Childhood Treats

Writing about the Jolly Rancher stix got me thinking of other candies and snacks that I loved as a kid.
Some of them you can still get today, some aren’t around, and others have versions available but they
just aren’t the same.

Planters Cheez Balls

These are the greatest baked cheese snack ever, Jax Cheese Curls are a close second.  My Aunt Clara

is who introduced me to these, she always had them at her house. There was something special about
them because they came in a can instead of a bag.  I”m not sure when they disappeared but it was a
sad, sad day. Others have made cheese balls but none have compared to Planters.

Bonkers

This fruit chew was a staple of my kid diet.  I would go down to New Mills Market and buy these and

Garbage Pail Kids.  The candy was a single fruit flavored chew with a tangy filling making it different
from a starburst, now and later, or similar.  At times there were stickers inside the packaging like WWF
or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Currently Leaf Brands is attempting to bring the candy back they have apparently began beta testing

the candy with a select group of lucky recipients. I will be sure to buy them if and when they return.

Frooties

These fruit chews are similar to Tootsie Rolls but were first produced in the 1970’s by another company.

Eventually Tootsie Roll did buy them out and continue to produce them without changing the candy.

I used to get this at Kitty Korner store on the weekends I was with my did.  A true penny candy they

cost just 1 cent and they had a eight different flavors with Blue Raspberry being my favorite.  You can’t
find them in many places in my area today. However whenever I am in Littleton, New Hampshire at
Chutters candy store, home of the World’s Longest Candy Counter, you can still buy these for a penny
a piece.  Last I knew they had 10 different flavors, my favorites currently include Cherry Limeade,
Lemon Lime, and Mango, but they are all great!

Mars Bar

Currently one of my favorite candy bars is the UK Mars bar which is made up of nougat and caramel

covered in milk chocolate.  Some will have you believe that in the US this is called a Milky Way, those
people are exceptionally wrong! Although they sound similar in concept it’s like say all apples taste
the same, they don’t.

This Mars bar launched in 1932 is made of nougat with almonds coated in milk chocolate.  Discontinued

in 2002 it was replaced by Snickers Almond and caramel was added, it’s not the same. In 2017 Ethel
M. Chocolates a subsidiary of Mars Inc re-launched the original American recipe of the Mars bar,
of course now it’s costs $2.99 for a single bar, plus shipping.

Jamie Farr of MASH fame used to star in the commercials for them.

Candy Cigarettes

Because smoking was cool in the 1980’s!  These white hard sugar sticks with a speck of red on the end

representing the cherry.  These were sold in packages similar to current cigarettes because they wanted
to get that brand recognition even as a child.

Later you could find bubble gum ones that had a thin paper wrapper with flour in it so you could blow

on them and make the flour puff out the end like smoke.

Veryfine

A New England favorite, based in Massachusetts you could find these glass bottles juices at just about

every store around when I was a kid.  The labeling was simple and the flavor was delicious. In 2004 they
sold to Kraft Foods and now it’s not like it was. I moved on to Nantucket Nectars for my juice needs, but
now I don’t drink juice much at all.

Thanks all for now.  I’ll do a part two down the line.  What are some of your favorite snack and drinks

from kid-dom that are not around or not the same anymore. 

Until Next Time!