The Chewy Vintage Candy John Wayne Kept In His Drawer

Decked out in a leather vest and a cowboy hat or a virile brown suede jacket with fringe, John Wayne was everyone's favorite cowboy. He was a star of Hollywood's big-screen version of the American West, performing in such classics as "True Grit," "Stagecoach," "The Cowboys," and "The Alamo." But if you see him chewing away in some classic Western, don't assume he was doing the cliché cowboy thing of chomping on chewing tobacco to spit out in the dust. There's a good chance he was actually chewing on Abba-Zaba, an old-school, taffy-coated candy bar that was one of his favorite treats. Maybe the candy tasted good paired with John Wayne's favorite whiskey brand.

According to its label, Abba-Zaba is chewy taffy with a chocolate and peanut butter center. According to Wayne, it was the awesome-est candy bar ever. Admittedly, probably not his exact words, but his kids told Closer that he liked this candy enough to keep some in a special drawer for him to grab and snack on. In an interview with HottyToddy, John Wayne's granddaughter added that he liked to make trips to his dad's drugstore as a kid just to buy his favorite candy.

Wayne isn't the only one celebrity to have sworn by this iconic candy. Actress Tiffani Thiesen, who played Bayside High School's resident "hot girl" in the '80s/'90s sitcom "Saved by the Bell," has also expressed her Abba-Zaba fandom. The comedian Dave Chappelle brought the candy into the spotlight in his 1998 film "Half Baked" where he takes a bite of one and delivers the line, "Abba-Zaba, you my only friend."

Originally created by the Colby & McDermott candy company in 1922, Abba-Zaba has become something of a cult classic candy that's still available and remains quite popular with candy connoisseurs. Some even consider it among the most criminally underrated candies out there, and ample TikTok videos debate the best way to eat an Abba-Zaba: frozen, room temperature, or heated up. Plus, the candy's name is fun to say.

As for John Wayne, he did adore his Abba-Zabas, but it wasn't his only candy of choice. While staying in Massachusetts General Hospital following a heart valve replacement, Wayne developed another candy obsession thanks to a patient in a neighboring room. This candy was chocolate bark from Gowell's Candy, a small, mom-and-pop candy store that still exists in Brockton, Massachusetts. The story goes that Wayne's hospital neighbor had boxes full of Gowell's dark chocolate bark brought in by his wife, and they shared it with the nurses. Eventually, Wayne got ahold of some and he grew so fond of it that he helped consume 38 boxes of the chocolate (along with everyone else) during his convalescence.