I’m starting this thread in the hopes of finding those lost snack treasures of our childhood.
Japanese chocolate umbrellas - Last seen mid-late 70’s - Long coned shapes like Astropops, but they’re Japanese chocolate (which is less sweet and more milky). I see they’re still made, but not from Japanese chocolate. The last ones I ever saw were upside down with the handle through the top of the cone…not the same.
Square coconut candy - Last seen late 60’s - early 70’s. - These tasted just like soft coconut balls, but instead of being chewy, the center was slightly firm (not hard) and individually wrapped. I’m sure these were Chinese because they were packaged by Yick Lung, a Hawaii company that specialized in Chinese preserved seeds. The only place I ever saw them was at a local ramen shop (Kinau Saimin for your locals). The only person who remembers them is the owner of a store (now closed) that specialized in imported Chinese preserved seeds, so that’s another connection to China.
Colored ika (cuttlefish) strips - Last seen - Mid 60’s. Okay, this one is really obscure and may have only been available in Japan (though I swear I got it locally) as no one I’ve ever talked to remembers it. Unlike traditional ika which is dried shredded cuttlefish, this was made with a thin (about 3/16th") fish paste colored green or pink, sandwiched between two paper thin sheets of what may have been soybean curd. It was cut into strips about 3/16" thick and 3-4" long. It was slightly sweet, though the pink ones may have been slightly hot (may be my imagination because of the color). I’ve come across something similar, but it’s not colored and not slightly sweet. I lived in Japan in the early 1960’s, and can distinctly remember them in the stores there.
I don’t know if it would qualify as a snack. But when I was really young, say 6 or so (I’m 50 now, if you must know:)) they used to have Pink Panther flakes.
They were pink, and strawberry flavored, I remember. And the TV commercial said “it tickles your tongue, it’s fun…”.
Anyways, they promptly discontinued them. And when I was about 8, I used to muse in my younger years, there used to be that cereal.
Anyone else remember Pink Panther flakes? I have been craving them ever since…
Bit O’Honey is still around. Amazon has it. I remember loving it, then suddenly stopped eating it, don’t know why. Here’s a great website for your candy memories: https://www.oldtimecandy.com/
Speaking of candy, does anyone remember Sugar Mama. This was a Sugar Daddy covered in chocolate. And of course Sugar Babies (which are still around) to complete the family!
I used to love what I think were called Snails: caramel rounds wrapped around creamy white filling so that they formed a spiral, hence the name. I got these every time I went to the movies, before concession stand prices were jacked up through the roof. I’d eat them together with Green River soda pop, dispensed by the machine in the lobby (but I never got one of those cups with a red star on it entitling me to a treat :mad: ).
Danish Go-Rounds (mentioned in another thread)
Fruit Float
Space Sticks
Rice Krinkles cereal (I think that’s what they were called. They were a sweetened version of Rice Krispies. IIRC the picture on the box was a VERY non-PC Asian person wearing one of those straw hats.)
Doritos (the way they originally tasted!!!)
Seven-Up (?) candy bar (chocolate covered bar with 7 different blocks of fillings - that sounds like a lot, maybe I’m wrong)
Lots of different “penny” candy
Milk Shake candy bars (a Milky Way knockoff that were delicious frozen).
Lik-M-Aid (basically, flavored sugar).
Screaming Yellow Zonkers (a CrackerJack knockoff. The best box ever, though. They came back briefly a few years ago)
Regal Crown Sours (though they appear to be back again)
Suddenly S’mores. They were effectively pre-made Smores that you’d stick in the microwave for a few seconds so the marshmallow would pop up and the chocolate would melt. There were also very good right out of the box.
Until just now, every time I’ve looked I’ve never been able to find anything on the internet about them, almost like they didn’t exist. I’m glad I know I’m not crazy.
I suppose it would be too expensive and laborious to recreate. I suppose it’s just easier and cheaper to crank out endless peanut butter and chocolate, forever and ever. Like Taco Bell, no matter what they call their new invention, is the same old chili-hamburg, yellow cheese, and some kind of tortilla in another combination, American candy was, is, and probably always will be peanut and chocolate.
Yep, I was able to find those on the Internet. Upon reflection, I think the ones with the swirls were called Snorkels, not Snails. But a search for them turned up nothing.
You’re right, though: they taste exactly the same.
Anybody remember malted milk tablets? These were basically hard disks of sweetened malt (like the stuff that comes in a Horlick’s can) that came in rolls like Life Savers. I loved the damned things, but when I asked for them the last time I was in the US (2000), the guy at the candy counter said he’d never heard of them.
Oh, yeah, Sugar Daddies. Rip your teeth straight out of your jaw, even worse than Bit-O-Honey.
On a road trip to Cape Breton last summer, I was reacquainted with Mackintosh’s Toffee, a fond memory of childhood trips to the south shore of Lake Huron in Ontario. Also a dentist’s dream, but delicious enough to be worth every miserable cavity.
When my dad used to come to the United States on business from our country one of the things he always brought back was Alpine white chocolate bars. By the time we emigrated to the US they had ceased to exist. Still crave them today.
