A candy colored corn they call the candy corn
October 31, 2023 4:10 PM Subscribe
I've been baffled by all the hate on candy corn in the past decade. It's become a memeish thing, but I don't remember literally anyone hating on it since the turn of the millennium. I don't particularly love candy corn, but we all found it... acceptable? Certainly more so than those rock-solid peanut butter treats or root beer barrels or toothbrushes or tiny boxes of raisins, all the trick or treat scourges of the '70s and '80s. Is there some sort of etymology for how candy corn became so disliked in mainstream culture?
Next, Peeps will come under fire.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:32 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:32 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Candy corn looks like it'd be delicious and instead tastes like you're eating a wax candle. What more do you need to know?
(Note: Peeps also don't have much flavor in standard Peeps, but they've actually made more flavorful ones lately, so no hating on Peeps.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:35 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
(Note: Peeps also don't have much flavor in standard Peeps, but they've actually made more flavorful ones lately, so no hating on Peeps.)
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:35 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Candy corn is delicious. I'm eating them right now. For the haters.
It reminds me of mimes. Growing up people seemed to like mimes just fine. Then one day a comedian or a sitcom said something about hating mimes and before you knew it, everyone claimed that they always hated mimes*.
Remember like ten years ago when everyone on the internet was losing their minds over bacon and all things bacon? That was a similar thing, though in the opposite direction.
*this is just an example. This does not need to turn into a discussion about mimes.
posted by bondcliff at 5:43 PM on October 31, 2023 [35 favorites]
It reminds me of mimes. Growing up people seemed to like mimes just fine. Then one day a comedian or a sitcom said something about hating mimes and before you knew it, everyone claimed that they always hated mimes*.
Remember like ten years ago when everyone on the internet was losing their minds over bacon and all things bacon? That was a similar thing, though in the opposite direction.
*this is just an example. This does not need to turn into a discussion about mimes.
posted by bondcliff at 5:43 PM on October 31, 2023 [35 favorites]
The Wikipedia page on candy corn has a few links that talk about how they are so divisive, I found a couple of them interesting although I feel very few get into the WHY do they seem so hated.
I'm personally meh on them, and I feel like growing up (I was born in the 80s) everyone else I knew was meh on them too. Not only are there better candies, but Candy Corn as a specific reference to Halloween but then kind of turning into a year round candy (with often the original flavor) ... whenever that happened is when I first started hearing people say they actively hate it. Familiarity breeds contempt, I suppose.
I am super meh on Peeps. I will buy candy corn very other year or so but I can and have gone decades without Peeps.
posted by sm1tten at 6:17 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm personally meh on them, and I feel like growing up (I was born in the 80s) everyone else I knew was meh on them too. Not only are there better candies, but Candy Corn as a specific reference to Halloween but then kind of turning into a year round candy (with often the original flavor) ... whenever that happened is when I first started hearing people say they actively hate it. Familiarity breeds contempt, I suppose.
I am super meh on Peeps. I will buy candy corn very other year or so but I can and have gone decades without Peeps.
posted by sm1tten at 6:17 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I have loathed candy corn since I gained sentience in the 1970s, for whatever that's worth. But, then again, I've always liked the root beer barrels. For me, the texture of candy corn is a huge part of my issues with it.
posted by mollweide at 6:17 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 6:17 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
I like candy corn. But I also like those weird peanut butter taffy things that come in orange or black wrappers. Not like, like A LOT, but I'll eat a couple if they're around. As a datapoint, I generally don't have much of a sweet tooth and would never intentionally seek out candy of any sort. But yeah, I'll eat it if it's around. So maybe I just don't distinguish much between nuances of "sweet".
posted by nixxon at 6:25 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by nixxon at 6:25 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I like candy corn, the texture and the level of sweetness. I also like that after I eat about ten of them I don't want anymore. I buy a bag once a year and it lasts me.
posted by SyraCarol at 6:27 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by SyraCarol at 6:27 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
My friends and family were hating on candy corn (and circus peanuts) in the 80s. You're right, it's really blown up the past decade or so, but some of us were into that band before they were cool.
Rootbeer barrels and peanut butter taffy things are fine. My favorite candy? You probably haven't heard of it, it's real underground.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:24 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
Rootbeer barrels and peanut butter taffy things are fine. My favorite candy? You probably haven't heard of it, it's real underground.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:24 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
It's amazing how old-time candies continue to be made far past their cultural expiration date. Necco's, Mary Janes— all those candies which are not so much candy as they are disgusting wastes of time—continue to be available.
I think candy corn is drifting into this category. Personally, I can't eat them because they're not vegetarian (it's the usual culprit, gelatin), but I have fond memories of stuffing them into my ignorant face fifty years ago.
posted by jabah at 7:31 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think candy corn is drifting into this category. Personally, I can't eat them because they're not vegetarian (it's the usual culprit, gelatin), but I have fond memories of stuffing them into my ignorant face fifty years ago.
posted by jabah at 7:31 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
It's amazing how old-time candies continue to be made far past their cultural expiration date. Necco's, Mary Janes— all those candies which are not so much candy as they are disgusting wastes of time—continue to be available.
I was thinking about this today because one of our two big bags of candy had Chuckles in them. Chuckles. I can sort of accept Necco wafers, because they're really old school, but Chuckles? Where's the audience? For the record, I like Necco wafers, but I eat about 5 pieces of candy a year, so my opinion is clearly suspect.
posted by mollweide at 7:40 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was thinking about this today because one of our two big bags of candy had Chuckles in them. Chuckles. I can sort of accept Necco wafers, because they're really old school, but Chuckles? Where's the audience? For the record, I like Necco wafers, but I eat about 5 pieces of candy a year, so my opinion is clearly suspect.
posted by mollweide at 7:40 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I like candy corn, but I feel a little guilty about it. It's not a sophisticated taste.
Though I only like Brach's, which has honey. Tried an off-brand one, it was awful.
posted by zompist at 7:46 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
Though I only like Brach's, which has honey. Tried an off-brand one, it was awful.
posted by zompist at 7:46 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
My mom loved candy corn, I always had to buy a bag around October first. She loved having them out in the living room in a nice glass bowl. I never saw her eat more than two or three, and they hit the trash mid-november. She stopped putting them out when our new puppy ate the whole bowlful, then decorated the carpet with them.
My grandmother loved to give out Necco's, they were universally hated, until my brother and I started using them as targets on our BB gun range. We had a 2x4 with a bunch of nails in a line in it, the Necco's sat perfectly on them. No clean up needed, the pieces dissolved when it rained.
posted by Marky at 7:57 PM on October 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
My grandmother loved to give out Necco's, they were universally hated, until my brother and I started using them as targets on our BB gun range. We had a 2x4 with a bunch of nails in a line in it, the Necco's sat perfectly on them. No clean up needed, the pieces dissolved when it rained.
posted by Marky at 7:57 PM on October 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
I can only have my beloved Pearson's Salted Nut Roll candy bars once a year -- but a handful of candy corn mixed with salted peanuts gets me about halfway there, and sometimes it's all I'm going to get.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:08 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 8:08 PM on October 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
None of the above-named treats beat candy orange slices (with the boulder-sized sugar crystals sitting atop.)
posted by BostonTerrier at 8:26 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by BostonTerrier at 8:26 PM on October 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don't eat them any more because I'm vegan, but I like circus peanuts - though I probably wouldn't buy them more than once a year.
I never liked Peeps, but I've always thought that was because I never had one until I was well into adulthood. I think nostalgia figures into some of these - that's probably why I like circus peanuts and candy corn, though I wouldn't classify either as a favorite.
And though they're also on my "not vegan" list, I like Chuckles a lot. Fruit slices are better though. My favorite flavor would be cherry red.
posted by FencingGal at 8:29 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I never liked Peeps, but I've always thought that was because I never had one until I was well into adulthood. I think nostalgia figures into some of these - that's probably why I like circus peanuts and candy corn, though I wouldn't classify either as a favorite.
And though they're also on my "not vegan" list, I like Chuckles a lot. Fruit slices are better though. My favorite flavor would be cherry red.
posted by FencingGal at 8:29 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Chuckles. I can sort of accept Necco wafers, because they're really old school, but Chuckles? Where's the audience?
I am the audience. Amazon sells 24-packs of Chuckles and I have one right here. It is NOT the first one I've ordered.
Also Brach's is the only good candy corn. I think it's a western US thing so it's possible many of you are eating inferior sugar kernels.
Necco wafers are delicious and I had a stash of them during the dark time they were unavailable.
I can only have my beloved Pearson's Salted Nut Roll candy bars once a year
Is that for health reasons or availability? They seem easy to find here.
posted by mmoncur at 8:37 PM on October 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
I am the audience. Amazon sells 24-packs of Chuckles and I have one right here. It is NOT the first one I've ordered.
Also Brach's is the only good candy corn. I think it's a western US thing so it's possible many of you are eating inferior sugar kernels.
Necco wafers are delicious and I had a stash of them during the dark time they were unavailable.
I can only have my beloved Pearson's Salted Nut Roll candy bars once a year
Is that for health reasons or availability? They seem easy to find here.
posted by mmoncur at 8:37 PM on October 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
But tell me how you feel about circus peanuts.
posted by brookeb at 9:06 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by brookeb at 9:06 PM on October 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
They have no real taste other than sweet...Also, the size is disturbing...Do I eat one, or pop a handful in my mouth?. I don't have that problem with those Boston bean candy though. For the record, Necco wafers are the devil's candy...I like me some chuckles occasionally. Circus peanuts are a no for me...I've recently rediscovered Mary Janes...I like the flavor and the fact that they last a long time. I also like those sesame seed things too.My fav candy bars are Mello cups and Mounds bars...odd because I'm not a huge fan of coconut...BTW, who remembers Mars bars and where did they go?
posted by Czjewel at 10:00 PM on October 31, 2023
posted by Czjewel at 10:00 PM on October 31, 2023
I really miss candy cigarettes, so chalky and overly sweet, almost as delicious as eating real cigarettes! Candy corn is for people who aren’t cool enough to eat truly disgusting candy.
posted by waving at 3:39 AM on November 1, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by waving at 3:39 AM on November 1, 2023 [10 favorites]
I've seen and been puzzled by the hatred of candy corn, leading me to ask similar questions. The responses I've occasionally gotten is more linked to high fructose corn syrup stuff than some comedian. That's not (maybe?) the same wide spread as you get from a popular comedian, but at various times I've def seen candy corn hated on as an outstanding example of bad industrially produced candy. Which isn't, you know, to say that I always eat the $17/bag organic peanut butter cups, but...
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:54 AM on November 1, 2023
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:54 AM on November 1, 2023
Re: circus peanuts, here's a 25-year-old column asking whether anyone actually likes them.
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:09 AM on November 1, 2023
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:09 AM on November 1, 2023
I think what you're seeing is what happens to everything now - before Teh Internet and Social Media, people would either like or not like a thing and it was just a quirk they had, but they may have been one of just a handful of people in their community who liked or didn't like that thing and it was not really commented on. But then someone On The Internet professed to a hatred of that thing on a public platform, and everyone was able to chime in for or against on that platform, and that made people who wouldn't have spoken up before feel free to chime in because "oh wow I'm not the only one".
And I think it's the "I'm not the only one, thank God" that's a big part of this too. If you think you're the only weirdo who doesn't like something that everyone else around you seems to like, and you find someone else who doesn't like that thing, you get REALLY excited about that. (There is a delightful quote I read once from the English writer Sydney Smith: "Madam, I have been looking for someone who disliked gravy all my life. Let us swear eternal friendship.")
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:14 AM on November 1, 2023 [9 favorites]
And I think it's the "I'm not the only one, thank God" that's a big part of this too. If you think you're the only weirdo who doesn't like something that everyone else around you seems to like, and you find someone else who doesn't like that thing, you get REALLY excited about that. (There is a delightful quote I read once from the English writer Sydney Smith: "Madam, I have been looking for someone who disliked gravy all my life. Let us swear eternal friendship.")
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:14 AM on November 1, 2023 [9 favorites]
I absolutely remember there being a Candy Corn Divide as a child in the 70s/80s (because I love it and would trade good stuff for it). Also like maybe 1 in 10 kids would even TRY a Circus Peanut, and it was kinda assumed it was that 1 who ate all kinds of not-technically-edible things. The trading market on loved/hated candy was HOT in those days, when your parents may have taken their candy tax from your haul but otherwise did not interfere in candy consumption.
This was just all argued at a local level, rather than on the internet.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:16 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
This was just all argued at a local level, rather than on the internet.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:16 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I love candy corn, and have a hard time understanding people who say it TASTES like wax. Texture? Sure. But I grew up in the era of wax lips and other candies that were literal wax with or without some weird corn syrup liquid inside so I know what wax tastes like, and candy corn ain't it. And I also used to eat spoonfuls of plain granulated sugar when I could sneak it (latchkey kid, hi) and it does have more of a flavor than just sweet - I think it's vanilla, possibly with a little bit of a molasses/brown sugar note. I sometimes eat them in small bites starting from the fat end by color segment, leaving me with the little white tips that look like I lost my baby teeth because that's what I did as a kid.
Anyway, I also like Necco wafers so take my opinion with a grain of salt (or sugar).
posted by misskaz at 5:36 AM on November 1, 2023 [12 favorites]
Anyway, I also like Necco wafers so take my opinion with a grain of salt (or sugar).
posted by misskaz at 5:36 AM on November 1, 2023 [12 favorites]
It's funny about the debate on these as for years they were something that wasn't wildly available in Canada (along with things like Peeps, Chuckles) so I was a grown adult before I ever encountered them. So I thought they were some kind of candied popcorn. For years I had also no idea what people in the US called "circus peanuts" - I always thought it was just some kind of shelled roasted peanut but found out they were those marshmallow peanuts (we don't call them circus peanuts - I like them and also the weird marshmallow strawberries and bananas). I think for a lot of Canadians the more polarising candy are molasses kisses. I love them but they are weird and old timey.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:43 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:43 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's honey. The flavor is honey. And if you hate honey...shrug. Candy corn is good but the real deal is those pumpkin things.
I hate the hate. If you don't like it, don't eat it. So much performative hate these days.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:49 AM on November 1, 2023 [13 favorites]
I hate the hate. If you don't like it, don't eat it. So much performative hate these days.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:49 AM on November 1, 2023 [13 favorites]
The best way to eat candy corn is mixed with salted peanuts. TRY IT
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 5:53 AM on November 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 5:53 AM on November 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
but Chuckles? Where's the audience?
Hello! My favorite candy. Me and Evel Knievel. A few years ago I decided to give them out to kids for Halloween and at least one kid called them "old people candy." Kids are dumb. Chuckles are fruity and jelly and delicious! I only wish you could still buy the big bags of rings like I could when I was a kid.
And I absolutely love NECCO wafers. Yes, they are basically chalk and I recognize they are disgusting but they were one of two candies my dad would buy us when we were kids. He'd also buy us a bag of Swedish fish whenever we passed by the Sears candy counter.
In conclusion: candy is delicious.
posted by bondcliff at 6:18 AM on November 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Hello! My favorite candy. Me and Evel Knievel. A few years ago I decided to give them out to kids for Halloween and at least one kid called them "old people candy." Kids are dumb. Chuckles are fruity and jelly and delicious! I only wish you could still buy the big bags of rings like I could when I was a kid.
And I absolutely love NECCO wafers. Yes, they are basically chalk and I recognize they are disgusting but they were one of two candies my dad would buy us when we were kids. He'd also buy us a bag of Swedish fish whenever we passed by the Sears candy counter.
In conclusion: candy is delicious.
posted by bondcliff at 6:18 AM on November 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Hello! My favorite candy. Me and Evel Knievel.
But Evel Knievel died from taking a big risk.
I do love that you shared this little known bit of information.
posted by waving at 6:21 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
But Evel Knievel died from taking a big risk.
I do love that you shared this little known bit of information.
posted by waving at 6:21 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm going to say that it all started with Molasses Kisses. In the first half of the 1900's people loved molasses because sweeteners were comparatively rare, and they loved raisins, for the same reason. They loved the flavour of molasses, as the alternative to a thin dribble of molasses on the biscuits was often biscuits dry. And for many people you used it sparingly as a treat because the big jugs of molasses you got in during the fall had to last the winter, and the home made bread wouldn't raise if you used it up, and there would be no gingersnaps, which meant no cookies at all...
So for Minnie and Harold in 1920 Molasses Kisses and peanuts in shell and apples for Halloween treats were a delight, although the ne plus ultra was something like a Hershey's kiss, or someone's home made divinity fudge. But come the 1950s sugar was everywhere and sugar was cheap and apples were ho hum, and there were lots of other sweets to make the Molasses Kisses stand out as tasting like molasses. (Blackstrap molasses was becoming the sugar flavour people didn't like due to the tarry burnt sugar taste.) Molasses Kkisses especially stood out because if they were cheap or stale they were hard as a rock and would pull your fillings out, and back then everyone had a lot of fillings because they didn't grow up with fluoride toothpaste, let alone the sealant they put on kids' molars because they are bad at brushing.
The way to eat Molasses Kisses in the 1960's was to wait until the central heating was on and put them on the radiator. (You'd wait until you heard the pipes banging as the radiators heated up. They were those cast iron fluted things, that filled with hot water because everyone had an oil furnace in the basement, because back then fossil fuel heating oil was cheap, cheap, cheap.) Once the Molasses Kisses softened they were not too bad. You could also put them in a pocket for a few hours but if you forgot them they would flatten enough the wrapper would open and they would get linty.
So when you divided up your Halloween candy in 1960 and 1970 the Molasses Kisses went into the boring candy pile not the side with those incredible mini chocolate bars. And people started tactfully telling Harold and Minnie, now seniors doing the shelling out, that the kids were not enthusiastic about those Molasses Kisses, and in some families the parents were diverting them into the trash... Since the kids in those affluent years were often getting so much candy, diverting the stuff they didn't like into the trash didn't break their hearts. For one thing, back then a sweet dessert after supper or dinner was specified in the food guide as important source of energy, and the majority of well run families got sugar after dinner every day, often in the form of canned fruit (in those days usually heavy syrup, but you could find light syrup if you looked for it) or Jell-o or pudding made from a pudding mix. (We were even still eating prunes in syrup as a regular dessert too, which could be why Molasses Kisses hung on to be considered a treat by some of us.)
There were a lot of kids quite PLEASED when the razor-blades- in-the-apples thing came out because that left only peanuts for the really undesirable Halloween loot, and you could always take them to the park to feed the squirrels and abandon them if there were no squirrels. For many kids the only thing to do with the apples was plead with a parent to turn them into candy apples, and if they actually did (vanishingly rare) eat the hard red candy off the outside of the apple and throw the apple itself out. The trick was to keep them long enough for the apple inside to get a nasty spot, so then you could say it was rotten and not get in trouble for tossing it.
Kraft cunningly found a good use for those apples - they heavily advertised during every kids show on TV, that you could get your parents to buy Kraft Caramels and use the recipe on the bag to turn them into caramel apples. And the recipe was so simple that with supervision a kid could even do it themself! Man, those were sticky. For a lot of parents stuck trying to peel the transparent wrappers off 45 caramels that had gone soft and then dealing with caramel in the hair when the child got to eat the first of the apples, it was a one time deal. Never again, Dear Lord.
Kids spread the razor-blades-in-apples story to the parents because kids love a gruesome Halloween story - "The razor blade was stuck in her THROAT and they thought she bled to death, while they were trying to take it out, but she had actually DROWNED ON THE BLOOD!!" Kids knew razor blades, of course, because while they were poking around in the bathroom cabinet (a safe place to poke as you could close the door and wouldn't get caught) you would find Daddy's shaving gear (including a can of foam that he used every morning, a bottle of after shave that claimed to smell like old leather but just smelt bad, and a mysterious badger bristle brush and mug that he had stopped using) and they could examine those razor blades and possibly drop them where someone would step on them, and often get their fingertips sliced. It was a rite of passage, learning that there was really no safe way to handle a two sided razor blade by getting a cut.
Back then all kids were warned not to cross streets if the light was red, and not to use wet hands when flicking a light switch, and not to ever touch razor blades. They missed the bit about never getting into cars with strangers. All the adolescents were doing that ALL THE TIME because their parents had two jobs in opposite directions and one car, and no, getting a lift from your parents was absolutely out of the question. I got as far as Quebec City in company with a man I had met that morning.
Pretty soon apples, little red Sunmaid brand boxes of raisins, peanuts and Molasses Kisses all disappeared from the Halloween loot bags, due to public pressure on the people who shelled out, although in some cases they had to wait until someone much older and set in their ways no longer could hand out candy. We transitioned "NOBODY even likes Halloween Kisses..." to getting "What's a Halloween Kiss?" as the automatic response from the younger kids. We had lost that something to hate on, and now comedians that made jokes during prime time on TV when they had to come up with family friendly material could not longer pantomime getting their jaws stuck together (yes, that really happened) or losing a filling. It left a vacuum.
I am pretty sure that it was replaced, after a lacuna of several years, by "NOBODY even likes Candy Corn..." which in my part of the world was not responded to with "I do!!" as when the hate on for Molasses Kisses was first introduced, but went straight to "What's candy corn?"
I seriously had to work hard to find candy corn so I could try it to find out why no one liked it... and found it was a mildly pleasant candy that would merit going into the boring candy pile only because Candy Corn was first introduced to me back when people in the two parents working affluent days were making an effort to put full size chocolate bars into the loot they gave away, and the kids counted it a really good Halloween when they got TWO full sized bars as well as an enormous mound of mini chocolate bars, and rockets, and bags of potato chips.
The rolls of Rockets and the bags of potato chips went into the boring pile because back then some families, served potato chips at ordinary dinners, as the starch, because after coming home from work the mother didn't have time to peel potatoes, and instant mashed potatoes were kinda nasty so you couldn't serve them every night. Nobody liked Minute Rice even if you did cook it in tomato juice, or bouillon or orange juice. Especially if you cooked it in orange juice.
But a lot of kids saved their rolls of Rockets. You could eat still them in early December long after you finished the mini chocolate bars, while you waited for the Christmas candy to start being handed out.
Rockets ended up quite unpopular with my kids, because the one kid who could not learn to swallow pills was handed them, with a glass of water and told to practice. Naturally she cheated when they didn't go down, and bit them to make them smaller, so the several weeks of one-roll-of-Rockets-a-day was not a success, but the exercise ensured they all ended up thinking of Rockets as something you HAD to eat, not something you wanted to.
Now THERE's a candy that harkens back to the black and white TV era of the moon landings, and probably as far back even Flash Gordon in the funny papers. Rockets. You could probably make them popular again by rebranding them as HIMARS.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:39 AM on November 1, 2023 [24 favorites]
So for Minnie and Harold in 1920 Molasses Kisses and peanuts in shell and apples for Halloween treats were a delight, although the ne plus ultra was something like a Hershey's kiss, or someone's home made divinity fudge. But come the 1950s sugar was everywhere and sugar was cheap and apples were ho hum, and there were lots of other sweets to make the Molasses Kisses stand out as tasting like molasses. (Blackstrap molasses was becoming the sugar flavour people didn't like due to the tarry burnt sugar taste.) Molasses Kkisses especially stood out because if they were cheap or stale they were hard as a rock and would pull your fillings out, and back then everyone had a lot of fillings because they didn't grow up with fluoride toothpaste, let alone the sealant they put on kids' molars because they are bad at brushing.
The way to eat Molasses Kisses in the 1960's was to wait until the central heating was on and put them on the radiator. (You'd wait until you heard the pipes banging as the radiators heated up. They were those cast iron fluted things, that filled with hot water because everyone had an oil furnace in the basement, because back then fossil fuel heating oil was cheap, cheap, cheap.) Once the Molasses Kisses softened they were not too bad. You could also put them in a pocket for a few hours but if you forgot them they would flatten enough the wrapper would open and they would get linty.
So when you divided up your Halloween candy in 1960 and 1970 the Molasses Kisses went into the boring candy pile not the side with those incredible mini chocolate bars. And people started tactfully telling Harold and Minnie, now seniors doing the shelling out, that the kids were not enthusiastic about those Molasses Kisses, and in some families the parents were diverting them into the trash... Since the kids in those affluent years were often getting so much candy, diverting the stuff they didn't like into the trash didn't break their hearts. For one thing, back then a sweet dessert after supper or dinner was specified in the food guide as important source of energy, and the majority of well run families got sugar after dinner every day, often in the form of canned fruit (in those days usually heavy syrup, but you could find light syrup if you looked for it) or Jell-o or pudding made from a pudding mix. (We were even still eating prunes in syrup as a regular dessert too, which could be why Molasses Kisses hung on to be considered a treat by some of us.)
There were a lot of kids quite PLEASED when the razor-blades- in-the-apples thing came out because that left only peanuts for the really undesirable Halloween loot, and you could always take them to the park to feed the squirrels and abandon them if there were no squirrels. For many kids the only thing to do with the apples was plead with a parent to turn them into candy apples, and if they actually did (vanishingly rare) eat the hard red candy off the outside of the apple and throw the apple itself out. The trick was to keep them long enough for the apple inside to get a nasty spot, so then you could say it was rotten and not get in trouble for tossing it.
Kraft cunningly found a good use for those apples - they heavily advertised during every kids show on TV, that you could get your parents to buy Kraft Caramels and use the recipe on the bag to turn them into caramel apples. And the recipe was so simple that with supervision a kid could even do it themself! Man, those were sticky. For a lot of parents stuck trying to peel the transparent wrappers off 45 caramels that had gone soft and then dealing with caramel in the hair when the child got to eat the first of the apples, it was a one time deal. Never again, Dear Lord.
Kids spread the razor-blades-in-apples story to the parents because kids love a gruesome Halloween story - "The razor blade was stuck in her THROAT and they thought she bled to death, while they were trying to take it out, but she had actually DROWNED ON THE BLOOD!!" Kids knew razor blades, of course, because while they were poking around in the bathroom cabinet (a safe place to poke as you could close the door and wouldn't get caught) you would find Daddy's shaving gear (including a can of foam that he used every morning, a bottle of after shave that claimed to smell like old leather but just smelt bad, and a mysterious badger bristle brush and mug that he had stopped using) and they could examine those razor blades and possibly drop them where someone would step on them, and often get their fingertips sliced. It was a rite of passage, learning that there was really no safe way to handle a two sided razor blade by getting a cut.
Back then all kids were warned not to cross streets if the light was red, and not to use wet hands when flicking a light switch, and not to ever touch razor blades. They missed the bit about never getting into cars with strangers. All the adolescents were doing that ALL THE TIME because their parents had two jobs in opposite directions and one car, and no, getting a lift from your parents was absolutely out of the question. I got as far as Quebec City in company with a man I had met that morning.
Pretty soon apples, little red Sunmaid brand boxes of raisins, peanuts and Molasses Kisses all disappeared from the Halloween loot bags, due to public pressure on the people who shelled out, although in some cases they had to wait until someone much older and set in their ways no longer could hand out candy. We transitioned "NOBODY even likes Halloween Kisses..." to getting "What's a Halloween Kiss?" as the automatic response from the younger kids. We had lost that something to hate on, and now comedians that made jokes during prime time on TV when they had to come up with family friendly material could not longer pantomime getting their jaws stuck together (yes, that really happened) or losing a filling. It left a vacuum.
I am pretty sure that it was replaced, after a lacuna of several years, by "NOBODY even likes Candy Corn..." which in my part of the world was not responded to with "I do!!" as when the hate on for Molasses Kisses was first introduced, but went straight to "What's candy corn?"
I seriously had to work hard to find candy corn so I could try it to find out why no one liked it... and found it was a mildly pleasant candy that would merit going into the boring candy pile only because Candy Corn was first introduced to me back when people in the two parents working affluent days were making an effort to put full size chocolate bars into the loot they gave away, and the kids counted it a really good Halloween when they got TWO full sized bars as well as an enormous mound of mini chocolate bars, and rockets, and bags of potato chips.
The rolls of Rockets and the bags of potato chips went into the boring pile because back then some families, served potato chips at ordinary dinners, as the starch, because after coming home from work the mother didn't have time to peel potatoes, and instant mashed potatoes were kinda nasty so you couldn't serve them every night. Nobody liked Minute Rice even if you did cook it in tomato juice, or bouillon or orange juice. Especially if you cooked it in orange juice.
But a lot of kids saved their rolls of Rockets. You could eat still them in early December long after you finished the mini chocolate bars, while you waited for the Christmas candy to start being handed out.
Rockets ended up quite unpopular with my kids, because the one kid who could not learn to swallow pills was handed them, with a glass of water and told to practice. Naturally she cheated when they didn't go down, and bit them to make them smaller, so the several weeks of one-roll-of-Rockets-a-day was not a success, but the exercise ensured they all ended up thinking of Rockets as something you HAD to eat, not something you wanted to.
Now THERE's a candy that harkens back to the black and white TV era of the moon landings, and probably as far back even Flash Gordon in the funny papers. Rockets. You could probably make them popular again by rebranding them as HIMARS.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:39 AM on November 1, 2023 [24 favorites]
Was I hallucinating, or are the three colors slightly different textures? Like the small white conical bit at the top is less oleaginous and bendy/chewy than the orange and yellow parts? And the lower parts have a something other than sweet there for you to taste, a little salt to them, and a butteriness? That's probably the gelatin. Mmmmmmm...
Anyway, so if the three colors are different textures, or if you convince yourself that they are, it's a stage-able snack like Oreos, which are a bullshit attempt at a cookie that's only worth trifling with because you can divide up the experience by separating the chocolate halves and licking off the gross chemical-tasting spoo in the middle. (Did Oreos used to suck less about five years ago, or do I have some hold-over taste/smell loss from having had COVID in September? Because the last bag I got was absolutely not worth the time.)
Further on this tangent: cookies and cream ice cream MUST include the innards of the cookie sandwich. Some ice cream companies think they can pass off the ice cream as the "cream." Absolutely not. Cookies and cream ice cream must include fragments of frozen corn syrup + Crisco "stuff," or it fails.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:54 AM on November 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Anyway, so if the three colors are different textures, or if you convince yourself that they are, it's a stage-able snack like Oreos, which are a bullshit attempt at a cookie that's only worth trifling with because you can divide up the experience by separating the chocolate halves and licking off the gross chemical-tasting spoo in the middle. (Did Oreos used to suck less about five years ago, or do I have some hold-over taste/smell loss from having had COVID in September? Because the last bag I got was absolutely not worth the time.)
Further on this tangent: cookies and cream ice cream MUST include the innards of the cookie sandwich. Some ice cream companies think they can pass off the ice cream as the "cream." Absolutely not. Cookies and cream ice cream must include fragments of frozen corn syrup + Crisco "stuff," or it fails.
posted by Don Pepino at 6:54 AM on November 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm going to say that it all started with Molasses Kisses.
JtB, that was a lovely read, and I apologize for mentally hearing it in Grandpa Simpson’s voice.
posted by zamboni at 6:59 AM on November 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
JtB, that was a lovely read, and I apologize for mentally hearing it in Grandpa Simpson’s voice.
posted by zamboni at 6:59 AM on November 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
I apologize for mentally hearing it in Grandpa Simpson’s voice.
But with a Canadian Maritime accent I would hope.
Speaking of the Maritimes and Candy - maybe the most divisive Canadian Christmas candy? Chicken Bones.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:18 AM on November 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
But with a Canadian Maritime accent I would hope.
Speaking of the Maritimes and Candy - maybe the most divisive Canadian Christmas candy? Chicken Bones.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:18 AM on November 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
The candy corn that has a little chocolate section (or at least a brown one) tastes better than the OG candy corn.
posted by emelenjr at 8:22 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by emelenjr at 8:22 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
I always did like the fruit slices (and coconut haystacks) from the Sears candy counter. It's been a while since I've had Chuckles, but I seem to recall the fruit slices having a different texture.
posted by mollweide at 8:41 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mollweide at 8:41 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's honey. The flavor is honey. And if you hate honey...shrug.
I am legitimately shocked/not being snarky that the flavor and taste of candy corn is supposed to be honey. I don't even taste the slightest bit of honey in those things, just wax.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:29 AM on November 1, 2023
I am legitimately shocked/not being snarky that the flavor and taste of candy corn is supposed to be honey. I don't even taste the slightest bit of honey in those things, just wax.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:29 AM on November 1, 2023
It's honey. The flavor is honey. And if you hate honey...shrug.
I am legitimately shocked/not being snarky that the flavor and taste of candy corn is supposed to be honey. I don't even taste the slightest bit of honey in those things, just wax.
Tastes like High Fructose Corn Syrup to me. Definitely not honey.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:37 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am legitimately shocked/not being snarky that the flavor and taste of candy corn is supposed to be honey. I don't even taste the slightest bit of honey in those things, just wax.
Tastes like High Fructose Corn Syrup to me. Definitely not honey.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:37 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
So, candy corn consistency and flavor can vary quite a lot nowadays. The ones I get (which are the only vegetarian, i.e. no gelatin, ones I can find) have a decent consistency, few ingredients, and are sweetened with honey. At some point it seemed like a lot of the larger name brands switched to more artificial formulas that were waxier and less flavourful (sweetened with things that are definitely not honey, for example). I don’t really understand the candy corn hate myself, aside from it just being the in meme thing, I guess. But possibly this shift in formulas may be related?
posted by eviemath at 9:41 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 9:41 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
I'm in the UK, where candy corn is unknown. A friend brought some over a few months ago and I tried it for the first time, and I can say that it is among the most dislikable sweets I've ever eaten. Both the flavour and the texture are unpleasant.
posted by Hogshead at 10:49 AM on November 1, 2023
posted by Hogshead at 10:49 AM on November 1, 2023
It's honey. The flavor is honey.
If your honey tastes like candy corn, there is something wrong with the honey.
posted by zamboni at 11:31 AM on November 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
If your honey tastes like candy corn, there is something wrong with the honey.
posted by zamboni at 11:31 AM on November 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Some candy corn contains wax, some doesn't. Some candy corn contains honey, some doesn't. I prefer Brachs, my partner prefers the type sold on Nuts.com. The general derisive attitude people have about candy corn prevents them from experiencing the variety of quality and kind on offer.
Regardless, the best way to eat it is mixed with extremely salty, movie-theater style popcorn.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 11:52 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
Regardless, the best way to eat it is mixed with extremely salty, movie-theater style popcorn.
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 11:52 AM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
TIL Candy Corn contains multitudes.
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:59 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ashwagandha at 11:59 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I love candy corn, and have a hard time understanding people who say it TASTES like wax. Texture? Sure. But I grew up in the era of wax lips and other candies that were literal wax with or without some weird corn syrup liquid inside so I know what wax tastes like, and candy corn ain't it.
Truth. Even as a kid I found those wax-filled-with-random-liquids "candies" incredibly gross, without a single redeeming quality, produced by some absolute cynic who saw a preschooler gnawing on a crayon and had a eureka vision of filling industrial grade paraffin with mystery liquid dosed with Red Dye #2 and corn syrup.
I've def seen candy corn hated on as an outstanding example of bad industrially produced candy.
All Halloween candy is industrially produced, so I don't know why candy corn would be singled out for this. I can only assume people who say this never looked into Red Vines or Nerds and how those confections are brought into existence. And it's not like candy corn can't be made at home. I think in a lot of ways people have decided anything chocolate is a better candy on general principles. Chocolate is food for adults, and other sweets are not. I wonder if it also has to do with the fact that little sugary morsels are far more ubiquitous than they used to be and so getting a packet of sweet chewy something-or-others in your trick-or-treat bag is not as interesting as it was forty years ago.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:42 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Truth. Even as a kid I found those wax-filled-with-random-liquids "candies" incredibly gross, without a single redeeming quality, produced by some absolute cynic who saw a preschooler gnawing on a crayon and had a eureka vision of filling industrial grade paraffin with mystery liquid dosed with Red Dye #2 and corn syrup.
I've def seen candy corn hated on as an outstanding example of bad industrially produced candy.
All Halloween candy is industrially produced, so I don't know why candy corn would be singled out for this. I can only assume people who say this never looked into Red Vines or Nerds and how those confections are brought into existence. And it's not like candy corn can't be made at home. I think in a lot of ways people have decided anything chocolate is a better candy on general principles. Chocolate is food for adults, and other sweets are not. I wonder if it also has to do with the fact that little sugary morsels are far more ubiquitous than they used to be and so getting a packet of sweet chewy something-or-others in your trick-or-treat bag is not as interesting as it was forty years ago.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:42 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Was I hallucinating, or are the three colors slightly different textures? Like the small white conical bit at the top is less oleaginous and bendy/chewy than the orange and yellow parts?
I can't quite remember if the yellow and orange had separate flavors, but I do recall them breaking fairly easily along the color line. This probably speaks to a production process that has changed, because as you do remember, the white tip was a hard "white sugar" flavor and texture, so I imagine they used to be built up in layers in molds, but now is just the same stuff smorshed together in some newer discrete-substance-unfriendly layering process.
posted by rhizome at 4:11 PM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
I can't quite remember if the yellow and orange had separate flavors, but I do recall them breaking fairly easily along the color line. This probably speaks to a production process that has changed, because as you do remember, the white tip was a hard "white sugar" flavor and texture, so I imagine they used to be built up in layers in molds, but now is just the same stuff smorshed together in some newer discrete-substance-unfriendly layering process.
posted by rhizome at 4:11 PM on November 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
My friends and family were hating on candy corn (and circus peanuts) in the 80s
Candy corn yes! but circus peanuts? don't get me started.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:57 PM on November 1, 2023
Candy corn yes! but circus peanuts? don't get me started.
posted by bluesky43 at 4:57 PM on November 1, 2023
I had not noticed a rise in candy corn hatred in the past decade and maybe there is one, but I would say it’s always been a loved or hated product and haters are louder.
Popcorn balls were a weird Halloween thing (70s). I went through many years of addiction to candy corn with the fake chocolate butts. I also liked those bags of similar candies that included pumpkins, bats, cats and cat heads. The fake chocolate of those were also the best ones. Bit O Honey was a fave but like all those (Sugar Daddy, Mary Janes and the Squirrel one) horrific for the teeth so had to give them up.
I had to look up Rockets. Smarties! Only ever knew them as Smarties.
posted by Glinn at 5:10 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Popcorn balls were a weird Halloween thing (70s). I went through many years of addiction to candy corn with the fake chocolate butts. I also liked those bags of similar candies that included pumpkins, bats, cats and cat heads. The fake chocolate of those were also the best ones. Bit O Honey was a fave but like all those (Sugar Daddy, Mary Janes and the Squirrel one) horrific for the teeth so had to give them up.
I had to look up Rockets. Smarties! Only ever knew them as Smarties.
posted by Glinn at 5:10 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I sometimes eat them in small bites starting from the fat end by color segment, leaving me with the little white tips that look like I lost my baby teeth
I always eat my candy corn like this. But the tooth connection is obviously that you stick them on the ends of your canines as pretend vampire teeth!
I had to look up Rockets. Smarties! Only ever knew them as Smarties.
I recall when I first moved to Canada thinking that Rockets were off-brand Smarties - that they tasted just a bit different, and not as good to my taste buds. I haven’t had actual Smarties in so long, though, so can’t re-confirm that opinion.
In other candy differences, it’s a lot harder to get candy hearts in Canada, and the ones that are available also don’t taste the same as the Necco candy hearts - in fact, the most common/sometimes only ones I see in my region are more like Sweet Tarts, but… worse, both flavor and texture-wise. (Why oh why do Neccos and their candy hearts have gelatin in them, by the way? It doesn’t seem like they should based on the consistency. It is very sad that I haven’t had a decent candy heart in over 15 years.)
posted by eviemath at 6:51 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I always eat my candy corn like this. But the tooth connection is obviously that you stick them on the ends of your canines as pretend vampire teeth!
I had to look up Rockets. Smarties! Only ever knew them as Smarties.
I recall when I first moved to Canada thinking that Rockets were off-brand Smarties - that they tasted just a bit different, and not as good to my taste buds. I haven’t had actual Smarties in so long, though, so can’t re-confirm that opinion.
In other candy differences, it’s a lot harder to get candy hearts in Canada, and the ones that are available also don’t taste the same as the Necco candy hearts - in fact, the most common/sometimes only ones I see in my region are more like Sweet Tarts, but… worse, both flavor and texture-wise. (Why oh why do Neccos and their candy hearts have gelatin in them, by the way? It doesn’t seem like they should based on the consistency. It is very sad that I haven’t had a decent candy heart in over 15 years.)
posted by eviemath at 6:51 PM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Ah I have often wondered if Canadian Rockets tasted different than the US Smarties. I always thought they were just rebranded as the chocolate Smarties have been around longer in Canada hence the name change. Now there is some kind difference between regional candy hearts? This is crazy.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:01 AM on November 2, 2023
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:01 AM on November 2, 2023
Honestly, the Sweet Tarts/whatever they are in Canada (I don’t eat them, so I’ve forgotten) difference is more significant, and the US Smarties/Canadian Rockets difference is fairly minor, if I recall correctly. Also, Canadian Smarties taste different than US M&Ms, which they otherwise look like. Necco brand anything just straight up isn’t available in Canada. But yeah, the difference even between the types of chocolate bars available in Canada versus the US is a bit mind boggling, given how similar the two countries food backgrounds can be in other areas (at least, comparing Canada with northern parts of the US).
posted by eviemath at 7:41 AM on November 2, 2023
posted by eviemath at 7:41 AM on November 2, 2023
Our connections with the UK is likely responsible for that difference in chocolate bars (or candy bars as they say south of us). Smarties, the chocolate dragée, is an UK invention and is fairly different from M&Ms. Necco you can sometimes find at fancier candy stores but usually only the wafers however when the original company closed they became even harder to find. Has that product line been bought by another company?
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:43 AM on November 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:43 AM on November 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
"I don't really care about this" I think to myself as I go through the thread and scrupulously favorite every pro-candy corn comment.
Candy corn is nice once a year. Ideally around Thanksgiving, not Halloween. There are better candy options for Halloween. It should taste like honey syrup, and I have found that most of them do. I don't understand why people started to get so loud about hating them. (Why not hate something worth hating, like jelly beans?!) But candy corn have endured a decade of slander, so plenty of us must still like them. I don't understand the coconut hate either; Almond Joys are a top-tier mass market candy for me. You ~texture~ people are going to go after Reese Cups next, I just know it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:59 AM on November 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
Candy corn is nice once a year. Ideally around Thanksgiving, not Halloween. There are better candy options for Halloween. It should taste like honey syrup, and I have found that most of them do. I don't understand why people started to get so loud about hating them. (Why not hate something worth hating, like jelly beans?!) But candy corn have endured a decade of slander, so plenty of us must still like them. I don't understand the coconut hate either; Almond Joys are a top-tier mass market candy for me. You ~texture~ people are going to go after Reese Cups next, I just know it.
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:59 AM on November 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
As wenestvedt said, the best way to eat candy corn is mixed with peanuts, and yes, it's almost as good as a Pearson's Salted Nut Roll. Plain candy corn is fine, I guess, but boring.
Years ago, someone who hunted on my parents' farmland worked at the Pearson's plant in St. Paul, and part of their "thank you" gift to us was large boxes of said Nut Rolls (and THANK GOODNESS not the Nut Goodies, ick). I have very fond memories of stealing those out of the freezer on my way out of the house to do chores or whatever.
wenestvedt, can you not get Pearson's in RI? If you need a shipment of MN candy goodness, hit me up via MeMail.
posted by cinnamonduff at 9:31 PM on November 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Years ago, someone who hunted on my parents' farmland worked at the Pearson's plant in St. Paul, and part of their "thank you" gift to us was large boxes of said Nut Rolls (and THANK GOODNESS not the Nut Goodies, ick). I have very fond memories of stealing those out of the freezer on my way out of the house to do chores or whatever.
wenestvedt, can you not get Pearson's in RI? If you need a shipment of MN candy goodness, hit me up via MeMail.
posted by cinnamonduff at 9:31 PM on November 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I hate candy corn, but if there's a dish of it, I'll eat it, which makes me hate it more.
posted by theora55 at 5:22 PM on November 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 5:22 PM on November 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by Iris Gambol at 4:34 PM on October 31, 2023 [2 favorites]