Browsing Tag

hershey

Candy Memories, Halloween Candy

It’s All About the Halloween Candy

September 22, 2017 by

“When witches go riding, and black cats are seen. The moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween.”  — 19th century postcard.

halloween ghost costumeBOOOOOO! Halloween! It’s my absolute favorite holiday. Yes, even more than Christmas! Now I know I’m no Morticia (from the Addams Family), or Endora, (from Bewitched) or even close to Glinda,(from The Wizard of Oz) but I just may have some tricks left up my sleeve this Halloween for our Trick or Treaters and a whole lot of delicious candy they’ll howl about!

You see I’m a child of the 60’s and lots of my childhood memories are tied to things that are Halloween. I grew up rooting for the good witch and booing the bad witch on the Wizard of Oz. What I would give to pop into a room like Endora or twitch my nose like Samantha Stevens did on Bewitched and my house would instantly clean itself!

I read Casper the Friendly Ghost and Wendy the Good Little Witch comic books. And let’s face it; it was always Halloween at The Munsters and the Addams Family’s houses. My brother and I were actually allowed to stay up late and watch those hilarious shows on Friday night.

I grooved to “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, a number 1 hit in 1962, and  danced hundreds of times to “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. Yes those were the days my friends. You bet your candy corn!

halloween candy cornI remember my dad driving me and my younger brother to G. C. Murphy’s and picking out that year’s Halloween costume. The costume’s came in a cardboard box and I remember choosing a yellow Tweety bird costume one year and a black cat another year. My older sister Kathy would also make me costumes. One year she made a red and white striped clown costume complete with a huge ruffled white collar edged in red ric rac, a tall pointed hat with 3 red pom poms and a red yarn wig!

We’d go to a local farm and pick out our pumpkins and Indian corn. We’d bring the pumpkins home and spread newspaper on the kitchen floor. My dad would cut the top off and we’d scoop out the seeds with an ice cream scoop. Then we’d carve them into a funny or scary Jack O’ Lantern.

halloween butterfingersBut the very best part of Halloween was going trick or treating through our neighborhood. When we were younger my older sister would take me and my brother out as soon as it got dark. We’d grab a shopping bag or an orange plastic Halloween bag to help us collect all our treats. We’d walk up to the people’s front doors, ring their doorbells and yell “Trick or Treat!!” Then the neighbors would try and guess who we were as chocolate Hershey bars, Clark bars, popcorn balls, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers, Pay Days, Oh Henrys, Snickers, Butterfingers, and Good n Plenty, were plopped into our bags.

halloween haribo sour vampire bats

When our bags got too heavy to carry, we’d head home to count our treasures. Then my brother and I would separate our candy into piles on our living room carpet and trade each other for the ones we liked the best!

Halloween is creeping around the corner, and it’s time to stock up on some of the long-standing favorites and try some of the new candies from Candy Favorites just out for Halloween.

There’s Twizzlers Caramel Apple Filled Twists, Wonka Halloween Fright Tins, Haribo Vampire Bats, Candy Fangs, RM Palmer Creepy Peepers Mix, and even Box of Boogers, but the kids in your neighborhood will wonder who filled their bags and pillow cases with all these wickedly good treats.

So dress up, throw a spooky party, decorate your yard, and be ready with bags of delicious candy when those costumed kids ring your doorbell and yell “Trick or Treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat!”

I’ve shared some of my favorite Halloween candy memories, and I’d love to hang around for a spell, but now it’s your turn at bat. At the end of my blog, tell me your best Halloween candy memory and I will award my favorite a $50 Sweet Certificate to CandyFavorites.com.  Happy Haunting!

Candy News

Variety is the Spice of Life

April 20, 2015 by

They say that variety is the spice of life. And while we feel like many sayings like this can be a bit overrated, we know that this one is accurate. Especially when it comes to sweets, why have to choose one when you can choose them all? The more the merrier, in our opinion! So you can imagine how excited we are to share our many new variety packs with you!

austin-variety-cookies-useFor the people who like a little bit of sweet and savory, the Austin Cookie & Cracker Variety Pack is exactly what you need. This is perfect for when you’re trying to please them all! With chocolate crèmes, vanilla crèmes, and everything in between, your cookie lovers will be satisfied. But with this pack, those who enjoy a nice cheese cracker with peanut butter will not be disappointed!

grandmas-variety-boxuseSometimes, though, you really just want a cookie. And with Grandma’s Cookies Variety Mix, you can eat cookies to your heart’s delight! This variety pack contains chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, just to name a few. There’s so many, you’re bound to have a favorite, or two, or three. We won’t judge.

mars-variety-frontBut, then again, there are moments in life that require a chocolate bar! And for these moments, our Full Size Chocolate Mars Variety Pack will be right up your alley. This tasty mix contains Twix, Snickers, Milky Way, and many more! Simply put, there’s no way you can be disappointed with this.

mars-variety-pack-smallAnd for all of the Hershey’s lovers out there, we have just the mix you’ve been dreaming of! Our Hershey’s Full Size Bars Variety Pack contains Hershey’s classics like chocolate bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Now that’s a pack you won’t want to miss!

So no matter what kind of variety you’re craving, you can rest assured, we have the right one for your sweet tooth!

Candy Bar Reviews, Candy Reviews, chocolate

Krackel: The old school crunch in a new school size

August 15, 2014 by

 

krackel-bar-2

“Krackel is dope, it has an old school kind of crunch.”

Classroom/Movie Munchability: 8

Melt Measure: 8

Novelty: 6

Sharability: 7

It might not be the simplest candy to spell correctly, but this Hershey’s bar shows simplicity with style. It is the classic milk chocolate bar with a little crisped rice crunch to keep you paying attention.

When Krackels was originally introduced in 1938 as a full size candy bar, it had almonds and crisped rice in the formula. Soon after, peanuts were added to the party. In 1941, while war was at large on the other side of the globe, Krackel became a crisped rice, and crisped rice only, chocolate bar. In the late 90s, Krackel availability shrunk, in physical size. For almost 20 years, the Krackel bar has only been available in the miniature fun size bar, and now, the bar the people have been asking for is back. Catch up with the Krackel full size! It’s a blast from the past, the old school krunch in its old school/new school size!

Sources:

http://chocolate.wikia.com/wiki/Krackel

Candy Bar Reviews, Candy History, Candy Reviews

Rollin’ Rolos

January 28, 2010 by
This is a rare Rolo label from the 1970's and it shows the manufacturer as being Mackintosh which was the manufacturer in England

This is a rare Rolo label from the 1970’s and it shows the manufacturer as being Mackintosh which was the manufacturer in England

Sharability: 3

Denture Danger: 8

Convenience: 5

Novelty: 10

Overall: 9

1937 isn’t just the year that U.S. Steel raised workers’ wages to $5 a day, or just the year that the first quadruplets finished college, or just the year that China declared war on Japan. 1937 is the year that the Rolo candy was introduced.

Nestlé Rowntree manufactured this delicious candy, and Nestlé continues to produce Rolos everywhere except in the United States. Here in America, we have accredited The Hershey Company with the Rolo candy since 1969.

Rich milk chocolate surrounding a soft, chewy caramel filling; this candy is classic, this candy is delicious, and this candy is rolly. The most well known Rolo slogan, “Do you love anyone enough to give them your last Rolo?” is quite appropriate because the Rolos used to come with 11 in every package leaving 10 for you, but in 1995 Rolos reduced the number of candies in each package to 10 making giving up one much more difficult.

They also advertise the candies as rollable, you can roll them to your friend, you can roll them to your mom, or you can roll them to me.

A few fun facts about the vintage Rolo label:

This wrapper is interesting as it shows the “Mackintosh’s” brand above the candy name

Originally, Rolo’s were from the United Kingdom and it wasn’t until the early 1980’s, when Hershey acquired the brand, that the Mackintosh name would be removed from the label.

Also, if you look carefully, you will see that NECCO is on the label and that is because the New England Confectionary Company was the original distributor and manufacturer of Rolo’s in the United States.

 

Sources:

  • http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/rolo.asp
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolo
  •  http://www.brainyhistory.com/years/1937.html
  • http://www.independent.co.uk/news/nestle-keeps-mum-as-last-rolo-goes-missing-1526432.html
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
Candy Bar Reviews, Candy Reviews, Halloween Candy

Mounds and Almond Joy, Sisters for Life

October 19, 2009 by
A vintage Almond Joy and Mounds Advertisement

A vintage Almond Joy and Mounds Advertisement

Sharability: 5

Denture Danger: 4

Convenience: 5

Novelty: 8

Overall: 7

When New Years would come around and my bag of Halloween candy was at it’s end there would always be a couple Mounds and Almond Joy sitting at the bottom of my pillowcase bag. I don’t know why, because they really aren’t bad candies, but the coconut just didn’t satisfy my childhood taste buds the way Reese’s and Kit Kats did. My dad was always happy to put me out of my misery and eat the Mounds and Almond Joy for me.

Though I’m not usually a huge dark chocolate fan, it works well with the sweet coconut flavor. And I actually think I prefer it to the milk chocolate Almond Joy. The dark chocolate pulls away from the extremely sweet coconut flavor and the milk chocolate just adds to the sweetness, which is where the almond comes in.

It adds another twist to the flavor and does its job to dull down the sweetness. So both are good in their own unique way, it just depends if you are feeling like a nut or not.

Mounds and Almond Joy are sister Hershey’s products originally produced by the Peter Paul Company. The Peter Paul name is still printed on the candies’ wrappers even though the company itself no long exits. Peter Paul Halajian and some other investors created the Peter Paul Candy Company in 1919. The company originally sold a variety of candies, but because of sugar shortages during WWII they decided to focus on the production of the Mounds bar, which was created in 1920.

In 1946, Almond Joy replaced a candy called the Dream Bar, which was filled with coconut and diced almonds. A famous jingle of the 1970s ad campaign for the sister candies sang, “Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”

If you are feeling like a milk chocolatey nut, grab an Almond Joy, and if you’re feeling more sophisticated, go for the dark chocolate, nutless Mounds. If you want to take the risk with the youngsters on Halloween night, go for it, at least you know the parents will be happy.

Candy Reviews, Licorice

Ah, the Convenience of Individually Wrapped Twizzlers

September 24, 2009 by
Perfect for pocket, purse or gift, Individually Wrapped Twizzlers fit the bill

Perfect for pocket, purse or gift, Individually Wrapped Twizzlers fit the bill

Sharability: 10

Denture Danger: 6

Convenience: 10

Novelty: 7

Overall: 10

We all know about Twizzlers, at least we all should. Young and Smylie (Y&S) Company manufactures this delicious strawberry licorice candy. Y&S was established in 1845 and was bought by Hershey Foods in 1977.

Y&S originally introduced Twizzlers in 1845 as black licorice, but as of 1990 Twizzlers are produced in strawberry, chocolate, cherry, and watermelon in varying shapes and sizes.

 Now, you can find little nibs licorice, which are bite size pieces, you can find Pull ‘n’ Peel or rainbow Twizzlers, and you can always get the regular Twizzlers that you get at the concession stand at the movies.

But, one kind of Twizzler you can’t find everywhere is the individually wrapped Twizzler.

Individually wrapped Twizzlers are a great table candy for parties–– even Bar Mitzvah parties because this is a Kosher candy–– especially if you worry about people touching more than they take, and at this time of year preventing the spread of the swine.

What these are best for though is grabbing when you are on the go. Instead of buying a whole pack where you end up eating every Twizzler whether or not you want to, you can limit your intake by eating one now, and one in a little bit, and saving one for later… quite convenient if you ask me. 

Fun Fact: The longest licorice twist ever made was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records on July 19, 1998 at 1,200 feet and 100 pounds.