Nashville's Official Candy Bar Is Sweet, Nutty, And Used To Cost A Nickel

It's hard to go to Nashville, Tennessee, without finding this city's official candy bar at the checkout line of every grocery and convenience store. The Goo Goo Cluster is best described as a confectionery nugget made of layers of caramel, marshmallow, nougat, and roasted peanuts blanketed in chocolate. This candy bar has been around for a long time. 

In 1912, its makers at Standard Candy Company at Clark & First Avenue created the first combination candy bar using multiple and distinct ingredients. Translation: Long before the birth of the iconic Baby Ruth, the Goo Goo Cluster was leading the pack. However, it wasn't just the fact that it was a combination candy bar that separated it from others. 

The Goo Goo Cluster is different from a traditional bar candy because its shape is like a big clump, which initially made packaging it a bit of a challenge. At first, it was sold unpackaged for a mere nickel, offered in shops and wrapped up in paper boxes or tins. It wasn't until the 1920s that Standard Candy Company started individual packaging. It was also around this time that the Goo Goo Cluster was sold at the Grand Ole Opry as a concession, which greatly aided its popularity. From 1966 through 2006, Standard Candy was a main sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry, and performers would sing jingles for the candy bar.

It took a while to decide on the name for this new creation. Candy maker Howell Campbell invented this sweet treat that's become woven into Nashville's culture, but it was thanks to a conversation with a school teacher that its name was born. According to the Goo Goo Cluster's website, Campbell told her that his infant's first words were "goo-goo," and the teacher in question quipped, "That's what you should call your candy — Goo Goo! It's so good, people will ask for it from birth."

Today, in most of the world, Goo Goo Clusters tend to get lumped in with nostalgia candy, but not in Nashville, Tennessee. In the summer, the Goo Good Cluster's store in downtown Nashville offers activities that include classes, wine and whisky pairings, boozy milkshakes, and so much more. Additionally, this candy has jumped on the collab bandwagon, working with a regional soda that we wish were national, AKA Cheerwine, to add its signature cherry flavor to a Goo Goo Cluster. But the candy company has also worked with seemingly unlikely partners like Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHouse, Nashville's oldest BBQ Restaurant, to create the Smoke 'N' Sweet Premium Goo Goo, which gives BBQ lovers a little smoky taste with all that sweetness.