Hey guys! How is everyone? We’re doing so good around here–working at a candy shop doesn’t leave much room for crankiness anyway. :) Just so you know, and so you can keep it on your radar, we have just switched over to our summer hours. We will still open at 8am during the weekdays, and 9am on Saturday–but, we will only be open until 5pm on the weekdays, and 4pm on Saturday. (During the summer, so much of our business happens earlier in the day, and our employees have things to do in the evenings more than ever–so, we adjust our hours accordingly.) Anyway, while stocking up our shelves the other day, we started thinking about just ALL of the treats we have in the shop and just HOW long some of them have been around. We think it’s actually, pretty safe to say, that at almost any given point you can find some sort of popular treat from decades past, throughout the shop. Today’s blog…we’re gonna test that theory as well as highlighting some of our favorite, retro, candies from every decade in the 20th century.
Let’s just start at the very beginning… the 1910’s
Sure, sweets, and treats, had been around for many, MANY, years before the 1910’s; however, the more recognizable treats (the ones WE are familiar with nowadays) just started hitting the shelves around this time. Hard candies were a popular treat during this time–giving people a lot of bang for their buck. Hershey’s had also just hit the market and was making a huge splash. The ability to ship shelf stable treats to soldiers was also important throughout WW1.
The ’20’s…
With machinery making the production of candies increasingly easy, and streamlined, candy production ramped up–before declining with the onset of the Great Depression.
The ’30’s…
The ’40’s…
With the Depression having ‘officially’ had ended, and machinery being the common place in most candy factories at this point, candy makers were able to start getting more, and more, creative with their flavors, designs, and packaging.
The ’50’s…
The 1960’s…
The ’70’s…
The 1980’s…
Like most things in the 80’s–it got a bit extreme. Extra sour, more plastic packaging, and even a little goofy. Plus, in the heyday of Saturday morning cartoons–advertisers could speak right to kids with all of their gimmicks.
The 1990’s…
Again, advertisers fund it easy to speak right to kids–so, candy started to look more fun, too. Lego shaped sweet tarts, baby bottles full of sugar and sucker rings all looked as fun as they tasted.