Category Archives: Retro Candy

SUGAR BABIES

Leave a reply

 

The Sugar Baby is a 1935 spin-off from the success of the Sugar Daddy made by the Welch Company. In the 1930s, Sugar Babies were young women on whom middle-aged “Sugar Daddies” spent bundles of money. The candy company also featured Sugar Mama’s – a version of the sugar baby, but coated in chocolate. This was discontinued in the late 1980’s. Now, all that remains are the Sugar Daddy’s and the Sugar babies. Today the Sugar Baby is made by the Charms company.

Sugar Babies are essentially like a miniature version of the Sugar Daddy. They are small bite sized sugary caramels. They taste great – like creamy, milk-caramel treats. Each one has a sugary coating that is not gritty, but smooth. They are fun to eat but are very sweet. A few of these go a long way. Be careful while eating these, they have been known to pull out fillings! This is another long-lasting treat, making it great for people with little money to spend on sweets or the perfect treat to take to a long movie!

Sky Bar

1 Reply

Necco was the first candy manufacturer in this country to introduce a molded chocolate bar having four distinctly different centers enrobed in chocolate. In 1938, the SkyBar was introduced to the public. The Necco candy company hired skywriting planes to fly high above the city and advertise the coming of their newest and most creative candy bar.

To this day, the Sky Bar remains the only candy bar to have four different flavored centers: fudge, caramel, peanut and vanilla nougat – making it a truly unique treat. This is my first experience with a SkyBar. I have never seen them or heard of them until now, but they seem to have quite a history. The packaging is very “retro??? and I love vintage items…from clothes to candy. Now, I hope that this particular bar wasn’t made in 1938, but there’s only one way to find out…

Nope! Still fresh! And tasty…the SkyBar is made up of a crisp, milk chocolate shell that has four chambers or candy compartments. Each block is fairly thick and the centers ooze out from the chocolate when you bite into them. The vanilla center is sweet and has a sugary grit to it. It’s reminiscent of a Cadbury Cream Egg. The peanut butter center is not too thick, or too thin. The peanut butter center is just the right mix of sweet and salty and is a perfect accompaniment to the chocolate. The caramel center is creamy and smooth and leaves those great little sticky bits on the tip of your fingers. The fudge center is rich and chocolaty. All in all, this is a great candy bar. It’s fun to have four different flavors to choose from and it’s easy to see why the SkyBar has been around for so long.

Charms Candy Roll

Leave a reply

These fruity little candies burst onto the scene in the 1950’s. They still bear the original wrapper which is both whimsical and nostalgic. They are retro, without even knowing it. The Charms Company was bought by Tootsie Roll Industries in 1983, but they still make the Charms Candy Roll the same way they did so many years ago and I for one, am glad of that.  

I remember buying these when I was a kid. They were like a more exotic version of LifeSavers (they look British) and were appealing because each candy was not only square, but individually wrapped…and when you are a kid, unwrapping things is half the fun. There are seven flavors in a pack: cherry, strawberry, lemon, lime, orange, raspberry and grape and you get a mix of twelve candy squares total. Each one is a little jewel of fruit flavor that you can joyously suck on for as long as it holds out – they are crunchy when and if you decide to chew them and the flavor is not obnoxiously sweet – some even have tartness to them. Plus, you can share them with your friends, which always made them a hit in the school yard.

 They fit neatly in your pocket and were as easy to conceal then as they are now. I used to slip them in the front pocket of my shorts and pass out the coveted candy squares to my fellow playmates. We’d slide onto the swings and suck on our little hard candies while complaining about the lessons of the day. And today is no different. I sit at my desk, arranging and re-arranging all of the flavors from most to least liked, contemplating life’s great mysteries as I suck…should I get ahead on my work, or continue to dawdle? Why is the sky blue? Is global warming really happening? Did Britney Spears have plastic surgery? While some of life’s great mysteries may never be answered, this much is true – Charms Candy Roll will forever be a sweet treat that will have a special, fruity place in my grown-up heart.

Chuckles

Leave a reply

 

Just saying the name of this candy makes me smile. Chuckles have been around since the early 1900’s, pleasing kids and adults alike with their chewy, jelly-like candy. Each candy piece is coated with a dusting of sugar that adds a pleasing crunch to this fruity favorite. Five domino-shaped pieces grace each package…lemon, cherry, lime, orange (my personal favorite) and licorice.

These delightful candies are reminiscent of days gone by. A simpler, mellower day. Days of fishing off the pier and old men playing checkers in front of a general store. I remember visiting an old town like this when I was young. We drove through Texas and stopped for a drink at a general store. I was only knee high to a grasshopper back then and when we walked in all the goodies were at my eye level. Old wooden barrels full of peppermint and butterscotch disks, root-beer candies and of course, Chuckles. They were so colorful, so appealing to my child-like mind that I had to have them. I incessantly nagged my mom until the package was in my hand and moments later the first of the fruity candies safely tucked in my mouth. And you know what? They taste as good now as they did then.