Sweetarts have been a Halloween staple since the 1960’s and at least as early as the 1990’s the brand has delivered a special seasonal Skulls & Bones edition. Make the jump to see how they looked then and how they look today!
I’m not exactly sure when Sweetarts Skulls ‘n Bones were first introduced but my earliest evidence of them dates back to the 1990’s and this promotional sales sheet:
Sunmark-Sunline – Halloween Treats – Sweetarts Skulls n’ Bones – promotional flyer sheet – 1990’s
Back then, Sweetarts Skulls ‘n Bones were sold in small individual boxes with an illustrated cartoon skeleton character – pretty awesome packaging if you ask me, and one I’d love to eventually add to my collection.
In the years since that time, the brand moved away from retail-sized boxes and instead opted for a multi-pack bagged approach – something geared more toward trick-or-treat giveaways. This is the packaging from the last few years, a design which largely followed the all-year-round Sweetarts packaging look and color scheme:
Nestle – Wonka – Sweetarts Skulls & Bones – 12 oz Halloween multi-pack candy package – October 2014
[Note: The goofy skull-face character from the original 1990’s Skulls n’ Bones box is retained within the packaging artwork and logo of the modern packaging.]
This year, Nestle has really mixed it up, opting to imbue some of their Halloween packaging with a look I’m describing as “inspired by Day-of-the-Dead holiday artwork”. It’s pretty cool:
Nestle – Sweetarts Skulls & Bones – 12 oz Halloween multi-pack candy package – October 2015
Here’s one of the individual packs contained in the larger bag. You’ll note that this inner package retains a more classic Sweetarts package look:
Nestle – Sweetarts Skulls & Bones – individual fun-size Halloween candy package – October 2015
Beyond Skulls and Bones, I have another cool 1990’s Halloween Sweetarts sales flyer to share, this one showcasing a glow-in-the-dark Halloween bucket filled with classic Sweetarts 2-packs:
Sunmark-Sunline – Halloween Treats – Sweetarts Glow in the Dark Buckets – flyer – 1990’s
If you look closely, you can see the classic paper Sweetarts 2-pack packages. Those two-packs have been around forever and I’m happy to show you a few examples of them that might date back all the way to the 1960’s.
It’s safe-to-say that kids have been receiving these classics in their trick-or-treat bags on Halloween for decades:
Sunmark Sunline – Sweetarts 2-packs circa late 1960’s to mid-1970’s
And that’s everything I’ve got to share on the then-and-now of Halloween’s Sweetarts Skulls ‘n Bones. See you next time!
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Today’s post has been part of CollectingCandy.com’s 2015 Countdown to Halloween. To check out other sites celebrating Halloween all month long, visit the official CountdownToHalloween site. For more of CollectingCandy.com’s CountdownToHalloween posts, just click here.
Fabulous! I really dig the great Day-of-the-Dead artwork, too. And, to top it off: old Sweet Tart packages…How cool is that?! Wonka, too–Yay! This is one of my favorites of your Halloween posts so far. “Happy Hauntings” to you!