4 Totally Random—But Totally Great—Products Turning 50 in 2026

This year marks the anniversary of plenty of products that we still use today, even though you might be surprised to find out they’ve been around for a while—nearly 50 years to be exact. Sure, some of them may be showing their age, but there are others that we can’t imagine our life without and are still as useful as they were when they were first released in 1976, if not more.

So grab a Big Gulp and check out these products that are marking 50 years in 2026.

1. Apple Computers
2. Big Gulp
3. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
4. Whac-a-Mole

Apple Computers

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers in the 1970s, working out of Jobs’s garage in Los Altos, California, with the fledgling new company releasing its first computer in 1976. The Apple 1 was a desktop computer with a pre-assembled single motherboard, which was a novelty at the time. Only a year after its release, Jobs and Wozniak followed up with the Apple II, which included slots for users to expand their computer with floppy disk drives and other components.

Since then, the design of Apple computer desktops has changed dramatically, including the first iMacs in 1997 that came in a variety of colors. But regardless of the changes and development over the years, you can still buy an Apple computer for your desktop today, 50 years after its first release.

Big Gulp

7-Eleven may be best known for two things you can get in a cup: a Slurpee or a Big Gulp. The iconic Big Gulp showed up in 7-Eleven stores on the West Coast as part of a marketing push by the convenience store and Coca-Cola back when the standard sizes for drinks were a 16-ounce version of the iconic soft drink.

It took a few years before the Big Gulp made it to stores across the country in 1979, followed by a Super Big Gulp—the 46-ounce version of the iconic cup—hitting shelves in 1981.

You also might be surprised to know the Big Gulp is actually younger than the Slurpee. The frozen treat made its debut in 1966, which means it’s celebrating its own milestone this year when it turns 60 years old.

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans

While the Jelly Belly Candy Company (formerly known as the Herman Goelitz Candy Co. or the Goelitz Confectionery Co.) was founded in 1869, it wasn’t until 1976 that the Jelly Belly jelly beans were created.

There are regular jelly beans, and then there is Jelly Belly, which comes in a wide variety of unique flavors like buttered popcorn, watermelon, and juicy pear. David Klein’s vision for these gourmet jelly beans began nearly 50 years ago when the candy company in the Bay Area produced his first batch of beans.

One of Jelly Belly’s most famous fans was Ronald Reagan, who ordered 7,000 pounds of red, white, and blue Jelly Bellys from the Goelitz candy company to have on hand at the White House for his inauguration in 1981.

Whac-a-Mole

Seeing a Whac-a-Mole game at an arcade or local pizza restaurant can bring back waves of nostalgia, which is partially because the game has been around for nearly 50 years now. The original game was named Mole Killer when it was released in Japan in 1975, before jumping over to North America a year later.

The engaging game featuring mallets and moles popping up from a game board showed up at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) in North America in 1976 and was refined by a Florida-based arcade company before taking a big whack at arcades a year later.

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