8 Candy Wrappers From The '50s That Deserve A Revival

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Before candy conglomerates were whipping up wrappers with sleek packaging and minimalist logos, there was an era when candy bar marketing was impossible to ignore. The 1950s brought us fun, whimsical, and character-centered wrappers. Everything from bold lettering and cheeky illustrations to colorful graphics and names that caught every eye at the corner store. They were tiny snapshots of midcentury America, wrapped in something sweet. They told a story, and some even had unique prizes. Beyond that, manufacturing was booming, and there was a growing culture of convenience, with five-and-dimes, drugstores, and neighborhood markets stocking up on the popular treats of the time. There are many retro candy bar wrappers we wish would return, but a few from this decade in particular we'd like to see revived. Some were regional favorites, a few were quirky experiments, and some simply couldn't survive the ruthless candy bar competition. We selected eight '50s-era candy wrappers we'd love to see back on shelves today. Take a sweet trip down memory lane and relive the nostalgic era of candy-wrapper whimsy.

Children of the 1950s grew up happily drinking Nestle's Quik, a chocolate powdered flavoring mix for milk. While Nestle introduced its Crunch bar in 1938, it wasn't until Quik's popularity soared that Nestle added the advertisement to the Crunch bar wrapper. Showcasing happy-faced glasses of milk stirring the Quik, it was a fun way to market both the candy and the new Quik product. The wrapper is just a memory, as Nestle has replaced its original mix with the yellow packaging with the brown bunny, rebranding it as Nesquik.

It's a household name and beloved favorite, but the sleek, modern 3 Musketeers wrapper we know doesn't compete with the fun, whimsical wrapper of the '50s. Introduced in 1932 by Mars, the original 3 Musketeers came in a three-pack, with chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla nougat flavors. The wrapper featured three sword-wielding swashbucklers in hats, boots, and coats. The name was a nod to Alexandre Dumas's 1844 historical-adventure novel. 3 Musketeers' first major advertising appearance also occurred in the '50s, debuting on the Howdy Doody show. While it remains a popular bar, the cartoon wrapper is only available on second-market sites.

Hollywood Candy Company produced many classics in its heyday, including its flashy namesake bar, the Milkshake Malted Milk Bar, and PayDay. But an often-forgotten one popular in the '50s was Smooth Sailin'. Filled with nougat and walnuts, the five-cent candy bar was coated in a bittersweet chocolate. Its deep-blue wrapper with white sailboats floating on the water and nautical marketing made it an irresistible choice. Hollywood changed hands multiple times through the '80s, before finally being sold to Hershey in 1996. PayDay and Zero are the only bars that still exist today.

This brand comes from a Turkish immigrant who founded the company in Coney Island, Brooklyn, in 1897. More like nougat than taffy, the Turkish Taffy wrapper is super fun, featuring men in hats swirling the taffy in a bright-red kettle. Despite the image, the taffy wasn't from Turkey, and there was no famous family recipe. The brand did have a great slogan, encouraging people to "smack it and crack it," because you could hit it against a table and break it into bite-sized pieces. Bonomos' taffy came in several flavors, including chocolate, banana, and strawberry. It was discontinued in 1989.

With its palm trees, fancy gold foil, and tropical marketing with the bar bursting from a coconut, the Coconut Grove wrapper took you on an island paradise trip before you even had a bite. Produced in the 1950s by the Curtiss Candy Company, the bar had creamy coconut inside, was coated in bittersweet chocolate, and cost five cents when it was introduced. Much of the bar's history seems to have been lost when the candy company was sold to Standard Brands in 1964. The brand was known for producing the well-known candies Baby Ruth, Butterfinger and Peppermint Patty.

Another classic from Sperry Candy Company, the old-school chocolate bar Chicken Dinner, was the Milwaukee-based brand's most popular confection for its wrapper, name, and marketing alone. With a roasted chicken dinner on a platter, Sperry had everyone clucking about it when it was introduced in 1923. Discontinued in the '60s, the bar didn't actually contain chicken, but instead a simple peanut-and-caramel roll center with a chocolate coating. But Sperry knew how to play the marketing game, getting the candy's name out there with billboards, print ads, and even metal chicken trucks.

Famous for its Bit-O-Honey candy, Schutter Candy Company also stirred up a frenzy with its Dick Tracy bar, introduced in the '50s. Since many children disliked the nuts in Bit-O-Honey, the company needed to appeal to that market, and the popular Dick Tracy comic strip of the time fit the bill. It was similar to the former candy bar, taffy-like, and no nuts or chocolate. For 25 cents, kids could mail in for a metal personalized Dick Tracy identification bracelet. After changing hands several times, Schutter is now owned by Spangler Candy Company, but the Dick Tracy bar was discontinued.