Know Your Obscure Halloween Candy: SweeTarts

With Halloween coming soon, that means only one thing really: candy.

Anyone who trick-or-treated as a child knows that there's always one or two houses that dish out some obscure candy. So, between now and October 31st, we'll take quick looks at obscure candies (and some popular ones as well), just so you know what exactly you're getting yourself into.


Today:  SweeTarts


What it's made of:  dextrose, maltodextrin, malic acid, calcium stearate, natural flavors, a whole lot of artificial coloring, and the approval of moms everywhere.


Who owns it:  Nestlé, under the Willy Wonka Candy Company banner.


Background: The world can change on a dime when soccer moms become irked. This explains how SweeTarts were born.

In the 1940s, a company in that candy capital of Salt Lake City created Lik-M-Aid, which was originally supposed to be a powdered drink mix. (Think: Kool-Aid--except Kool-Aid was actually created 15 years before Lik-M-Aid.) The creator, J. Fish Smith, realized children just wanted to eat the powdery mixture instead of making drinks with it (so classy!), so Smith marketed his creation as a new candy instead.

The candy for classy kids.

Fast forward to the 1950s, and an affiliated company of Smith's wanted to market Lik-M-Aid nationally in a new style. Lik-M-Aid was placed in a straw--and Pixy Stix were born as a result. Lik-M-Aid didn't disappear, though. The same sugary concoction was branded as Fun Dip, putting two flavors into individual packets and offering a lickable stick to dip into the packets.

Lik-M-Aid after a makeover. So sleek and sexy!

In a surprise to no one, small children aren't the most adept at managing granular products without making a mess. By the 1960s, soccer moms became fed up at cleaning up after their children's addiction to crank  coke  sugar, and they complained en masse to the manufacturer. Mothers wanted the same flavored product in a less messy form. And that, my friend, is why SweeTarts were created. They are Pixy Stix in a solidified tablet form.

Ticked off moms can change the world. Now if only they'd focus on international diplomacy.


What it tastes like:  The stone cold grandchild of a fruit drink.


Halloween Trick-or-Treat Grade:  B+

Whereas you can look like a hobo on a bender after you down a half dozen Pixy Stix, you lose that debonair look with a SweeTart.

Know Your Obscure Halloween Candy: Skor

With Halloween coming soon, that means only one thing really: candy.

Anyone who trick-or-treated as a child knows that there's always one or two houses that dish out some obscure candy. So, between now and October 31st, we'll take quick looks at obscure candies (and some popular ones as well), just so you know what exactly you're getting yourself into.

Today: Skor

What it's made of:  Butter toffee covered in milk chocolate

Who owns it:  The Hershey Company

Background:  If your first reaction is, "What the hell's a 'Skor'?"--you're not alone

By candy standards, Skor is a baby. It was developed by the Hershey Company and released to American consumers in 1981. It was brought to Canada in 1983 under the equally odd name 'Rutnam.' Skor, though, is meant to have a Swedish vibe, for reasons no one quite understands. The word skor in Swedish means 'shoes.' Because nothing evokes the taste of sweetness quite like the delicate deliciousness of shoes.

Likewise, the small crown on the wrapper is nearly identical to the Swedish national emblem of The Three Crowns, which the Swedes plaster everywhere, from the monarchy to the men's national hockey team...from the Swedish Police Authority to the Swedish Air Force.

What it tastes like:  Confusion mixed with Nordic pride.

Halloween Trick-or-Treat Candy Grade:  C-

Butter toffee? What am I, 95 years old?

Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart drums at AARP meeting.

In other related news, Rock and Roll died today after a long battle with lameness and an arthritic hip. It was 67 years old.

The Stoltzfuses's mail.

It's time to get out the afghan blanket, sit in the rocking chair, and suck on a sugar-free hard candy--because we're revisiting Charles Kuralt.

Today it's a brief bio of Levi Fisher, a mailman from Pennsylvania Dutch Country who had to deal with dozens of people with the exact same name.

What we take away from this is that the Amish don't like electricity and genetic variation.