1970s-1980s Halloween candy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Necco wafers! I was convinced that the different colors had different flavors and that the gray ones were the best, when, in reality, they all tasted like chalk.

I still want a gray cat called Necco, though.

They do have flavors. Gray is licorice. Brown is chocolate. The rest are vaguely fruit flavored, with undertones of sweet chalk. But all yummy! One of their downfalls was changing the recipe to be more "natural" to appeal to more consumers. It flopped and they reverted to the original recipe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember people actually giving out homemade sweets like caramel apples and popcorn balls. We loved them and no one freaked out about “unwrapped” treats.

You had bad parents. Weren't they concerned about razors and needles in the candy? The only unwrapped food items my parents would let us eat were the popcorn balls that my next door neighbor made (nobody wanted these anyway, yuck!).

Total urban myth that seemed to get more press in the mid 80s. My 1970s parents never worried about this. We got caramel apples, popcorn balls, and one neighbor had freshly-made donuts. Yum!

Same here and we ate them, but we didn't covet them as much as we did the manufactured and heavily advertised candy. Delicious homemade baked goods? We could get those any time.

That razor thing just seemed to come out of nowhere one year and that was it. It might have been around the time of the Tylenol poisonings and that serial killer of young boys in Chicago who also worked as a clown or something. I'm not so sure anyone ever actually confirmed a razor blade in an apple anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember those disgusting taffies that were black and orange? Some things are better left in the past.

Oh I loved those!! They had a weird peanut butter flavor.

Peanut Butter Kisses. The worst. Right up there with Bit o'Honey and Charleston Chews.

I'd forgotten about the black and orange ones but I always loved peanut butter kisses. I think the black and orange ones were softer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone remember the big jolly rancher sticks, they were flat and the same length as a candy bar?

We used to buy them during lunch hour (which was an hour!), there was a little variety store a block from my high school. They would also sell a small burger and a soda for the exact same price as the school lunch. The place would be crammed with kids massed at the small lunch counter for their burger and pop.

Place also had black and white prom pictures stuck on the wall going back to the 1950s.

I'd buy a butterscotch one, haven't seen that in my adult life I don't think.

Plus they also sold woodwind reeds!

[Anonymous]

mallow cups!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember people actually giving out homemade sweets like caramel apples and popcorn balls. We loved them and no one freaked out about “unwrapped” treats.

You had bad parents. Weren't they concerned about razors and needles in the candy? The only unwrapped food items my parents would let us eat were the popcorn balls that my next door neighbor made (nobody wanted these anyway, yuck!).

Total urban myth that seemed to get more press in the mid 80s. My 1970s parents never worried about this. We got caramel apples, popcorn balls, and one neighbor had freshly-made donuts. Yum!

Same here and we ate them, but we didn't covet them as much as we did the manufactured and heavily advertised candy. Delicious homemade baked goods? We could get those any time.

That razor thing just seemed to come out of nowhere one year and that was it. It might have been around the time of the Tylenol poisonings and that serial killer of young boys in Chicago who also worked as a clown or something. I'm not so sure anyone ever actually confirmed a razor blade in an apple anywhere.

No, it was pre-Tylenol poisonings. In the early 70s, when I was a kid, you'd often get apples on Halloween. Then the rumor started that people put razor blades in them so that effectively stopped that. It may have even been around earlier than that.

There were also always rumors of people putting drugs (LSD, maybe?) in candy like Pixie Sticks. There was always a seasonal newspaper article saying that you should have your parents inspect your candy before you ate it and to only eat wrapped candies.

[Anonymous]

My uncle's mom used to make popcorn balls and they were the best thing ever.

[Anonymous]

Goobers (as opposed to Raisinettes) and Good and Fruity(Good and Plenty’s better tasting cousin)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t care for them but small boxes of good and plenty

I don’t much care for them either but LOVE ❤️ their Good & Fruity.

[Anonymous]

Candy dots on the paper.
Baazooka
Gum in general
Krackle
Nestle crunch
Nerds (the regular ones, they were back but Nerd balls are more common now and one of my kids hates anything gummy)
Good & Plenty - good ridence
Candy corn - I always gave the corn to my mom.
Sweetarts
Junior Mints
Now and Laters
Tootsie pops
Blow pops
the little Halloween paper bags with a variety of candy.

There was so much more variety in late 70s thru the mid-80s. Now it seems like my whole neighborhood has the Costco variety chocolate bag or variety non-chocolate nut free bag. We do have a few who give out full-size bars.

[Anonymous]

Mallow cups - the worst!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tootsie rolls and Mary Janes

Mary Janes were the only candy I was allowed to eat. They were terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tootsie rolls and Mary Janes

Mary Janes were the only candy I was allowed to eat. They were terrible.

Did your parents dislike you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Weren't there 100,000 bars or something like that? And Sweeties.

There was a 100 Grand candy bar that had peanuts, chocolate, and caramel. Is that what you're thinking of?

Yes! It was my fave.

100 grand does not have peanuts it has crunch bar bits like a crunch/krackel bar.

to add to the list:

nerds (still around but not as abundant)
pixie sticks
fun dip
bit o honey
almond joy and mounds
butterfingers
baby ruth
crunch
weird flavored tootsie rolls like cherry, orange, and vanilla
sweet tarts
blow pops (only get tootsie pops now) and gum in general
sugar babies
sugar daddies
red hots
warheads
fireballs

good and pletny
mike and Ike's
lemonheads

[Anonymous]

I really hate seeing people just buy the bags at Costco and call it a day. You have can have Snickers and M&Ms any other day of the week. Halloween is a time to have the fun stuff.