Sugar Daddies, Wax Lips, and Squirrel Nut Zippers

Planned for last September but canceled when Holden had to be evacuated because of the forest fire, the Miner’s Reunion (their 50th) was rescheduled and celebrated this past fall.

To put the finishing touches on the celebration, Stephanie Carpenter, who manages the fabulous Holden Bookstore, ordered (among other things) a wide selection of candy that was popular at the time. While it is not so popular at the moment, it is still available. Those of you who are over…say…50 will instantly recognize the names of these confections and will recall the memories associated with many of the ones that were offered for sale in the store.

The area in which the current bookstore is located was once the general store operated by the mine for use by the miners and their families. And those who returned for the reunion could tell you exactly where everything was located (there have been renovations in the former Holden Village Store over the years) and what was sold and the man who sold it to them. (Apparently, the person who ran the store at the time was blind from an accident in the mine and this job was created especially for him. Customers would often have to guide him through the intricacies of locating certain objects on the shelves…"a little more to the right"…"a little higher"…) But they did recall all the items for sale in the store and especially recalled having a bit of extra change for a favorite candy. It would be my guess (based on the most popular choice while they were here) that a Cherry Mash would have been their favorite at the time. It was certainly their favorite all these years later.

Here is only a partial list of the offerings. See if your childhood memories include any of these candy brands. Sometimes, the candy itself is a horror in this the age of granola and organically grown and pesticide free and free range and low-fat food products. It was…how shall I put this?…sugar. And it was sweet.

Necco Wafers, Root Beer Barrels, Smartees
Bit-o-Honey, Walnettos, Charleston Chews
Jelly Nougats, Now and Later, Mary Janes
Jujubes, Sen Sen, Goetze's Caramel Bull's Eye Creams
Zagnut, Candy Buttons, Chuckles
Sky Bar, Cup-o-Gold, Annabelle's Big Hunk
Good and Plenty,, Cherry Mash, Sixlets
Mountain Bars, Dots, Lemonhead
Bazooka Bubble Gum, Chick-o-Stix, Boston Baked Beans

My personal favorite, at the time I was 6 years old...about that time...was Niklnip...5 "bite’em, drink’em, chew’em mini drinks?" (5 tiny wax bottles of a sweet colored liquid. You were to bite off the top, drink the enclosed liquid, and then chew the wax for however long it took to rid it of its sweet flavor…or for however long you wanted to chew the wax. Sometimes, a 5-pack of Niklnip could be made to last the whole day.)

And lest we forget! (Or WHO could forget?!) The candy cigarettes and the bubble gum cigars! Politically incorrect at present, the authenticity of the nostalgia of the candy selection was guaranteed by the display of confectionery tobacco look-alikes. Yes, a few individuals made negative comments. More often, the response was, "LOOK! Candy Cigarettes!" And yes, the cigarettes still come with a bright pink tip.