11 '70s Candies That Belong Back In Stores

The '70s were a pinnacle decade for anyone who loved candy, which means mostly it was the younger set — Gen X and Generation Jones — who were targeted with the most enticing creations. Sure, there were a few sophisticated treats for the grown-ups, hold-overs from earlier eras that stuck around thanks to their enduring popularity. Some of the candy loved by kids were even carried forward from the decades prior; many were introduced as nostalgic bites by parents and grandparents who harbored a gnarly generational sweet tooth. And, unfortunately, many of these are discontinued candy bars you'll never eat again.

However it all came about, the collection of candies that made the '70s great was a trove of chewy, chocolatey, crunchy goodness that slowly slipped away as more modern creations came onto the scene. Wouldn't it be cool if these vintage sweets could make a comeback, even if just to prove to the younger crowd how tasty deep cuts like the Reggie! Bar, SpaceDust, and DynaMints were? Our picks for a retro '70s candy revival are a grab bag of chocolate with hidden surprises, Wonka goodies that took fans into the movie's whimsical wonders, and forgotten favorites deserving of a second chance.

Baby Ruth wasn't really named for baseball great Babe Ruth, but the Reggie! Bar absolutely was created in honor of '70s slugger Reggie Jackson. It was a chance for fans to pay tribute with their candy money by snatching up these delicious turtle-like patties, with a caramel center cradling peanuts a-plenty, all nestled snug inside a chocolate coating. Aside from naming a stadium after the historic Hall of Famer, creating a candy bar that bears his name may be the most spectacular way to show how much impact Jackson had on the pop culture of the decade.

This old school candy that helped define the Boomer generation was a quick hit. It appeared in 1978 and only stuck around until 1981, though the chewy caramel center may have lingered in the teeth of candy lovers for a little longer. There's no reason this one-of-a-kind patty couldn't hit a home run again in the modern candy market. Nostalgic baseball fans cling to the groundbreaking image of a Black baseball giant who shifted the game enough to have a candy bar named after him — the sort of diversity and achievement that paved the way for future hard-hitters in the game who deserve a renewed tribute to a larger-than-life legend, in candy form. A brief return in 2023 gave hope for a permanent re-release somewhere down the line.

If all you wanted out of your candy bar were the caramel and chocolate layers, Marathon Bar was your kind of treat. It was a novelty in the candy world when it hit in 1973. An 8-inch braid of chewy caramel with holes that let the light shine through, it was enrobed in chocolate, which added creamy notes to the buttery center. There were no nuts or wafers or nougat to impede your moments savoring the gooiest ingredient in the candy universe. This was a decadent lesson in minimalist candy creation that tipped its hat to Milk Duds and Black Cow bars. With Marathon, the twist was the twist, and the length let you enjoy it longer than a shorter candy bar, as the ads emphasized by showing a never-ending Marathon Bar emerging from its wrapper.

Though its run ended in 1981, caramel fiends who remember the super stretch of the soft caramel would relish another go at a Marathon bar. It would be an opportunity for the Gen X and Generation Jones grandparents to show off what their candy bar options were like back in the day, continuing the tradition Boomers pushed along with their penny-candy remembrances.

You could hardly get away from the "Chocolate, peanuts, and liiiight!" jingle that accompanied the Summit Bar commercials in the '70s, especially if you were camped in front of a television set for most of your free time. It was a devious way to describe what turned out to be a dilly of a candy bar; it really was chocolate, peanuts, and light, with the "light" part coming in the form of a fluffy cream filling and wafer cookies. If you loved a Little Debbie Nutty Bar but couldn't afford a whole box, Summit was the candy bar equivalent that you could buy one at a time.

The crushed peanuts that sat atop a Summit just beneath the chocolate coating were a great touch, bringing the crunchy nut layer from the interior to the outside too, maximizing taste and texture. It was like snapping into a cookie with candy bar aspirations, satisfying two different appetites in a two-stick confectionery configuration. And, it was a double-bar set-up, like Twix, so you could share one if you were so inclined — but only until they vanished in the early '80s. After that, you couldn't even enjoy one on your own.

It felt like the '70s movement toward breath mint domination in the impulse section of the grocery store launched a thousand Tic Tac impersonators, though it was likely a much smaller number. One of the most noteworthy competitors to share shelf space was DynaMints from gum maker Dentyne. The elongated plastic case totally ripped off the Tic Tac box, but provided two flip-top spouts for easy access. There were also some decidedly non-mint flavors, like lemon lime and fruit, another aspect of Tic Tacs that appears to have been up for grabs.

DynaMints were more than just packaged candies, though. When youngsters became bored while waiting for their parents to finish grocery shopping, they could grab a couple packs and use them as shakers to annoy shoppers by making "music" with them. Maybe it's best that these clacking candies were removed from market, but it sure would be nice to shake a few containers for old time's sake.

The candy world changed once Pop Rocks exploded onto the '70s candy scene with its crackling novelty candy. It was an accidental General Foods creation from 1956 that was pulverized and rebranded as SpaceDust in 1978. A more vibrantly flavored version of the original, this Pixie Stix-like powder spread out over your tongue in flavors like Galactic Grape and Orbiting Orange. Instead of crackling like Pop Rocks, SpaceDust sizzled on your tongue, a different yet similar sensation that took less jaw work. Those of us who lived for the strange sensation and saturated flavors of this interactive candy also loved the graphics on the front of the pouches: Goofy illustrations of planets with silly faces that seemed to predict the absurd fun of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," which was yet to come.

Sadly, the texture of SpaceDust was a little too close to the powdered drugs becoming popular in the '70s, and a name that was so similar to "angel dust" didn't help matters. SpaceDust was rebranded yet again as Cosmic Candy. Then, the urban legend about the candy exploding in your stomach cropped up, and the candy was removed from the market entirely. Talk about an old-school candy that was seriously controversial in its day. It's become a mythical packet of crackling fun that's more than deserving of another (moon) shot now that the rumors have been dispelled.

Anyone who found a solid bar of chocolate to be too heavy a treat could rejoice in the '70s appearance of the Choco'Lite bar from Nestle. This airy alternative to denser, block-like chocolate was run through with little pockets of nothingness, giving the bar a softer bite and a texture no other candy bar was committing to at the time. Commercials zoomed in on the unique consistency of the bar, with the little-kid voiceover comparing it to chocolatey foam; the accompanying animation showed a youngster swimming in the froth at the top of a milkshake.

The closest candy to Choco'lite on the market these days is the Aero bar, which means there's plenty of opportunity for a comeback. Imaging how chuffed candy fans would be to delight in a decades-old texture that feels like something entirely new? In an industry where familiarity can breed boredom even as it generates steady revenue, a new-old blast from the past could shake up the chocolate game in a most intriguing manner.

M&Ms may have thought a peanut-filled chocolate candy was a real groundbreaking invention when they showed up in 1989, but Wonka Company had the candy giant beaten by more than a decade with its Oompas candies. They were an obvious knockoff of the much better-known button candies, but they hid a secret chamber of peanut butter filling beside the usual chocolate inside. It was like having a bag of miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to munch on, with that crispy candy shell adding fun crackle to the equation. And, it came with the wacky Wonka name on the bag, which made enjoying the books and film that inspired the treats a 360-degree experience.

Oompas disappeared from the '70s and reappeared in a different form, still as a Wonka candy but transformed into a crunchy-chewy fruit candy akin to Skittles. Maybe that gave the company more firepower when competing with similar treats. But, the Gen X candy lovers who remember how tasty the original Oompas were think they deserve a little space on the rack, too. Peanut Butter M&Ms could use a little competition. Count these little nuggets among the retro candies we miss the most.

Charlie Bucket wasn't the only waif who coveted a classic Wonka Bar in the '70s; fans of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" also longed for the chocolate planks, which were launched in the middle of the decade to capitalize on the movie's popularity. The bright pink labels and wacky Wonka top hat logo were just the kind of promotional tie-in that would send kids scurrying to the candy store after watching the film. The candy came about in 1971, the same year as the classic flick was launched, and was a marketing ploy by the Quaker Oat Company, who'd helped finance the film to push the bars by dropping $3 million into the production.

This bar gave a generation the opportunity to peel away the label and see if there was a golden ticket to the chocolate factory waiting underneath. What was there was graham crackers covered in chocolate, a tasty discovery even if it didn't come with a trip on the Wonka-vator. Paramount Pictures eventually let Quaker buy the rights to the film to keep the candy rolling, but the bars slipped away, only to return in various forms through the years — most notably during the 2005 remake, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which actually did include a golden ticket promotion. The truth behind the Wonka candy company just goes to show you that candy marketing sure can be complicated.

Among the members of the novelty candy world of the '70s, few treats had the thrilling impact of Gold Rush bubble gum. Part of the magic was finding the little burlap sack filled with mini-Chicklet-sized pieces, fastened with a draw string and emblazoned with an illustrated prospector on the front. But, the real excitement came when you spilled the contents into your hand and found a motherlode of irregular shapes that looked like actual gold nuggets — or as close as bubble gum could come to it. Where other brands tried to impress with their perfect orb gum balls or clean rectangular strips and blocks, Gold Rush kept things natural. You could pretend you were eating real gold, then blow bubbles as soon as the ten-second fruit flavor was gone.

For anyone on a treasure hunt, you can still locate Gold Rush bubblegum online and at party stores where the good times never truly die. It sometimes shows up as Gold Mine or Gold Nugget gum too. What would be fantastic is to see a space made for this true original among the modern bubblegum selections — a throwback that doesn't go back to the literal Gold Rush days, but to the Gold Rush bubble gum days of yore instead. 

If Milk Duds made your taste buds dance in circles, Pom Poms, the second-rate recreation, was sure to capture your attention as well. This was a Nabisco product, back in the day when the company was reaching beyond the cookies and cracker section and into the candy aisle. Aficionados who favored a Pom over a Dud were none too shy to declare their devotion, having determined a difference that made the distinction clear. For all other comers, a chocolate-covered caramel ingot like this was equal to a Dud and would certainly do in a pinch.

Pom Poms were taken over by Tootsie Roll in 1993, which eventually introduced Junior Caramels. These supplanted the Pom Poms product. With Milk Duds holding the standard for vintage, chocolate-covered caramel nuggets, it was inevitable that Pom Poms would eventually go the way of the dodo. But, wouldn't it be sweet to find a retro pack on grocery and convenience store shelves someday? The '70s snackers who've spent plenty of daydream time reminiscing about their choice for the best movie candy certainly think so.

Seven Up was a true original candy creation, a compartmentalized chocolate bar that contained seven distinct fillings: Mint, butterscotch, nougat, fudge, buttercream, coconut, and caramel. It was a one stop chocolate box a wrapper, a sophisticated offering that did its best to address the tastes of every chocolate lover in a single go. Though it was not originally introduced in the '70s, but much earlier in the history of candy in the 1930s, it did have something of a following during the decade of Watergate and "Happy Days." But, that was as far as this singular treat was able to go.

Running into a Seven Up candy bar in the '70s may have caused some confusion for candy fans who also loved 7UP, the classic lemon-lime soda that rose to prominence that decade as "The Uncola." Due to the brand overlap, the Seven Up bar was discontinued in 1979, quickly fading into the mists of time. The few who remember this all-encompassing candy bar would love to see it show up again to determine whether or not it lives up to the memory. At the very least, it could show the younger, more generic candy bars how chocolate was done in the old days.