Some classic candies have waned in popularity so much that they eventually ceased to exist.
But then there are those that have faded in popularity but still continued to be produced,
though they can be a bit hard to find. You may not see the following candies very often,
but they're still out there.
Bit-O-Honey might bring back fond childhood memories of grandparents pulling a piece of
candy out of their pockets to share with you and your siblings and your cousins.
That's partly attributable to the candy's nearly 100-year history. This honey-flavored taffy
with little pieces of almond embedded inside was first introduced in 1924
by the Schutter-Johnson Company. Bit-O-Honey bars featured six different individual pieces of candy,
each wrapped in wax paper, which made them easy to share. Over time, the brand started
making smaller, individually wrapped pieces that were similar to other wrapped taffies.
Over the years, Bit-O-Honey's parent company has changed hands several times,
and these days it's made by the Pearson Company. You're not very
likely to find these bee-emblazoned candies in the average supermarket or drugstore nowadays,
but Amazon sells big, 44-ounce bags if you've got a hankering for the old-time treat.
Candy cigarettes were first introduced as a way to give kids an opportunity to mimic
their parents' smoking habits. One brand of candy cigarettes was even advertised with
the slogan "Just like daddy!" Different brands provided different types of candy.
Some were chocolate sticks, others were chalky white sugar sticks,
and still others were paper-wrapped bubblegum that you could blow on and be rewarded with a
puff in the form of gum-dust "smoke." The brands producing the fake cigarettes even used the names
and logos of popular cigarette companies, much to the delight of the tobacco industry.
This not-so-subtle advertising paid off. A 2007 study performed by researchers at the University
of Rochester found that people who consumed candy cigarettes as children were much more likely to
smoke as adults. In the 80s, when the government began cracking down on tobacco advertising,
especially ads aimed at children, candy cigarettes became much more difficult to find.
You can still track them down, though they're typically referred
to by the less-controversial moniker "candy sticks." Online retailers are your best bet,
like Retro Candy Online, where you can find Lucky Lights candy.
"I'm 21 years old. I'm a man."
Bottle Caps look a lot like the original SweeTarts and Spree, but their more distinct cap-molded
shape and cola-flavored taste sets them apart from these other tart favorites. Furthermore,
Bottle Caps are also a little more chalk-like than SweeTarts, which may actually contribute
to a somewhat effervescent feeling when chewed, not unlike the bubbly sensation of drinking soda.
These pop-flavored candies originated in the 70s,
and while they're good for the occasional nostalgic trip down memory lane,
the orange, grape, and cherry flavors pale in comparison to other fruit-flavored candies.
That said, the root beer and cola Bottle Caps are a little more interesting,
as they break from typical candy flavor varieties. Unfortunately, you can't buy rolls or boxes of
just the root beer or cola flavors. So when you're looking to pick up a box or a roll of bottle caps,
Amazon is probably your best bet, as it's easy to stock up on just a couple boxes or to buy in bulk.
Most companies suffered significant hardships during the Great Depression,
but for some innovative brands, that time actually opened the door to new possibilities. That's
exactly what happened when the Boyer Brothers company hung out its proverbial shingle in 1936
to sell its flagship product, the Mallo Cup. This cup-shaped, chocolate-covered marshmallow looks
almost identical to a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, which was invented in the 1920s. But it
stands apart by featuring a whipped, creamy marshmallow inside its hard chocolate shell.
The Boyer family made these confections in their kitchen and started selling them door-to-door,
and they managed to quickly gain a following despite that humble origin.
While the chocolate cup corner of the candy market is clearly dominated by Reese's these days,
it's still possible to purchase Mallo Cups. You can find them at somewhat unexpected
retailers that have a bit of a folksy vibe, like Ace Hardware, Boot Barn, Cracker Barrel,
and Michael's Craft. And unsurprisingly, you can also score them in bulk on Amazon.
Turkish Taffy is not really Turkish, and technically, it's not taffy either.
Mike Myers would've had a field day with that one during his old SNL routine as Linda Richman.
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal was neither new, nor a deal. Discuss."
As it turns out, Turkish Taffy is actually a confection known as a short nougat, made from egg
whites and corn syrup that's cooked before being baked into bars. If you've ever enjoyed the soft,
chewy consistency of a fresh-pulled salt water taffy, you should know that that is not what you
experience when eating Turkish Taffy. These bars are so hard that customers often hit them against
an equally hard surface to break them into smaller pieces. But once a piece is placed in your mouth,
it softens and becomes chewy, with a long-lasting consistency that doesn't simply melt away.
Turkish Taffy bars originally came in four flavors:
vanilla, chocolate, banana, and strawberry. They were pulled from the market for about
20 years after the brand was sold to Tootsie Roll Industries in 1980,
but then they were reintroduced in 2010. They can be purchased on practically any nostalgic online
candy store, and like plenty of other classic candies, they can also be found on Amazon.
Is there anything more emblematic of a classic childhood than the whimsical and
weird Pez candies? To be perfectly honest, as a food Pez is not exactly the tastiest.
But that's not necessarily a problem, as Pez's cult-like following is all about
the funky assortment of dispensers that can become collector's items.
It's worth noting, though, that the original Pez developed in the 1920s
isn't the same product being produced today. The original Pez came in a tin and the candies
were round peppermints, not unlike Altoids. It wasn't until 1949 that the company introduced
its first Pez dispenser to hold the now brick-shaped candies. And it wasn't until the
late 50s rolled around that the company started introducing its novelty dispenser characters.
Then in the 90s, collecting Pez dispensers became a fad, with the candy appearing on the cover of
Forbes magazine and in an episode of Seinfeld, and collectors convening in Ohio for a first-ever Pez
convention. But as with all trends, they tend to peak, then decline, and while millions of
Pez candies are still consumed every year, and new collectible dispensers are introduced regularly,
they've faded from the collective consciousness and aren't as readily available in stores.
So if you're ready to start a collection of your own, or if you're just feeling nostalgic,
the best place to shop is going directly to the Pez website itself.
The paper strips of colorful dots known as Candy Buttons might be more tantalizing than the tiny
dots of sugar themselves. There's just something that's so visually appealing about having
an array of brightly-colored candies to choose from. And while you'd think the different colored
dots would have different flavors, they don't. Well, technically, they do, but the cherry, lemon,
and lime flavors aren't particularly distinct from each other. On top of that, Candy Buttons' flavor
in general isn't anything special. Plus, it's not uncommon to peel little pieces of paper off the
strip along with the candy, leaving you with some less-than-appealing paper flavor in your mouth.
So yes, these candy dots are fun to look at, as they fall into the realm of a classic childhood
novelty, but they're less fun to actually eat. That said, if you have a sweet tooth,
eating a tiny dot of candy one at a time can slow you down a hair while still offering a sugar hit.
If you're looking to take a waltz down memory lane, you can buy Candy Buttons in bulk on Amazon,
or you can try your hand at making them yourself if you have the right ingredients on hand.
When it comes to candy, there might be nothing worse than Circus Peanuts. Although,
according to an intense analysis by CandyStore.com of rankings and customer surveys, there are two
candies worse than Circus Peanuts: Peanut Butter Kisses and Candy Corn. So Circus Peanuts earn
the bronze medal for being the worst Halloween candy from CandyStore.com, yet they've somehow
managed to survive for well over 100 years, having first been sold as far back as the late 1800s.
The fact that Circus Peanuts continue to live on despite their questionable flavor and texture must
be a testament to nostalgia. Even a vice president for Spangler Candy, one of the few remaining
makers of the confection, admitted to not being a fan in a 2006 USA Today article. Candy Peanuts are
typically sold in orange color, although mixed colors are also available. They're shaped like
peanuts, but they taste like banana-flavored marshmallows. But even the marshmallow texture
is off, as they're chewier than you might expect. The result is decidedly confusing, which clearly
prevents them from being massively popular. Despite all those shortcomings, someone must be
out there eating these things. Otherwise, how else would you still be able to buy them on Amazon?
Think of Pixy Stix as the candy equivalent of glitter:
they're loathed by moms all over the world, but adored by kids even more. To be clear,
Pixy Stix are nothing more than flavored sugar dust packaged in a paper sleeve.
It's sticky, it gets all over everything if it spills, and it basically turns sweet children
into sugar-fueled little menaces. It must've taken an evil genius to invent this treat.
"Alive. It's alive! It's aliiiiiiive!"
The history behind Pixy Stix actually makes a lot of sense. The original product was
intended to be used as a sugary drink mix to enable kids to add flavor to water.
When marketers realized that kids liked eating the sugar straight, the company pivoted and
started selling it as a candy. So it took off as a product in the late 50s, and it continues
to be sold today in all four of its original flavors: grape, orange, cherry, and Maui punch.
Wax Lips don't taste particularly good, yet these weirdly wonderful treats have
nevertheless remained on sale for more than 100 years. Of course, the draw for kids all over the
world is their novelty. What rambunctious third grader, or third grader at heart,
doesn't want to don a set of giant red lips or evil-looking fangs to make their friends
giggle? And once the gag is played out, the lips can be eaten. They may not taste great,
but they're sugary, which is pretty much all that most kids are hoping for anyway.
The history behind Wax Lips involves multiple company sales,
bankruptcy, and struggles with controlling costs to produce popular products.
All that and the fact that they don't taste particularly great help explain why they
aren't widely distributed today. But Wax Lips are still sold online and in candy shops nationwide,
although as with most options on this list, Amazon is probably your best bet.
According to a 2015 Eater article, Necco Wafers are practically indestructible.
The article was talking about the wafers themselves in terms of how
they have a two-year shelf life and they're not affected by heat or cold.
But that indestructible description could also refer to how they've stood the test of time.
"I mean, how old they are. What was it, 1887?" "Yeah, I was asking- Oh, 1847." "'47!"
Even after more than 100 years, "The Original Candy Wafers" continue to be sold and
distributed today, though their popularity has declined. That's in large part because
the U.S. government is no longer buying and packaging huge amounts of the wax paper sleeves
to include as sweet morale boosters in soldiers' rations, as they were during World War II. And
it certainly didn't help that the NECCO company went bankrupt and shuttered its doors in 2018,
effectively eliminating sales for two years. But much to the delight of nostalgic Americans
stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic, Necco wafers reappeared in stores in the summer of 2020,
and they can also be purchased from a safe social distance on Amazon.
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