Hello everyone. Today I will be writing about eating my favorite candy while growing up in the 1970s in Chicago. My earliest memories of the candy that I remembered were Good and Plenty and M and M’s. Both are still around, but I still eat M&M’s and the plain ones are my favorites. When I lived in the Roseland and Ashburn neighborhoods in the 1970s, I was introduced to a plethora of candy products that are fondly remembered today. Here is a list of candy products that I remembered that are gone and some are still with us:
- M&M’s, Plain and Peanut
- Good and Plenty
- Chuckles
- Chiclets, the fun-size was my favorite
- Beech-Nut Gum
- Adams Ice Cream Gum. Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry
- Milk Shake Candy Bar
- Butter Nut Candy Bar
- Bun
- Charms Lollipops
- Charms Blow-up Pops
- PowerHouse
- Caravelle
- Almond Cluster
- Bit O’ Honey and Bit O’ Chocolate
- Chunky
- Life Savers Gum and Lollipops
- Charleston Chew
- Razzles
- Seven-Up
- Zagnut
- Zero
- Payday
- Mars Bar
- Forever Yours
- Bubble Yum
- Bubblicious
- Clark Teaberry Gum
- Clark Fruit Punch Gum
- Fruit Strip Gum
- Bub’s Daddy Gum
- Nestle’s Choco-Lite
- Nestle’s Triple Decker Bar
- Nestle’s $100,000 Bar
- Clark Bar
- Hollywood Candy Bar
- Summit
- Freshen-Up Gum
- Velamints
- Pom Pom’s
- Toffifay
- Slo Poke Lollipops
- Black Cow Lollipops
- Reggie Candy Bar
- Snik Snak
- Bounty
- BlackJack gum
- Clove Gum
- Beemans Gum
- Candy Cigarettes
- Mallo Cup
- Tootsie Roll. Chocolate and Vanilla Midgees
- Good And Fruity
- Snickers Munch Peanut Brittle
- Bar None
- Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
- Mounds
- Almond Joy
- Hershey’s Whatchamacallit Bar
- Nestle’s Crunch
- Nestle’s Milk Chocolate Bar
- Baby Ruth
- Butterfinger
- Goobers
- Raisinetes
- Sno-Caps
- Jujubes
- Dots Candy
- Pal Bubble Gum
- Gobstoppers
- Three Musketeers
- Snickers
- Milky Way
- Starburst
- Charms Hard Candy
- Skittles
- Tootsie Pops
- Willy Wonka’s Oompas
- Wonka Bar
- Willy Wonka’s Skrunch Bar
- Sweetarts
- Milk Duds
- Oh Henry
- Junior Mints
- Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddy
- Whoppers
- Star Bar
- Hershey’s Krackel and Mr. Goodbar
- Life Savers Wild Cherry
- Red Hots
- Bonomo Turkish Taffy
- Gold Rush
- 5th Avenue
- Twix
- Hershey’s Special Dark
- Bozo Bubble Gum
- Bazooka Gum
- Dynamites
- Pop Rocks
- Adams Sour Cherry, Orange, and Grape
- Dentyne
- Trident
- Care Free Sugarless Bubble Gum
- Clark Cinnamint Gum
- Amurol Sugarless Gum
- Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum
- Clove Gum
- Certs
- Dubble Bubble
- Orbit
- Chum Gum
- Heath
- Cadbury Chocolate Bars
- Kit Kat
- Whistle Pops
- Rolo
- Hershey’s Skor Bar
- Clorets
- Switzer’s Licorice
- Sidekicks Candy Bar
- Tootsie Pop Drops
- Peanut Butter With No Jelly
- Wacky Packages with bubble gum
- Tic Tacs
- Twizzlers
- York Peppermint Pattie
- And the all-time favorite that I wish would come back, The Marathon Bar.
I fondly remembered the Marathon Chocolate Bar with its attractive logo, the shape of the candy bar, and how good it tasted. I vividly remembered the commercials with Marathon John. One commercial starred Patrick Wayne, John Wayne’s son. He challenged anyone who was very fast, but when it came down to eating a Marathon bar, they were defeated. The Marathon Bar was introduced in 1973 and was discontinued in 1981. They have a similar product in England called Curly Wurly. The places that I remembered buying candy were, Kresge’s, Woolworth’s, Gately’s People Store, A&P, DeKoven Drug Store, and Walgreens in Roseland. When I moved to Ashburn in September 1974, I bought my candy at Edward’s Drug Store, Crestline Pharmacy, and White Hen Pantry. It was so much fun riding my bicycle, going to those places but having a hard time choosing which ones to buy, because I didn’t have enough money to buy them.
Now and then I will eat some candy. At my age, I should be very cautious. Around Halloween, there is always leftover candy and I end up eating it all sporadically. When you were a kid, it was a beautiful and magical time to see those wonderful treats. So colorful and tasty. It was one of the best times of my life. Thank you. Pete Kastanes, Admin for Vanished Chicagoland Facebook Page.