Just this weekend, we and friends got read the riot act by our children: “Look, parents. Spend some money on good candy for Halloween! No healthy stuff, and no penny candy that you can get in a big bowl at the bank.” (so no Dum-Dums in our 'hood, I guess)
They said this to a group of organic hippie parents, some of who started asking things like “Well, what about raisins?”
My son had to school them: “Are you SERIOUS? In what world are raisins a fun, decadent treat? Those boxes are still going to be at the bottom of the Trick or Treat Bag in December. And the raisins will be rock hard.”
Daughter joined in: “Who here wants to eat rock hard Halloween candy that’s supposed to be soft? So no Bit-O-Honeys or Popcorn Balls or Circus Peanuts either.”
To me, Smarties will always be the poor man’s Sweettarts, but even so, I prefer them over Dums Dums any time. Dum Dums are nothing more than hard candy on a stick. The only mortal who can possibly look cool consuming a Dum Dum is Kojak.
Our Smarties are small discs of chalky candy. I don’t think they’re tart like Sweet Tarts but maybe. I’ve always hated them so I couldn’t tell you the last time I had one - maybe 1966! The only other candy that I remember that is similar to M&Ms is Sixlets. They’re round balls, same colors as M&Ms and come in a clear plastic sleeve. Of course not as good as M&Ms.
Back in my college days, we used to use (American) Smarties® as “chasers” for shots. Nothing like tiny tablets of dextrose and citric acid to quell the harshness of bottom-shelf vodka.
I’ve eaten plenty of both in my lifetime (remember as a kid you’d eat any kind of candy?)but I wouldn’t really like to eat Smarties today. Dum Dums, no problem. In fact, this thread has reminded me that there are still a few pieces of candy in the dish on my desk, left over from. . . last Holloween? :eek:
<plucks the wrapper off a pineapple Dum Dum> Tastes pretty good to me.
By the way, should we assume that “Smarties” were named in direct relation to Dum Dums?
Smarties are chalky and sour, with some weird flavor that doesn’t seem to actually vary between the different colors. They’re very easy to get sick of. And they’re really just generic Sweet Tarts. (I honestly didn’t know they had a brand name for the longest time–I assumed any generic company would make them.)
Dum-dums actually have different flavors, and at least some of them taste good. So you get a better variety, and no chalkiness, just the typical hard candy. Plus it can be fun to get them off the stick.
They aren’t my favorite candy or anything, but I’d take Dum-Dums every day of the week over Smarties. (My favorite basic “suckers” are the ones that are thick flat disks with a loop instead of a stick. I mostly only ever encountered them at banks, so they’d have a $ on them.)
As I child I would get a Dum Dum after each allergy shot. Eventually the doctor’s office changed to trinkets and stickers. Probably the local dentists weren’t too happy about the hard candy.
My current dentist recommends chocolate over hard candy as the hand candy basically bathes the teeth in sugar over a longer period of time.
Depending on flavor of Dum-Dum though. I don’t like root beer.