Easter is another big candy holiday, and it’s been one as long as I can remember. Let’s face it, for candy, there’s Halloween, Christmas, and Easter – so it’s one of the Big-3.
Life Savers – Easter Treats 39-cent multi-bag – header tag file copy – 1964
Today, I’m going to showcase an assortment of pieces from my collection, in order to show you a nice cross-section of Easter candy packaging from over the years. I hope you dig it.
The title image for today’s article is from an early 1960’s Lifesavers ad campaign. I have one of the shelf signs from that campaign as well, showing the full illustration:
Life Savers – Easter Treats 49-cent cardboard header sign – 1960’s
A great iconic piece of Easter confection has to be the Cadbury Creme Egg. The foil wrappers on the Cadbury Eggs tend to get quickly destroyed when you open them up. Even so, I’ve got a great example of a 70’s foil wrapper from the L.M. Kallok Collection, and a pair of current wrappers I picked up myself, just last week:
Cadbury’s Creme Egg – foil candy wrapper – Easter – 1970’s
Cadbury’s Creme Egg – foil candy wrapper – Easter – 2012
Cadbury’s now makes Caramel Eggs and Chocolate Creme Eggs too. Here’s the wrapper for a Caramel variety available this year:
Cadbury’s Caramel Egg – foil candy wrapper – Easter – 2012
The creme egg has led to many spinoffs from other candy manufacturers. My favorite among all of those has to be this oddball version from the UK Wonka brand. This foil wrapper was for square eggs, or a “W-eggs”:
UK – Nestle-Rowntree – Wonka Wegg (W-egg) candy wrapper – 2001
Brach’s has been producing foil-covered, egg-shaped candy for a while. Unlike Cadbury eggs, these are flat versions:
Brach’s Cherry Cordial Creme egg – foil wrapper – 1950’s
Brach’s Chocolate Covered Cherry Creme Egg candy wrapper – 1970’s
Here’s one from Whitman’s – you can find modern versions of these on shelves today:
Whitman’s Coconut Cream Egg candy wrapper – 1970’s
Here’s a fun one from Brown & Haley, the company most well-known for their Peanut Butter Mountain bars:
Brown and Haley – Easter Egg Cherry Nut wrapper – 1970’s
And another one from Brown & Haley:
Brown and Haley – Eggheads – very cherry – candy wrapper – 1980’s
Here’s another classic – a 1978 trade ad for Peeps:
Just Born – Easter Mallows – Marshmallow Peeps – candy trade ad – 1978
I do have a vintage Peeps tray – not the most distinctive piece of packaging – but still neat to have:
Rodda – Just Born – Marshmallow Peeps package tray – 1970’s
Jumping forward to something a bit more modern – a series of Easter-themed pouches for Charms Blow Pops Minis – I picked these up for Easter 2010:
Charms – Blow Pop Minis – Easter Spring assortment packages – 2010
Ludens might be best known these days for their cough drops, but it used to be that you’d run into their confections all the time:
Luden’s – Peter Bunny – delicious coated marshmallow – candy wrapper – 1970’s
Luden’s – Sassy Sue – delicious coated marshmallow – candy wrapper – 1970’s
Now here’s one from Topps – a display box for the holiday version of their Big Mouth-on-a-Stick bubble gum pops:
Topps – Big Mouth On-A-Stick Bubble Gum Easter version box flat – 1970s
I’m going to round out today’s post with two different vintage trade ads. The first is from 1963, and is a double-page ad. It reminds us that, in the spirit of Mad Men, if you wanted to sell to a salesman in those days, even if you’re selling candy, just put a woman in a skimpy outfit.
Beich Easter trade ad page 1 – 1963
Beich Easter trade ad page 2 – 1963
Last, but certainly not least is a trade ad that shares a bit of confectionery history with the reader. Palmer was the first candy company to name their chocolate bunnies:
Palmer – Horace H Heffelflopper – Easter candy trade ad – Candy Marketer magazine – 1984
So that’s it for our extended Easter posting today. I hope that wherever you are today, you are having a great day, whether you celebrate the holiday or not.
Tomorrow, CollectingCandy.com heads to Toledo, Ohio – where we’ll be hanging with Jeff Nelson, and helping him sort his amazing collection of bubble gum. Stop back by tomorrow night to see how it goes!
I love that the Creme Egg wrapper in the US still has the chick on it, which is long gone from the Creme Eggs we get back home in Australia.
Did you know that the Mini Creme Eggs (the ones that come in a 12-pack) still feature the old style logo? They look basically the same as the 70s wrapper you posted.
Ah Palmer, maker of some of the worst chocolate out there. But you have to admire their Easter Bunny designs. Look better than they taste. I was always disappointed when I would get one of these in my Easter basket. Not only was the chocolate subpar, but they were hollow!
I love that vintage Peeps tray. It looks like some grandmother’s kitchen. I love how it looks nothing like the current trays.
Does anyone know if the peeps version from the 1960’s are still made? They have a seam down the back, and are much denser than the ones today.
Rosanne,
I think they only make the modern versions now.
Jason
SO happy there’s someone else out there that remembers those type of marshmallow chicks! My Mom and I used to find them at the Ben Franklin 5 & 10’s. I haven’t seen them in years and they were SO much better than “Peeps” brand. I’ve tried locating them online, but with no luck so far. Thanks for the memories!
I realize this is an old question, but the answer is that they are not still made. You’re referring to marshmallow “Chicks” or “Chickies” as they were known. First made by Groman Candy Co. back in the late 1930’s and then by Tell Chocolate starting in 1953. They came in trays with cardboard partitions, as Chicks, Rabbits and Squirrels.
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