The 90’s weren’t only known for the boy bands, 90210, Bill Nye, and Birkenstocks, but also for the sweet treats. The aisles at the grocery store/candy store/drug store were always overflowing with tons of candy options, reminding you on why your parents always told you to brush your teeth after candy consumption. If you’re like me and are slightly bored with Skittles and Sour Patch Kids, you’re probably stuck in the past trying to remember which candy was your favorite when you were younger and wondering where those candies went. Here is my top 10 90’s candies that deserve to comeback in 2017:
1. Butterfinger BB’s
Nestle discontinued these bad boys in 2006. They did however introduce Butterfinger Bites, but they were cube shaped and weren’t as successful as their sphere shaped predecessors. Even Bart from The Simpsons was distressed after finding out they discontinued his favorite candy.
2. Crispy M&M’s
Crispy M&M’s were first released in 1999; they were slightly larger than the original M&M and featured a wafer center, but were discontinued in the United States after 2005. Americans that were missing their Crispy M&M fix were able to satisfy their needs by ordering the Crispy chocolates online, where they are imported from areas where the candy was still available: Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. Our biggest concern right now: Are Crispy M&M’s here to stay?
3. Caramel Apple Pops
These lollipops were first manufactured in 1995 by Tootsie Roll Industries; they combined a green apple-flavored hard candy on the inside and were coated in a layer of caramel making them reminiscent of a caramel apple. There are two additional flavors available seasonally in the autumn: Golden Delicious and Red Macintosh. Although these sticky candies are still in production, they seem to have gone into hiding and it’s time they make comeback.
4. Bubble Tape
If you didn’t chew the coolest gum the 90’s had to offer, did you really grow up in the 90’s? Maybe it was the fact that the gum dispensed like tape or maybe it was its overly sweet flavor, but this gum was the way to go as a kid. Introduced to markets in 1988, its greatest popularity took place in the early 1990’s due to its unique packaging and direct marketing to preteen children (“it’s six feet of bubble gum – for you, not them”—”them” referring to adults). The worst part of this gum was having to share it with your friends and having them ask for a longer piece (because why would you want to share this goodness?). Where did all of the hype go?
5. Baby Bottle Pop
In 1998 the Topps Company introduced the Baby Bottle Pop as a brand of lollipops in a variety of fruit flavors. Made to resemble a baby bottle, the top was a lollipop, the bottom (“bottle”) came with a flavored powder. All you had to do was lick the lollipop and dip it into the bottle for additional flavor. You’d be lying if you say that the Baby Bottle Pop song never got stuck in your head: Baby Bottle Pop, Baby Bottle Pop. You can lick it, shake it and dunk it.
Sweet candy fun!!
6. Squeeze Pop
A lollipop in liquid form is exactly what a Squeeze Pop was. Originally released in the 80’s, this candy didn’t become a big hit until the 90’s. It’s popularity always soared during Halloween because limited edition Spooky Squeeze Pops would be released-the green Squeeze Pop was repackaged as Slime (watermelon) and the red Squeeze Pop became Vampires Blood (cherry). Not really sure if this should actually make a comeback though.
7. Wonder Ball
This wonderful candy is the epitome of a 90’s treat. The Nestle Ball was a chocolate sphere filled with a prize (little plastic figurines, typically a Disney or Pokémon character). Sadly, this fun candy was discontinued in 1997 because parents claimed that the little toy inside was a choking hazard. In 2000, Nestlé re-released the candy with a new name and a new concept- Wonder Balls and instead of toys, they were filled with more candy. Sadly, the Wonder Ball only lasted four years before once again being discontinued. One can only dream that these return to shelves. In the meantime, you can satisfy yourself with the European version of Wonder Balls, Kinder Surprise Eggs.
8. Melody Pops
You may be slightly mislead with the name of this lollipop, but no, Melody Pops did not actually play music while you sucked on this sweet treat. Melody Pops were more like lollipop whistles that let you blow one high-pitched tone. Yea, a whistling lollipop was fun for us, but I’m going to take a wild guess and say it drove our parents crazy. The only reason I can think that these lollipops disappeared from shelves is because parents hated them too much.
9. Twix Cookies-n-Creme
The cookies-n-creme flavored Twix, much like its chocolate fudge brother, was only around for a year..yes a single year (1990-1991). Why? We have no clue, but there is a petition to bring cookies-n-creme flavored Twix back into candy stores, so I would highly recommend adding your name to that petition because society has no clue what it’s missing out on.
10. Cow Tales
Originally launched in 1984, Cow Tales are long, thin cylinders of soft caramel with a cream center. Cow Tales flavors include caramel, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and caramel apple; the company experimented with a number of flavors, such as peanut butter and banana. If Cow Tales don’t make a comeback soon, I think I’m going to MOOOO-ve (funny, I know!!) to another planet.