A friend and I were reminiscing about our childhoods and landed on a lengthy candy conversation. We were naming candies we used to love, forgot about, and wished we had at that moment. When we thought about the sweet treats we used to eat, we quickly realized our teeth should have fallen out a long time ago. Let’s take a walk down memory lane.
**I know some of these still exist and/or were in production before the ’90s.**
Bubble Jug
Remember the powder we shook into our mouth that turned into bubblegum? We already had packs of bubblegum, so why anyone thought it was a good idea to turn it into a powder is beyond me.
Life Savers Holes
Life Savers Gummies already existed, so maybe the company was trying to prevent waste by selling the holes they punched out of the ring gummies. I remember having these a handful of times before they quietly disappeared from stores.
Mamba
Whenever I could afford these, I considered them an upgrade from Now & Later. THESE were delicious, but my circle of friends would try to sell or swap out the lemon flavor. Why does the lemon flavor always get the bad rap?
Mega Jawbreaker
The mega jawbreaker never made any sense to me. It took forever to finish a normal jawbreaker. Why would anyone want to buy a mega-size only to lick it for five years? OK, maybe not five years, but you get the point. My friends used to break it into pieces with a hammer.
String Thing
You were either a Fruit Roll-ups or String Thing fan. String Thing, in my opinion, was long Twizzlers, but with better flavor.
Push Pop Candy
I told my friend this was the best candy invention ever. The idea that kids were constantly running around playing and needed a candy that could retract back into its packaging and placed in their pocket was amazing.
Now and Later Candy
These were my go-to! One mini pack cost 25¢ and a long pack cost 50¢. For the longest time, I never knew there was an “and” in the name. I referred to them as Now Laters.
Candy/Bubblegum Cigarettes and Cigars
I remember my first pack of smokes. When you blew into the cigarettes, the sugar would act like smoke. They would never sell these to kids today for obvious reasons. Good thing I knew smoking was bad growing up. I can see how this could have led to kids wanting to smoke. Yikes!
Laffy Taffy
My mouth watered when I thought of these. If I didn’t have enough money for Now and Laters, Laffy Taffy was my next option. I think they cost about 10¢ a piece.
Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies
I can go on forever about candy from my childhood, but I’ll end it on this teeth buster. I didn’t eat these that often because the feeling of my teeth being ripped out wasn’t pleasant.
Button Candy
I’m going to be 100% honest. This had to be one of the dumbest candy ever! The struggle to get a “button” off without peeling the paper was a struggle. I can’t count how many times I either tossed the “button” or ate it with the paper on because I didn’t want to waste candy. To make things worse, they weren’t even good.
If you ate any of these candies as a kid and still have your teeth, kudos! I know I didn’t list every candy. If your childhood favorite isn’t on the list, list yours in the comments.
Yappinist 