Business
10 Candies That You Forgot Still Exist! Part 2
Just when you thought that we’d shown you all the candy you wouldn’t have believed was still around from the days of your youth, we’re back with part two of our forgotten candy series, and you won’t believe what candies we found out are still available. So don’t put that hover board away just yet McFly, because we’ve got one more trip back in time, and you’ll be pleased at all the great candies from your youth you can still get your mitts on.
10. Big League Chew
When you were a kid, perhaps the baseball pitchers of the era were your heroes. Names like Jack Morris, Nolan Ryan, Dwight Gooden, Rob Nelson, Roger Clemens and many more come to mind. And perhaps it wasn’t just the way they got the old baseball from hand to mitt that got you interested and watching their every move. Maybe it was the way they stood at the mound, the way they carried themselves, and of course, the way they chewed tobacco. It’s true, baseball players back in the day chewed tobacco and they were pretty famous for doing so, or rather we should say infamous, as over the years, the practice has rather fallen out of favor. But regardless, back when you were a little kid, even the chewing of the tobacco was something you wanted to emulate, but there was no way your parents would let you chew authentic tobacco, now was there? Hardly. But there was a solution, and apparently there still is, should you want to hit the field in your suit and tie at lunch and throw a bunch of fast balls at the diamond in the park by your office. Big League Chew was actually invented by a ball player: Portland Mavericks pitcher, Rob Nelson to be exact. He and Jim Bouton pitched the idea to Wrigley and well, it was a home run almost instantly, many seeming to want to emulate the tobacco chewing baseball players of the seventies and early eighties.
9. Bit-O-Honey
This one here goes all the way back to 1924 and many have enjoyed its simplicity since then. It was actually pretty low in saturated fats and wasn’t the worst candy for you, despite its overall sweetness. Of course back in the day, people weren’t all that worried about overall fat grams and calorie counts—not like today that is. But the taste won out overall, and it was due to the all-natural sweetener known as honey. These days, it’s stressed that we support our local honey distributors, as bees are sadly becoming quite the endangered species and the possible consequences of that are actually quite detrimental to our planet as a whole, as bees pollinate our earth and their existence is crucial, no matter how many times they give us a bad sting or two along the way. But products like this in the market place are a great way to ensure their longevity, and we hope for resurgence in sales for this brand in particular, as it is still available to purchase. There are other great brands of course, particularly honey, on its own is a great treat, and a great alternate topping for your stack of pancakes. Also in this candy were bits of almonds thrown into the honey/taffy mix, and those flavors blended quite nicely. Over the long years since its inception, the candy has gone from the larger bar format to individually wrapped bite-size pieces. It has been owned by many companies over the long years, but these days, Pearson’s Candy Company is their fabricator and distributor, so go out and find them and chew away as you watch some honeybees do their thing in the park. Just don’t get too close.
8. Sixlets
These days, candy coated chocolates are pretty much big business I n the world of snacks and candy. But overall, the big winners here are undoubtedly, M&Ms and of course Smarties in the UK and Canada. But before their massive success, there were other similar brands on the market and this brand in particular was quite popular as well. Sixlets were created in 1960, which doesn’t make them as old as some other brand names in the field of bringing candy-covered chocolates to the masses, but it does bring them in at a peak time when candies and chocolate had a great presence in popular culture and in society as a whole. Of course chocolate and candy were always pretty big crowd pleasers, but perhaps not to that large degree as they were in the mid to late portion of the 20th century and of course today. They were first brought to the market by Leaf Foods and their name was always a source of question, but many believe that the name came from the way they were dispensed to early consumers … six for a penny. These days, and as of 2003, SweetWorks Confections LLC makes and distributes this brand of candy and believe it or not, the very first “six pack” was introduced in 2017. But we highly doubt that they’ll be available for purchase for a penny!
7. Boston Baked Beans
And when it comes to candy coated treats, it hasn’t always been chocolate at the center of all that sweet candy coating. Of course not, as nuts were in fact available in the very same format, and actually still are. Of course The Ferrero Group who have the rights and own Boston Baked Beans aren’t the only ones to have thought of putting candy to nut over the long years since these types of treats have been in existence, as many small mom and pop places actually do this themselves as well, and in many flavor combinations, some even going the savory route and those too are quite delicious. But as far as the sweet treats available at your local corner store, Ferrerro seems to pretty much dominate the field, as they have their well-knowledged sweet-making hands in quite a few of the products you’re likely to see. The Ferrero group started out as the Ferrara Family and they were bakers. Their first candied treat was in the form of candied almond, and to them, as well as many other Italians, it was known as “Confetti.” These are actually quite the popular party favor handed out to guests at Italian weddings. All in all the history of this company is enough to fill volumes and volumes of text, and we can’t go into it here, but along the way, they created some of the most impactful candied treats and chocolates the world has ever seen. The company changed hands a few times and their products have seen many different packaging, but at the end of the day, all you need to know is that you can still find these Boston Baked Beans (among so many other products), and all in all, that’s good thing, now isn’t it?
6. The Bun Bar
Whoa! Now there’s a name from your childhood if ever there was one, eh? The Bun Bar was first introduced in the 1920s. They eventually developed three distinct flavors which included Vanilla, maple and of course caramel. What’s interesting about these is that they aren’t bars at all, but are actually spherical and are shaped like cookies for all intents and purposes. They’re topped with nuts and have been a favored treat for many consumers for the long years they’ve existed. What’s interesting about these treats here and so many others on this list is that they seem to disappear from the public eye, despite still being available to one and all, making the average consumer to think that they’ve fallen off the face of the planet. But alas, they haven’t and are quite readily available if you happen to have a craving for one of these good old boys. In 2015 the caramel flavor was changed to “sea salt caramel,” which has been a trend in treats as of late.
5. Turkish Taffy
This tasty treat was actually first created by Herman Herer in 1912, which makes this particular candy treat over 100 years old! Now that’s a long tenure indeed. After creating the candy, Mr. Herer sold the rights to Schwarz & Sons of New Jersey and ultimately, the rights were sold to Victor Bonomo in 1936. He was the owner of the Bonomo Company, located on Coney Island and he had been making and selling salt water taffy and hard candy since 1897. Although Turkish Taffy wasn’t really salt water, as it consisted of nougat primarily, it still adopted the name because of what the Bonomo Company already sold to the masses in the area. What’s interesting here is the etymology of the name, as it comes from Herman Herer’s lineage. He was actually of Jewish/Turkish descent, so hence the name … Turkish Taffy. Over the years, the way this was sold has changed and drastically so. Back in the early days, it was actually sheeted, and broken off piece by piece with a hammer, thus sold by the pound to clients that passed by the shop. But it later was individually wrapped, yet the sheet style was still used, only in bite-size pieces for the clientele to enjoy. It is unbelievable that this candy is still available, but over the long years it has developed into an institution all its own, and no matter how small, a piece of history it still remains. Bonomo is still the owner, and this treat is available in an astonishing 6 different flavors, which now include: Wild Cherry, Banana and of course Vanilla.
4. Now and Later
Who knew that you’d be enjoying this brand long after the “now” of your youth? Please excuse our temporary lapse into the world of comedy there, but we couldn’t help the play on words as it was pretty obvious and who doesn’t like an obvious joke every now and again? Anyways … here is yet another brand of candy that is offered by the Ferrera Company, and although there isn’t an ounce of chocolate in sight, that didn’t stop this candy from getting quite popular since its inception in 1962. It was developed in Brooklyn, New York by the Phoenix Candy Company. The name comes from the simple concept that the consumer would “like some of the candy now and want some more of it later.” Quite a basis for a name, now isn’t it? It just makes sense, like Lays Potato Chips challenge its consumers stating: “Bet ya can’t eat just one.” Of course these days they aren’t as popular and you may have forgotten that they do exists still, and that’s only because Starburst Candies have saturated the market and they are quite similar in theme and in their physical form, but for those of you who definitely taste a difference should be happy to know that these are still out there, and you could always go for some now, or heck … maybe even later.
3. Albert’s Fruit Chews
Probably, as we look back at all this candy, the thing that astonishes us more is not the fact that a lot of these brands are still around, but maybe it’s at how much the prices for this stuff has gradually changed over the years. And perhaps it’s this fact hat also has us fondly remembering the days of our youth that have dwindled like the wind. Back in the day, these candies were available for a penny a piece, and who couldn’t afford to lose a penny or two every now and again. Besides, they always turned up on the sidewalk every now and again, shining in the bright midday sun, they were always easy to spot, and from a mile away at times. There was nothing particularly special about Albert’s Fruit Chews, and they were like a lot of other brands back then, yet they too were quite popular and yes, they too can still be found, only you can’t nab them for a penny apiece anymore. But as you walk away from the corner store with a few of these in your purse or your pocket, maybe they too will transport you to simpler times.
2. Necco Wafers
This candy has quite the storied past, and although it currently doesn’t exist any longer, have no fear, because it’s coming back, and sooner than you think. Not all were fans of this particular candy, and we can more than understand why. Essentially these looked like some form of medication, the name stamped or rather imprinted into the candies themselves. They weren’t at all flashy or had anything special to offer except for their taste, which was pretty interesting to say the least. Still, there are many that could have taken or parted with this brand, but it did have its fans, as can be proven by the 17.3 million dollars that Round Hill Investments paid to buy the rights in 2018. Plans to re-launch the candy then fell through, however, but The Sprangler Candy Company purchased the rights to that company and have announced that a brand new batch of these will be hitting stores as early as November of this year. Now that’s great news to anyone who was ever a fan of these. These candies were simply made with a base of sugar, gelatin and corn syrup, with a bit of coloring thrown in. Flavors consisted of: Lemon, orange, chocolate, but most peculiar were cinnamon, clove and wintergreen. Now we’re as excited to see these candies in stores again as much as the next person, but please, can anyone tell us what wintergreen tastes like?
1. 100 Grand Bar
“What if I told you I could slap 100 Grand into the palm of your hand as if it was nothing at all? Would you believe me?” A common joke made back in the day, and although it wasn’t 100 Grand in bills that exchanged hands in those days, the recipient was just as happy to receive a candy bar instead. Or maybe for the most part that was. It saw the light back in 1964 and the name carried it to some decent level of popularity, but many have criticized its overall taste, which can definitely attest for its lack of popularity in the current market. The candy bar contained and still contains, chocolate, caramel and crisped rice pieces. But it is still available for those of you that were fans of this particular brand. But for those of you that are planning to look for a bar or two, be prepared to hit the treadmill, as it definitely packs a high caloric punch … a whopping 201 calories per bar. It’s actually this that led to the name, the slogan being “That’s Rich,” alluding to the high caloric content. (See, we’re not the only ones who play with words.) And you may be surprised to know who currently makes, packages and sells this particular candy bar. If you guessed Ferrero, you get a hundred Grand … in the form of a candy bar that is.