Boomer Halloween Candy You Can Still Buy Today

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As spooky season comes around again, supermarkets and grocery stores are suddenly overflowing with Halloween candy. It's almost impossible not to scoop up armfuls of treat-sized bags of this and special editions of that into our carts, take them all home and stockpile them for the big night. Of course, every year, new treats are wheeled out (did you catch our run-down of goodies from Trader Joe's?) to tempt us into dipping into our stash before the 31st, but Halloween is also a great time for boomers to bask in a wave of nostalgia.

That's because there are plenty of candies causing squeals of delight today that were just as popular when they were costume-clad kiddos, back in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. We've rounded up a tasty collection that includes a couple of taffy stars, a tastebud-cooling chocolate, some fruity squares that had a name change, and an iconic Halloween staple. Dental floss and toothbrushes at the ready, as we take a look at boomer Halloween candy you can still sink your teeth into today.

Originally created in 1921 by Fred W. Amend, Ferrero Group now produces these fruity, chewy jelly candies. All the traditional flavors are present and correct: cherry, orange, lime, and lemon, alongside the always bizarre outlier, licorice. Described by one buyer as "sugary coated goodness was a fun-tastic blast from the past," Chuckles are a zingy addition to any batch of Halloween candy treats.

We can't imagine a world without Milk Duds, and to be honest, we would never want to. Kids of all ages have been peeling them off their teeth since 1928 (though the recipe behind them has reportedly only ever been changed once, in 2008), and long do we all intend to do so. Creamy, chocolatey, and utterly moreish, Milk Duds are a great example of how simple candies can often be the best.

Some time in the 1950s, the Atkinson Candy Company took a stick of honeycomb candy and wrapped it in peanut butter and toasted coconut. Formerly known as Chicken Bones (not the most appealing moniker, we have to admit), it was changed to Chick-O-Stick, and they've been putting smiles on the faces of candy lovers ever since. Today the original long, thin sticks have been joined by smaller candy bites, but they're all the same signature sweet, salty, crunchy goodness.

Halloween simply isn't Halloween without seeing packets of these iconic wafer rolls changing hands up and down the street. They've been a thing for more than half a century, and demand among sweet-toothed Americans is still so strong that Smarties production runs 24/7 in two factories. Today they're gluten, peanut, and dairy free, but still as yummy as ever. Do you keep them on your tongue until they melt or crunch 'em down in one go?

What started out as a one-penny, hand-rolled candy, named after creator Leo Hirschfield's daughter, has become an American national treasure, selling by the bucketful well into the 21st century. You can fill your Halloween bowls with the vanilla, fruit, and sour varieties of Tootsie Roll and they're all delicious. But for us, the best will always be the original flavor.

There are, apparently, three groups of people who eat candy corn, which has been around since the 1880s, but only recently became associated with Halloween. The majority swallow the whole thing at once, followed by those who bite off the white section, and finally the bottom nibblers. We're as divided as the rest of society (this writer is among the fourth group that isn't a fan), but whichever one you are, candy corn looks set to be a Halloween fixture for another 100 years.

Saying this candy bar's name is almost as much fun as eating it! Made originally in 1922 by Colby and McDermott and by Annabelle Candy Company since 1978, this heavenly taffy with its rewarding peanut butter and chocolate center is the bee's knees any time of year, but especially at Halloween. Instantly recognizable thanks to that iconic yellow-and-black wrapper, watch any boomer's face light up when they see an Abba-Zaba bar.

There are lots of different kinds of chocolate out there but none of them are as cool — literally — as these cubes. They have their roots in 1920s Germany but Albert's Ice Cubes have been delighting sweet-toothed boomers across the United States since the 1930s. Their chilly properties are down to the fat used to make them, but for spooky season we'd rather whisper that it's confectionary witchcraft!

Honey has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, but it also makes a delicious sweet treat. In 1924, Chicago's Schutter-Johnson Company launched Bit-O-Honey, a blend of the amber liquid with almonds. Although the business changed hands over the years, the candy remains beloved by boomers, as well as subsequent generations. Lighter than many candies and gluten-free, it's a yummy alternative to all that Halloween chocolate.

"Bonomo was probably the first word I knew how to spell," reminisced one Facebook commenter, replying to a post about this tasty taffy. Bonomo Turkish Taffy was invented in Coney Island in 1912 and discontinued in 1989. However, boomers who grew up "smacking it and cracking it" were thrilled when it was relaunched in 2010. They've been slipping bars of it into their Halloween handouts and advising kids to pop it in the freezer ever since.

One way to make a boomer really grumpy is to change the name of a beloved candy and expect them to accept it. That's what happened to '60s invention Starburst. But a treat by any other name tastes just as sweet, in our opinion. Sure, you can toss full packs of Starburst into your Halloween stash, but where's the fun in that? We love to pour the individual candy chews out and then dig around trying to find all the red ones ...