65 Comments
User's avatar
Shire Jansen's avatar

Snickers, Payday, PB M&M's, SweetTart Gummies, Ruffles

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Solid selection.

Expand full comment
R.A. Watman (Anne)'s avatar

I do like Payday!

Expand full comment
Sam Rittenberg's avatar

Payday! I had forgotten all about it. A great bar and a one time favorite!

Expand full comment
James Satloff's avatar

"Peanuts in peanut butter nougat." That was the promise of Snickers when I was growing up. Given that I loathe peanut butter (not an allergy, just a visceral aversion), Milky Way was the clear preference. Also, since Milky Way comes in a dark or 'midnight' version, that cinches the deal. Those mini Snickers were always the first to go when we swapped candy after the Hallowe'en haul.

Butterfingers are as loathsome to peanut butter dislikers as are Snickers.

Chuckles are great, but I don't like the licorice flavor. As a result, I feel I'm paying a premium for the flavors I like (note that I pay this premium willingly). It's difficult, however, to give away one opened Chuckle, and I don't like to waste candy.

Good 'n' Plenty? Only one of those is true. See rationale for Chuckles.

Sour Cream & Onion potato chips are great, but they aren't candy, as you point out.

My alternate slate of candy electors?

- Milky Way

- Caramello (By Cadbury)

- Swedish Fish

- Mike & Ike (Good & Plenty's hipper cousin)

- and for the non-candy selection, Goldfish crackers.

And candy corn? While I agree that October 31 is the only acceptable day to see this confection, does anyone actually enjoy eating candy corn? I don't.

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Goldfish is a solid non candy alternative. The good Swedish fish are not generally available at newsstands, but if they were....

Expand full comment
Simon Wasserberger's avatar

A) The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is nature’s most perfect food, and B) I think Candy Corn and Stuffing should be year-round options.

Expand full comment
R.A. Watman (Anne)'s avatar

You were doing so well with Reese’s, and then you had to add candy corn!

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Reese's s a classic, but your views on stuffing and candy corn are very much on the fringe!

Expand full comment
Martin Cohen's avatar

As for Chuckles, I believe they are the precursor to gummies. Every supplement today comes in the form of a gummy that is fun and easy to eat - just like Chuckles

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Chuckles is the classic!

Expand full comment
Jonathan Glynn's avatar

Peanut butter cups definitely, M&Ms, peanuts, cracker jacks

Expand full comment
R.A. Watman (Anne)'s avatar

Cracker Jacks!

Expand full comment
LRB's avatar

Chips are not candy. Also, licorice is overlooked because it is gross. Chuckles? That’s “laughable”. Obviously sour patch kids is the gummy choice. I can’t believe I’m related to you.

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth..."

So, you eliminate chips, you eliminate licorice, and fail to endorse or put forth anything other than sour patch. I can only infer that your "assortment" would be confined to sour patch, a horrific state of affairs, but perhaps suitable for one who approaches the world of candy with a disposition of such open hostility

Expand full comment
LRB's avatar

I never confined my choices to sour patch, I merely offered them as substitution for your disgusting Chuckles. Don’t come crying to me when your licorice turns your gums as black as your soul.

Expand full comment
The Ivy Exile's avatar

What, are Heath Bars chopped liver?

Expand full comment
Andrew Roberts's avatar

+1 for heath bars

Expand full comment
R.A. Watman (Anne)'s avatar

I’m not much of a candy person, but I do like Snickers. I could be equally happy with a Chunky square (it’s not really a bar, or it didn’t used to be) or a Reese’s peanut butter cup. I do not like any kind of gummy candy!!

Expand full comment
Josh Blumenthal's avatar

All those are good choices, though I was terribly disappointed and turned off the last time I tried a Chunky and found out it was so small. One tip: Frozen Snickers!

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

The shape of a Chunky is a bit off-putting as well.

Expand full comment
R.A. Watman (Anne)'s avatar

Why? It’s a thick square, or used to be. Not big enough?

Expand full comment
R.A. Watman (Anne)'s avatar

I haven’t had a Chunky in years, but that doesn’t surprise me. Frozen Snickers sounds good!!

Expand full comment
June Girvin's avatar

There is a UK version of this -

1. Cadbury's Boost - a chewy, chocolatey, filling removing beauty.

2. Caramilk - a modern version of Mackintosh's Caramac, my favourite as a girl.

3. Nougat - pink and white bars, the cheap stuff, not the expensive stuff that you get at Christmas and costs an arm and a leg.

4. Twix - biscuit, caramel and chocolate covered bar. What's not to like?

5. Haribo Tangfastic - the ultimate car sweet.

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Sounds like an excellent selection.

From a 2016 study, UK is #5 per capita in candy consumption. Surprisingly the US did not make the top ten in per capita, although America is #1 in aggregate consumption.

Germany is #1 per capita.

Expand full comment
June Girvin's avatar

I love that you have these figures at your (sticky) fingertips....

Expand full comment
KTonCapeCod's avatar

What about Terry's chocolate orange? And the brits do cookies/biscuits and crisps much better than we do. What I wouldn't give for an oatcake cookie right now.

Expand full comment
June Girvin's avatar

I've never been a chocolate orange fan, mostly because I dislike dark chocolate and when they first came out that was all you could get. But biscuits, yes, we do good biscuit. I have to eat gluten free but there's a brilliant GF chocolate HobNob and I eat far too many of them. If you don't have HobNobs over there, then you may have to look them up and ship some over!

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Great candy name!

Expand full comment
KTonCapeCod's avatar

Hob nobs rule ..I think you can get them here at specialty stores. It brings me back to my college years in Glasgow. That was the best time of my life! And hob nobs can bring me right back to that place.

Expand full comment
Sam Rittenberg's avatar

Very funny! Brilliant turn of direction after yesterday’s post although it’s kind of like asking which beer do you prefer at a BBQ – Pabst, Budweiser, Old Milwaukee, Falstaff, or Schlitz – to which the response can only be – I’ll just have some water, thanks.” That said, let’s get down to the serious business at hand:

I used to really like Snickers and would have completely agreed with you that it is in a class by itself – but not anymore. The issue is good dark chocolate. Once I discovered good chocolate, then good dark chocolate, I couldn’t enjoy any of the movie candies anymore - no more than I could still enjoy a Pabst or a Schlitz - which I thought were good when I was 16 and probably used to wash down a Snickers bar.

But, sticking to the here and now, if I had to pick one candy in the movie candy category, it’d be Hershey’s Dark with Almonds – athough it may not be eligible for consideration as it’s often not available at the counter. After that, it’d be a Nestle’s Crunch. Something about the texture.

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

"Good dark chocolate"

You are not a candy man of the people!

Expand full comment
Steve Schiffman's avatar

Any discussion on nostalgic packaged candy has to include Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews. Hard to find but pure magic in the mouth.

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Really hard on the teeth. And they always seem to be a bit stale.

But otherwise a good choice.

Expand full comment
Josh Blumenthal's avatar

A few months ago I discovered frozen Snickers, an excellent choice.

Expand full comment
The Ivy Exile's avatar

They actually used to be much better, they were always my number one choice as a kid, but when I tried one again recently it didn't have the salty peanutiness like it used to. It was disappointing!

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Did they change the ingredients? I googled it and it seemed as if they may have changed it in the UK, but not the US.

Expand full comment
The Ivy Exile's avatar

It may be that there are or were multiple lines of frozen Snickers for different markets. I used to get individually packaged frozen Snickers at my local Baskin Robbins as a kid that were pretty hefty and very forward with the salt and peanut flavor and texture. The frozen Snickers I got at the grocery store recently were smaller and blander, but maybe they still sell the old kind at ice cream shops.

Expand full comment
Josh Blumenthal's avatar

Kudos, by the way, to you, David. This was a courageous direction to go today.

Expand full comment
Andrew Roberts's avatar

There’s nothing wrong with scooping candy. Your fate is in your own hands and the possibilities / combinations are endless. By only choosing pre-packaged candies, you are limited by the stale imaginations of candy executives who may not be in touch with how every day people enjoy candy.

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

Snickers was invented in 1930. They sell 15 million bars a day. Hardly stale!

Expand full comment
Andrew Roberts's avatar

I bet in 2004, you would have argued that Blockbuster had innovative execs whose business made $15 million per day.

Expand full comment
Wendy Schwarz's avatar

I’ve gotta weigh in here because no one has thought to include either the 100 Grand Bar (previously known as the $100,000 Bar - no idea why they needed to mess with a perfectly good name) or the Take Five (a perfect amalgam of caramel, chocolate, peanut butter, peanuts AND pretzels!

Expand full comment
David Roberts's avatar

The pretzel component always bothered me. As for $100,000 bar, I just think there are many more bars that do better what $100,000 attempted to do.

Expand full comment
Wendy Schwarz's avatar

I guess some might say that $100,000 isn't what it used to be...

Expand full comment
KTonCapeCod's avatar

Because the average person doesn't know what $100,000 is....but 100 Grand bar they know...talk about the dumbing down of Merica

Expand full comment