Retro Candy Flashback: Seven Up Candy Bar

Seven Up Box

(Image courtesy of The Imaginary World)

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)!

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Retro Candy Flashback: Cow Tales

Goetze's Cow Tales Vanilla
Although I don’t consider myself to be a picky eater, I’ve been told that I tend to dissect my food. This is particularly true when said food was once alive and has the ability to surprise me with an unexpected texture or color. I hate to admit that this attention to food detail has in the past extended to candy. I am referring to my hesitance to try Cow Tales.

My early experiences with this candy involved seeing it displayed alongside bouquets of Slim Jims at convenience stores. This frightened me to my very core as a child. And as a teenager. And to this day. Does the close proximity to mechanically separated chicken parts mean that there could possibly be an actual cow’s tale in this unassuming white wrapper? What exactly is a Cow Tale? And is the spelling just a clever ruse to distract me from the fact that I may be about to consume an actual appendage?

Let’s just say I overreacted a little bit.

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Retro Candy Review: GooGoo Clusters

GooGoo Cluster Chocolate Candy Package

It’s hard to believe that the world’s first combination candy bar is still an unknown name for most. I am referring to the GooGoo Cluster, which was made by the Standard Candy Company back in 1912. Like most classic and retro candy, they can be difficult to find unless you live in the region that is producing them. So in this case, anyone who isn’t living in the South is very possibly missing out on a very tasty piece of history.

What made the GooGoo Cluster so new in 1912 was, unlike Hershey’s and all the other large candy companies at the time, the GooGoo Cluster wanted to be more than just a solid bar of chocolate. Instead, the creators of the GooGoo made a mound of marshmallow, caramel and roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate. Now that’s a candy with ambition! How the GooGoo got it’s name is shrouded in myth, since no one exactly remembers who was first to suggest it.

As the years have passed, the recipe for the GooGoo has remained unchanged due to Standard Candy Company’s strong ties to tradition. Even so, new varieties of the GooGoo have been added; the GooGoo Supreme with pecans instead of peanuts and the GooGoo Peanut Butter which replaced the marshmallow and caramel.

Ready to find out how they taste?

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Candy Review: D’asse Chocolates

Couque D'Asses

We were going to just mention D’asse because of its odd name, but I was most amused when I actually found a box to taste! This is why I love living in a neighborhood with some great Asian supermarkets. You never know what gems you might find – and at $2 for a box, this one was a bargain!

Strictly speaking, D’asses is not really a chocolate or a candy. Made by the Crown company in Korea, it’s two very thin, airy wafers which sandwich a thin layer of flavored cream. I picked up a coffee flavored version and it was awesome. Lovely texture, nice coffee-ish flavor without being overbearing, and truly delicious.

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Retro Candy Flashback: Whatchamacallit

Whatchamacallit

The Whatchamacallit is the 80′s hair band of candy bars. I mean this in the best possible way. From its ugly tan wrapper to its incredibly ridiculous name, everything about the Whatchamacallit bar screams “80′s!”. Even so, I have to give it up to the Whatchamacallit, for the Whatchamacallit still believes! Sure, it may have lost a few steps and its popularity may have dipped in the mid-90′s, but every night that Whatchamacallit gets right back out on that candy shelf and keeps on rocking. Just like a loyal Quiet Riot or Motley Crue fan will tell you at the end of their latest tour: the bar may not be as exciting as it was back then, but it’s still pretty good.

Sadly, I have a bad feeling that the Whatchamacallit’s days are numbered: the caramel peanut butter crisp market is currently being invaded by Reese’s, and I’m not sure that the Whatchamacallit has enough loyal fans to pull through. But maybe, just maybe, if we’re lucky, the Whatchamacallit will live on. Maybe it will even start a summer tour with Oh Henry! and 5th Avenue. All-out non-stop peanut butter crunch rock!

Buy Whatchamacallit Online:

chocolate, peanut butter, retro