Sweet Goners
There was a time when candy was just candy. It wasn’t pretending to be good for you, or organic, or high in fiber. It was sugar. Cheap. That’s it. In the 1960s, some of the most memorable treats were the kind you grabbed on the way home from school or found melted in your jacket pocket. Not all were new to that decade, but they were popular then.
Most are gone now, but we wish they’d make a comeback. Here are some of the popular ‘60s candy bars that time forgot.
Seven Up Bar
Never mind the fizzy drink — this has nothing to do with it, despite my millennial brain instantly making the connection. As far as candy goes, the Seven Up Bar was an ambitious one. Introduced by Pearson’s Candy Company, it was a chocolate bar divided into seven pockets, each filled with a different flavor: caramel, cherry, coconut, fudge, mint, nougat, jelly (give or take, depending on the year). A sweet tooth’s dream with a split personality.
The bar disappeared from shelves in 1979, possibly due to the name conflict with 7Up or because producing seven separate fillings wasn’t exactly cheap.
Sky Bar
Here we have a sort of downgrade from the Seven Up bar, with four flavor compartments instead of seven in one package. This one, however, stuck around longer. Sky Bar was launched in 1938 by Necco and had four molded chocolate pockets with different fillings (caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge). It enjoyed a long run as a New England favorite. When Necco went out of business in 2018, the Sky Bar was discontinued along with the company’s other candies.
However, a small general store called Duck Soup in Sudbury, Massachusetts, bought the rights and resurrected the candy bar in 2019 on a very limited scale. The new Sky Bar uses a 1970s recipe, features improved chocolate, and is still made with local New England ingredients (including Fluff and Teddie Peanut Butter).
Milkshake Bar
Remembered for tasting “just like a milkshake in solid form,” the Milkshake Bar was introduced by the Hollywood Candy Company in the 1920s and featured fluffy malted-milk nougat and caramel covered in milk. It was a mid-century staple but started disappearing in the late 1970s as Hollywood Candy underwent corporate turmoil, and by the 1990s, it was gone from shelves.
Caravelle Bar
A milk chocolate crisped rice and caramel bar made by Peter Paul Candy Company (the same confectionery genius behind Mounds and Almond Joy). It was introduced in 1965 to compete with Nestlé’s $100,000 Bar (now “100 Grand”). It had a similar formula of smooth caramel and crunchy rice bits – and many fans swore Caravelle was way better. Sadly, Caravelle’s life was cut short when Peter Paul merged with Cadbury-Schweppes in 1978; the new parent company discontinued Caravelle in the late ’70s, much to devotees’ dismay.
Smooth Sailin’
A lesser-known chocolate bar from Hollywood Candy Company. Smooth Sailin’ combined a fluffy vanilla “divinity” nougat with walnuts, all covered in dark chocolate. Its 5¢ wrapper featured sailboats, playing on the nautical name. This rich, walnut-laced bar developed a small following (some recall it as a personal favorite of the era), but it did not survive beyond the mid-20th century. By the time Hollywood Brands was sold in 1967, Smooth Sailin’ had already sailed into oblivion along with many of Hollywood’s other regional candy bars.
Big Time Bar
Big Time was a spin-off of Hollywood’s Milkshake bar – it had the Milkshake’s malted nougat and chocolate, but added peanuts for extra crunch, and weighed in at a hefty 1/8th of a pound. It remained on the market for several decades, but like many Hollywood bars, it was eventually discontinued (likely by the 1970s).
Butter-Nut Bar
Butter-Nut was a milk chocolate bar filled with nuts and possibly a light nougat or caramel (akin to a Butterfinger or Snickers hybrid). It was popular enough that Hollywood defended the “Butter-Nut” name in court in the 1920s. The bar stuck around for decades but eventually vanished after Hollywood’s 1967 sale.
PowerHouse
The PowerHouse — introduced in the 1950s by the Peter Paul Candy Co — was a hefty 2-ounce bar of chewy caramel, fudge, and peanuts covered in chocolate, and it was an early “energy bar” styled candy. Its marketing played on strength and sustenance, positioning it as a substantial treat that could boost your energy, essentially a protein-bar precursor. PowerHouse had a loyal following mid-century but could not compete indefinitely against similar bars (like Big Hunks or Baby Ruth). It was quietly phased out in the mid-1980s.
Oh Henry!
Oh Henry! was first created in 1920 by the Williamson Candy Co. in Chicago, and became an enduring favorite made of peanuts, caramel, and fudge coated in chocolate. Although it thrived through the 20th century, in recent years its availability in the U.S. has dwindled. Nestlé acquired the bar in the 1990s and later Ferrara Candy took over U.S. distribution – but as of 2019, the Oh Henry! bar was discontinued in the United States. It is still produced in Canada with a slightly different recipe.
Craving more sweet trivia? Check out these surprising facts about your favorite candy.
This article was originally published on Cheapism
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