I had never even heard of a Sky Bar until about six months ago when I saw it featured on Unwrapped. It’s made by Necco (of Necco Wafer fame) in Revere, Massachusetts; Pewaukee, Wisconsin; and in Thibodaux, Louisiana, but I had never seen one here in NC until October. A candy vendor at the NC State Fair had them so I picked one up. I’m not sure where they do sell these. (Please post in the comments if you do have these in your area, just to satisfy my own curiousity)
It sounds like a great idea – a chocolate bar with multiple sections – each Sky Bar has separate sections of chocolate fudge, peanut, vanilla, and caramel. The first thing I noticed was that the bar was hefty – I guess it has to be to hold all those fillings. Once I tasted it, I noticed the biggest complaint I have about the Sky Bar – the chocolate was sub-standard. Now I’m not a chocolate snob by any stretch of the imagination – I like Hershey’s and Nestle as well as Godiva. The Sky Bar chocolate reminded me of the cheap holiday chocolates you can get around Christmas and Easter. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great.
It’s a shame too, because I liked the fillings – the vanilla reminded me of the center of a Cadbury Creme Egg, the peanut filling wasn’t peanut butter, but a peanut creme more like caramel in texture and look…tasty too. The fudge and caramel fillings were just average.
So, having said all of that, if Sky Bars were readily available in my area, I would probably pick one up now and then just to have four different flavors in one handy chocolate bar. If only they came out with a Sky Bar Deluxe and used good chocolate. Yum!
Necco website
Buy Necco Candies at Amazon
TAGS: candy necco sky+bar necco+wafers regional review reviews food
They sell these at every Cracker Barrel I’ve been to. I get one almost everytime. :)
I agree about the substandard fillings, but I’m still drawn to it. *shrug*
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December 9th, 2005 at 9:33 pmDave
I’ve seen them at Cost Plus World Market here in Los Angeles but ended up purchasing mine at a candy store in the Pittsburgh airport.
I agree, they’re not exactly a great candy bar but certainly part of American candy history.
December 10th, 2005 at 1:44 amThese bars were very big about 40 yrs ago. I loved them back then. The chocolate isn’t very good in the ones they make now but the fillings taste great. They sell them in Ohio and I still like them.
CC
January 18th, 2006 at 10:55 pmi totally agree. I am in southern California and the only place i have seen these skybars have been at a candy store by universal studios called SPARKY’S. i like to try new things but this candy bar was not good to me at all. regular hershey bars are better than this.
February 8th, 2006 at 11:12 pmI found Sky Bar in Oklahoma City at Michael’s Arts + Crafts Store, look for the candy displays by the registers.
Being a child of the 70s and 80s, I’m surprised that I haven’t seen these berfore this year. I was first drawn to the Sky Bar’s vintage packaging….looks like these things haven’t changed in 30 years or so and I like that.
Also, I think Sky Bar is pretty good…although I do agree about the Easter Egg-quality chocolate.
What I really dig about Sky Bar is the unusual shape of the bar, the different filling compartments and, of course, the packaging….there’s nothing like it out there. My girlfriend and friends LOVED these when I gave them out at a party I hosted.
August 12th, 2006 at 8:35 pmI saw them first time on Unwrapped to and looked around all over here in central Virignia, and only place i found them was Ames, but they have since closed. As bad as some fillings were, I accully liked them once in while.
January 21st, 2007 at 5:02 pmnever had the candy bar before
January 24th, 2007 at 7:04 pmThese were my favorite candy bar in the 60′s….. I had totally forgotten about them until I happened upon them in a candy store at the Fort Worth Stockyards. I bought all they had. I agree that the milk chocolate version is not so great, but they also made a dark chocolate version that was much better. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to locate the dark version anywhere; I’m not even sure they are still in production. Has anyone seen them?
March 13th, 2007 at 7:50 pmI always get mine at Blairsville Pharmacy in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, along with my Clark Bars, and Teaberry Gum.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:50 pmThe local drugstore near my office in NYC has them. I think I like the concept more than the candy itself. Also, in the ’70s, a kid in my elementary school would always have one in the lunches his mom packed (he also got Coca-Cola, lucky…) and we would BEG him for a square. Every now and then he’d share one square with a lucky friend.
I don’t think I saw another one until I went to the NECCO factory store in Cambridge Mass in 2000 (my bro lived a few blocks away). They were selling them 3 for a dollar or something. Also other weird NECCO candies like something called “Rosebuds” that were rose-hued capsules of ribbon candy with peanut butter inside. A big 1 lb. tin of them cost $1.50 or something.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:37 pmJust checked out the NECCO website. That weird candy I was talking about is called “peach blossoms.”
June 26th, 2007 at 4:48 pmI have not even been around since the 60′s and yet I’ve still had this candy bar! I love the fillings but I agree that the chocolate is not very good!
Later!
June 27th, 2007 at 3:47 pmI loved Sky Bars when I was a kid in the late 50s-early 60s.
Have not seen them in years, but spotted some in a store about a year ago. Grabbed a handful.
Unfortunately, they seem to be (as mentioned by many others) using a cheaper grade of chocolate these days. I love the filings, but man….either my tastebuds have changed, or Necco really cut the quality of the chocolate!
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:44 pmI live in Andover, Massachusetts (just north of Boston) and these can be found at most places where you’d buy any other candy bar, but usually your odds of finding them are better at family-run, non-chain stores.
All in all, they’re fairly common and easy to come by, and they’re fantastic! I’ve gotten about 4 of my friends hooked so far.
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:21 pmBack in the 1930′s they had a contest to name the Sky Bar. The winner of the contest recieved a beautiful fur coat. Back in the depression that was untold fortune. The winner of this contest got the name from hanging out laundry. She laid down on the grass after and looked up into the sky and that when the name came to her. SKY BAR. She won the contest and the coat.
By the way the winner of this contest was my great aunt.
Your are very right about the taste of the chocolate, it was much better in the 1960′s than it is now.
October 20th, 2007 at 1:01 pmis there any place to purchase a Sky Bar at a store in illinois? i have been searching everywhere
October 29th, 2007 at 9:49 pmI picked up one of these in a Cracker Barrel a couple of months ago and I knew at first bite I had a new favorite candy bar. I love all the fillings (especially the peanut and vanilla). I actually really like the chocolate *shrug*, but then again I also like the cheap Easter and Christmas choclates that people have compared it with. Sky bars are amazing!!!!!!
January 10th, 2008 at 2:39 amI eat them more for nostalgia than taste…lol… I used to buy them at the movie theatre in the early 60s when even the matinee was only a quarter. You can still buy them here in Central NY, but if I recall what I saw on that episode of “Unwrapped” Necco makes them only once a year (using the original machine)…
March 14th, 2008 at 12:53 pmIn response to Shelly, in the Chicago area I have found them at a chain store called the Sweet Factory (downtown in the State of Illinois Building), and out in the ‘burbs in Geneva at an awesome retro candy store called Sweet Nostalgia.
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 pmyou can buy this candy bar at meijers stores in michigan. they are very tasty. one of my favorites. where else can you get four different flavors in one bar? good candy bar.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:41 amI loved this candy bar growing up on Long Island, NY in the 50′s and 60′s. Bought one about a year ago, possibly in a VA Cracker Barrel, and agree that the chocolate was not as good I remember. Noticed a wrapper on the ground while taking a walk this morning while visiting in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. A local grocery did not carry them, Will continue my search tomorrow. Rite Aide drugstore will be my first stop.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:35 pmNecco is located just one state away from me. Their products were always around when I was a kid and they remain readily available throughout New Hampshire.
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:01 pmthey sell these in the Cracker Barrel General Store; I bought a Sky Bar at the Kingman, AZ location.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:51 pmVery tasty candy bar. Nice variety. To me, just about any chocolate with a decent filling is a good chocolate — I guess I’m not too picky. I found it in Peoria, Illinois, at our neighborhood grocer, Haddad’s.
Nice blog, by the way.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:39 pmNecco was part of the promotion for the Twilight movie. They produced a Skybar with special wrapper and Wal*Mart was selling them. I came across a box 6 months after they were released and when I went back they were gone. I have seen them also in Cracker Barrel and Cost Plus. I guess because I grew up in New England in the 50′s and 60′s, I buy one occasionally strictly out of nostalgia. I don’t think the chocolate is as bad as Palmer, but it’s not the greatest. I saw it described as waxy on another website and thought that was accurate, I kinda like the texture. I like all the flavors except the chocolate. As a kid, I would break that one off and give it to my little sister.
March 13th, 2010 at 6:41 amthey had a jingle in their tv ads in the 1950s, “English toffee,french parfait, honey nugat…” is what i still remember.
January 23rd, 2012 at 9:58 ammight as well get it right, THIS is the part I remember:
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:00 am1 2 3 4 sky bar!
its the 4 in 1 bar…
english toffee, french parfait, honey nugat….. and more