![\"CC_WackyWednesdays_Now&Never_TITLE](\"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/CC_WackyWednesdays_NowNever_TITLE-PLATE.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Welcome back for this week’s edition of Wacky Wednesdays!\u00a0 For today I’ve selected another offering from the recently-released Wacky Packages Old School series 4 – Now & Never.\u00a0 Now & Never is a parody of the 1970’s package for Now & Later.<\/p>\n
As with a number of previous selections, I had a hand in helping determine exactly which Now & Later package was the correct 1970’s version to use for the Old School series.\u00a0 The fact is that beyond sites like this one and my colleagues on Flickr, there isn’t a central repository of vintage packaging reference – so Old School artist David Gross was again able to enlist my expertise to figure out the right Now & Later pack for him to use.<\/p>\n
When Dave first contacted me about this one, I wasn’t sure what the Now & Later packaging looked like in the early-to-mid-1970’s.\u00a0 I had a photo of a 1960’s pack and I had a photo of an early 80’s pack but not what came in-between.\u00a0 Over the course of the following months, I was finally able to uncover and provide the era-appropriate reference images he needed for the parody.\u00a0 Now & Never was the result:<\/p>\n
![\"Wacky](\"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/CC_Wacky-Packages-Old-School-4-Now-Never-2012.jpg\")
Topps – Wacky Packages Old School 4 – Now & Never – 2012<\/p><\/div>\n
The key piece of packaging reference came in the form of this 1974 trade ad which I was able to track down – and which provided the model for the Old School parody:<\/p>\n
![\"Now](\"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/CC_Now-Later-candy-industry-trade-ad-October-1974.jpg\")
Now & Later – candy industry trade ad – October 1974<\/p><\/div>\n
One of Dave’s big challenges in finding the right packaging for Wacky Packages Old School beyond how hard it is to track down at all, is that sometimes package designs changed during the period of years he’s looking at, occasionally multiple times.\u00a0 In the case of Now & Later however, the package was revamped only once, early on in the decade – likely sometime in 1974.\u00a0 I couldn’t narrow it down completely, but I compared the following trade ad images, and the dates they were published:<\/p>\n
![\"Now](\"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Cc_Now-Later-Early-70s-packaging-change.jpg\")
Now & Later Early 70’s packaging change<\/p><\/div>\n
The 1973 pack was using a design that carried over from the middle-1960’s.\u00a0\u00a0 That 1974 package style was the one that would last through into the early 1980’s, and so Dave decided that it was the more iconically-1970’s version of the packaging and the one he would use.<\/p>\n
Not long after the Now & Never reference image had been decided upon, I finally acquired an actual 1970’s Now & Later package wrapper.\u00a0 I’d not had one in my collection previously and though it was not the grape flavor referenced for the Wacky Package, it is the same style design and era of wrapper.<\/p>\n
Here’s the cello wrapper for a 1977 Now & Later Chocolate package:<\/p>\n
![\"Phoenix](\"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/CC_Phoenix-Candy-Co-Now-Later-Chocolate-cello-candy-wrapper-1977.jpg\")
Phoenix Candy Co – Now & Later – Chocolate – cello candy wrapper – 1977<\/p><\/div>\n
I think that Chocolate Now & Later wrapper is pretty spectacular!<\/p>\n
And that’s everything I’ve got for today’s edition of Wacky Wednesdays.\u00a0 See you next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome back for this week’s edition of Wacky Wednesdays!\u00a0 For today I’ve selected another offering from the recently-released Wacky Packages Old School series 4 – Now & Never.\u00a0 Now & Never is a parody of the 1970’s package for Now … Continue reading