Remember the Frito Kid?
From 1967 to 1971, Fritos were represented by the much maligned, but well-remembered Frito Bandito. That caricature became so etched into our minds that we almost forget that from 1952-1967, Fritos had a much more acceptable mascot, the Frito Kid. He was around well before my time, but when reading older publications I would stumble upon advertisements featuring this wonderful spokescharacter.
He was so popular, he even made an appearance at Disneyland at the now defunct Casa de Fritos, which was a Mexican restaurant that was located in Frontierland. The Frito Kid mad an appearance and automated statue/vending machine. You put a nickel in the machine and got a delicious bag of Frito corn chips. I was very happy that the Frito Bandito was not given this job. He even appeared on menus.
“the Frito Kid at the Casa de Fritos *did* in fact talk. I don’t know if he was animatronic at all, but you can still find the audio track online. The Kid would order the bags of Fritos (“Another bag of Fritos, please!”) and someone named Klondike would send them down from the mine. Great stuff, though bizarre. I just want a time machine so I can go back and get Fritos for a nickel and Frito chili pie for .55!”
Great stuff, and here is one of his classic commercial appearances from the late 1950s.
The Frito Kid – Gone, but not forgotten…
