Fish dinner with a side of history

We dined with my parents a couple weeks ago and had fish, a not particularly regular occurrence. Usually if we do, it's salmon, but this was breaded fish so Dad brought out the tartar sauce to complement the meal.

Aside: I used to love tartar sauce, but I think it lost its appeal when I realized it was made of mayo and relish, two things I used to despise. Mayo is cool now. Relish: no.

At any rate, when Dad set the tartar sauce bottle on the table, there was something...familiar about it. The brand? The label? And how could it look familiar, anyway, we haven't had tartar sauce in years!

Exactly.

An examination of the bottle found this on the label:

BEST IF SOLD BY NOV 1997

Of course it was familiar. I still lived at home then and this was the same tartar sauce. 40 million Americans have been born since this tartar sauce was sold.

The fish was delicious. Without sauce.