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19 chocolatey candy bars from the 1970s that went extinct
Someone still cares about Caravelles.
Pop into your local drugstore and you'll find no shortage of chocolate. Heck, there are about 29 different kinds of M&Ms these days. You can pick up multiple varieties of Twix, chomp on umpteen iterations of Kit Kats, or go nutty with Snickers of all sorts. Are you a fan of coconut, toffee, nougat, dark chocolate or crisped rice? Well, they've got it in a candy bar.
Still, we miss a ton of candy bars from our childhood. Somehow, there seemed to be even more options available back then, as smaller confectioners continued to churn out regional favorites. Many of these beloved bites have gone to sugar heaven. Looking back is bittersweet, we were going to do it anyway.
Did you eat any of these?
1. Almond Cluster
"This is an ugly candy bar," the self-deprecating commercial proclaimed. "It bulges from the way they stuff those almonds." Instead, they showed a picture of a woman in a bikini. It was the 1970s.
Image: Peter Paul / YouTube
2. Baffle
Originating in California and the Cardinet's candy company, the Baffle bar had been around since the 1920s. Ralston Purina later picked up the brand. The fudge bar soon fell off, perhaps because of its befuddling name.
Image: Candy Wrapper Museum
3. Butternut
Wish that Snickers didn't have all that pesky, mysterious nougat? Well, this bar made by Hollywood was for you, loaded with peanuts suspended in chewy caramel.
4. By George!
Phoenix made this "baked butter crisp coated in milk chocolate." Was it friends with Oh Henry! bars?
Image: Candy Wrapper Archive
5. Caravelle
Peter Paul manufactured many of our favorite '70s candy bars. (Its Mounds and Almond Joy bars continue today under different manufacturing.) The gooey Caravelle was similar to the $100,000 Bar.
Image: eBay / 237
6. Choco'Lite
A diet candy bar? Not quite. This lighter bar was pocketed with tiny air bubbles, much like an Aero bar, but with "crispy chips." Nestle did some tie-ins with Star Wars around the film's release.
Image: theswca
7. Clark 1776 Bicentennial Bar
It makes some sense that this would not last beyond the Bicentennial mania of 1976. Perhaps someone can bring back this peanut butter log for the upcoming Sestercentennial in 2026?
8. Clark Crispy Bar
We found this ad in the pages of Working Woman Magazine. Sounds like a pretty great 2 p.m. boost at the desk.
Image: Clark
9. Cris-P-Nut
"The Greatest Crunch on Earth" was essentially a Nestle's Crunch with peanuts added to the mix.
Image: Mankatt / Flickr
10. Cristy
"Cristy" sounded like one of Charlie's Angels or one of Jack Tripper's roomies. It certainly was a more sophisticated candy bar, what with its "French nougat." Oooh… French!
Image: Candy Wrapper Archive
11. Milkshake
Hollywood's (the candy company, not the film industry) answer to the Milky Way.
12. Planters Chocolaty Coated Peanut Block
A blanket of chocolate wrapped this sugar-shellaced brick of peanuts.
Image: Jason Liebig / Courtesy of collectingcandy.com / Flickr
13. Reggie
The Yankees legend figured he'd get into the Baby Ruth game. Although, the Baby Ruth was named for the president's daughter, Ruth Cleveland, not the iconic slugger.
Image: Curtiss Candy
14. Rinkles
Okay, this is not a candy bar, but Luden's take on Raisinets deserves a mention, mostly for its amusing name. Who says wrinkles are a bad thing? Their Mello Mint was a nice alternative to the York, too.
Image: Jasion Liebig courtesy of collectingcandy.com / Flickr
16. Snik Snak
Mars launched this obvious response to the rival Kit Kit around 1973. Clearly, Kit Kat won the war.
Image: Mars / YouTube
17. Starbar
The Starbar brings to mind Ziggy Stardust and disco. In other words, we adore it and want one right now.
Image: Jason Liebig / Courtesy of collectingcandy.com / Flickr
18. Tycoon
A $100,000 Bar? Pshaw! A true tycoon scoffs at such a value. A titan of industry would eat, well, a Tycoon.
Image: Candy Wrapper Archive
19. Wonka's Super Skrunch
Leave it to Wonka to come up with its own playful vocabulary. Well take "Skrunchy" over hair scrunchies any day.
Image: Gregg Koenig / Flickr
SEE MORE: 14 everlasting candies introduced in the 1970s
We still haven't finished those Gobstoppers we bought during Star Wars. READ MORE
10 Comments
(any -ose ending is a sugar, and any syrup is sugars often with a bit of water to make the syrup)
definitely healthy eating (NOT!)
That was a lie by the candy company to avoid having to pay Babe Ruth any royalties.
They came out with the candy bar 24 years after Cleveland had left the White House, and 17 years after his daughter, Ruth, had died.
So ya it was quite clearly named to cash in on Babe Ruth's popularity and had nothing to do with the presidents daughter.
"...the Baby Ruth was named for the president's daughter, Ruth Cleveland, not the iconic slugger."
That was a lie by the candy company to avoid having to pay Babe Ruth any royalties.
They came out with the candy bar 24 years after Cleveland had left the White House, and 17 years after his daughter, Ruth, had died.
So ya it was quite clearly named to cash in on Babe Ruth's popularity.
