The Retro Candy Bar Beloved By John Wayne Still Exists Today

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John Wayne, the iconic American film star, is remembered for many things. He championed cowboy culture with his numerous roles in Western films; he resided in Newport Beach, California, leading Orange County to name its airport after him in 1979; and he was known to love whiskey, steak, and seafood. The actor also had a sweet tooth and was particularly fond of a curiously named sweet called Abba-Zaba, a treat you can still find in some stores today.

In 2016, Wayne's daughter, Marisa, reminisced about her late father, telling Closer magazine, "He's always portrayed as this tough cowboy, but he also had a tremendous heart," adding, "He used to keep a stash of Abb-Zaba taffy in his drawer." He may have only shared these with his children; as for his co-stars, he instead gifted them coffee mugs.

Abba-Zaba is a sweet wrapped up in a yellow-and-black checkered, taxi-inspired packaging. Each bar contains a white taffy encasing a peanut butter filling. Naturally, the taffy is exceptionally chewy, so if you have sensitive dental work, you should beware. Some people freeze them to harden the bars up while others pop them in a microwave for a few seconds to get everything ooey and gooey. We don't know how Wayne liked to eat his, but seeing as he stocked drawers with them, we can deduce that his affinity for them was strong.

Abba-Zaba, like many other candy bars, has been around much longer than people realize, having been released long before John Wayne's acting heyday. It's made and sold by the Annabelle Candy Company, but it was first introduced in 1922 by a candy company called Colby and McDermott. The initial package artwork was a racially insensitive depiction of African tribesmen with spears, but by the 1950s, the candy was acquired by the Cardinet Candy Company, which was likely when the marketing imagery was changed to what it is today. 

Annabelle Candy Company purchased Abba-Zaba in 1978; amazingly, the taffy-peanut butter candy hasn't changed in over 100 years, despite multiple ownerships. Annabelle did release additional flavors like green apple and peanut butter and chocolate, but internet sleuthing revealed that the two flavors were likely discontinued, as purchasing options weren't available at the time of this writing. But the original vanilla taffy and peanut butter combination can still be found on places like Amazon, where you can buy a pack of six Abba-Zaba candy bars for around $18, and other candy-centered websites.