Candy makers feeding nostalgia for sweet memories

By Anne D'Innocenzio
Associated Press

Candy popular in the 1950s and '60s is displayed at Dylan's Candy Bar in Houston. Merchants are eager to satisfy baby boomers' growing desire to relive sugary childhood memories and share them with their children. Associated Press

These candies and others from the 1950s and '60s are getting big displays this fall and holiday season as retailers cash in on baby boomers' desire to relive their sweetest childhood memories and share them with their children.

"I've always loved that candy," said Ken Casarsa, 40, from Cicero, N.Y., who bought items such as Razzles — hard candy from the 1960s that turns into gum — on the Internet. "They don't make the new stuff like that — a lot of it is unappetizing and you can't relate to it."

Candy manufacturers including Tootsie Roll Industries have increased production of some retro products such as Dots gum drops to meet demand.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is creating a store-within-a-store called Kid Connection, in 160 stores so far, that highlights old-time favorites such as Pez and Rock Candy.

Dylan's Candy Bar, a Manhattan store that was one of the first to catch the trend, is doubling the size of its retro candy section. The company also has stores in Houston; Orlando, Fla., and Garden City, N.Y.

Meanwhile, online candy stores including groovycandies.com, sweetnostaglia.com and oldtimecandy.com offer boomers an easy way to get old-time goodies.

Nostalgic candy is a growing niche in the $24.3 billion U.S. candy business, according to the National Confectioners Association, though some sources say the category accounts for only about 5 percent of total candy sales.

Many companies believe the trend will be long-lasting.

Scott Hughes, who runs the operations of groovycandies.com, expects sales to double to $3 million in the next two years. The Cleveland-based company had $250,000 in sales in 2000.

"I think it will last at least five or 10 years," said Hughes, who expects his holiday business to be up by double digits over a year ago.

This nostalgia craze is part of an overall retro trend that includes toys, fashion and cars. Casarsa said eating Razzles triggers memories of going to the local penny candy store when he was a child.

He still hasn't been able to persuade his children, ages 3 and 6, to try them. They prefer candy with names like Nerds and Runts.

In some cases, boomers might not recognize the packaging of retro brands and find they taste a bit different.

Cadbury Adams USA LLC, based in Parsippany, N.J., aims to triple its Chiclets gum business, and relaunched the brand this month in new packaging with two new flavors, Citrus and Strawberry. Chiclets' distribution had suffered as the company focused on newer brands, said marketing director Sydney Taylor.

In relaunching a trio of nostalgic gums — Clove, Beeman's and Blackjack — from September through January, Cadbury Adams toned down the licorice taste of Blackjack. The gums, created at the turn of the century, were taken off the market in the late 1970s.

Tootsie Roll Industries is making bigger Dot candies in more vibrant colors, said Ellen Gordon, president.

And there's a growing campaign to bring some candies back.

After tracking a cult-like following for Bonomo's Turkish Taffy on the Internet, New York malpractice attorney Ken Wiesen, 46, purchased the trademark from Tootsie Roll three years ago. The chewy candy popular in the 1950s and '60s was acquired by Tootsie Roll in the early 1970s but phased out in the early 1980s.

Wiesen expects to have the taffy sold in national chains by summer, and is working to recreate the original flavors.

Boomers have found that not every search for a childhood favorite ends successfully.

For three months, Chris Falk, 41, has been scouring the Internet without luck for Fizzies — fruit-flavored tablets that turn into fizzy drinks when dropped into water — to share with his 4-year-old son.

"It is nearly impossible to find," said the Chevy Chase, Md., resident.

"It's the excitement of dropping a tablet into water and watching it fizz," he said. "It's more fun than a refreshing drink. It's something I remember fondly from my youth."

He soon learned that a holding company brought back Fizzies in 1995 after more than 20 years, then went out of business. Fizzies simply fizzled.