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Regular Contributor
Posts: 176
Registered: ‎04-21-2013

Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

On 1/26/2015 Burnsite said:

I liked black licorice best. The recipe has changed so much since the Dark Ages, though. Too sweet and bland these days. This is just as well for my diet, though.

Mary Janes were nice, too. And "Atomic Fireballs"--remember them?


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Burnsite, have you tries the old fashioned licorice at Target? The pieces are about 2+ long and I really like them.

I also order great licorice from Vermont Country Store.

I hope you find them Smile

Valued Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

I liked root beer barrels, candy cigarettes, those long rainbow colored taffy wrapped in waxed paper envelopes, those little licorice "capsuls. ( colored white and pink and black. there is an Ace store near where Mr S shops. they have a ton of retro candy. Smiley Happy
Respected Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

sylvia, do you mean Good & Plenty?

I liked those little cellophane rolls of the sour little "pills" in different colors. I don't know if they even had a name. Tasted like Sweet Tarts which my kids loved years later and they weren't a penny. I could make a pack of those little pills last all day.

Valued Contributor
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Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

On 2/1/2015 cody2 said:

sylvia, do you mean Good & Plenty?

I liked those little cellophane rolls of the sour little "pills" in different colors. I don't know if they even had a name. Tasted like Sweet Tarts which my kids loved years later and they weren't a penny. I could make a pack of those little pills last all day.

yes! Cody, that's the name. And double bubble and beeman's gum. I can't remember them all. Smiley Happy
Valued Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

how about those licorice pieces in a gold box with a camel on it? Was it Dromedary?
Valued Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

maybe I'm spacing it out, but I don't remember buying / eating chocolate. My dad made homemade fudge once a week, but that's it
Super Contributor
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Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

Night n' Day but we only got them at the Drive-In movies. Sweet Tarts, Junior Mints, Freaky Flyers (toy planes) with bubble gum inside. Wacky Packages - funny trading cards (more gum) Bubs Daddy bubble gum. We had a newspaper store in town with wood floors and a huge candy display. Every Saturday we rode our bikes there and spent our allowance - 50c!

Respected Contributor
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Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

Hi, Sylvia and blueskies and everyone, The black licorice with the camel illustration (I remember them in a bag) was called Nibs. Very herbal. I have tried the Euro and Australian licorices but they don't taste the same as I what I remember--perhaps they do, and my preferences have changed.

Except there is one kind of seasonal treat that has the flavor I remember: the santa licorice pipe that we see at Christmastime. That to me has the taste of the old-time licorice--that and Good and Plenty.

I don't eat candy really, but an exception is when I travel.

I was stuck in bad weather on my way to Vancouver, in one of the Chicago airports, and _couldn't find a Good and Plenty_ in any of the newsstands. That would have made me happier during a long 8 hour layover. Licorice is just not as popular as it used to be, though a lot of people in the Northeast still love it. The Airport newsstands pretty much had chocolate, which I don't really crave.

Sylvia, you mentioned long taffy in colors--were the wrappers red? I think in my area outside Boston they were a local treat made by an Italian confectioner and were like the "butter rum" lifesaver in taste.

NEngland has a sweet tooth for certain--that's where Christmas ribbon candy, Necco wafers, and the original Valentine sweethearts came from. Candied fruit slices in summer, too.

Honored Contributor
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Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

sfnative: Hello.........I'll look around for licorice made in Great Briton/England!

'More or less', 'Right or wrong', 'In general', and 'Just thinking out loud ' (as usual).
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Re: Baby Boomers: What was your favorite penny candy?

I don't think it was ever considered penny candy, but we had fun with the Pez dispensers & candies.