Forget about Snickers, M & M’s, Reese’s peanut butter cups, etc. for a moment.
My sweet tooth is often more satisfactorily sated by lesser-known treats, put out by lesser-known confectioners. I developed my taste for them back in the days of five and dime stores with lunch counters. And not the luxury five and dime stores like Kresge’s or Woolworths, either.
I’m talking Bun bars, or Salted Nut Rolls or Bit-o-Honey, put out by Pearson’s.
I’m talking Lemonheads or Atomic Fireballs or Boston Baked Beans by Ferrara.
I’m talking really, really out there candies, like Circus Peanuts, by Spangler’s. Yum . . .
C. Howard’s Violet mints.
They sold them in most of the stores in my home town, but they seem relatively rare elsewhere. I’ve seen them at Newbury Comics in the Boston area sometimes, or at Plymouth Plantation (!), but I can’t just walk into a random store and expect to find them (except back in my home town)
They also make other products – Lemon mints, spearmints, peppermints, and now Guava (!), but almost none of those were around when I was a kid.
The violet mints and gum really DO taste like violet. Even if you’ve never tasted violets, you’d agree after eating one. I now understand how Indian food includes ice cream flavors like “Rose”.
Bit-O-Honey! There’s one restaurant an hour from us that my husband and I sometimes frequent. The restaurant has a country store attached, and the store sells Bit-O-Honey, so every time we go, we come back with a big batch of Bit-O-Honey. And the best part is he doesn’t like the candy as much, so I get to eat all of them!
Good god, there is someone out there that likes Circus Peanuts?
After a thread here recently made me re-seek them out, I find that I do quite like Chick-O-Stick. Basically, think of Butterfingers without the chocolate.
If Whatchamacallit counts, then count me in for that, too.
As for international favorites, in Hungary there’s a candy bar called Túró Rudi. It’s a tube of chocolate-covered túró (something like farmer’s cheese/cottage cheese. Basically a fresh curdy cheese, but not as wet as cottage cheese. If you know the Russian tvorog or a firm variant of German quark, or something like Indian paneer, that’s what I’m talking about.)
I’ve never been to the USA, so perhaps I’m missing some nuances of what Qadqop means by “mainstream”, but I’d be surprised if a Hershey product I can buy in a bargain store in Whitley Bay is what he had in mind.
It was the Milk Shake Bar, long gone now. I like those jelly fruit slices, no particular brand, and not all of them are good. And the little chocolate liquor bottles with some kind of real liquor in them are a treat. They aren’t available for sale in every state because of the alcohol, I stock up when I find them because people like so much, even though it’s just some cheap milk chocolate with some cheap liquor inside.
I can’t find Bit-O-Honey in my neck of the woods, so I recently ordered a whole carton of the bars, plus a bag of individual pieces, from oldtimecandy.com - I’m eating one right now! I also ordered a bag of Walnettos, good for channelling my inner Tyrone F. Horneigh.
Maple sugar candy! Thank God for the internet, because in the late 80s, early 90s I had to rely on family members mailing it to me or bringing it back from trips home to New England.
Mint flavored Uno and Rocky Road bars, both produced by Annabelle. I wouldn’t turn down the regular flavor but thought the mint was much tastier. Haven’t seen them in well over a decade or maybe closer to two.
Those bars that were mainly coconut with stripes of brown, white and pink. Can’t remember the name.
Scrub Jay found some Flicks chocolates recently. I believe at Ikea. They’re kind of like the poor man’s Hershey Kiss. I’d forgotten about them but she has fond memories of them. It does remind me of the time I’d fooled her into eating a carob hamster treat, which looked very similar.
Qadgop, if you have a Dollar Tree near you, check there for your Circus Peanut fix. I think the ones they sell are made by Spengler but don’t quote me on it.
Brach’s nougats- the ones with the fruity hunks in them. Also, Brach’s Christmas tree peppermint nougats. Clark bars are better than Butterfingers. I will occasionally feast on a strawberry Charleston Chew. I haven’t seen Kentucky mints or chocolate stars in ages.
I’m really ticked off at the abandoning of the finest flavor, lime, by Skittles, Lifesavers, Pixie Stix, and SweeTarts.
