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The other night over supper, Christopher Robin and I started talking about candy. He really only has one kind of candy: chocolate. Milk chocolate, preferably imported Dairy Milk bars with hazelnuts. He will make do with Dove, the square single bite servings, which he eats by the hundredweight, I’m not kidding. At Easter, he splurges on Cadbury eggs.
I’m not a big chocolate girl. It’s all right, you know, but there are so many other kinds of magnificent candy that chocolate almost seems a waste. Sarah Addison Allen wrote a novel called The Sugar Queen, and it was packed with all the candies I so love (If you have not read Allen, hie thee away and find a book immediately. They are kind, uplifting, rich romances with lots of magic…and absolutely unique.)
Give me Red Vines over caramels, Jelly Bellies over truffles, Smarties over a Hershey bar. I don’t know why—it’s just that I like those little servings of something so uncomplicated.
I do, however, like candy bars (especially Godiva Raspberry bars and Skor bars, not that I am hinting or anything). My conversation with Christopher Robin made me remember the candy machines my grandpa kept in the lobby of his Exxon gas station. Us kids got to fill it up sometimes, putting the Pay-Days and Clark Bars, Clove and Juicy Fruit gum. But one of the best candy bars of all time was the Seven-Up Bar. It had seven sections, each with a different filling—coconut and macadamia nut and some kind of jelly. There might have been caramel and some kind of creamy filling. (I discovered, looking it up online, that the 7-Up bottling company actually bought the name from Pearson’s candy….how’s that for a Trivia fact?)
When I poked around on the Internet, I found a lot of candies I’d forgotten: Sugar Daddies and Sugar Babies, Pop Rocks and Sixlets, and rolls of Tropical Fruit LifeSavers, which we adored as children. I know it is not politically correct, but I still really love to nibble candy. I have made my way through many a deadline week by sucking on Jelly Bellies or Skittles.
How about you? Are you a chocolate person, or not? Do you have a favorite candy bar? Do you remember some old-school candy that was a favorite?
My mother isn’t a chocolate lover either, so I totally understand that whole Sugar Babies type. My grandfather always kept jars of hard candy around the house, which I thought was really great and the sort of thing grandparents everywhere ought to be known for. My father loved ribbon candy around the holidays, so I always think of him when I see those candies. This past holiday season I found a ribbon candy candle that I thought was the coolest because it reminded me of Dad.
But personally, when I was I kid, I regarded any Halloween candy that was not chocolate as cheap, derivative, sub-standard candy. Unless it was chewy. Then it was acceptable. But I didn’t judge people if they didn’t give me mini-chocolate bar treats. That’s because their faces were all a blur anyway. It was all about the candy.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:34 am.
Sorry to be so behind today! Ribbon candy… That makes me think of my grandparents and Christmas.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:17 pm.
I love chocolate, especially caramel chocolate. I also love jaw breakers, Chico Babies, milk bottles, strawberries and creams, grubs, sour worms and other lollies.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:44 am.
Lollies! What a great word.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:18 pm.
I LOVE chocolate. I prefer milk/white chocolate, even though dark chocolate is better for one’s health. I also like some other candies, though I’m really not a jelly bean person, given that I eat them rarely. I stay clear of licorice, even if they are chocolate and/or strawberry.
I’m used to eating some foreign candies/snack, since I was exposed to them when I was a child. I do, however, prefer soft chews now; preferably some fruit flavors that I adore. Hard candy…well, I’m more thoughtful of my teeth.
Whenever a holiday comes, I grab on to those chocolate-covered marshmallows. Yum.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:44 am.
Right, dark chocolate is good for us…or something. That kinda always makes me feel like I’m doing something ELSE wrong
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:19 pm.
I’m a definite chocolate lover! As I live in Belgium, we have access to the best chocolate in the whole world, and the factory of Callebaut is not far away from where I live. My favorite kind is the dark (fondant) variety, and if you want to come into my good grace, you’ll buy me a chocolate bar with real hazelnuts in it…
Also love the ‘pralines’ by Neuhaus or Godiva, although they’ve become rather expensive (but then, on the whole, Belgium is an expensive country to live in).
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 4:57 am.
Nickie, the hazelnut chocolates are Christopher Robin’s thing, only the English type. I wonder if he’d like the Belgian variety?
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:21 pm.
English chocolate: yuk! He should definitely try the Belgian sort.
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 5:47 am.
I gave up most of my sugars two years ago. However, when I did eat sugar I ate it like it was going out of style. You name it, I would eat it. I loved chocolate of all sorts. And I had a love, love relationship with Smarties. Another of my favorites was Junior Mints. Oh I can almost taste them now! If I had to name a favorite candy bar I would probably say…Mars bars. I did love me some Clark bars, and Crunch bars. My uncle used to have tons of Pig Candy. I liked that too. Or that’s what we would call it. It was hard candy that was either cherry or lemon flavored. Apparently “they” made it for bomb shelters…??? I don’t know. I never knew when to believe my uncle. *g*. Anyways those were my sugar days. Boy do I miss them!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:59 am.
You are much, much stronger than I am.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:21 pm.
I’m a chocolate gal, but if you’re ever in this neck of the woods (actually, about two hours south) there’s a candy store in Peddler’s Village called Skip’s that carries a lot of candy bars that you don’t see much anymore. When I’m decorating a cake and need licorice whips (red or black), I’m off to Skip’s. Flying saucers? Candy Cigarettes? Wax lips? Sky Bars? Mallow Cups? Dots? The wax bottles with the juice in them? Skip’s has them, and the list goes on.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:22 am.
Oh, candy cigarettes! I brought some to my agent and editor at a conference a couple of years ago, and we “smoked” them at cocktails parties.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:06 pm.
I used to love Chico sticks when I was a child. Used to be a huge chocolate freak but it doesn’t agree with me so I have to watch how much of it I eat. Snickers, the big Resse’s Peanut butter cups, dark Milky Ways are all favorites. Love jelly bellies. Could eat those all the time. Swedish fish is another I remember eating a lot. You brought back a lot of good memories. If I’m gonna be bad though and have the chocolate Godiva is my go to chocolate. Might as well have the best there is out there.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:44 am.
Happy to bring back good memories, Aida!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:06 pm.
definately a chocolate gal! Dairy milk is a fav and since we are a commonwealth country,I only have to go to the grocery or corner store to score some.
and for the last few yrs, my grocery stores have stocked the easter eggs as well. my friend think they shouldn’t, it should remain ‘special’. I just munch away and ignore her.
I’m not fond of anything Hershey. that tastes off to me.
give me a KitKat, Coffee Crisp, Jersey milk and M & Ms please! jersey milk dipped in peanut butter is WAY better than a peanut butter cup.
When I was a kid it was anything sweet. Lick-a-maids, pixie sticks, lovehearts,you name it.
Our parents were friends with a chocolate manufactory head family(Moirs) and they generously gave each of us 7 kids a huge box every Christmas. oh my yum!
my sister used to send me to the store when i was little and by the time she stopped sending me, it cost her 5$ for a 2$ haul. when she turned 50, I made her a basket of all the stuff she sent me for, along with a silly poem. pink elephant popcorn, hickory sticks, pixie sticks, twizzlers (our version of red vines), mars bars ( milkyway). that kind of stuff. just to be the annoying little sister, I also put a hotflash kit in the basket.:-)
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:52 am.
Pretty special gift, Kathy. I love the addition of the hot flash kit!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:07 pm.
PS I also ADORED Lik-M-Aids!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:08 pm.
Sarah Addison Allen is one of my faves!
I’m chocolate girl all the way, but I like nuts in my chocolate. So Almond Joys, Peanut M & Ms, cashew clusters, bear claws.
The other day IV and I were at Cabela’s–HUGE hunting/fishing/sporting store, not sure if they’re everywhere yet–and they had all the old candies. I kept picking them up and saying “remember this?”
Sugar Daddies and Baked Beans, Slow Pokes, JuJus–all those things that would pull your fillings out, or at least make you think you had.
Remember the bubble gum you’d get in trading cards? It always tasted like trading cards–as well as summer and swimming pools and friends.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:03 am.
Lori I love chekcing out stuff online at Cabela’s! I don’t camp but adore looking at the equipment. I have a butane stove just for power outages. we had 5 days without power after hurricane juan, so I leanred to get prepared.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 9:58 am.
They certainly have something for everyone there!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 10:53 am.
I was a bubble gum purist–only Double Bubble would do, because it blew the biggest bubbles and I was something of a champ.
Blowing bubbles is said to be good for the jawline, but I think people would kill me if I started it up again.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:09 pm.
i like to pop gum, so i have to do it alone at home
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:56 pm.
I cannot remember the name of my favorite chocolate when I was a kid–it was square and had nuts and raisins in it. I loved that!
I also loved the Boston Baked Beans. Yum.
Lori–one summer I collected the entire series of The Empire Strikes Back Trading Cards. I chewed a lot of cardboard gum that summer! Ah, memories!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:31 am.
I am a candy nut, so of course my children are too. I have a candy shelf in my bedroom closet that used to be my secret stash but very quickly became the nighttime snack area. Jelly beans, skittles, fruit slices, taffy, chocolate covered orange peels, tootsie rolls etc…. here are some sweet memories, Golden Nugget gum in the sack, Ice Cube chocolates, Bonomo taffy, Bottle Caps. i could go on all day. Barbara this post really brings me back to sweeter times. thanks
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 8:19 am.
Oh, I forgot Tootsie Rolls. We had a little toy thing that made whistles and shapes out of mini Tootsie Rolls. I love the flavored ones, vanilla and cherry, especially. I used to steal them from my kids’ halloween bags.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:11 pm.
I believe it was called Toot Sweet and I had alot of fun making those whistles.
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 12:53 am.
chunky bars?
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 8:19 am.
I’d say it sounds like a chunky.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:11 am.
Yes–Chunky Bar! Thanks, you guys! Now I’ll have to look them up..
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:14 pm.
I remember trading Wacky Packages–parodies of advertisements. Probably before your time. I wish I’d kept some. I remember them being very funny.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 10:55 am.
My all-time favorite is angel food candy. I grew up having it at Christmastime in Wisconsin and now (like fish fries) can’t find it in Ohio. I have the recipe and have made it but it is not the same. Kit Kat bars and frozen Snickers bars are now my guilty pleasure, yep I like chocolate.
When we were kids our Mom would give each of us a dime and we would walk to the “little store” and buy a handful of fun things: candy cigarettes, wax lips, dots (those sugar dots on long strips of paper),mallo cups (remember the coins you could save?),slo pokes… all those old penny candies.
Thanks for the recommendation on a new author Barbara! I am off to find THE SUGAR QUEEN.
Happy Friday to all
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 8:05 am.
I’ve never heard of angel food candy!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:12 pm.
Chocolates are my absolute favorite candy. I’m not a big fan of most of the others though there are definite exceptions.. I could eat those pastel melt in your mouth after dinner mint things until I pop.. they’re just so munch-able. I don’t like most jelly beans and haven’t for ages, jelly bellies being the exception those taste like good jelly candy, the rest taste like sugary wax.. never liked sugary wax for eating not even as a kid. Looking at that seven up bar, I now want to try one, because it looks awesome and tasty. Older candy that’s a favorite would be sixlets, I love sixlets.. yummmy! Must go have sweet coffee now to wake up after thunderstorm disturbed sleep, mmm sweeets….*drool*
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 8:09 am.
Love those after dinner mints, too. They do just melllllllltttt.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:12 pm.
I love all milk chocolate candy bars without nuts. I remember a candy bar called The Marathon Bar it was milk chocolate and caramel and the were braided together. I don’t think they make them anymore:(
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 8:50 am.
you can still find them here. Freak Lunch Box carries them. and I know some places in the uk have online ordering for classic candy
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 10:00 am.
Big Hunks were my childhood favorite—some kind of taffy with a few peanuts thrown in. LOVED Big Hunks! And they were huge! I loved that it would last me all day, chewing, chewing, chewing. Not unlike a cow, actually.
Chocolate is not my thing.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 9:03 am.
Big Hunks were defintely great. I could not even imagine eating one now, however.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:13 pm.
LOVED “The Sugar Queen”, and her prequel to that as well. Agreed, she’s a wonderful author. I love chocolate. I also love candy (although I fall more in the licorice, gummy bear team). In general, if it falls in the category of “Should not eat”, I love it. My waistline, however, does not.
Happy Friday!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 9:14 am.
You mean you haven’t found the eat-all-you-want and be thin candy? Me, either.
Probably Willie Wonka should invent it.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:14 pm.
I love chocolate, dark especially. I have an M&M dispenser on my desk, which doesn’t stay filled for very long. I also love Mounds and Raisinets.
I remember as a kid we had a little coffee shop in town that had candy for a penny or two in the front. We used to stop in there and fill up a small brown bag – Smarties, Jolly Ranchers, Pixie Stix, Bottle Caps, etc. I still love all those as well as Skittles and lately Sour Patch Kids.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 9:59 am.
I love Raisinettes, too, and actually a trainer told me that if I HAD to eat something at the movies, they would be the best choice.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:15 pm.
YES! I LOVE chocolate! My favourite chocolate is Ferrero Rocher, then it’s the dark chocolate Lindt bars… mmm…
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 10:14 am.
Roche are my m-i-l ‘s absolute favorite.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:17 pm.
I love chocolate, but I like different kinds of candy, too.
As far as chocolate goes, I love Rocky Road bars…and I hardly ever see them anymore. I like them because they have cashews in them. YUM!! I also used to love Whatchamacallit (sp?) candy bars. I also love Junior Mints or York Peppermint Patties and the Lindor Truffles. Then, of course, there are the Lamme’s Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Cashew Critters. There are none better, I swear.
Candy is something entirely different for me–I love Swedish Fish, Orange Slices, Hairbo Gummy Bears (they are the BEST, and great cold!), and the red Twizzlers.
We usually limit the candy in our house because we would ALL eat entirely too much. I usually buy it every once in a while. Halloween is REALLY bad…I will buy those ginormous bags from Costco a week or so ahead of Halloween…and they’ll be gone BY Halloween, so I’ll get more during the day on Halloween.
Most kids love coming to my house because I have good candy. 
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 10:30 am.
I forgot to mention, I haven’t read Sugar Queen yet, but I have read another by her, Garden Spells, and I loved that.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:43 pm.
ALL of her books are just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! I save them for special treats. Have gone through them all now, though, and have to wait for the new one next year.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:16 pm.
I made CR hide those giant bags of candy before Halloween. It’s all too tempting.
I don’t bring any of my candy into the house, but we always, always, always have 2-3 bags of Dove minis in the fridge. For some reason, they don’t tempt me that much. I can have one or two and that’s enough.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:18 pm.
I am a chocolate girl all the way, especially dark. One of my favorites is the truffles they sell at Costco at Christmas time. I think you can also get them at Trader Joes. Peanut M&Ms rate right up there along with Hersheys and ………..well just about anything chocolate. I do eat other candys but if I had my druthers, it would be chocolate.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:16 am.
I really want to try that Seven Up bar.
I really like dark chocolate (especially with a glass of red wine. mmmmm)though sometimes I’ll eat milk, but it has just gotten too sweet for me.
I like fruity candies as well.. Skittles and Starburst and red licorice – Red Vines over Twizzlers and the “Australian” type (I don’t know how else to describe it.. it is bite sized pieces and more chewy than the Vines) trumps those.
I love trying vintage candies (and sodas). There was a place in LA that sold both and we went once in a while to load up… of course, you can go the more dangerously easy route and head to sites like Old Time Candy and browse to your heart’s content. hehe
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:18 am.
I love chocolate. I generally stick to very dark chocolate, but when a peanut butter cup presents itself, ooh baby.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:51 am.
I always tell people who say they don’t like dark chocolate that they haven’t had good dark chocolate
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:00 pm.
One of my favorite dark chocolates is the 70% lindt bars. I just love the sharpness and depth.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:19 pm.
My husband brought me a bunch of lindt chocolate from Switzerland… sooo good! Some of them were customized according to what I like. Although my favorite is still the dark chocolate truffles.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:25 pm.
I love candy and do like chocolate bars but don’t have a favorite. I remember the old time candy when I was a kid but most of it isn’t around anymore that I can find. One of my all time favorites though are Jordan Almonds in a hard candy shell…yum!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm.
My mom loves Jordan Almonds. LOVES them.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:20 pm.
I am definitely a chocoholic! And I SO remember those Seven-Up Bars! YUM!
I’m partial to Reese’s cups when it comes to American candy, but my addiction to the candy of my childhood – Cadbury’s as in authentic English Cadbury’s is as strong as it was when I was nine.
Dairy Milk, Fruit and Nut, Carmello? Scrumptious.
I also loved Turkish Delight and have not been able to find a source for it here in the States.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:31 pm.
There are a lot of Turkish markets in NYC and online shops that sell Turkish delights. The chocolate covered pistachio ones are the best!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:47 pm.
I have a passion for a different English candy: Rowantree Pastilles. There is just nothing like them here.
I also like mint aerobars, but we recently saw them somewhere here. Didn’t try them–wonder if it will be a knock-off, or good.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:22 pm.
Yes. I am a chocolate person… and that’s understating it quite a lot.
I love chocolate so much that I’ve written books with chocolatiers and bakers just so I could claim I was doing research.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:16 pm.
RESEARCH !!! Now why didn’t I think of that! Genius, Susan! GENIUS!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:54 pm.
I must read your chocolate book, Susan!
I might love wine that much–I’m writing about a wine blogger right now. Having so much fun!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:24 pm.
I like milk chocolate. Favorite candybar is 100 Grand.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:49 pm.
Ooooh, yes, definitely. A gooey, delicious chocolate treat!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:23 pm.
Chocolate person here. Favorite candy is Reese cups, frozen.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:06 pm.
Ah, another frozen chocolate eater. CR eats chocolate frozen. Except Cadbury eggs, which have to be only refrigerated.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:25 pm.
I love candy! If it has chocolate in it, great, but really its the sugar that I need. I like gummy bears, sweet tarts, sour patch kids, sour straws.. i coud go on for hours.
Sadly, I can’t eat nuts anymore, which really puts a damper on eating some of my favorite candy bars.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:00 pm.
Now, the sour kids stuff is not my cup of tea. That bite–even thinking about it, I feel the pinch in my jaw. It’s like or hate, I think, on those.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:26 pm.
It’s like you named all my faves
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:27 pm.
mary janes, cadbury flake bars, good and plenty. did they still make fruity good and plenty. loved those!
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:06 pm.
Because I have to watch my sugar intake.. Candies and chocolate bars have to be rationed… But i love a chocoalate bar called EatMore bars.. they are chew and nutty.. I love anything with nuts.. I love red licorice, weather they be vines, or twizzlers or nibs.. And I love Peanut M&M’s..
AHH I am having a craving….
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 4:31 pm.
Eat More is a great name for a candy bar. Never heard of them, though–you must live somewhere else.
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 7:28 am.
I love Jelly Bellies and Skittles. My fav old school candy is Good
And Plenty. When I’m in the mood, I can get real medieval on the G&P’s.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 4:34 pm.
I love candy and dark chocolate. My favorites are starburst favorite reds, sweettarts, and reeses yumm
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:51 pm.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, baby. Hoo yeah. *g*
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 6:16 pm.
Hey Suzi! May the Fourth be with you!! (had to say it, given the day.
)
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:37 pm.
I am a complete and shameless chocoholic. My faves are just about anything chocolate although I am partial to Reeses cups, Milky Way Midnights and peanut butter M&M’s.
BTW, you can get most of your childhood favorites from the Vermont Country Store. Just go to their website and look around.
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:44 pm.