Don't Go A Wafer Too Long!

I've mentioned this on this blog before, but it's time to mention it again:   Any food I like will not be around long.   It's a special curse that I endure, punishment for some past transgression that I can't recall.  Maybe it was pulling the "Do Not Remove" tag from my couch; maybe it was not washing my hands before leaving a restroom (I was just in there to comb my hair, I swear) but this curse has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, leaving a path of discontinued food products in its wake.   Quisp cereal, Delaware Punch, Fizzers candy, Chocolate Zingers and Mother's Raisin cookies are among the products I can no longer find (or find very hard to obtain).  And now, I find the curse has reached back to victimize a product over 100 years old.   I refer, of course, to Necco Wafers.

 

 Necco Wafers were founded in 1847 by Oliver Chase, who invented the first automated machine to produce lozenges for medicinal purposes. He eventually discovered the machine could also produce lozenge-sized candy wafers, which became the top product of the New England Confectionery Company, abbreviated NECCO.  The wafers became extremely popular in the intervening years due to their durability.   Admiral Byrd brought over two tons of wafers with him on a two year expedition to the Antarctic. During World War Two, the US government bought Necco Wafers to send to the troops oversees.   They found that the candy would not melt or break while being shipped overseas.  The soldiers returning from WWII eventually became a fan base that continued for many years.

In recent years, the company has experimented with the product, with some success and some misses.  Lime flavor wafers were eliminated, and a move to more natural flavors and colors was among the missteps.  The company has since returned to the original formulations.

Necco wafers is one of those candies that fall in the same group as Candy Corn - some people love them, while a large population find them revolting.   Many people feel Necco wafers taste like colored chalk, while others call them "Plaster Surprise."  Personally, I have always had a fondness for Necco Wafers, although I avoid the clove, cinnamon, licorice and wintergreen flavors.  (May I also add that I find Candy Corn revolting.  No room for debate there)

I recently discovered that NECCO produces Tropical Necco Wafers.   This pack, introduced in 2012, contains mango, passion fruit, banana, strawberry, coconut and the long-missed lime wafers.  I found these to be an exceptional treat, and will eat all the flavors except coconut.  I have been buying several packs of these whenever I find them.  Of course, I should have seen it coming...   They won't be around long.

According to this article, the NECCO company may close within the next 30 days if a buyer cannot be found.  This would mean the layoff of almost 400 employees, plus an end to the Necco wafers we all know and some of us love.  Not a Necco Wafer fan?   Well, maybe you'll be more interested to learn about another candy that NECCO started producing in 1902, and since that time has become a holiday institution.  But more on that next week.

Currently, the public at large is reacting as we would expect - they are panicking.  Retailers are reporting a huge spike in sales for Necco Wafers.   Not wanting to be left out, I am off to find some Necco Tropical wafers.  I will place them in the underground bunker where I store cases of Quisp cereal, Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Swenson's Ice Cream, Ramblin' Root Beer and other products that have been the victim of my special curse.  Tune in next week to learn about the OTHER candy that you are going to want to start buying.   Like them or not, it will be a tradition you'll be sorry to lose...

Food I Liked that is Gone Forever, part 1

I like food.   Who doesn't?   It's usually delicious, it comes cheap, and your stomach thanks you every time you send some down.   However, I have a problem - the foods I like are never around very long.   I must have the worst taste in food (as many of you will vouch for), because foods I like have a habit of disappearing from the market, never to be seen again.  I've seen it time and time again - breakfast cereals, beverages, fast-food sandwiches - If I like them, that's a sure sign that they are destined to oblivion.   My friends beg me not to try anything they like, in the fear that I will assign it the Kiss of Death by liking it.   In this new series, I'll write about some favorites of mine that have gone down the garbage disposal of history.

Summertime always brings back memories of my favorite candy bar of all time, the Milkshake Bar.   This bar came the closest to tasting like an actual milkshake, with actual malt flavor in the bar.   The Milkshake bar was first introduced in 1927 by the Hollywood Candy Company, founded in Hollywood, Minnesota.   The Hollywood Candy Company used real cocoa, butter and eggs in their chocolate, and was still able to sell their bars for cheaper than their competitors.   They also developed a synthetic coating for their candy bars that kept them from melting...  but also gave them an unusual taste and texture that made them unique.  They created a process to produce a fluffy nougat center for their candy bars, and the Milkshake bar was the first candy to utilize this process.   The Milkshake bar was a big hit and became very popular.   So popular, in fact, that other companies copied the recipe, most notable the Mars company and their Milky Way bar. 



Original milkshake candy wrapper from the 1930's. 

I'm guessing this wrapper is from the late 50's and the 1960's.   I remember buying this version.

In the 1960's the Milkshake bars became a very popular summer treat, and this is how I was introduced to them.   Many snack stands would keep their Milkshake bars frozen with the ice cream novelties.   Eating one was like eating a milkshake on a stick.  It would be to hard to bite at first, but eventually you'd wear it down and enjoy a creamy, chocolaty dessert that haunts me to this day.   I think most Milkshake bars sold in June, July and August were consumed this way. 

Late 1960's version of the Milkshake bar.

In the 1960's the Hollywood Candy Company was sold, and went through a series of owners before being bought by the Hershey Company in 1996.   Hershey still produces Hollywood's two most popular bars, Payday and Zero, but has resigned the Milkshake bar to oblivion.  Fans still bemoan the loss of the Milkshake bar, and several websites have sprung up (and Facebook pages HERE and  HERE) to honor the candy and fight for its return.  Even if Hershey would bring it back, it would never be the same.  That synthetic coating really added something that can't be duplicated.

The last version of the Milkshake bar from the 1970's or 1980's.  Leaf was manufacturing them at this point.  

Milky Way bars are as close as we will ever get to the old Milkshake bar, and trust me, it's not that close.

Another candy favorite were Fizzers.   These looked similar to Smarties candies (probably the worst candy ever) but that's where the similarity ended.  Fizzers "fizzed" in you mouth with a tart, tangy taste that put Smarties to shame.  I used to get both candies in my trick-or-treat bag at Halloween, and while the Smarties were snubbed the Fizzers were hoarded.  

 

Fizzer's haven't completely left us; they are just hard to get.   The original Fizzers were manufactured in Britain by Swizzels Matlow.  One family member came to America in the 1940's and founded Cee Dee candy, which manufactured both Smarties and Fizzers for several years.   Eventually, for some reason that can only be described as "blatant stupidity" they stopped manufacturing Fizzers and continued making those insipid Smarties. 

Swizzels Matlow still manufactures Fizzers in Great Britian.   However, shipping costs are prohibitive...   It would cost me $50 to get a shipment here.   I may be nostalgic, but I'm also cheap.  So, if anyone is going to Great Britain soon...   Can you help a friend out?   I'd be grateful...

For more discontinued candy, check out this checklist HERE.   You may cry...