As we have gotten older, we might reach for that expensive chocolate or fancy dessert, but the kid in us remembers a time when a trip to the supermarket or a day spent trick-or-treating resulted in the greatest reward: some of the finest junk food in history. Yet, time and marketing changes and many of our childhood favorites are no longer manufactured. Youth is wasted on the young, and it seems some of these candies were as well.
DR. PEPPER GUM
While Hubba Bubba has released a Dr. Pepper flavored gum, it does not seem quite as exciting as the original which features a “splash” of Dr. P in its center.
PB MAX
A favorite of this former chubby, PB Max was released by Mars I the early 90s. It featured CHUNKY peanut butter on a shortbread cookie covered in chocolate. It was awesome – and respected the chunky lovers out there.
CINNAMON TIC TACS
Okay, maybe they are “mints”, but when Tic Tac stopped producing the cinnamon flavor in 2009, people flipped. There are still petitions demanding they return.
THE ORIGINAL MARS BAR
The fraternal sister to the Milky Way bar, the original Mars was also caramel and nougat, but seemed to always have more caramel than its twin. Though still available outside of the US, it was discontinued in the States in the early 2000s.
RED HOT DOLLARS
Chewy, cinnamon-y spice, Red Hot Dollars are still around and are the perfect thing to get stuck in your teeth and burn your tongue a little (in the best way) However, the original Red Hot Dollars were raspberry, and they have since gone the way of the dodo.
ORANGE JUICE GUM
The juice gums in the mini carton were the preferred gum on many playgrounds. Grape and Pink Lemonade were great, Apple was a little odd, but the Orange Juice gum was the prize. Who needs real juice (or vitamin C) when you have this gum?
BUTTERFINGER BBS
Mini Butterfingers sometimes just do not do it. Sometimes you need tiny Butterfinger balls you can eat by the handful!
ASTRO POP
Color does not always equal flavor in the candy world. (M&Ms all taste the same), but the Astro Pop was cherry, pineapple and passion fruit. Created by former rocket scientists, the Astro Pop capitalized on the space fanacism in the 60s.
GATORGUM
Gatorgum claimed to “quench your thirst”, and while that is unproven, it was super tasty and a great way to convince mom that gum was not all that bad for us.
