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 a bundle of all-new features, accessibility, and a brand-new look. So today I’ll be connecting to that site’s return by first taking a look at Sears’ own in-store retail candy outlet called “The Candy Shop”. Make the jump to check it out!
The idea of Sears having its own candy shop might seem like a foreign idea to most folks these days, but there was a time when retail stores like Sears branched out in all sorts of ways, like including a restaurant or diner on the premises of the store. Given that context, the idea of a small candy store set inside of a Sears location isn’t that crazy. I wish I had photos of what an actual Sears candy shop looked like, but sadly I do not. What I do have are two pieces in my archives that originated from the Sears candy shops; a bulk candy retail bag, and a chocolate bar wrapper. Let’s take a look.
First up is the retail bag. This one is from 1980 and sports the snazzy “The Candy Shop” logo included in today’s title image. Check the back of the bag for a list of some of the products offered at The Candy Shop in Sears at the time – sounds like appealing, old-fashioned goods which helps me imagine what kind of candy shop it was:
Sears Roebuck and Co – Sears The Candy Shop – Fresh Delicious Candies – bulk candy retail bag package – 1980
Jumping ahead a few years, Sears even had their own branded chocolate bar. While this might seem like an oddball piece to most, these types of unusual store-branded wrappers and pieces of packaging are some of my absolute favorites to track down and share. Note that it features the more modernized Sears logo (introduced around 1984-85, according to my research) as well as the “The Candy Shop” branding:
Sears Roebuck and Co – Sears The Candy Shop – Rich Milk Chocolate Bar with Roasted Almonds – 2.5 oz chocolate bar candy wrapper – circa 1984-1987
Unfortunately, those are the only pieces of Sears’ The Candy Shop ephemera or images I’ve ever come across, but I am always on the lookout for more. I think it’s fascinating to consider how varied and diverse the retail offerings of a brick-and-mortar store like Sears once were. It seems like such a novel, even foreign concept now.
Posting about Sears’ The Candy Shop today is partly because I think it’s a fun thing to look at, but also because of the relaunch this week of WishbookWeb.com – which is something I want to share with as many people as I can.
The following nine-year-old interview from January 2008 describes some of the early background of the site pretty well (note my stated desire to make the catalogs text-searchable):
WishbookWeb – Antique Week Article – January 14th 2008
For its first decade of existence, WishbookWeb.com was a fairly blunt instrument insofar as interfacing with the catalog content was concerned.
I initially sought a way to serve the images we’d scanned by using one of the online gallery-creation programs available at the time (circa 2005). But whenever I threw the requirements of the full catalogs at these programs (sometimes more than 500 pages in a single gallery), they would inevitably fail. I finally found a method that worked and it became the default interface (I used a Photoshop slideshow output). But there was no text search and when mobile devices like smart phones and tablets began arriving on the scene in the years that followed, the site was nearly unusable on them. As I said, a fairly blunt instrument.
Early on, the front page of WishbookWeb.com looked like this:
Old WishbookWeb Screenshot – circa 2010
So, it had been a long time that I’d wanted to find a way to update the site while holding onto the dream of making the catalogs text-searchable as well as accessible on mobile devices.
I would finally find a piece of software to do the trick, allowing me to present the catalogs as lush flipbooks complete with text-search capability. But even after purchasing that high-end software, the task of conversion to the new flipbook format proved to be a daunting task. It would take another year for me to carve out the significant blocks of time needed for the time-consuming, multi-step conversion process. But finally I was able to do it and on February 10th, 2017 WishbookWeb was relaunched in what I’ve been informally calling “WishbookWeb 2.0” format.
Here’s a look at the top of the newly-relaunched catalog navigation page:
New WishbookWeb “2.0” Screenshot
I also created a custom launch pane for each catalog. Here are a few of them (they’re a little tiny here, but they are perfectly legible over on the site):
WishbookWeb graphical launch panes
Here’s an Instagram video I created showcasing some of the new features:
And that’s sort of the whole shebang. WishbookWeb has always been the combined product of countless hours of work, and the conversion to a modern format and interface has been another mountain of effort on top of that. But the hard work on the existing archive is now done and the fun can finally be had by anyone and everyone out there who might want to visit these awesome old catalogs. And I hope you do – they’re pretty neat.
Beyond all of what is available on the site right now, I plan for this relaunch to serve as a strong foundation going forward with LOTS of additional catalog content to be added in 2017. I think it’s going to be a great year for the site – this is just the beginning!
For now though, that’s everything I’ve got on WishbookWeb.com and the unexpected candy shops once found in Sears retail stores. See you next time!
The Sears Candy Shop at our Sears (South Coast Plaza) was an island in the store. Inside the island was an employee who may have had a particular uniform? Then ringed around the center were glass bins with all the bulk candies. You would then order from the employee who would scoop it and bag it up for you. I think there were hanging aluminum scales. I have to assume on the tops of the cases were other retail candies but all I remember was walking around the island and looking into see all the available bulk candy. I always ordered Swedish Fish, back then it was always mixed, only later you could also choose only red. My dad would always get bridge mix.
Oh wow, Dan… thanks for painting the picture of what the Sears Candy Shop was actually like. That’s awesome.
Ditto the Sears candy stores at the Puente Hills Mall the Buena Park Mall. Must have been a California thing.
Great description – I remember the same at a Sears near/in Parma Heights OH. I always ordered the chocolate-covered honeycomb (milk and dark), which I received in those red and white striped bags in the 1970s.
The same here in Augusta, GA. Trying to find a favorite candy. Was butterscotch, I think, with crushed peanuts and peanut butter inside. Looked like a large forthcoming bean.
Not forthcoming bean, Ford hook bean
Cool. I loved the Wishbook when I was a kid.
Cool!
i bought a 1972 Wish Book on ebay several years ago. My favorite year when I was kid.
Please email me when you have the new site up!
Funny, I was just over at the now-mostly-defunct Pleasant Family Shopping blog, and he’d put up a New Year’s posting with a picture of a Sears Candy Shop predecessor – a mid-sixties Sears candy and popcorn counter.
That’s really cool, Bill! I’d never heard of that blog and I really dig it!
And for anyone else wanting to visit it:
http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/
I do enjoy store-brand stuff as well, although I don’t remember there being candy in our Sears.
I remember my father buying the best tasting Pecan Brittle from Sears candy counter. I would love to obtain the recipe.
I remember the candy counter at Sears in Northwest Plaza in St . Louis. Does anyone know the brand name of this candy? They had these triangle shaped chocolate covered crunchy peanut butter candies that were similar to a butterfinger.
I also remember the candy counter at Northwest Plaza in St. Louis, MO. Our family tradition was to eat dinner out on Friday evenings and go to Sears afterwards. My father loved to look at all the Craftsman tools in the tool department, and we always got treats at the candy shop. I can still smell the roasting hot nuts.
Can you tell me if Teaberry Gum is still made and if it is, where can I buy some? Sorry I don’t recall who made it. It was usually placed next to Smith Bros. Licorice gum and Clove in the candy and him section.
Maria,
It looks like it was discontinued.
https://www.oldtimecandy.com/pages/teaberry-gum
I remember shopping at sears for the candy only. I would get about 5.00 of the peanut clusters with caramel. The best in the world(This was in the 80’s)! I have been talking about it for five months now. I have tasted others ,but nothing compares to Sears’ candy. Please, tell me where can I purchase some!
Thanks,
I remember the candy store at Sears in Albany Georgia the only candy that I ate was the peanut clusters with caramel do anyone know who made that candy and do they still make it today