Loved and lost

We get customers coming in on a daily basis requesting sweets that they used to get when they were younger (of course we never ask their actual age) and most of the time we can normally point them in the right direction. But during over the years, we have had to disappoint some people...sometimes even going as far as spoiling their day by telling them that they no longer
even make their childhood favourite sweets....it makes us feel awful! So we thought we’d take the time to look into where some of these sweet treats of yesteryear had gone and who was responsible!

Texan Bars:  Those cheeky chappys at Nestlé started producing these chocolate covered nougat and toffee bars in the 1970’s and creating cheesy strap lines like “A Man's gotta chew what a Man's gotta chew”. In the 1980’s they stopped making them, and ever since they have appeared top of the”bring back” charts...so they did...for a mere 6 weeks back in 2005. Talk about keeping the Texan Bars exclusive...or should that be elusive?!

Spangles:  Mars started making these boiled sweets in the 1950’s, when rationing was still limiting the amount of sweets anyone could buy. The bonus with Spangles was that they only cost one token instead of 2 like other sweets and chocolate. What a bargain! They were a mix of flavours including strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime, and later on, they released a mystery flavour - still not revealed! Sadly they were discontinued in the early 1980’s, but made a fleeting reappearance in 1995 in only orange and blackcurrant flavour.

Opal Fruits: Whilst these still technically grace the shelves of sweet shops around the world, someone brave at Mars decided to rename them in 1998 as Starburst. The original name “Opal Fruits” was actually thought up by a competition winner, Peter Pfeffer  in 1959 which won him a whole £5! Their catchy tag line (which will now stick in your head all day) was “Opal Fruits
- made to make your mouth water!”

Wispa: The beloved bubbly bar was initially only a trial treat first made in 1981 to compete with Nestlé’s Aero and was fully launched in 1983. In 2004 Cadbury’s changed the name to Dairy Milk Bubbles. An internet campaign in 2008 brought back the Wispa title back to the purple packets again. After all, nobody likes change!

Marathon Bars: These peanutty caramel bars were first made in 1930 and marketed worldwide as Snickers except in the UK and Ireland. “Snickers” was actually the Mars family horse, and so in 1990, Mars decided that the same bar sold around the world should have the same name around the world! They kept their same ingredients though, with each bar containing roughly 16 whole peanuts!

So, we may have lost some great tastes over the years, and had to change what we ask for in the sweetshop when we all know what name sounded best, but the good news is that there are still many great Retro Sweets that are still gracing our shop’s shelves. Remember Curly Wurly’s? Caramac? Poppets? Wham Bars? And yes, we definitely have Anglo Bubbly bubble gum!