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good & plenty

Bulk Candy Reviews, Candy Reviews, Nostalgic Candy Favorites

Choo Choo Charlie says Love my Good & Plenty!

January 6, 2010 by

 

Vintage Good and Plenty Advertisement Circa 1960's

Vintage Good and Plenty Advertisement Circa 1960’s

Sharability: 7

Denture Danger: 6

Convenience: 8

Novelty: 9

Overall: 9

The Quaker City Confectionary Company first produced the Good & Plenty candy in 1893 and believe it or not it is the oldest branded candy in the United States.

Over the years the company has changed hands from Quaker City, to Warner-Lambert, to Leaf Candy Company, to Beatrice Foods, to the current manufacturer, Hershey.

There was much controversy over the naming of this candy, but eventually the Quaker City Confectionary Company settled with Good & Plenty as the name instead of the less catchy Bad & Scarce.

The name is sometimes misleading because though it might imply that there are plenty to go around, once you give them away you realize that there aren’t enough for you.

Over 50 years after the candy was first produced, the company came up with a catchy cartoon character for marketing the candy. Choo Choo Charlie quickly became popular to kids all over America (including my mom) with his theme song:

Once upon a time there was an engineer
Choo Choo Charlie was his name, we hear.
He had an engine and he sure had fun
He used Good & Plenty candy to make his train run.
Charlie says “Love my Good & Plenty!”
Charlie says “Really rings my bell!”
Charlie says “Love my Good & Plenty!”
Don’t know any other candy that I love so well!

The only kind of person that doesn’t like the Good & Plenty candy is the kind of person who doesn’t like the black licorice flavor to begin with. If you like black licorice then this candy is great. The chewy licorice cylinder is covered in a hard candy shell, and the best part is that the ratio of candy to licorice is just right.

The question lies in the color. Does the white one have a different flavor than the pink one? I have personally done field research to answer this question, as I’m sure most of you have done as well. I have found that the results concur with my hypothesis, and friends, I’m pleased to inform you that the answer is, (SPOILER ALERT) no. So you can all stop fighting over the last pink one.

Sources:

  • http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/goodandplenty.asp
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_&_Plenty