11 Discontinued '60s Candies That Belong Back In Stores

Did you know there was a candy bar called Chicken Dinner? Those who grew up in the '60s may well remember this early example of a viral marketing campaign, but sadly, the candy itself has long been absent from grocery store shelves. And Chicken Dinner is far from the only creative candy that those born after the '60s will never get to experience.

The '60s offered some unique candy concepts, including fizzy tablets that turned water into sugary beverages to multi-flavor concoctions. Some, like Power House Bars, are pretty similar to candies you'll still find on shelves today. But some of the most delicious and most creative candy from the era has been discontinued, never to be seen again.

Those who grew up eating Seven Up Bars or Fizzies no doubt have strong feelings about whether they deserve a place among today's Snickers and Milky Way. But even those of us who've never had the pleasure of eating these 11 iconic '60s candies would love to see them back on shelves. From creative names to unique flavor combos, the '60s had a few concepts that simply shouldn't remain lost to time.

These days, there's an entire grocery store aisle dedicated to tablets and packets that add flavor to water. But before electrolyte supplements like Nuun and Liquid IV, kids in the '60s had Fizzies. Fizzies came in seven unique flavors, including fruits like cherry, grape, lemon-lime, and orange alongside soda imitations like root beer and cola.

They were incredibly sweet, in part because the formula for the fizzy tablets used cyclamate and saccharin. While saccharin remains a popular artificial sweetener today, cyclamate has been banned by the FDA. That's part of why the original Fizzies creator discontinued the popular candy.

Fizzies have returned to shelves a few times since the '60s, with new formulas in the 1990s and 2000s. However, the candy has once again vanished from shelves. The original Fizzies are fondly remembered by those who enjoyed them during their original run, especially the root beer flavor. Nostalgic Redditors wax poetic about the sugary drink, with many seeking modern-day dupes like Zots. Clearly, there's still a place on the candy shelf for a modern, cyclamate-free version of Fizzies.

Fans of caramel and crisped rice still remember the Caravelle candy bar fondly, despite its disappearance from the market. Released in 1965, the milk chocolate bar remained a staple on shelves until sometime in the late '70s or early '80s. Sources disagree on exactly when the candy was discontinued, but the fact remains that you won't see Caravelle in the candy aisle in 2026.

Though both caramel and crisped rice are pretty common in today's candy bars, you don't often see them combined. This flavor combo certainly helped the Caravelle bar stand out, quickly becoming a favorite candy of the '60s.

The closest parallel still on shelves today is the 100 Grand, which does also combine milk chocolate, caramel, and crisped rice. While it's a decent substitute, many candy enthusiasts on Reddit still mourn the loss of Caravelle, claiming the 100 Grand just "wasn't as good." This alone suggests that there's space for Caravelle to make a grocery store comeback alongside its main competition.

These days, the name Seven Up is synonymous with the citrus-flavored soda. But once upon a time, Seven Up was also a candy bar. Ironically, the two products both hit shelves around the same time, with the soda released in the late 1920s and the candy soon to follow. Alas, while you can still find the iconic lemon-lime 7Up soft drink in a variety of flavors, the candy was discontinued in 1979.

The Seven Up bar gets its name from its unique design. Rather than a single flavor profile, this chocolate bar featured seven unique squares of chocolate, each with a different filling. The original flavor profile included squares of coconut, butterscotch caramel, buttercream, fudge, Brazil nut, cherry cream, and orange jelly. Ultimately, its name proved to be part of the bar's downfall due to legal disputes with the soda brand. However, making a single bar with that many different flavors also wasn't cheap, so cost also likely played into the end of the Seven Up bar.

Though it was never quite as popular as some other '60s candies, like the Caravelle, the Seven Up bar is fondly remembered by its dedicated fans. Many people loved the surprise of biting into the different flavors, and some Reddit users would "rather eat [the candy] than drink 7up." The Seven Up bar was a unique candy concept you don't really see today and would be a welcome addition to grocery store shelves.

To this day, milkshakes are a beloved dessert option, especially during the summer. So it's not too surprising that candy companies once sought to capture a similar flavor profile for their bars. The Milk Shake Candy Bar dates back to 1927, and it remained popular up through the '60s and beyond. Alas, the bar was ultimately a casualty of Hollywood Candy Company's eventual sale to Hershey, which stopped producing the Milk Shake Bar in the late '90s.

The Milk Shake Candy Bar used a fluffy, lightweight nougat that later inspired the Milky Way. However, the bar did not include caramel, instead using its combination of milk chocolate and malt-flavored nougat to mimic a malt milkshake. You can find modern candy bars that use a similar fluffy nougat, including the Milky Way and 3 Musketeers, but they don't quite capture that malted milkshake vibe. Some candy makers, like Hammond's, also offer milkshake-inspired bars, but none quite capture that same combination of milk chocolate and malt-flavored nougat.

That's a real shame, according to the people who loved the original Milk Shake Candy Bar. Many nostalgic Reddit users claim it was among their favorites when they were younger and wish it would make a comeback. Its closest analog on today's market remains the Milky Way, but with that caramel added, it's just not quite the same.

The Big Time Bar comes from Hollywood Candy, the company behind the beloved Milk Shake Bar. This candy had a similar flavor, but added peanuts and caramel to the nougat. As the name implies, its size was central to its marketing strategy, with the slogan "unlimited taste" printed on the wrapper.

Big Time is a lesser-known staple of the '60s, but given its relationship to the beloved Milk Shake Bar, it would no doubt be welcome for a comeback. Priced at just 5 cents, Big Time bars offered a delicious and surprisingly filling combination of ingredients thanks to the peanuts. Its packaging has such a nostalgic '60s vibe that you can even find it for sale at some antique shops. Of course, it's probably not a good idea to try to eat those few packages that are still around from back in the day.

If you're craving a Big Time Bar after being reminded of its existence, the closest dupe today is the Snickers Bar, which also combines peanuts, caramel, and nougat wrapped in milk chocolate. In fact, given the popularity of this bar with a similar profile, it's probably unlikely we'll get to see the Big Time make a comeback.

Created by the now-defunct Hollywood Candy company, the Smooth Sailin was a dark chocolate bar with walnut-flavored "divinity" nougat inside. This was another spin on the company's invention of a fluffier nougat, and it made for a unique candy bar that's sadly lost to time alongside many of Hollywood Candy's creations.

The Smooth Sailin wrapper featured a blue and white color combo with sailboats. Its combination of nougat, walnuts, and dark chocolate make it somewhat unique, earning it a small, dedicated fanbase. Those who remember this bar would love to see it return to shelves, as it's tough to pinpoint a modern equivalent.

Because it was never quite as popular as some other discontinued candies, it's hard to pinpoint exactly when the Smooth Sailin bar vanished from shelves. But fans on Facebook recall that it likely wasn't around even into the late '60s when Hollywood Candy sold to Sara Lee in 1967, making it a tragically short-lived invention.

Fudge in all varieties remains a beloved sweet treat, especially on vacation. But back in the 1960s, you didn't have to go to a candy shop and buy it by the pound. Kraft Fudgies were individually wrapped pieces of rich chocolate fudge with a slight caramel flavor to them.

Officially, Kraft Fudgies were discontinued in 1995 when Kraft sold off its candy business. The original formula no longer exists, but it's fairly easy to find modern dupes online. Though the versions still available today use the same name, they're not the same candy. The new Fudgies no longer come in the original gold foil wrapper. And based on Instacart reviews from those who've tried the modern edition generally agree that they now taste more akin to a dark chocolate caramel than the Fudgies '60s kids would remember.

Individually wrapped fudgy chocolate seems like a slam-dunk, so it's a bit surprising that the original Fudgies are nowhere to be found. Sadly, there's no clear analog to the classic Fudgies formula on shelves. Your best bet may be to just make some classic chocolate fudge at home.

Before marketing campaigns that banked on shock value to go viral were all the rage, there was the Chicken Dinner. This candy bar did not, in fact, contain chicken or any other staple ingredients of a classic chicken dinner. But it did feature a roast chicken on the wrapper, making it an eye-catching presence on shelves while it lasted.

Released in 1923 by the Sperry Candy Company, the bar gained popularity thanks to its unique marketing as a high-value candy bar with an unusual name that helped it stand out. Flavor-wise, the bar was essentially a nut roll covered in chocolate, earning it a reputation as a high-protein staple. The Chicken Dinner bar remained popular right up until 1962, when Sperry was bought out by Pearson's.

The marketing campaign and concept for Chicken Dinner was clearly ahead of its time. It's quite easy to imagine it making a roaring comeback today as a viral TikTok product. However, Pearson's Candy likely discontinued the bar to leave more room for its own caramel and peanut log bar, the Salted Nut Roll. This similar bar can still be found in stores today.

Peter Paul, the company behind Almond Joys and Mounds, also brought us a 1960s precursor to protein bars. Power House Bars featured a combination of chocolate, chewy caramel, and loads of peanuts. Its advertising was geared around giving you a boost of energy, which is where its Power House name comes from. In fact, watching old Power House ads brings the "Hungry? Eat a Snickers" ad campaigns to mind, proving Mars wasn't the first company to advertise a candy bar as a filling, protein-filled snack.

This bar was unfortunately discontinued in the late '80s, when Hershey acquired Peter Paul. It is, however, fondly remembered by those who enjoyed it during its heyday. It makes semi-frequent appearances in Reddit and Facebook threads about long-forgotten staples of childhood.

Those who remember the Power House have mixed opinions on modern candy with a similar flavor. In marketing and description, it sounds quite a bit like a Snickers, though some fans say the Snickers Extreme is a closer dupe. Given that no one can quite agree, it's clear the Power House had a unique flavor profile that would be right at home in the modern-day candy aisle.

The space race dominated many people's attention in the late '50s and early '60s. As astronauts made their first ventures into outer space, it's no surprise that candy companies saw an opportunity in the form of "space food." Modeled after the dehydrated foods astronauts consumed, Space Food Sticks were a candy and snack bar hybrid released by Pillsbury in the 1960s.

These rod-shaped treats came in a variety of flavors, with caramel, chocolate, and peanut butter being the most popular. Actual astronauts went on to eat slightly modified versions of the consumer-facing product, which helped spur on their popularity throughout the '60s and early '70s. However, once the space race died down, they fell out of favor, in part because they were better as novelties than genuine recreations of their supposed flavors. One Redditor who remembers the Space Food Sticks fondly says they tasted "either like magic or Play-Doh" giving the impression of "eating something not of this earth."

Space Food Sticks have popped back up a couple of times since they were initially discontinued, most notably as novelty food items at space museums or for commemorative events. However, they haven't been seen at all in the U.S. since 2014. A comeback here would be for nostalgia's sake more than flavor, but they would be a fun addition to speciality candy stores or as part of a history lesson.

Fruit Stripe Gum remained popular well into the '90s and early 2000s, but it was first invented in the 1960s. There's a good chance even younger generations remember the gum, which featured brightly-colored packaging and a zebra mascot. Each pack came with a variety of fruit-flavored strips of gum, typically cherry, orange, lime, mixed fruit, and lemon.

This candy departed shelves fairly recently, ending its run in 2024 when Ferrara Candy officially discontinued the product. Because of how recently it came off the shelves, you can find a few packs for sale as collectors' items on sites like eBay. However, unless the manufacturer changes its mind, new packs of Fruit Stripe Gum are a thing of the past.

Despite its popularity, Fruit Stripe Gum had a reputation for its intense but short-lived flavor. So this is one case where a return to stores might actually benefit from a new formula, but would be welcome either way. Thanks to its bright colors and delicious flavors, many people have fond memories of them both as chewing gum and perfect decor staples on gingerbread houses. And that's before we even get to those fun temporary tattoos that came in every pack.