into European dairy chic with its Muller Corners, whose separate corner of toppings made yoghurt seem fun and indulgent rather than just runny breakfast goo. But it wasn’t just dairy - water had already become deeply aspirational rather than something from the tap thanks to brands like Perrier and Volvic. A mini bottle of Evian was the accessory to be seen with at my school in the early 90s.

Fromage frais also feels very The Naked Chef. I can totally see Jamie and Nigella slopping it about, whereas Delia seems like a solid gold top milk kind of woman to me.

What about the things that were removed from the basket?

These are as telling as those that have gone in - brie was taken out in 1987, salad cream fell out of favour by 2001 to be replaced by mayonnaise, and last year hand sanitiser was removed - no surprise there.

But what about the comeback kids? Frozen prawns dropped out in 1992², only to return 10 years later - nothing will ever kill off the mighty prawn cocktail.

Thanks for reading! Please give it a heart if you liked it. This is the last weekly post for a while – I’m going monthly as I revisit my memoir. I won’t know what’s Substackable until I’ve done some big batches of it, so I’ll be quiet for a while (will miss you!).

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/whatsinthebasketofgoods70yearsofshoppinghistory/2016-07-21

2. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/15/inflation-basket-of-goods-changing-uk-lifestyles