Today is a first for Candy Addict – we have a guest writer! Long-time Candy Addict reader and commenter, Rhea from The Boomer Chronicles, shares with us one of her favorite candies from her childhood: Butter Nut:
How does one describe a candy last tasted in, like, 1967? With great difficulty. But I can assure you that — as the daughter of a man who owned a candy store featuring every kind of candy bar known to humankind — I chose the erstwhile Butter-nut bar, made by Hollywood Candy, as my favorite. I adored these things.
The Butter-nut bar consisted of caramel and peanuts surrounded by milk chocolate. I mostly remember the crunch of the peanuts. I don’t know what it was about them. Maybe the way they sliced them up? Like many of the candy bars made by Hollywood Brands, the Butter-nut is gone forever.
Here’s a bit of history. The Hollywood Candy Company was founded in Hollywood, Minnesota, in 1912. The company also made the Milk Shake, the Top Star, the Big Time, the Hail, the Zero and the Pay Day. The Pay Day and the Zero are the only ones that are still being made today.
–Rhea
Wow – sound like good stuff. Thanks for sharing, Rhea! (If anyone else wants to guest write for Candy Addict, drop us a line with your article idea and we’ll see if we can get you published on the site!)
As a kid in new York City in the late sixties and the seventies, I was enamored of obscure candies (and the less obscure ones too, when I could get them, which was not often!) – such as C. Howard’s (Chowards?) Violet Mints, coffee Charms, and the elusive Choc-O-Late Life Savers. I swear, I got these in Woolworth’s circa 1969 and they were gone about a week later. I have searched the web and seen nothing about them and – look, I know I wasn’t dreaming! I would be pleased to write about these for you – if I did so, I would be able to post them on my own site, the Virtual Dime Museum, I presume? (I saw Rhea had been able to do this – I liked her guest article and her blog too).
I miss the white cinnamon Life Savers (like the wintergreen ones, sort of chalky) and the Butter Creme Mint Life Savers, which disappeared sometime in the 1980s, alas.
I like your site a whole lot especially the japanese candy reviews – I remember a few odd Japanese candies from the 1970s in NYC, and still like to check them out today. Cheers – Lidian
The last time I found these wonderful candy bars was by accident in Hawaii on Maui in Hana at the general store in 1997. I bought all they had. I would give up every other chocolate bar made now for a case of these babies!
I also longed for the great taste of butternut candy, how I miss them. I’m just glad to know they don’t make them than to go into each small store looking down the candy isles for made be one, maybe this store. Ok laugh with me because you know you done it as well. There is nothing like them.
Ahhhhhhh! the Butter Nut Candy BAr. I am 43 years old and all I remember that as I was a child, the butternut was and will always be the BEST candybar in the World. If I could have a chance, I would just like to have just one more, Don’t you (smiles)
here’s to you ButternutBar
I am fifty-one years old and can still remember eating a butter-nut bar everyday. It was mind and just about everyone of my friends favorite candy bar.
When ever my friends Mom’s boyfriend would get in trouble, his way of buying out of the dog house was with a box of Butter-nuts.
It was not the biggest candy bar, but it sure was the best.
BRING IT BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am fifty-five years young and Oh, how I remember the Butternut Candy Bar. It was delicious and nothing compared to it, the BEST is about it. I agree with Gregory Mobley, BRING IT BACK!
I would also like to know what ever happened to Mint Julips. They were tasty. They sold two for a penny in the 60′s. Again, BRING IT BACK!!! The GOOD OLE DAYS are really missed.
July 3, 2007
Yeah, somebody remembers the butternut. I was recently discussing this candy bar with 2 other friends who also remembers the great buttery taste of the BUTTERNUT! But also disappointed to know that they are no longer being made. Hmmmm, how can we correct this problem? Ideas..anyone. If you’re out there Hollywood Candy Company, please consider re-introducing this great candy to a whole new generation.
Oh my gosh I can’t believe there are others that remember the Butternut Candy Bar. I grew up in Hilo Hawaii and my dad worked for Davies & Co who were distributors for a variety of things & every now & then he would bring us home those candy bars.They were the best.I now live in Medford Oregon & even after all these years, everytime I go into a different store I always look to see if I could find a Butternut. Very sad to see they no longer make them. Hollywood candies should lookup that old recipe and bring it back without changing anything. It was delicious.
Oh I loved the Butternut candy bar! My friend and I would go swimming and she would always get a Zero bar and I would get a Butternut bar. I was so addicted to them! (this was in the 60′s) The last time I saw one was at a hospital in a candy machine in the 80′s. Why on earth would they have done away with these?? The butter flavor, the caramel, the nuts…omg, I seriously would pay some big money for one right now!!
I am so happy to see that others are still missing the Butternut candy bar as much as I am..Just knowing that others out there are keeping the memory alive gives me hope that it may someday show up in one of the million stores I alway look for it in!!!
Butternut bars are available still from time to time mostly in country stores or mom and pop stores.I last bought and ate one about a year ago.I grew up on them and Milkshake candy bars and I thought they were the best and still do.Still can get Jujubes which I also loved.Remember the Black Cow and Squirrel nut zippers?I do.
The Butternut was my childhood favorite. Like everyone else has written, PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!! The hersey bar, baby ruth, zero, and many others take a back seat to the BUTTERNUT.I also would pay BIG MONEY for a box. PLEASE Hollywood Candy Company DO US OLD TIMERS A FAVOR, return the Butternut to us.
Butternut was the best. Last time I saw one was in South Carolina ten years ago in a small town in the one town store. The place had a huge Confederate flag on the wall. They had six of them and I bought them all. My girlfriend and I shared them all the way to North Carolina.
To me they always tasted best on a cold day right before batting practice.
If Hollywood will bring them back, I’ll still buy them.
20 years ago my husband used to bring me butternut candybars as a peace offering or just to make me happy. It always worked! Why was one of the best candy bars around discontinued?????
:( I have sadly given up on ever eating another Butternut Candy bar ever.
I eat them for over 30 years. It was my slice of heaven.
Times they are a changin’ Sadly.
i think about butternut candy bars often. what i do remember is the milk chocolate outisde. it had a most unique texture and taste. we need someone to bring these babies back.
We were just talking about ButterNut candy bar this morning. do you know where we can buy them. I have not had one since I was about 10yrs old in Mississippi in 1969.
My friend Willie at the cemetery had not had one since he was a kid. There is not a better candy bar than ButterNut.
Please retro this product. It would be great for the economy.
I have been thinking about a Butternut all day long…wanted one so bad….I googled it and found all these comments about it. As with the other responses before me, they were/are the best candy bars EVER. Thick, chewy, nutty and all that caramel!!! OMG! When I was a kid, they were 5 cents…but I’d pay a dollar+++ now just to taste it again!! And, like the others…I’d buy the whole box or all they had in the store….My freezer works!!!!! Please give us a taste of them again…at least for a moment!
OMG! I can’t believe there are others who remember the Butternut candy bar. This was my mom’s favorite candy bar, and when she bought herself one, she treated me to one also. She’s gone now, as is the Butternut, but it sure would be a joy to have a Butternut and remember her and the good times we had together. Maybe Hershey’s will listen and start making them…
I bought Butternuts from the high school student store probably three times a week in 1974 and 1975. They were my all-time favorites. I noticed something changed about them toward the end there, 1975 or 76-ish, maybe, and then they disappeared. I have been wondering what year they actually stopped making them.
I too, loved the butternut candy bar. I would love it if they would make and sell them again, along with the hollywood bar. Ahhh those were the days!
Yeah, I concur, the Butternut Candy Bar was perhaps the best tasting candy I have ever eaten.
I thought I was the only one lost in reverie. How I miss the Butter-Nut, Hollywood, Big-Time and Powerhouse bars. And what about Bonomo’s Turkish Taffey. Not to mention all the different flavored Pine Brothers Cough Crops. Come to think of it, Smith Brothers are becoming a rare commodity. I also recall a Pic-Nic candy bar, much like the Butter-nut, that sold for three cents.It’s kind of re-assuring to know that I am not alone in my sad recall.
I loved the Payday candy bar. It was/is my favorite. I did not realize that it has been out of circulation for such a long while. I have been looking and looking. I hope “they” bring it back. I remember eating it in the sixties……………
I, too, used to love the Butternut candy bar. I remember buying frozen Butternut bars at the concession stand when I went swimming. I just bought a similar candy bar at my local Walgreens last night. It is the new Snickers Nut N butter Crunch bar. Not a match, but still good.
I have been looking for the Butternut Candy Bar for as far back as I can remember. When I Googled Butternut Candy Bar and saw the wrapper on this site I almost fainted. For a second I thought I hit pay-dirt. What a thrill if only for a second.
I generally don’t care too much for candy but the Butternut Candy Bar was miles ahead of the all the candy bars in its time and beyond. Every now and then I will have a snickers candy bar. It has the caramel and nuts, and chocolate but its NOT a butternut candy bar. The combination of peanuts, caramel, chocolate, and buttery flavor was unmatched back in the 60s and it still is unmatched.
I can’t believe why one of the candy companies today wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to re-introduce this candy to the masses. What a treat it would be for those of us who retain fond memories of the Butternut Bar and for people who THINK they know what a good candy bar tastes like.
Please, please, please Candy Companies — BRING BACK THE BUTTERNUT CANDY BAR!!
My husband and I were discussing our favorite candy. The Butternut Candy Bar was our favorite candy. We have looked everywhere for it with no success. Candy companies please bring the Butternut back. For old time sake bring it back. Bring it back for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or any other special time. Just bring it back.
Im not old enough to remember the Butternut so my question is was it like a Snicker or did it not have noughat? an anyone explain what was in it? Example noughat peanuts caramel covered in chocolate?
The last time I ate the Butternut Candy Bar in large quantities was at Honolulu Community College in the late 70′s. I got them from the vending machine. As they say in Hawaii, these were “ono”. The last time a ate one was in Phoenix, AZ in the late 80′s; I found it in a Walgreen’s. Have not see it since. Please bring it back.
I remember Butter Nut and some of those others too, Butter Nut was delicious, haven’t seen one in 30 years, I guess.
Also the Pic Nic and Kline bars. Anyone else recall the 3 cent Pic Nic’s and the delicious Kline “Lunch” Bars?
I am from the east (or midwest for those who are geography buffs) Ohio, I’m 47 and I remember the Butternut Candy bar with much salivation. Back in the late sixties I remember living on a deadend street (cul de sac) without a store around for a great distance, but there was a gas station across the street with a vending machine that was stocked with the chocolate nutty goodness called Butternut Candy Bars. I would run over when I had enough money, put in the coins and pull the lever and out would drop my candy prize. That is the only candy bar that I remember or have thoughts of today. Like all kids there are a lot of candies I’ve experienced over the years, but none quite as memorable as the Butternut. If ever there was a candy I wish would make a comeback it’s this one (providing it was made with the same receipe. Anyone from Mars Candies out there listening????
The reason Milkshake candy bars (and several of the others that they used to make) are no longer available is the company went out of business. They sold their recipes to (apparently) several different companies and I’ve forgotten which company bought the Milkshake brand. That would have been late 70′s or very early 80′s and it was a sad loss.
Man, I couldn’t wait to get out of school each day to get to the store (any store) for a butternut. In fact, I bought them at least four at a time. And by the time I got half way home, the last two would be soft and melted and I would lick the wrapper to get it all. It was a sad day when they could no longer be found. I guess the closest thing to it today is the Snickers, but it just does not get you there. BRING IT BACK — BRING IT BACK
I remember the butter but candy bar. Just recently I was thinking about this candy bar. I had some people in the chicago area to check around for me, but they came up empty. It would be nice if someone would bring them back.
why on earth did they stop making the world’s greatest candy bar? i found something once that was a close cousin to the butternut made by hershey’s. it was the carmel nut egg sold at Easter time. it tasted almost exactly like a butternut. almost makes me wonder if they didn’t use the old butternut recipe for this Easter treat. while we’re talking of candy bars from the past, does anyone remember the “scrunch” bar made by the wonka company? or the caravelle bar? these were great also! maybe if we all wrote to hershey (they make the payday)and asked them to pretty please bring back the butternut, they would listen. it couldn’t hurt. i’m going to email them right now. maybe we’ll have our butternut back someday.
I remember when I was in high school the butternut was my favorite and the only one I would get out of the candy machine. I wish Hershey would bring it back with the same receipe and I know if they do it will be DELICIOUS.
Butternut candy bar was my favorite. i ate them everyday. and i missed them I just wrote to Hershey to bring them back. good luck to us. last time I seen them was in 1988 went into a Dollar General Store and they had them for 25 cents each. well lets just say dollar store didnt have any left when i got finished. i got all they had which was 5 boxes of 36. and i put them in the freezer and ate them for a year. then went to the beach in south caroline and seen them in 1989 but they wanted 90 cents each well lets just say I got 5 of them thats 5 candy bars not cases. lol couldnt afford 90 cent for one candy bar. so please people email Hershey and have them to bring them back also Milkshakes was good
OMG…I have been talking about the deliciousness of a BUTTERNUT to anyone who will listen for the past 40 years. We lived in S.C. til I was 5, and me and my siblings had to pass by a store on our way to church and I would spend 1/2 of my dime for offering to get one. I have not had a Butternut since we left S.C in 1968. I moved back to S.C. 3 years ago and have looked all over for this treat. Today, I was talking to my friend and decided to google it and found this site. I did find another site with a recipe. Not sure if it will taste the same, but I am willing to give it a try in hopes of recreating some fond memories in my own kitchen.
http://www.1-recipes.com/…/butternut-candy-recipe.php
It was so nice to know I am not the only BN FanADDICT out there.
What a great candy bar. My mom used to bring these to me when I was a kid. It was our favorite but my dad like Snickers (frozen). I remember in the early 90′s I was trying to find them after I had moved to Kansas City Kansas and they were no where to be found. Two of my Aunts, not knowing that the other one had found them, each sent me a box. They were great but after they were gone it was over. Bring back the Butternut candy bar and the memories.
Butter Nut was THE candy bar back in my day.
We’d search through the local roadside ditches for coke bottle to return and collect the 2 cent deposit.
Find 8 bottles and I could buy a Butter Nut and a Coke!
I thought i was the only one that remember the Butter Nut candy but I see that i’m not so please bring back the candy. D. from Miami,Fl
the butternut candy bar was the best. when i found this site, i thought great i can orders bars. please bring back the candy bar. i would buy this bar, before i would buy another type.
I too am a BIG BUTTERNUT fan. How I wish we could bring back that little history. I’m 45 and grew up in Nebraska. BN was/and would like it to be my favorite candy of all time. When I googled it, I was prepared to pay whatever it took to order a case, cause I’ve searched high and low for it. Please, CANDY MAKERS, bring it back using the original recipe (with real butter) and I will be a fan, a consumer forever. Someone suggested if only as a special during Easter, Holloween, Christmas whichever. I will buy it and lots of it.
My twin sister and I have searched for years for the Butternut candy bar. We LOVED that candy bar as children growing up in North Carolina. It was our favorite. What a thrill to find so many other fans on this site. I think we should start a petition drive to bring back the Butternut candy bar. Any takers?
butter nut was the best candy bar , im from illinois hollywood candy had a factory near here you missed a candy bar on your list they also had a big pay a payday with cholate on the out side ………….do you remember a candy bar called a 7-up and penny candy called a nut chew
I to grew up enjoying the butternut bar. What’s most amazing is the fact that other candies lasted and it didn’t. I don’t get it! I would love the oppurtunity to be a distributor of the Butternut Candy Bar.
I agree bring the candy bar back.
OK PEOPLE LETS GET THIS CANDYBAR BUTTERNUT BACK ON THE MARKET. THIS IS HOW WE GOING TO DO IT. COPY AND PASTE THIS AND SEND TO ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND HAVE THEM TO EMAIL IT TOO HERSHEY.COM FIRST WEEK OF DECEMBER.
Dear Hershey Company The HollyWood candy Company Had a CandyBar called Butternut and since you got the Rights to it we would like for your Company to bring it back just to see how it goes. We bet it will be a Great Sale to your Company and plus you be doing us a Favor by bringing it Back to the Public. Thanks Hershey for your Time. so come on people get this started what we got to lose. Thanks and Goodluck to our Taste and Bellys
I grew up in south Louisiana. I adored, no loved, my Butter Nut candy bar, especially-one bite of Butter Nut with two potato chips (Lay’s, of course)! If I had a dollar that week, I would have a small bottle of coke to wash it all down! It’s a good thing we could play outside for hours!!!
Oh Yes!! Please bring back the Butternut candy bar. They were excellent!! I had them in Virginia in the early 60′s. In answer to an earlier question, I recall that they did not have any nougat – they were a caramelly filling (not as chewy as Kraft caramels) with nuts on top covered in milk chocolate. They had a nice rich buttery taste. YUM!!
well I looked for this candy bar and found it in Lawton, Oklahoma this was between the years of 1995-1999. My husband was station there. This is indeed a sad day to find out it’s gone for good. Please bring it back and yes it would be great if you started down south.