Here is a guest review by Julie…
When I was about 8, our family moved to a remote part of Connecticut that was easily five miles from any main commercial shopping areas. The only place we could get candy was the neighborhood gas station, complete with a grungy, grumpy old mechanic guy who, though a bit scary, stocked some awesome candy in his little 2-bay garage; I have since wondered if he was a Candy Addict himself. Of all the candies that he had on display (and though I bought others, too), it was the Seven Up bar that got a sizable chunk of my allowance money every time.
Discontinued sometime in the 70’s, the Seven Up bar began its seven-sectioned life in the 1930s, before the 7-Up Bottling Company began making its soft drink. Eventually the 7-Up company bought the bar and retired it, so they had the exclusive use of the name whichever way it was spelled: Seven Up or 7-Up. None of that mattered a whit to me, as I was only interested in one thing: those seven sections of chocolate-covered different candy centers, meaning I was getting seven big pieces of candy in one regular-sized bar. Quite a bargain to me back then for my hard-saved pennies and nickels (shoot, I’d pay just about anything for one today)!
The Seven Up bar itself consisted of seven separated, filled sections connected by an outer chocolate shell. The shell was real milk chocolate, a bit thick on the edges, but thinner over the fillings, and had a good snap to it if bitten, and a smooth melt if left upon your tongue. The seven fillings were: Orange Jelly, Maple, Caramel, Brazil Nut, Fudge, Coconut, and Cherry; each was so distinct and different that no two bites were remotely alike. I loved the Seven Up bar for that reason especially, and, too, both the chocolate and the candy centers were really, really good.
The Orange Jelly filling was so unique compared to the rest, with the cracking of the chocolate coating a fun contrast to the jellied center; I remember this one as being particularly good. Very orangey and sweet, kind of like an Orange Crush soda. The Maple was smooth, creamy and very, very sweet; similar to the maple syrup candy that you can buy in New England. Caramel was chewy and thick as well as deliciously buttery and sweet.
Brazil Nut had that rich, oily nutty flavor true to Brazil nuts, and the Fudge went especially well with this one if you chose to actually eat the two together (which is probably why they put those two next to each other)! Fudge was rich, thick and very, very intensely chocolaty. Coconut was exactly like my mother’s coconut cookies, which I still love, and again, a very sweet filling. And finally, the Cherry, which was not usually a favorite flavor for me in other candies. However, this Cherry filling was so fruity, tasty and smooth that it melted right away in my mouth and left me quite satisfied.
I always ate my Seven Up bar in order, starting with one end and moving to the other. I once broke the sections apart and tried eating it that way, not being sure of what I would be getting since they were out of order, but I got frustrated and went back to my orderly biting off of those chocolate chunks, savoring each one slowly (though I did have a hard time not biting into both the Brazil Nut and the Orange Jelly and chomping them up with the chocolate together, making for a great textural experience in addition to the great taste).
Necco’s Sky Bar, originating in the 1938 and still available today, is the only thing similar to the Seven Up bar, however, with only four compartments, it pales in comparison for me. I’d love to see the Seven Up bar brought back in its full, original, seven-sectioned glory… overly-sweet but wonderful, those chocolate-covered compartments containing unique flavors that I swear I can still taste. If you wanted a lot of different flavors in one bar, rather like picking the best pieces out of your mother’s big box of Valentine’s candy, then the Seven Up bar was the one to have, and there are many of us out here today who would love to have one now!
I’m sure I had not thought about this candy bar in decades until a friend who is my age mentioned it yesterday. We reminisced about it and even tried to remember all the flavors but left out brazil nut. We both remembered the jelly section as being the best! Then she sent me the results of her online search. It was great seeing this. I grew up in Los Angeles and we used to buy most of our candy at neighborhood liquor stores (yes, kids were allowed in). Chunky bars with raisins, Mike and Ike’s, Milky Ways, and (strangely) Ludens flavored cough drops were my favorites. I too used to eat the Seven-Up sections one at a time, and the order was just perfect, kind of like assorted Life Savers.
What fun to see the pictures of the candy bar I loved to get as a kid. I would ride my bike to the closest drug store to get it. It was like a box of chocolates in a bar. The drug store is gone and so is the candy bar BUT the memories remain….yummy.
Let’s bombard the 7-Up Bottling Company to bring it back. Millions of boomers will call them blessed. Only I’ve since discovered I have celiac disease and gluten is in some candies and not others, so I would be forever grateful if they made it gluten free.
When I was a kid in the 40s my Dad would occasionaly bring home a Seven-Up bar he got out of a vending machine where he worked in Seattle. I thought at the time it was the best candy I had ever tasted and I guess I still do. To me it was like having a sampler of fine chocolates.
I was just talking to a co-worker about my all-time favorite candy. I don’t eat candy very often now but I do remember the 7-Up candy bar and it was my favorite. I loved the elegance of each little square and the treasure it hid inside. Luscious!
If you have never tried one, you really do not know what a treat they really were! I, like many other, would love to find this cand back on the display at the market. Seven-up, or 7-Up, bottling would do themselves a valuable service to assign, sell, or sart their own candy division!
Around 1954-55 I was 11 or 12 years old. Five or six of us from the neighborhood (Norwalk, CA) would spend the week gathering soda bottles, looking for change around our houses, (in the sofa’s). Then on Saturday we would pool our money and go to Sav-On Drug Store to buy our feast of candy, soda, etc. Candy bars were 3 for ten cents, ice cream cones were five cents a scoop. We would go out in the field of the local school and PIG OUT!! My favorite candy bars were, 7-Up Dark, Mars Bars, and Red Caps. There is a little candy store here in Samaria, ID where I live now and that is what brought the 7-Up bars back to mind.
I knew this existed but no one remembered it like I did. I remember going to a real theatre in my town and the best part was that was the only place I got to eat this candy. This candy and the little snack bar that the astronauts used to eat —— fondest memories of candy as a child.
i’m 57 and grew up in oregon, i think about this candy bar often, and tried describing it to others, but couldn’t remember it in detail as you’ve described here. maybe thats why i like brazil nuts, cherry, orange jelly and coconut so much!? I plan to try making one, or rather, assembling one from bits and pieces of other candies, for my own amusement. Thanks.
My husband and I often talk about things from our childhood.
we were just talking today about Seven-Up candy.We also talk about Chuck Wagon candy and Nutty Buddy candy that was sold by the seniors when I was in elementary school.When we were children we did not get candy very often and it always left a lasting memory. Like Brach Stars no longer available here. I is sad that our chilldren and grandchildren will never beable to taste these wonder chocolates.
Not one person I know believed me about this candy – it was my favorite and nobody remembered it. Thisis validation! I have printed this out to show the doubters and early Alzheimer candidates.
BTW – I always gave away the maple piece – did not like maple!
Thank you! Thank you!
I got goose bumps reading these reviews. My father was a long distance truck driver who began bringing the wonderful 7Up bars home in the late 50′s from trips to the midwest. Sometime in the 60′s we began to see them in North Carolina gas stations and stores and we were thrilled. I remember them just as everyone is describing and yes, they were more square then they were long and narrow and there was a milk and dark chocolate but the dark were hard to find. Can’t wait to get to heaven so I can sit down and have one along side my father……
It is wonderful that so many people have the same memory I have of my childhood favorite candy bar. They had it at the theatre we went to in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the fifties and sixties. I remember sitting in the dark in the Saturday matinee biting off each section at a time. The brazil nut was always last, and I would keep it in my mouth for a long time. What a great trip down memory lane!
I am 59 and grew up in Northern California, Humboldt Co. and would get this great candy bar at the local storein the early 60′s. I last found one in a 7-11 in the late 80′s in Texas. I have returned many times to that 7-11 hoping to find more of the Seven-up bar. I am deeply disappointed that they are no longer being made. My favorite part was the WHOLE bar, every delicious and unique square.
Many a time I have told people about this candy bar just to be laughed at. Thank you for this article. I too wish it would make a come back so more generations of children could have the memories I have.
I also have fond memories of this candy bar, but unlike Bonomos taffy the seven up bar will most likely never return. 7-up doesn’t make candy, so they will never make it. Most candy companies, especially the smaller ones, aren’t about to start production without the rights to the name. I’m sorry to say it’s just a memory, but it is. This was my Moms favorite, but just for the Brazil nut! She’d get the Brazil nut piece and give the rest to me. Thanks Mom, I loved the orange jelly piece best.
Got mine at the bolling ally. coconut and the jelly sections were my fave. Sad, Gone never to be seen again.
I would have liked to try this candybar ( 7 UP bar) Unfortunately, my family doesnt remember this candybar in stores. Not sure why 7 Up stopped the production. sounds like the ingredients might have been too pricey or time consuming .
http://www.retrocandyonline.com/ this is a website for retro candy u can buy it at a reasonable price.
OH my gosh. I have talked, searched and yearned about these candy bars for years. No candy bar today can even begin to touch it. It was like having a whole box of chocolates in a single candy bar. I got mine at our local dime store. If you want more information I suggest going to http://www.pearsonscandy.com/faq.aspx
I remember the 7-up bar well, as a youngster. I have mentioned this to several of my old childhood friends recently. Seems no one remembers but me. It was only available at the movie theatres in my town. The Drive-In and the walk-in. I can almost taste that big ol’ Brazil nut with chocolate wrapped arouind it now.
I use to walk to the drug store to get these. I think it was the Pearson company who use to make these. I’m not sure? I sent them an email one time, and told me something about the seven up company. They also sent me a box of their candy. I wish they would bring these back, but give it a different name.
It was in the early 70′s when I found them. Was a pharmacy called Baker willaford’s in Nederland Texas. It was on the corner of Nederland Avenue.
Yum! The highlight of my long summer vacations as a child was walking the around the block with my eye in the gutter of the street hoping for at least a dime (for candy) and a penny (for tax) that I could spend at our Little Store on the corner of my block. The Seven Up bar was just one of the MANY choices of novelty candies that we used to enjoy in the 70′s. I drove the store ladies nuts with my money in hand debating over which yummy candy I would get for the day. Now we’re only left with the big corporation candies at the supermarket. Little candy companies and Little Stores are no more. :( Now, I’d give anything to remember the candy that fizzed in your mouth like soda pop, and no it was not Bottle Caps! We also had candy cigarettes and those wax filled soda bottle shaped bottles filled with a bit of juice. Those really sucked, but you had to get them for the novelty.
Me again–I found the fizzy candies! Zots! http://www.oldtimecandy.com/zotz.htm
I loved Seven Up bars. I used to buy them at the trading post at summer camp. What great memories. I’m with you…bring them back. Maybe I can get my culinary student daughter to revive them?
OMG. The Seven Up Candy Bar was my favorite. My grandparents owned a toy store in Clarksdale, MS and my grandfather had a small candy shelf on the counter. He always stocked this candy because it was my favorite. The orange filling was #1 and coconut was #7, but no matter what, I had to have one, and had to eat it one section at a time. I am 53, and for 40 years I have wanted one.
Not my absolute favorite, but I did like them and would give a lot to have one again. Trouble is, they would have gone out of business eventually anyway. Seven quality fillings in real milk chocolate would have become prohibitively expensive to make.
I loved the seven-up bar. When we moved to Canada I discovered a similar bar called The Treasure Bar that had 6 little chocolate pockets in a bar made by Neilson.It was discontinued in the late 70′s.
Something made me remember it and I described it to my husband and asked him if he remembered it. He said he loved it but he couldn’t remember the name either, so I researched it on Ask.com and it brought me to this site. All I could remember was that it had a brown wrapper and it was around the 1960’s. YES! I remember now. It was my favorite candy bar when I was a kid. I didn’t get candy often, but I loved the Seven Up bar! I used to eat it very slowly letting it melt in my mouth. Too bad they don’t make it anymore. I believe it would be a big hit if they used the same recipe; everyone likes quality.
bring the 7 up bar back now
Oh, I so miss these! I agree with Steve, bring it back now!!!!
I remember the Seven Up bar as having a white wrapper with blue writing when I had them. I feel like I have come home seeing all of you post about it! I hate jellied fillings but loved this candy bar!
I remember a candy bar named seven up that had 7 different flavors covered by chocolate, can anybody tell me how I might be able to find it and how to order it.