Candy counters in the 1970s were filled with treats that today’s kids might not even recognize.
Pop Rocks
Introduced in the mid-1970s, Pop Rocks made eating candy feel like a sensory overload experience. Simply tipping a packet of microscopic carbonated sugar crystals onto your tongue caused tingling bursts of popping sensation as the tiny spheres release pent-up carbon dioxide. The loudness and novelty of Pop Rocks made them an instant hit with kids everywhere.
Rumors of soda-pop-induced stomach explosions were severely exaggerated, but kids still used their allowances buying candy that made their mouths POP.
Ring Pop
Appearing near the end of the 1970s, the Ring Pop has a plastic ring that held a large piece of hard candy, often shaped like a jewel. It allowed children to flaunt their candy in a playful way. The Ring Pop ring would slip onto your finger, allowing you to lick your candy all day long without getting your hands sticky.
These became playground favourites and were used during Ring Pop wedding ceremonies or exchanged for other candy. Children often stained their tongues bright colors like cherry, watermelon, or blue raspberry for days.
Bottle Caps
In an effort to bottle actual soda fountain flavors, Bottle Caps were packaged in a dispenser-like roll with sour and chalky tablets that were designed to resemble metal bottle caps from soda bottles.
Available flavors included root beer, cola, cherry, grape, and orange so children could enjoy multiple sodas at once. Because they were sour and chalky, they dissolved easily on the tongue and gave a concentrated flavor children would associate with a carbonated drink.
WigWag
Eight inches in length, it was known for its braided pattern made from soft caramel coated in milk chocolate. Wrapped in bright red paper with a yardstick printed on the reverse side, the wrapper challenged children to see how long they could make it last.
Because the caramel filling was so thick and chewy, children found themselves chewing with all their might to bite through it. The bar became popular as an after-school treat because of its large portion size for only a few cents.
Wacky Wafers
Sporting oversized silver-dollar-sized sugary discs bound into a long translucent wrapper, Wacky Wafers provided a concentrated blast of artificial fruit taste. Packs included every color of the rainbow flavor assortment, including green apple, banana, strawberry, orange, and watermelon.
The wafers had a firm, chalky texture that cracked audibly with each bite, leaving your mouth wonderfully sweet. Kids absolutely loved unwrapping the clear plastic sleeve to grab their favorite color-flavored wafer first.
Laffy Taffy
Launched in the 1970s as an elongated flat strip of soft, chewy candy, Laffy Taffy was unique because it combined fruity sweetness with kid-friendly jokes printed on the wrapper.
You could stretch, twist, and fold the wide, soft square of taffy, and enjoy your banana, sour apple, cherry flavored candy for hours. Reading the cheesy puns printed on each wrapper was almost as enjoyable as eating them. Plus, it prompted children to repeat the jokes to everyone they knew.
Bubble Yum
Bubble Yum first arrived in stores in 1975 and was unlike any other bubble gum before it. It came in a small square shape and was extremely soft and moist. Kids no longer had to chew on a stiff gum tab for minutes on end until it softened enough to blow bubbles.
With Bubble Yum, huge photo-worthy bubbles could be blown right out of the package. Regardless of the rumors that said spider eggs were mixed into the gum to make it so soft, Bubble Yum flew off the shelves, becoming the most popular gum in schoolyards everywhere.
Fun Dip
Fun Dip developed out of Lik-M-Aid, but they took the novelty to the next level by marketing packets of super concentrated, flavored powder that could be scooped up by licking an edible stick of hardened sugar.
The white “Lik-A-Stix” needed to be licked before the brightly colored cherry, grape, or apple powder would stick to it. Kids absolutely adored seeing their tongues turn those garish artificial colors, carefully doling out the powder so it wouldn’t disappear before the edible stick was gone.
Charms Blow Pops
Charms Blow Pops mixed two favorites into one. The outer shell was a hard candy lollipop that opened up to reveal a soft, chewy bubble gum center once you licked through the candy coating.
Released in the early 70s, the Blow Pop was much more rewarding for kids because it lasted so much longer than a regular chewable gum. Available in sour apple, cherry, and grape, kids would challenge themselves to get to the gum center without biting through the candy shell.
Charleston Chew
Charleston Chew, a long bar of soft, stretchy vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry nougat coated in milk chocolate, was a beloved candy for countless people in the 1970s.
Children would place the candy bar in the freezer until solid, then smack the bar onto a countertop, cracking it into crunchy, bite-sized pieces. Hearing that distinctive Charleston Chew Crack was half the fun that made this chew bar such a tasty treat on warm summer days.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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