Retro Candy

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to 7-11 with my sisters and cousins every month and picking out my favorite candy, knowing that I would be devouring these sweet treats when I got back home. It was also so much fun to compare what my sisters and cousin picked out and what I would pick out, and trading pieces of candy when we got back home.

So you are probably wondering what the big deal is? You can go to any Walmart or Costco and get giant bags of candy to last for weeks. You have to understand that back in the 80’s, things were different and just the simplest things like buying candy from a 7-11 or Macs was such a treat.  In addition, we were so young that walking to the nearby 7-11 without our parents gave us a sense of independence for the first time.   There was such a large a variety and selection of candy back then, the packaging was so colorful and fun, and a lot of it was made the old fashioned way meaning the candy was hard, and long lasting in flavor. 

We were all given a crisp dollar bill each and off we went on a candy shopping mission! We would be in the candy section for quite a long time and the workers at 7-11 were always so nice to us.  You could actually buy a lot with a dollar back then:

- Mojos
- Fun Dip Lik-M-Aid
- Bonkers
- Chiclets
- Big League Chew Shredded Bubble Gum
- Nerds and Jumbo Nerds
- Gobstoppers
- Candy Corn
- Popeye Candy Cigarettes
- Pop Rocks
- Sweet Tarts
- Astro Pop lolipops
- Fizz Candy
- Golden Nugget Gum
- Nibs
- Root Beer and Cola Bottle Caps
- Bazooka Bubble Gum (the little comic strip it came with inside the wrapper was awesome!)

This was soooo not my favorite candy:

  

Fast forward to today and I very rarely eat candy now because I just never have that craving.  If I do want some form of pure sugar on that rare occasion, my candy of choice are the popcorn flavored jelly beans. It actually does taste like popcorn and it reminds of a savory sweet combination. There are some things that were much better in the 80s, and I have to say retro candy is one of them.