America's Regional Candy
Like sports teams and hot dog styles, candy inspires fervent regional loyalties. Thanks to the Great Depression, the candy industry was booming during the early 1900s, when a nickel was all people could afford for a high-energy snack or meal. It's kind of scary—maybe exciting for the sake of candy—to think we've come full circle, but regardless, economic crisis or not, we'll never stop loving the candies from home.
Sky Bar (New England)
Born: 1937
The Necco brand Sky Bar remains the leading candy bar divided into four sections: caramel, vanilla nougat, peanut, and fudge. The name came from the candy's initial advertising campaign: sky-writing. It also made waves in the ad world during New York's 1945 blackout, when a sign for the candy was one of six properly lit signs in Times Square.
Cup-o-Gold (California)
Birth: 1950s
From the Gold Rush State, the Cup-o-Gold is similar to a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, except it's taller, wider, and has coconut and marshmallow. (So, potentially very different from the Reese's.)
Chick-o-Stick (Texas)
Birth: 1930s
First nicknamed "chicken bones," the crunchy stick resembles a bird's skeletal parts in shape and density, plus the coconut coating gives it a fried-chicken effect. Chick-o-Stick, which has a much more edible-sounding name, is filled with orange Butterfinger-like peanut shards.
Idaho Spud (Idaho)
Birth: 1918
There's no potato parts in the Idaho Spud. But the oblong-shape candy has a white center (spongy marshmallow) and brown skin (chocolate) covered in coconut—a very potatoey nonpotato thing.
Blue Monday (Kentucky)
Birth: 1930
It all started when candymaker Ruth Tharpe Hunt heard a traveling minister say, "Every Monday I have to have a little sweet to help me through my blue Monday." The chocolates with creamy centers have continued to help religious officials and laymen alike get through the day.
Nut Goodie (Minnesota)
Birth: 1912
Pearson's, the Twin Cities–based candy company, famously first started selling this maple candy for a nickel. Milk chocolate covering a creamy maple center (maple is such an underrated candy ingredient).
Valomilk (Kansas City Area)
Birth: 1931 The liquid-marshmallow-filled chocolate cup is the pride and joy of Merriam, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. Five generations later, the Sifers family still uses the same recipe and even some of the same equipment to make them. One problem: These cups don't have great structural integrity. They are known to ooze out milky filling through fissures.Twin Bing (Iowa)
Birth: 1923
Palmer Candy Company is one of the largest employers in Sioux City, Iowa. That means right now, a lot of Iowans are making Twin Bings, the round cherry-flavored nougats covered in chopped peanuts and chocolate.
See's Candy (West Coast)
Birth: 1921
As a California girl, I grew up thinking everyone had access to See's at their local shopping mall—alas, only those west of the Mississippi. Mrs. See was like my third grandmother, with her sweet white hair, free samples, and square butterscotch lollipops.
Ferrara Pan Candy (Illinois)
Birth: 1919
Lemonheads, Airheads, and Atomic fireballs—all the best of the nonchocolate league came from a few Italian guys who immigrated to Chicago. The factory is still in Forest Park near the Eisenhower Expressway, where the surrounding air must be lemon-scented.
Charleston Chews (Bay Area)
Birth: 1922
To set the record straight, these are not from Charleston, South Carolina, but from the Fox-Cross Candy Company in the San Francisco area. They're named for the dance craze of the 1920s (though, to be fair, the dance craze itself was named for the South Carolina city).
Peanut Chews (Pennsylvania)
Birth: 1917
Romanian immigrant Harry Goldenberg first introduced the chocolate-covered peanut and molasses gob, now a beloved snack for Phillies fans (the company is a team sponsor) and vegans (the dark chocolate flavor contains no milk or egg products).
Goo Goo Clusters (Tennessee)
Birth: 1912
The Goo Goo Cluster is a pretty big deal since it was the first "combination bar." That means it was the first to go beyond all-chocolate, combining a boatload of stuff (marshmallows, peanuts, and caramel). The name gives a nod to baby sounds and to Nashville's country music institution, the Grand Ole Opry (GOO).
Abba-Zaba (California)
Birth: 1917
Maybe the funnest candy to say, the peanut-butter-filled taffy comes in original and sour apple flavors.
Related
Vintage Candy Monday: Big Cherry
Vintage Candy Monday: Abba-Zabba
Vintage Candy Monday: Necco Wafers
Vintage Candy Monday: The Charleston Chew
Top 10 Worst Halloween "Candies"
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33 Comments:
It seems inconceivable that you passed over Tacoma, Washington's Brown and Haley's offerings. Two that belong in the Hall of Fame are the Mountain Bar and the to-die-for Almond Roca.
Are Frangos, an old Frederick and Nelson's super hero, a Northwest phenomenon or are they a national treat distributed now by Macy's?
czken at 8:55AM on 10/29/08
Abba-Zaba...you're my only friend.
njgood at 9:08AM on 10/29/08
As much as I love the vanilla Charleston Chew, this list comes down to two things for me: it's gotta be either Valomilk or Goo Goo Clusters. I think Valomilk just gets it.
Frangos are indeed now distributed by Macy's - they've been a midwestern staple since the early 30s, I think, thanks to Marshall Field.
worldcupfever at 9:43AM on 10/29/08
Charlestown Chews originated in Boston, MA, not the west coast.
Boscompb at 9:47AM on 10/29/08
Yeah Go Goo Goo!
Laurel E at 9:59AM on 10/29/08
What about Elmer's candy, like Gold Brick Egg, in New Orleans?
gillsnthrills at 10:29AM on 10/29/08
Chick-o-sticks rule.
bobbob at 10:35AM on 10/29/08
Blue Monday wins. Trust me. The rest are good, but Blue Monday wins.
Cupajo at 10:49AM on 10/29/08
Born, raised, and still live in Kentucky, but I have never heard of or seen a Blue Monday...
MollieBeth at 11:06AM on 10/29/08
Unfortunately, the area of Forest Park where the Ferrara Pan factory is located is also the location of a dozen or more other food manufacturing and packaging factories. I had the misfortune of working in the QC lab/test kitchen of one of those factories many years ago, and the actual smell in the area can best be described as "food hell". Every once in a while one factory will break through, and the area will smell tolerable for a day. Otherwise, it's the closest modern equivalent to the smell of an old-fashioned city meatpacking district.
banks at 11:12AM on 10/29/08
chick-o-sticks are second only to zagnut on my list of the best candy that is hard to find in brooklyn.
@czken -- i agree that almond roca are amazing but they seem a little higher-end than most of the stuff on this list
sloppy at 11:15AM on 10/29/08
@Boscompb: According to my research, the Fox-Cross Candy Company (responsible for Charleston Chews) started in Emeryville, CA in the Bay Area and later moved to Everett, MA when Nathan Sloane puchased the company.
Erin Zimmer at 11:18AM on 10/29/08
There was a book that came out on this very topic a few years ago by one of my college classmates, Steve Almond. Great name for someone writing about food. I can't remember the name of the book at the moment.
I never tried a Zagnut bar, or a Zero bar, either for that matter. Being from New England, by now I really should have tried a Skybar.
LadyMarmalade at 11:46AM on 10/29/08
I work about 3 blocks from the Idaho Candy Company factory in Downtown Boise [where they make the Idaho Spud] - it's a pleasure to ride my bike by twice a day, always smelling wonderful - and especially so now that it's fall, the combo of cold air and chocolate... very cool.
P.S. Idaho Spuds are sooooooo good frozen :D
sakuraa at 11:52AM on 10/29/08
LOVE Goo Goo Clusters!
I have never had a Sky Bar but it sounds and looks so similar to a candy bar that my dad would bring home as a treat from his business trips back in the 1970s. I want to say the name of the bar had the word "seven" in it because the bar was divided into seven sections, at least I think it did (I was only 6-7 years old at the time). I'm not sure if it was a regional candy (I grew up in Alabama). Does this candy bar ring a bell with anybody else?
Esmeralda at 12:00PM on 10/29/08
Twin Bing ftw! Seriously, they are really good. Now that I'm an adult, I eat about 1 a year, but the cherry goo in the middle is sooo good...
lo82070 at 12:42PM on 10/29/08
The book LadyMarmalade is referring to is called "Candy Freak" and it is a treasure. Very funny and full of great information. It was my introduction to several candies, most notably, the Valomilk, which may be the greatest combination of chocolate and marshmallow ever to be sold in a candy store. A couple of years ago, having read Almond's almost orgasmic account of his first encounter with the Valomilk, I was looking forward to a business trip to KC where I felt certain I could find this treasure. I was delighted to discover that the welcome table at the conference I was attending was giving away Valomilks and Cherry Mashes. I took two VMs and asked the woman at the table where I could get more. She told me the name of the supermarket where she had gotten them but when I got there they were out. I panicked, then got smart and called information for the phone number of the Russell Sifer Candy Company. When I explained my plight to the man who answered the phone there, he told me that all Cracker Barrel Country Stores carry Valomilks. He even told me where at Cracker Barrel I would find them. He was so helpful, and so persuasive in his description of the deliciousness that awaited me, that I had to ask who he was. He told me: Russell Sifer, proud owner of the company. Go find yourself a Valomilk.
lawandmusic at 1:30PM on 10/29/08
Oh my God!! I love Sky Bars, Charleston Chews, and Lemon Heads, but my favorite on this list, is the Peanut Chews. There getting hard to find down here in Va.
Raiders757 at 8:09PM on 10/29/08
I forgot to mention that I used to enjoy Abba-Zaba, but I can't remember how my folks got ahold of them when I was a kid. I love peanut butter filled candies.
Raiders757 at 8:12PM on 10/29/08
Gillsnthrills—you are SO right. Gold Brick Eggs are our LIFE in New Orleans. How could they not be on this list?
pearl at 8:16PM on 10/29/08
While Brown & Haley's Almond Roca may be a little too upscale for this list, their Mountain bars are not. Though I find the original and cherry flavors to be cloyingly sweet, their peanut Mountain bar is heaven - like a Reese's cup on steroids. [and if you get a chance to drop by their factory, they sell a lot of seconds of all of their sweets at truly great - and dangerous - prices]
sallyforth at 9:35PM on 10/29/08
I saw a bag of peanut chews going for about $12 in my grocery store this morning
then again, I am in south korea
machellebelle at 8:28AM on 10/30/08
Growing up in New England, I am proud to say I have eaten my bodyweight in skybars, zeros and zagnuts.... and would gladly trade away any amount of those awful necco wafers to get ahold of more of the afore mentioned candy bars.
Pavlov at 8:40AM on 10/30/08
VALOMILKS have been a favorite throughout the Midwest for over 75 years. Thanks to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants we are in more parts of our country now than ever before.
We consider our VALOMILKS to be the messiest candy in the country, but that makes it fun and candy should be fun. "When it runs down your chin you know its a VALOMILK."
Thanks for including our VALOMILKS on your list.
Russ Sifers
PS - Esmeralda might be thinking of the 7-Up Bar.
Russ Sifers at 1:17PM on 10/30/08
Mr. Sifers -- Thank you for verifying the name of the "7-Up" bar. The 7-Up bar, the Marathon bar (a chocolate-covered caramel braid), and Fruit-Stripe gum are sweet memories of my childhood.
I am ashamed to say that I have never tried a VALOMILK. I am currently living in the United Kingdom so I doubt I can find one here. As soon as I move back home to Texas, I will head to the nearest Cracker Barrel to enjoy my first VALOMILK.
Esmeralda at 4:34PM on 10/30/08
In addition to being the home of the rugged Mountain Bar, the sumptuos Almond Roca and its high-strung cousin- Mocha Roca, the NW has also produced the Washington intrafamous Applets & Cotlets. As far as I can tell, they never escaped the border, but are known to most Washingtonians as a symbol of our state produce. Too bad I don't really care for them...
jfljoe at 5:57PM on 10/30/08
I can't vouch for the smell near Ferrara Pan, but the factory store that sells all of their candy cheap and in bulk is a treat to visit.
Daniel Zemans at 6:33PM on 10/30/08
I'm from California and have never ever seen one of those gold nugget things. I've seen plenty of Chic-o-sticks, though, and I think they're nasty.
buffy at 8:46PM on 10/30/08
I've also never seen one of the "cup-o-gold" things, and I've lived here for all but 5 years of my life. We did have neighbors who always gave us full sized "Abba Zabba" bars for halloween (they only gave a few of the neighborhood kids candy, and we had to call for them through the mailbox or they wouldn't answer the door.).
You missed a midwestern specialty, the Cherry Mash, that was common where I lived in Kansas.
cmtigger at 11:57PM on 10/30/08
Erin.........I stand corrected. I checked for myself, and you are right. Unfortunately, most people in the Boston area, and many in the confectionary industry, were and still are under the impression that Nate Sloane had started the company in Everett, MA, since his purchase and relocation of this enterprise was for some reason never publicly mentioned. I too had been mislead all these many years. Sorry about that, and thanks for setting the record straight.
Boscompb at 11:11AM on 10/31/08
How about Coffee Crisp? I never really appreciated it until I moved to the States and couldn't get it...
piccola at 9:14PM on 11/01/08
I spent my undergrad years at MIT, just a few blocks downwind of the New England Confectionery Company. Every morning's walk to classes was scented with the smell of Necco Wafers.
The company relocated to Everett because the building and property had become so valuable they decided to sell. A condition of the sale was that the new owners had to preserve the water tank at the top of the building, which was painted to resemble a roll of wafers. The new occupants, Novartis, repainted the tank with a DNA double helix - with base pairs colored like the wafers: pink, purple, orange, and green.
howlandwolfe at 10:36AM on 11/03/08
I'm with the Gold Brick guy, but Gold Bricks were literally that...little bars of milk chocolate studded with toasted pecans, wrapped in gold paper...when I was a kid. D.H. Holmes (immortalized in "A Confederacy of Dunces") and other shops sold Elmer's candies including the Gold Brick, Heavenly Hash (a variation on Rocky Road) cut into big sticky squares, and something the company no longer makes, Mint Bubblettes. They were big red and white peppermint rounds the size of jaw-breakers, but they melted away to nothing you your mouth. The family moved the company to Pontchatoula, La. -- back in the '60s, I think -- and they still make Gold Bricks and Heavenly Hash. Great candy.
expat39520 at 11:04AM on 11/03/08