Fringe Candy: The Fabulous Fakery of Banana Laffy Taffy

There are few things like not having money to make a person into a “value shopper.” For example, kids with a limited allowance who depend on every precious nickle to feed their candy addiction. When I was a kid, a whole candy bar was maybe 50 cents, but damned if there aren’t times when a […]

Fringe Candy: A Wunderbar by any other name…

You’re looking at the business end of a Wunderbar, one of many candy treasures I brought back from Canada for, um, research purposes. I don’t write candy bars that often, but the Canada trip offered me the chance to try some new stuff, and I jumped at it. Take a good look at that picture. […]

Fringe Candy: The Wayback Machine, Rock Candy

A few important things to know about rock candy: It might be the earliest form of candy, with records of it appearing around 2,000 years ago. It’s pure sugar (with a pinch of food coloring)—if Pixie Sticks are the cocaine of the candy world, rock candy is the crack cocaine. It has a string in […]

Fringe Candy: Poppin’ the Big Cherry

I like to think from time to time that there has to be a good chocolate & cherry candy out there somewhere. The two flavors work really well together in theory. I get a cherry mocha at the Wayward once and a while, and the Cherry Garcia Ice Cream from Ben & Jerry’s is pretty […]

Fringe Candy: Lemonheads, Harbinger of Summer

I wasn’t going to do a Fringe Candy post today, despite it being Wednesday, my favorite day for doing these, and despite me having taken a picture with a handful of candy. Things have been weirdly violent and chaotic in Seattle the past week. We had a couple of shootings happen near me or near […]

Fringe Candy: Hi-Chew and Other Sins Against Nature

You really have to hand it to the little convenience store downstairs from my office–Bashir brings in some really varied treats. Plus, he keeps me in functioning headphones–without which I would probably snap and end up on the news. Recently, he started carrying a whole bunch of Hi-Chew flavors. I’ll admit, I […]

Fringe Candy: The Sad Tale of Bazooka Joe

Some people love chewing gum. Some people also love intercourse with farm animals. The message here is that there’s no figuring some people. My dad loved chewing gum. I think it was an oral fixation…something he could do instead of smoking. He was a Double-Bubble man through and through. He’d buy it by the box […]

Fringe Candy: The Seasonal treat of Harvest Mix

Ah, the eternal question: Candy Corn–seasonal decoration or confection? That’s the problem with a candy when they lose their novelty, I suppose. Candy Corn and it’s larger food group of Harvest Mix has been around for a while after all. We’re just kind of used to seeing it around the holidays and don’t give it […]

Fringe Candy: The Wafery Goodness of Coffee Crisp

I know what you might be thinking. Didn’t you already do a chocolate bar recently? Yes. I did. Now sit down. Tonight’s post started as a tribute to England. With the riots in London and surrounding cities going on, old Blighty has been on my mind. I always associated the delightfully crisp goodness of the […]

Fringe Candy: Rosemary Jones defends Good ‘n Plenty

First made in 1893 by the Quaker City Confectionary Company, the Good ‘n Plenty is now made and distributed by Hershy’s. You might ask what makes it a fringe candy. My defense is two-fold – over 100 years old, and with a black licorice heart. I’ll let guest blogger Rosemary Jones take it from here. […]