I am always on the hunt for new and interesting candies, which means waiting in line at the supermarket isn’t all that painful for me, since there are plenty of candies to study. Most of the candies by the checkout tend to be mints, gums, or otherwise intriguingly packaged candies, and for some odd reason, most of the candies I snag there end up in the car. It’s car candy, which means I don’t eat that candy anywhere else but in the car, and frankly, it doesn’t really taste right if I don’t eat it in the car.
The car candy category for me is comprised of some gum (usually in a nice container) and minty-ish or fruity candies. I am particularly partial to Ice Breakers in the fruit sours varieties or the Life Savers Fruit Tarts.
The whole concept of car candy has always seemed logical and commonplace to me, but then I started wondering if I was a little nutty about it. I polled my fellow Candy Addict writers and was surprised to discover that most do not keep car candy (one of them doesn’t even own a car). Shocking! Victoria, however, does have car candy, and she had a very handy tip – she keeps pellet gum in the auto but not stick gum. Why? Pellet gum holds up better in the heat.
I became more curious and decided to poll some readers of my blog. While many are not keepers of car candy, plenty of them were, and the types of car candy varied tremendously. Many are big fans of Orbit gum in the mint mojito flavor, and gummi candies are also popular. A few fondly recalled car candy kept by their grandparents, such as lemon drops and unidentifiable hard candies in colorful wrappers. Jellybeans, licorice, M&Ms, suckers, coffee candy, and chewy caramels were also mentioned as favorites. Wonka candies, such as Gobstoppers and Nerds, rank highly among car candy aficionados for their delightful flavors and lack of meltability. Mints are ubiquitous as car candy, and really, shouldn’t every automobile be required to have a tin of mints in the center console?
So next time you’re out for a drive, ponder for a moment your car candy situation; if you don’t have anything to sweeten your ride, go buy some candy!
Maybe car candy more of a guy thing?
June 4th, 2008 at 7:07 amI don’t keep candy in the car anymore because of the heat.
It’s distressing to find all of your gummy bears have merged into one disgusting glob .
I bet if you ask about purse candy,you’ll find that a lot of women,if not most, have some tucked away.
Car candy can be a lifesaver (pun intended) when you have kids. In my car at this moment are Ice Breakers in both tropical sours and cinnamon (mine!). There is also an empty Ice Breakers tin filled with Sweet Tarts and a can of nuts.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:05 amAh yes the car candy! My mother was famous for always having some. She would either tote some snack size candy bars from her candy dish at work, or those tins of mints…sometimes even tic tacs. My father, on the other hand, would ALWAYS have Trident in his pocket, that and cough drops, which he would proudly offer up to his passengers. I now carry the Trident…ALWAYS. I am even more of a trident addict than a candy addict.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:35 amWhat a fun topic!! My mom keeps mints and gum in her car…usually stored next to her used tissues. Yuck!
I always keep a nice tin of “pellet” gum, as you mentioned. A nice minty flavor helps relieve my anxiety. I have a lot of anxiety and fear about being in my car, so that gum is just a necessity!
June 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pmI’ve always had car candy ever since I first got a car, and have always had gum, too (have a thing for fresh breah, y’know). Never thought about the pellet vs. stick issue, though, and now that I’ve been living in the desert heat for 4 years, I wonder why I never thought about that!
I will tell you this, though, no tin of ANYTHING lives in my car since the temperature of the tin will literally burn your hand sitting in a car out here! We’re not kidding when we say that in the summer you need oven mitts to open your car door and hold the steering wheel if you don’t already have a cover on it!
Car candy. Most people I know have it, regardless of gender, but it’s only the non-meltable kind. I discovered the gummy bag “blob” my first summer here…very pretty to look at, but even after refrigerated, totally inedible in one giant wad!
June 6th, 2008 at 4:43 pm