Did You Know Tuesday - Almond Joy

February 16 is National Almond Day.   Just reading this news made me think of one of my favorite candy bars:  Almond Joy.

Almond Joy is  a coconut filled candy bar with almonds on top -- all coated with milk chocolate.

It was originally manufactured in 1948 by the the Peter Paul candy company.  It replaced another candy made by this company called the Dream Bar.  Peter Paul later merged with Cadbury before being purchased by Hershey's.  Almond Joy bars are now made by Hershey's.

Here's a 1960's commercial for Almond Joy:



You may remember the jingle from this commercial that mentions both Almond Joy and Mounds (similar candy bar with no almonds):  "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't."  This commercial ran in 1978, although the jingle was still popular into the 1980's.  The jingle was written by composer Leon Carr, who wrote pop music like "Hey There Lonely Girl" as well as commercial tunes.



Is this candy bar one of your favorites?  Do you prefer Almond Joy or Mounds?   Or do you have another almond-based candy that you enjoy?  I hope you'll leave a comment, below.

Did You Know Tuesday - PEZ

I'll admit right now:  I love PEZ.  Not just the cute dispensers, but the candy too.  

I grew up with PEZ.  There was always a PEZ dispenser in my Christmas stocking, my Easter basket, and various other times of year as well.  I still have a little family of PEZ dispensers, mostly with holiday and Peanuts themes.

PEZ was created in 1927 by Eduard Haas III in Vienna, Austria.  He initially planned to make a candy to help smokers stop smoking.  The initials PEZ are short for the German word for peppermint, "pfefferminz."  Early PEZ dispensers were shaped like a cigarette lighter.  

Plastic production slowed during World War II, but this product picked up again in 1952 (PEZ-Haas in New York City) -- and the cute PEZ dispensers first appeared in 1955.  The first dispensers were Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse.

In 2006 the original owners of the Pez company purchased 67.5% of the company stock, so the company is now headquartered in Traun, Austria, and Orange, Connecticut.  The candy is produced in Austria and Connecticut, while the dispensers are made in Hungary and China.

PEZ comes in many different flavors, but the most common flavors in the USA are grape, orange, lemon, raspberry, and strawberry.  There are 12 pieces of candy in a standard PEZ roll.

Many different PEZ characters have been available over the years.  These included some historical characters during the American Bicentennial (Betsy Ross, Paul Revere, Daniel Boone), Star Wars, Elvis Presley, The Wizard of Oz, and more.  Vintage PEZ dispensers can be quite valuable.  The most valuable PEZ dispensers were three political donkeys owned by President Kennedy (valued $13,000).

The all-time most popular PEZ dispenser is Santa Claus.  (No surprise here!)

Here are a few holiday PEZ ads you may enjoy.  This Halloween ad is lots of fun:

Vintage Christmas PEZ ad:

Vintage Valentine's Day PEZ ad:

Vintage Easter PEZ ad:

1950's spaceman PEZ ad:

Do you love PEZ?  Do you have any PEZ dispensers?  Would love to hear from you in the comments, below!

Did You Know Tuesday - National Milk Chocolate Day

Did you know that July 28 is National Milk Chocolate Day?  Chocolate bars were first invented in 1847 (but these were not milk chocolate bars).  In 1879 Rodolphe Lindt (yes, as in Lindt chocolate!) invented a conching machine which made smooth, creamy chocolate like we have today.  The same year, 1879, Daniel Peter made the first milk chocolate bar.

Milk chocolate tastes more like sugar and milk than cacao, and so it was originally marketed for children.  Most milk chocolate bars today have less than 33% cacao.  I will admit that I prefer the sweeter milk chocolate to dark chocolate, which has a stronger taste.

My favorite candy bar - and also my favorite milk chocolate - is the Hershey bar.  This candy bar was invented in 1900.  The vintage ad above shows all the 1950's varieties of Hershey bars.

How about you - do you like milk chocolate?  And what is your favorite milk chocolate bar?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Throwback Thursday: Brach's Pick-A-Mix Candy

Do you remember Brach's Pick-A-Mix candy displays at the grocery store?  I loved these as a little girl.   Here's an ad, probably early 1970's vintage:

You got a little paper bag, like the one in the ad, and filled it with an assortment of your favorite candies.  It was weighed at the checkout.

My favorite of the Brach's candies were the Nougats.  I haven't had these in years!

I also really liked the Neapolitan candies.  They reminded me of my favorite three stripe coconut candy bars.

My Mom or Dad must have liked these Royals, because we always had some of these in the Brach's bag.

Do you remember these Brach's assorted candies?  Which ones were your favorites?

Happy Vintage Halloween!

Happy Halloween!   This Brach's candy ad is from 1965.   What was your favorite Halloween treat?   I loved candy corn and all the classic candy bars - Hershey's, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, etc. etc. etc.  I remember the joy of coming home with a pillowcase full of candy to sort after trick or treating.