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Author Archives: Jason Liebig
An Array of New Soda-Flavored Confections! Plus Some History on the Love of Cola Candy!
I’ve always enjoyed when confection crosses over with another category of product and even when the mix doesn’t quite work, it can still be a notable experience. This is definitely true when soft drinks lend their flavors and branding to … Continue reading
Posted in 1980's, Boxed, British, Bubble Gum, Chocolate, Gum, Gummies, Topps
Tagged candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, cola, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, licorice, packaging, packaging design, soda pop, sweets, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
5 Comments
Photo Hunt 1980: A Detroit Candy Man.
I’m excited to finally be back after an extended (and somewhat unexpected) hiatus, so I thought I’d kick-off my return with a tasty confectionery photo hunt from 1980. I last tackled a photo hunt way back in 2012 when I … Continue reading
Posted in 1970's, 1980's, Bubble Gum, Chocolate, Fleer, Gum, Hershey, M&M's, Mars
Tagged 1980, 1980's, 80's, candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy store, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, Detroit, Michigan, packaging, packaging design, sweets, urban, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
6 Comments
My Year in Collecting: 2014!
For the past five years, I’ve made it an annual tradition to gather together some of my favorite “collector acquisitions” from the previous twelve months in the form of a visual collage. While it is by no means a comprehensive … Continue reading
Posted in 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, Chocolate, Mars, Nestle, Peanut Butter
Tagged candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, packaging, packaging design, sweets, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
5 Comments
Valentine’s Day 2015 gets Snoopy with Nestle Crunch!
Nestle Crunch recently partnered up with Charles M. Schulz’ Peanuts characters, first launching with a fun selection of packaging for Christmas 2014. That partnership promises to see the Peanuts characters gracing Nestle Crunch packaging throughout the year, with new holiday … Continue reading
Posted in Chocolate, Holiday, Nestle
Tagged candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, Charlie Brown, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, Nestle Crunch, packaging, packaging design, peanuts, Snoopy, sweets, Valentine, Valentine's, Valentine's Day, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
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Valentine’s M&M’s Packs from Taiwan!
Happy Valentine’s Day!! M&M’s can always be counted on for a great assortment of seasonal offerings each year and that’s certainly true for the Valentine’s holiday. And while those are always neat to see, I recently picked up something especially … Continue reading
Posted in Boxed, Chocolate, Holiday, M&M's, Mars
Tagged candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, chocolate, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, foreign, M&M's, mascot, packaging, packaging design, sweets, Taiwan, V-Day, Valentine, Valentine's Day, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
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Brach’s 1972 “Share a Little Love” Valentine’s Day Promotion!
For today’s pre-Valentine’s Day post, I’ll be sharing a Brach’s candy salesman promotional packet created in support of their 1972 “Share a Little Love” campaign. It’s a terrific and unique look into our confectionery past and it follows up a … Continue reading
Posted in 1970's, Boxed, Chocolate, Holiday
Tagged 1970's, 1970's candy, 70's, 70's candy, Brach's, candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, packaging, packaging design, promotional, sales, salesman, sweets, Valentine's Day, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
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Our 550th Post! Plus Our Biggest Video Announcement Ever!
Today marks CollectingCandy.com’s 550th post! Hooray! It’s a big number and comes on the heels of the site’s third anniversary just last week. With that in mind, we’ve decided to use the occasion to announce a major new endeavor spinning … Continue reading
Posted in TheCandyGeek
Tagged candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, New York Comic Con, NYCC, packaging, packaging design, sweets, The Candy Geek, TheCandyGeek, vintage candy wrappers, vlog, wrapper
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The (Nearly) Definitive History of Nestle’s Choco’Lite! — Plus: CollectingCandy.com’s Third Anniversary!
Today is special to me as it marks the Third Anniversary of CollectingCandy.com – first launched on February 6th, 2012. And while I wasn’t able to program a week-long anniversary celebration as I did last year, I have endeavored to … Continue reading
Posted in 1950's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, British, Chocolate, Nestle
Tagged aerated chocolate, candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, chocolate with bubbles, Chocolite, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, discontinued, Nestle, Nestle's, packaging, packaging design, sweets, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
17 Comments
The Surprising Candy of Howard Johnson’s!
I’ll often talk about how much I enjoy branded candy packaging that comes from unusual sources like private label or “store brands”. These aren’t your typical Hershey or Mars offerings in that you can only find them at specific retail … Continue reading
Posted in 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, Chocolate, Gum, Hard Candy
Tagged 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 50's, 60's, 70's, candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, hotel, Howard Johnsons, motel, packaging, packaging design, private label, store brand, sweets, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
28 Comments
1997’s Cadbury Spice Girls Chocolate Bars!
Today I’m flying back to the heady days of the mid-1990’s to take a look at the confectionery output of the pop-culture musical phenomenon known as The Spice Girls! Make the jump to check it out.
Posted in 1990's, British, Cadbury, Canadian, Chocolate
Tagged Australia, Cadbury, candy collecting, candy collection, candy collector, candy wrapper collection, candy wrapper collector, celebrity, collectible, collecting candy, confectionery, confections, licensed, music, packaging, packaging design, Spice Girls, sweets, United Kingdom, vintage candy wrappers, wrapper
7 Comments
![I was going to title this “If your family was poor and you grew up in the 1980s, this image will hit your soul.” but after some consideration, I realized that in 1983 your family didn’t have to be poor to want to find whatever way they could to save money.
Those early 1980s years were a period still coming to grips with years of inflation and other economic troubles. Those realities helped give way (and opportunity) to not only lower-cost private label products, but also “generics”.
The idea behind generics was that you were getting the absolute lowest cost possible for the item in question. Not a cent spent on design or advertising - it was plainly utilitarian.
The generics area of any grocery aisle (or your pantry) was visually stark and minimalist, so if you loved specific brands or eye-catching branding, it was also kind of sad. But for families that were struggling, cents mattered and these products were lifelines.
In the post pandemic years, we’ve had to endure similar inflation and so we’ve seen big growth in the private label category. Though I haven’t seen a movement to embrace “generics” in the same way.
Rather, private label has been an area of colorful innovation, offering the cost-savings without sacrificing all of the flash.
And while these generics of old were products one might have felt sad or embarrassed about having as a child, as a brand historian I find them nostalgic and deeply moving for the struggling family story they can help tell.
[Pictured are several early 1980s generic Mac and cheese boxes from my historical packaging archives.]
#privatelabel #branding #1980s #80snostslgia #genericproducts](http://collectingcandy.com/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)