When I recently saw in the news that the local Pearson Candy Company was being sold again, it got me reminiscing about all the different candy of my childhood. Unfortunately, a number of these candies are no longer made, but luckily some are still available today. I imagine that most people have some favorite candy they remember from when they were young.
One of my all-time favorite candy bars was made by Pearson’s, which started me on the trip down memory lane. It was the Seven Up Bar, introduced in 1951, and had seven different little chocolate covered pieces with things like buttercream, coconut, nougat, brazil nut, etc. all smushed together. While I liked their other candy bars: the Nut Goodie (1912), Salted Nut Roll (1933) and Peppermint Pattie (1951), it was the Seven Up Bar that was my favorite. Some other candy bars were Hersey (1900), O’Henry (1909), Heath (1914), Clark (1917), Mounds (1920), Baby Ruth (1921), Butterfingers (1923), Milky Way (1923), Snickers (1930), 3 Musketeers (1932), PayDay (1932), Kit Kat (1935), 5th Avenue (1936), Crunch (1938), and Almond Joy (1946).
Another candy I remember liking was Good and Plenty, the pink and white candy-coated licorice capsules which are still found in stores and concession stands today. It was first produced in Philadelphia in 1893 and is believed to be the first candy brand in the United States. Another candy I remember that’s been around a long time is Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy. While Turkish Taffy had been around since 1912, the Bonomo Company started making their brand in 1936. You may remember the tag line from their commercials “smack it, crack it.” If you smacked a Bonomo’s Turkish Taffy bar on a hard surface, it would break into a number of bite size pieces.
While gum drops have been around since 1801, in 1890 confectioners Henrique Cataldi and Joseph Maison created what were essentially licorice gum drops which the trademarked as Black Crows in 1911. You can still buy boxes of Crows. In 1946, DOTS came on the market which were also a type of gum drops without the classic sugar coat. Chuckles was another jellied candy and a particular favorite of mine. To this day you can still buy Chuckles with its five different flavors in a pack. It was first produced in 1921 by Fred W. Amend, a Chicago candy salesman who hoped to satisfy candy lovers who could not afford chocolate bars with his sugar-sprinkled jelly candy. Speaking of chocolate, M&Ms were first introduced in 1941 as snacks for WWII soldiers and were also the first candy taken into space.
Lollipops were also popular. Dum-Dums were originated by Akron Candy Company in 1924. A company executive chose the name Dum-Dums because it was an easy name for children to say and remember. The Saf-T-Pops, safety lollipops for toddlers with a flexible fiber loop handle, were trademarked on April 7, 1942. A very popular lollipop I remember was the Slo-Poke because it lasted a long time. The rectangular caramel pop, introduced in 1926, could be either sucked on or chewed.
Of course, much of the candy consumed when I was a kid was “penny candy” which in my case were often bought at Kotsian’s little corner store a half a block from my home. It was behind a glass case and us kids would have to press our faces against the glass and point to which candies we wanted. Poor Mr. Kotzian was constantly having to clean that glass! Tootsie Rolls, which were a staple in every penny candy counter, was the first individually wrapped and sold penny candy and was introduced in 1896. There was always a large assortment of choices such as root beer barrels, Pixie Sticks, Bit O Honey, wax bottles with sweet liquid in them, jaw breakers, Smartees, licorice records, Double Bubble or Bazooka bubble gum — the list could go on and on.
I’m sure I missed to list many candies here but I’ll bet I now have you remembering your favorites from your childhood.