Retro Dee writes about music, fashion and other trends of the 1950s on this site. Check out her blog, Retro Dee’s Guide to the Best Era Ever here, and her column here every week.
Welcome to “Searchin’ For The 50’s!”
I was inspired to do this segment when I was reviewing some of the things people were searching for that sent them to my blog. While some of the search terms sent them to a post with the exact information they were seeking, I realized that not every search term gave a direct answer to what people were looking for.
So for this section, I’ll be answering questions that were asked via search string.
Today’s string is “1950s Candies Which No Longer Exist”
Oh that’s a good one! The 1950s were a sweets-heavy decade. It seemed there was a drug store on every corner that sold candy bars and a penny-candy shop on every other street. After sugar rationing made candy scarce in the 1940s, sweets were back with a vengeance in the 1950’s.
So what kinds of candies did they have in the 1950’s, that we no longer have today? Here are a few examples:
Forever Yours: It sounds like an Everly Brothers song, but this is actually a candy bar which featured vanilla nougat and buttery caramel. It was created waaay back in 1926 and discontinued in 1979… or was it? Forever Yours can still be enjoyed today, under its modern name, “Milky Way Midnight”.
Coconut Grove: Coconut Grove was a delicious trip to the tropics for candy lovers. It was coconut-filled with dark, bittersweet chocolate coating. And you can bet the coconut was good quality imported coconut from the Islands.
Smooth Sailin’: Smooth Sailin is one candy bar that I personally wish existed today. It had vanilla nougat and walnuts covered in dark chocolate. That sounds really good and I can’t think of a candy bar on the market today that’s quite like it.
Big Time: This candy bar had caramel, nougat and peanuts, much like a Snickers bar. But it was bigger and heftier (one-eighth of a pound!) …and only 5 cents.
One particular candy bar that doesn’t exist in the mainstream stores any longer, but is available in nostalgia shops is Sky Bar. Sky Bar is special because it has 4 different centers in one candy bar: caramel, fudge, peanut butter and vanilla nougat. I tried today’s version and wasn’t impressed, but older relatives assure me that the ingredients must be different because back in the day, Sky Bar was the bee’s knees. Their retail store and manufacturing plant is still located in Sudbury, MA.
“Penny Candy” can still be found in nostalgia shops the world over. This includes things like Mary Janes, rootbeer barrels, Bit-O-Honey, Necco Wafers and Bullseyes. Because this is considered Classic Candy, it will never be extinct. The only thing that’s extinct is the price: two for a penny, which they were back in the Nifty Fifties.
For more info on this sweet topic, please have a look at my post Life In The 50’s: Candy Bars!
Well, that’s it for this edition of “Searchin’ For The 50’s!”
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