Hot Week: Cinnamon Teddy Bears!

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For today’s Hot Cinnamon Week post, I wanted to cover a childhood favorite of mine: Stark’s Cinnamon Teddy Bears!

Sold by the Howard Stark candy company in the 70’s and 80’s (and maybe into the 90’s), Teddy Bears were a small hot-cinnamon flavored gummy-type bear.

The odd thing is that when I was enjoying these as a kid, I’d never heard of gummy bears.  So the first time I encountered any kind of gummy bear, I saw them as rainbow-colored Cinnamon Teddy Bears.

I have two different Stark Teddy Bear packages in my collection.  One dates back to the mid-1970’s, and the other is from a few years later.  Here they are:

Stark - Cinnamon Teddy Bears candy box - 1970's

Stark – Cinnamon Teddy Bears candy box – 1970’s

Stark Candies - Teddy Bears - 1 3-4 oz cinnamon candy package - late 1970's

Stark Candies – Teddy Bears – 1 3/4 oz cinnamon candy package – late 1970’s

Beyond Stark’s Cinnamon Teddy Bears, I also have clear memories of Brach’s Cinnamon Bears, which were like a giant-sized version of Stark’s gummy-sized offerings.  Here’s an example that is in a vintage Brach’s salesman display that is part of my collection:

Brach's Cinnamon Bear from salesman display - 1970's

Brach’s Cinnamon Bear from salesman display – 1970’s

Though I don’t recall any other major cinnamon bear candy offerings from my childhood, in my research I’ve found that Heide produced a pretty cool one in the 1970’s:

Heide - Bears - 1 3/4 oz cinnamon candies box - 1978

Heide – Bears – 1 3/4 oz cinnamon candies box – 1978

That one is pretty cool, isn’t it?  Based on the box design, I’d speculate that Heide might have produced other flavors of Bears candies, but I can’t be sure.

As time went on, cinnamon bear candies lost favor in the standard candy isle assortments, but continued to be offered in bulk and store-brand packages.  I’ve got a pair of these to show as well:

K-Mart - Sathers - Cinnamon Bears - 9 oz candy package - 1980's

K-Mart – Sathers – Cinnamon Bears – 9 oz candy package – 1980’s

Sathers - Cinnamon Bears - 9 oz candy package - 1988

Sathers – Cinnamon Bears – 9 oz candy package – 1988

These days, it’s not easy to find hot cinnamon bears at retail.   But they are still out there as I found at least one company that still advertises them as part of their product line.

While they might be considered a bit old-fashioned or old school these days, Hot Cinnamon Bears will always be a childhood favorite I look back on with tremendous fondness.

And that’s all for today’s entry in our Hot Cinnamon Week.

See you next time!

 

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This post was a part of CollectingCandy.com’s Cinnamon Hot Week!

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About Jason Liebig

A New York City based writer, editor and sometimes actor. After spending much of the 1990′s in the comic book business helping tell the stories of Marvel Comics’ X-Men as series editor, he has since split his time between developing his own entertainment properties while still consulting and working on others. Having been described as “the Indiana Jones of lost and forgotten candy”, Jason is one of the country’s premier candy collectors and historians with his discoveries appearing in countless blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and books. Always happy to share his knowledge and unique perspectives on this colorful part of our popular culture, Jason has consulted with New York’s Museum of Food and Drink and has also been a featured guest on Food Network’s Heavyweights, France’s M6 Capital, and New York’s TheActionRoom.com. My Google Profile+
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3 Responses to Hot Week: Cinnamon Teddy Bears!

  1. James says:

    Sathers’ is still putting out their Cinnamon Bears and they are the only ones that I remember seeing around here. The local Alco (Duckwall) store carries them along with the company’s Cinnamon Discs.

  2. Lyn Whitesell says:

    Are these smaller cinnamon bear candies no long made? I prefer the little one vs. the Sather’s larger size, but I can’t seem to locate them anywhere.

  3. Mark Anderson says:

    As a candy wholesaler in eastern Montana I sold tons of stark teddy bears.

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