7 Nostalgic Vintage Candies That Vanished From Store Shelves

Time waits for no man — or candy, for that matter. Sure, chocolate companies like Nestlé, Hershey, and Cadbury have been around for over a hundred years (over two hundred years, in Cadbury's case), but that doesn't mean every single piece of confectionery has what it takes to survive to the present day. After all, back in the day, having any kind of sugary treat was something of a novelty (heck, the White Witch in the "Narnia" series got a kid to betray his family for Turkish delight); today, we can be a little more choosy.

Which isn't to say that the discontinued vintage candies on this list are all terrible; in fact, you may find yourself wanting to try some of them yourself. (Hey, some people get nostalgic for those violet mint candies, don't they?) Unfortunately for you, these sweets have long since gone the way of the dodo, but you can still have fun imagining.

The brainchild of a man from Dubuque, Iowa, named William Widman, Seven Up bars were basically seven mini-bars of chocolate in one. Different sections of the bar had different fillings — nougat, fudge, caramel, things of that nature — allowing for a novel eating experience. Unfortunately, it also made them an enormous headache to make at scale once the candy caught on; eventually, the 7-Up soda company (which was separate from the candy bar) bought the bar from its parent company, Pearson's, only to discontinue it.

When you hear Caravelle bars described, it's hard to see why it was discontinued. It was a milk chocolate bar filled with rice and caramel, a combination which sounds delicious even now — in fact, there's another bar on the market, 100 Grand (an iconic junk food that's still around), which is basically just that. So, why was this once-popular chocolate bar discontinued? Unfortunately, it fell victim to a corporate merger: Peter Paul, the company also responsible for Mounds and Almond Joys, was bought by Cadbury in 1978, and they discontinued the bar for...being too delightful, we guess.

What on earth is a Pyramint? Weirdly, it was just what it sounds like: a chocolate pyramid with a mint filling. (Eventually, it was sold in bar form, rather defeating the point.) Manufactured by Terry's, the British chocolatier best known for those chocolate oranges your grandmother gives you around Christmas, this exotic confection was discontinued in the 1990s due to dwindling sales. It's a shame, as it sounds like exactly the kind of bizarre, conceptual nonsense Willy Wonka would pull if he were real. (Mind you, Wonka has plenty of discontinued candies in its own right.)

Speaking of Willy Wonka-coded confections, we have the Chicken Dinner candy bar. Despite the name, it was not actually intended to simulate a real chicken dinner — it just contained chocolate and nuts, same as many other candy bars over the years — but the Sperry Candy Company sold it as an upscale, even nutritious candy experience. It was eventually discontinued after being bought by Pearson (who made Bit-o-Honey and those Seven Up bars from earlier), but it's ended up having a rather long shadow, with "Time" naming it among the most influential candy bars in history.

"Slapstick," or comedy based on exaggerated violence and pratfalls, got its name from a literal device used to create a loud smacking noise — as did this caramel-based lollipop. Starting life in 1920 as a "Snirkle Pop" (yes, really), it evolved over the years into a banana-flavored caramel sucker with a creamy nougat center. The candy was discontinued in 2021 after its parent company went bankrupt, but smaller revival efforts pop up from time to time.

Its name may give you flashbacks to "There's Something About Mary," but the origin of this candy's name is somewhat more innocent. The Squirrel brand of caramel candies sought to make a vanilla counterpart to its chocolate caramels, and a news bulletin about a drunkard blaming his behavior on a "Nut Zipper" (a cocktail at the time) gave them an idea for a name. Eventually, the candy was bought by Necco, which went out of business in 2018 — but the Squirrel Nut Zipper name lives on through a popular swing revival band.

In these contentious times, it would be nice to have a friendly brand of chewing gum like Chum Gum. Its name came from the fact that it came with two pieces in every wrapper, so you could share it with your friend (or have both yourself, if you're a monster). It was produced by the Fleer Company, and was eventually discontinued so they could shift their focus to the more popular Dubble Bubble.