Hickory Farms is mostly associated as a catalog retailer of meats and cheeses these days (with the occasional holiday pop-up store), but over the years they’ve had permanent mall locations and offered all sorts of consumable gifts, including a run of delicious-sounding chocolate bars I recently discovered that were first released in the early 1970’s! The history of Hickory Farms is wonderfully and succinctly summarized over on Hickory Farms current homepage: Hickory Farms history summarized from HickoryFarms.com This vintage image of a Hickory Farms mall store evokes quite a lot of nostalgia ..read more

As a confectionery brand historian and collector, one the most common inquiries I get are those that ask my assistance in identifying some product or brand from the hazy memories of that persons childhood.  I’m happy to get these requests as it’s always a fun challenge  and I’m proud to say that in the majority of cases I am able to provide the answers being sought.  One product that I’ve received a number of inquiries about over the years is one that I’m going to showcase today, that being Fruit Face.  Make the jump to check it out! Fruit Face was produced in the 1980’s ..read more

While most folks do their 2017 “year in review” type editorials in December or January, mine tend to slip to February and in the case of this year and last, the month of March.  Even so, I’m wonderfully-excited to share the highlights from my previous collecting year, having created a colorful retrospective collage of extra-groovy pieces I’ve added to my archives over the previous twelve months.  Make the jump to check it out! I first started doing these retrospective collages eight years ago, when I initially looked back at my “2009 year in collecting”.  Back then, I was shari ..read more

Today’s entry is going to be a big one, and it covers a brand whose history I’ve been chasing down for over a decade.  One of the original “big stick” bubble gum brands, it’s Bazooka’s (and Topps’) Big Buddy! Before I get into it, I wanted to highlight that today’s post is the culmination of years of research and hunting, finally coming together by way of a significant addition to my historical materials just recently, thanks to fellow collector and friend.  And as is the case with so much of what we write about and publish here on the site, the vast majority of today’s material has ..read more

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  If that’s true, then Philadelphia Chewing Gum was an irrepressible flatterer when they released Mountain Chew in the 1980’s, a bubblegum product that managed to pull inspiration from two iconic brands: Big League Chew and Mountain Dew! Before getting to the bubblegum, it might be helpful to look back at the early marketing and branding for Mountain Dew soda.  You see, when the brand was first launched, it really was marketed as a sort of “hillbilly soft drink”. Mountain Dew 1970’s redesign and previous 1960’s Hillbilly bottles ..read more

During the Summer of 2017, Hershey’s of Canada released an amazing series of special edition Twizzlers packaging featuring artwork by four talented artists.  This promotion was called Twizzlers Twisted Shout-Outs and resulted in sixteen different striking Twizzlers packs.  Make the jump to check them out! I first became aware of the Twizzlers Twisted Shoutout packs via Instagram, seeing them on a Canadian friend’s account.  Once I saw them, I set out to acquire a complete set for myself.  And with the help of a few Canadian friends as well as a weekend jump up north myself ..read more

You may not know the name Astor Chocolate but you’ve almost certainly seen their products.  They’ll often produce private label chocolate bars for cities and tourist locations – I featured a pair of their lovely Times Square Toys R Us bars back in 2012.  Lately they’ve been partnering up with the FYE retail chain to create some pretty fun offerings but what they’ve come up with now has knocked my socks off; a group of milk chocolate bars featuring crazy flavor combos called Food Fight! Brand new and arriving on shelves this month, FYE’s exclusive Food Fight lineup includes four diff ..read more

Back in 1958, the Mars company introduced a product to the USA market that might sound familiar:  It was a roll of caramel-filled drum-shaped chocolate candies, wrapped in gold foil.  Mars called this new offering Marsettes, and while their time on store shelves was relatively short, it was tasty and colorful.  Make the jump to check it out! I first mentioned Marsettes here on the site way back in 2012 during my big Rolo brand round-up.  You see, by the 1950’s the UK’s Mackintosh Rolo brand had started making its way into American stores via its then-US distributor, NECCO ..read more

Though it arrives a little later than I’d planned, today I’m excited to present my 2016 “Year in Collecting” retrospective graphical collage.  This is the eighth year in a row that I’ve put one of these together and it’s fun every time I get the opportunity to do it.  Make the jump to check it out! As I stated in that introduction, today’s entry arrives a bit late.  I normally publish these fun look back features in the month of February, but a family emergency in addition to a lot of other goings on kept me away from my desk for most of that month.  So here we are a few we ..read more

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!  While there was a lot of great new Valentine’s seasonal offerings this year, I’ve only time for one post.  I’m choosing to dedicate today’s feature on the six new-for-2017 Just Born boxed Valentine’s seasonal offerings – with three new Mike and Ike and three new Hot Tamales boxes.  Make the jump to check them out! I’ve covered Valentine’s Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales boxes from previous years before, back when they last redesigned their seasonal packaging in 2014.   This year, they’ve broke with tradition and instead of giving us just ..read more