The Joys of Retro Candy

 

I have this thing about retro candy. Maybe it's simple supply and demand: The harder it is to find, the more I seem to like it. Or it might be that it reminds me of my childhood - sneaking candy cigarettes (the kind that smoke when you puff them) with my cousin because my mom refused to buy them for me. Or the summers I spent ordering Fun Dip and Squeezable Bubble Gum (in a toothpaste tube) from Unfriendly's in Fair Harbor.

But it really goes  beyond a simple affection for an old-fashioned sugar fix. I once agreed to go on a date with a guy I couldn't stand because he gave me Lemonheads and Jujubees on Valentine's Day. My sister (who spent an equal portion of her childhood hanging around Unfriendly's) insisted he was a keeper.



One of my all time favorites was the Nestle Quick Bar - chocolate taffy that tasted deliciously like the faux hot chocolate mix - which I used to beg my babysitter to buy for me every time we went to the one drug store in Pittsburgh that stocked them. Sadly, they were discontinued and I still crave them regularly.


One of my favorite things to do is browse through a selection of old-time favorites at Economy Candy on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I can spend half an hour perusing the selection of gum (Beehmans, Black Jack, Clove), Pez Dispensers, bins filled with gummy bears, rock candy, and various size tootsie rolls. I may leave with nothing more than a handful of Haribo Frogs (pictured above) and a bounce in my step, but no matter. It's not really eating the candy that's important - though it is a frequent side-effect. Something about these colorful, imaginative creations just makes me happy.

I think there are three reasons for this:

1. They're miniature. Anyone who knows me knows that I am abnormally drawn to miniature recreations of life-size objects. This attraction only increases when said object is edible. (I'm weird, I know).
2. They awaken that dusty part of the brain that wants to take a Mexican Hat, put it on top of a Chocolate Baby and make it ride around on a Gummy Shark.
3. Never underestimate the power of a piece of candy to cheer up even the most gloomy day.

Another great retro-candy-lover haunt is Newsbeat in Sacramento. This place scores extra points with me because of their outrageously thorough magazine selection - they have an entire wall of foreign language magazines for christ's sake - and the fact that they welcome dogs.

Not only do they have a good selection of retro confections (Peach Os, Smarties, Red Hot Dollars) they offer imported goodies (Australian licorice, crazy Japanese gummies) and high class chocolate like Green & Black's bars.





I know the holidays are coming up and you're all excited about your chocolate Santas and Candy Canes, but there's nothing quite like a sheet of candy buttons (remember how a little bit of paper comes off with each colored dot, mm) or a frozen Charleston Chew to put me in a jolly-good mood.