Category Archives: Chocolate

Hickory Farms Chocolate Bar Wrappers of the early 1970’s!

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 … Continue reading

Posted in 1970's, Chocolate, Private Label | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

My Year in Collecting: 2017!

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 … Continue reading

Posted in 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, Boxed, Canadian, Chocolate, Christmas, Easter, Fleer, Gum, Gummies, Halloween, Hard Candy, Hershey, Holiday, M&M's, Mars, Nestle, Reese's, Sour Candy, Timeline, Topps, Wonka | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

FYE and Astor Chocolate’s Food Fight! – Featuring the first chocolate bar that tastes like a McDonald’s french fry!!!

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 … Continue reading

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Marsettes: Mars’ Mid-Century Answer to Rolo!

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 … Continue reading

Posted in 1950's, 1960's, Chocolate, Mars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

My Year in Collecting: 2016!

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 … Continue reading

Posted in 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, Boxed, Canadian, Chocolate, Gum, Gummies, Hershey, M&M's, Mars, Nestle, Reese's, Timeline, Topps, Wonka | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Sears Candy Shop! Plus: The Return of WishbookWeb.com!

Years before I launched CollectingCandy.com, I mounted an effort to create an online archive of vintage Christmas catalogs, like the old Sears Wishbooks.  That vintage Christmas catalog website was and is WishbookWeb.com and this week and I relaunched WishbookWeb with … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, Chocolate, Christmas, Private Label | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Super Bowl Sunday 2017 and Snickers’ Football Phrase Wrappers!

It’s once again Super Bowl Sunday, and once again I’ll be marking the day with some NFL tie-in candy wrappers!  This year I’ll be featuring Mars’ play on their successful “You’re Not Yourself When You’re Hungry” Snickers trait bar promotion, … Continue reading

Posted in Chocolate, Mars, Peanut Butter, Reese's | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Secret History of Reese’s Pieces with Peanuts!

Reese’s Pieces have been around since the late 1970’s, and over the years the brand has received limited run extensions in the form of Reese’s Pieces with the addition of Peanuts.  They did so just last year, but I was … Continue reading

Posted in 1980's, Chocolate, Hershey, Peanut Butter, Reese's | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

How a 1970’s Russian “Red Scare” Set M&M’s Mascots Back Twenty Years!

Between 1976 and 1985, red M&M’s were banished from the world due to a Russian “red scare” having to due with a food dye additive.  It is a story that has been told before, but newly discovered evidence reveals an … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, Chocolate, M&M's, Mars | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Nestle’s Long Forgotten Bonanza Bar and A Tale of Two Product Launches!

Today’s post is one I am especially excited to publish as the Bonanza bar has been on my list of lost-to-history brands I’ve long sought to uncover evidence on.  Until today, there have never been images or references to the … Continue reading

Posted in 1960's, Chocolate, Nestle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments