It’s that candy corn time of year again
Halloween was my favorite holiday as a child. Roaming outside in the dark with your friends (there were no adult escorts back then except for some of the tiniest toddlers), in costume, ringing doorbells and getting loads of candy in response – what’s not to like?
We were well-behaved kids, at least when interacting with adults, and never “tricked” anyone. I got a stash of really fine candy – except for the random Mary Janes and those little tiny sour pellets that came in thin rolls (I can’t remember the name and haven’t been able to locate it in a search, but I hated them). The candy should have lasted me for months, but in my greed I devoured it in less than a week, in reverse order of deliciousness, saving the best for last and keeping those in my top drawer till the moment came to annihilate them.
There was virtually no adult supervision of any sort except the choice of costumes, which were pretty basic. I watched the weather like a hawk, because if it was raining then Halloween was ruined; no do-overs. Sometimes it was bitter cold, and heavy coats were required, which spoiled the costumes but not the evening.
Candy corn is a special type of candy that engenders strong feelings either way. Some people detest it and don’t hesitate to tell you so. I love it, and I always have. I understand that it’s too sweet, but I find it addictive and therefore indulge only on Halloween. I’ve already had my fill of it this go-round, which usually is enough to satiate me for another year.
As a random celebration one winter evening, my wife and I enjoyed with our two children a three-course meal of corn, popcorn and candy corn. None of us will ever forget it.
The candy in a roll may have been Smarties
I never minded candy corn, but it was not the first treat picked out of the Halloween sack. That would have been Jolly Rancher Sour Apple candy for me. Or Smarties.
Happy Halloween!
A neighbor would make gooey popcorn balls and hard candies and peanut brittle to hand out. At Christmas, she would make divinity and anise candy to hand out.
The popcorn balls were the best but you can’t do that anymore.
DisGuested:
It may have been Smarties. That rings a small distant bell.
They were tiny round lozenges with a depression in the middle, in a tiny roll maybe 2 inches long
desertowl:
Sounds like fun. A theme party!
You might have added corn chips, though. Or some corn dogs for protein. 🙂
According to the NY Post, candy corn is not only unacceptable to vegans, it has an outer coating made from insects (Klaus Schwab take note): “The seasonal snack isn’t just made of sugar. It’s actually made up of many ingredients, including corn syrup, confectioner’s glaze, salt, dextrose, gelatin, sesame oil, artificial flavor, honey and three different food colorings. These may not seem too abnormal for candy, but it’s worth noting that gelatin is a protein derived from animal parts like hides and bones. So, no, candy corn is not vegan-friendly. . . . Candy corn’s slick outside coating is made from ‘lac-resin’ — which is a secretion from tiny red Asian insects called lac bugs.”
https://nypost.com/2022/10/28/candy-corn-contains-disgusting-ingredient-made-from-insects/
Now if Neo enjoys an annual candy corn binge, good for her. Myself, I always went for the miniature chocolate bars handed out on Halloween when I was a kid.
I have to say that Halloween is on the things I miss most about being a (semi) adult. I use to love going around and getting the candy, and yes Popcorn Balls and Fudge and other treats. It was great fun, just us kids.
We do not have kids in our neighborhood anymore it seems, never had many that did Trick or Treating. We would sometime get “older” kids, like HS age. Yes, I still gave them candy.
One Halloween when I was in HS a bunch of us kids were just hanging around, there was TP but we did not use it. While walking a policeman stopped us and pointed to a steam engine that had been TP’d, not by us. Unfortunately just at that time one of the kids, may have been me, dropped the TP. So the cop told us take the TP off the engine, that was it. My one and only time that happened.
Childhood should be for kids, not adults.
Same here, Neo. I love candy corn (and its pumpkin cousin, Brach’s Pumpkins), but only eat them around Halloween, and ONLY get one bag.
I too like candy corn, but am not an addict. I buy one Fall/Halloween bag a year and open it at the equinox or the first frost, witch ever comes first.
I like candy corn, but, like many other sweets these days, it doesn’t like me.
Can’t tolerate the sweetness in the tummy anymore.
But Neccos were my favorite.
New England Confectionery Company.
No candy is as bad as Necco wafers. If anybody complains about candy corn give them some Necco wafers to give them a taste of how bad candy can get.
Remember Wax Lips? What the hell were people thinking back then?
BigD:
I like Necco wafers. See this.
PA+Cat
Lac bugs (beetles) are where lacquer comes from (originally). But not liquor.
Neo, you could give me any Smarties you encounter! I love those. Concave on both sides, in the nice muted pastel colors. I still adore them, especially because of their concavity, because that makes them fit just right on the end of the tongue.
I love Necco’s and chocolate Necco wafers.
Thanks, Zara!
Just now, in order to contribute to the thread, I went out and did a little field research. I went for a walk over in the next subdivision over, which is a nice area; I was looking at how people’s fall decorations were coming along, also to see what sorts of political signs were out in the lawns. In the past, there are usually a few that would have Dem signs; no Rep signs, though. This year, at this moment in time at least: nothing. Not sure what that means, but a data point is a data point. Maybe the lefty types over that way took them out temporarily in order to get the leaves swept up. Who knows.
Candy corn taste test (https://tinyurl.com/yckzspc2).
Try candy corn mixed with peanuts. Tastes like payday candy bars. When I was still working, someone brought it in every year and it didn’t last long.
Liked Necco wafers, except the white ones, black ones and pink ones. Those we would put on the street and run over with our bikes.
When I was a kid I sat down with the jumbo sized bag of Brachs candy corns to watch the All Star Game. By the time the game was over the bag was 2/3 gone and I was vomiting in the toilet.
}}} I understand that it’s too sweet, but I find it addictive and therefore indulge only on Halloween.
Waxed sugar!! 😀
Yeah, I don’t dislike it. As a kid, I’d eat the white part, then the lower part. I’m pretty sure it’s just a food coloring difference, but I preferred the lower part… 😀
Candy Corn is to Halloween what Eggnog is to Xmas. Something awesome that you can only eat a certain amount of.
I remember not needing adult supervision, either — I was a free range kid. They need to bring them back.
I also grew up in Florida, so, rain could be an issue but never the cold.
My own favorite costume was one I did for myself — I took some cardboard boxes and tape and glue and aluminum foil and made a blocky robot costume. The best part was the bright idea I had of attaching the bag inside the main “torso” box, with a flap. I pulled down the flap and had them drop the candy into it. 😀
Worked like a charm until the bag got too heavy and it pulled loose… after that I had to go to the more standard means.
Some adult candy corn
https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/american-whiskey/candy-corn-flavored-whiskey-why-not-its-halloween/
Only time we had adult supervision was a drive to a neighboring suburb to trick or treat there as well.
Oddest treats were once getting stationary and once a pack of hockey cards. There was no hockey team for hundreds of miles at the time.
I’m so old I remember candy cigarettes. A long thin cylinder of chocolate wrapped in the paper to look like a cigarette, or similar piece of chewing gum. Somehow broke that addiction before it got to me.
We also had toy guns, some of them even with caps that had a tiny bit of powder and made a noise when the hammer dropped. Possibly led to my habit of shooting guns for fun as an adult, but somehow managed to never hurt anybody.
West TX Intermediate Crude:
One of my favorite things was to sit on the curb with a roll of caps and a sharp rock. I’d hit each cap with the pointed end of the rock and it would make a satisfying little explosion. It also had a great smell, sort of like campfire ashes or burnt marshmallows.
Our candy cigarettes weren’t chocolate, thy were white with pinkish tips.
I love candy corn! I like making a game of taking very precise bites to eat each color separately.
Everyone I know doesn’t care for it. I’m the outlier. I also like pineapple on pizza. Go figure.
NECCO Wafers are strangely addictive.
Here in Wisconsin, candy cigarettes were compressed sugar cylinders, with pinkish red tips.
I remember that if you blew hard into a candy cigarette, sometimes a puff of sugar would come out the business end. My dad was smoking Winstons at the time…
When my husband and I finally end up in a neighborhood with no children (if that ever happens), I plan to go crash the house of someone who does have a kid neighborhood. I love giving out candy.
Our current neighborhood seems to have a lot of middle school and high school kids, many of whom tried to pull an op where one would distract us while the other(s) would raid the tub of beer and hard seltzers we had out for the adults. None were successful, as we had a group of eight adults sitting around and no kid was sufficiently interesting to distract all of us at once. My favorite was the girl who actually started pulling a can of seltzer out of the tub; my husband just said, “Nope,” and she sheepishly put it back and left.
Candy Corn is the sweet of choice.
I am still approaching you with romantic intent. Is Ozzy Man out of the picture? ;>
Years ago now, my daughter’s children ate all their Halloween candy while walking home. When they entered the house, their mother asked why they had no candy, and was upset that they had devoured it all. She told my son-in-law what they had done. He answered, “If you were my mommy, I would have done the same thing.”