Oddball Spinoffs – Bit-O-Honey Edition

These days, seeing special limited edition flavors of candy is a typical occurrence.  Just last night I came across Easter-themed packages of M&M’s Coconut and I’ve still got a bag of Candy Corn M&M’s in my fridge.

Companies have been spinning-off their franchise brands for decades, though in the past these were often meant to be permanent line extensions, not just limited run editions.

As a collector, I’ve long been particularly enamored with what I call “oddball spinoffs” of classic brands.  To me, they’re like seeing alternate-dimension versions of your favorite superheroes – I can’t tell you exactly why I have a special fondness for them, but I do.

Though not a candy item, one of my favorite oddball spinoff pieces I’ve acquired is a Devil’s Food Twinkies box.  It features what I call the “Blazing Saddles” version of Hostess’ Twinkie the Kid mascot:

Hostess Devil's Food Twinkies box - 1971

As a candy collector, there are quite a few oddball spinoffs that I’ve discovered and hunted for over the years.  Today, I’m going to cover the oddball spinoffs of the Bit-O-Honey brand.

Schutter-Johnson Candy Company - Bit-O-Honey - candy wrapper - 1920's-1930's

First introduced in 1924, Bit-O-Honey has become one of the great American candy brands.  A honey-flavored taffy-like confection served up in rectangular pieces, it’s a bar that takes some work and time to consume – and it is delicious.  Enjoyed by generations of candy-loving consumers, it has also provided a number of notable oddball spinoffs.

The oldest spinoff I could find for the brand was Bit-O-Coconut – which appears to have been around in the 1950’s.  The only reference I have for Bit-O-Coconut comes from The Great American Candy Bar Book by Ray Broekel.

Bit-O-Coconut - excerpt from The Great American Candy Bar Book - Ray Broekel (c) 1982

Out of print now, Ray Broekel’s book has been an important research tool for me, as it features information I could not find anywhere else.   Broekel’s efforts at preserving and documenting confectionery history have also been an inspiration to my own work.  I’ll be doing a more in-depth review of Mr. Broekel’s candy-related books in a later column.

While Bit-O-Coconut appears to have disappeared by the late 1960’s, other oddball spinoffs had begun to crop up within the Bit-O-Honey family.  The first was Bit-O-Peanut butter, followed by Bit-O-Licorice in 1969.   I have a pair of trade ads from 1971 that feature both:

Ward Candy trade ad - featuring Bit-O-Licorice an Bit-O-Peanut Butter - 1971

Ward Candy trade ad "It's Ours" - featuring Bit-O-Licorice an Bit-O-Peanut Butter - 1971

Bit o’ Licorice has such a great mod wrapper design.  Here’s a trade clipping that highlights its 1969 launch:

Bit o' Licorice - trade magazine announcement - February 1969

I’ve never come across a full-size Bit-O-Peanut Butter or Bit o’ Licorice wrapper, but I was lucky to add this fun-size Bit ‘o Licorice example to my collection two years ago:

Ward - Bit o' Licorice - fun-size individual wrapper - 1970's

Next up is the oddball spinoff that might have been the last for Bit-O-Honey.  [If there were others after this, I haven’t found evidence of them.]   Launched in the 1970’s, it would appear to be Bit-O-Honey’s best-remembered spinoff;  Bit-O-Chocolate.  This wrapper, I am happy to report, I do have in my collection.

Ward Candy Company - Bit-O-Chocolate candy wrapper - 1970's

Featuring a design entirely based on the Bit-O-Honey wrapper of the time, to my eye the Bit-O-Chocolate is very much like an alternate timeline Superman, standing next to his Earth-1 counterpart.

Ward Candy Company - Bit-O-Honey 15-cent candy wrapper - 1970's

Steve Almond’s wonderful 2005 book, Candy Freak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America, brings up Bit-O-Chocolate several times throughout its narrative, culminating in Almond’s encountering a vintage Bit-O-Chocolate package within the collection of the aforementioned Ray Broekel.  I highly recommend it.

That’s it for today’s entry in the category of oddball spinoffs.  I look forward to documenting more of these down the road here on CollectingCandy.com, and discovering those I have yet to find.