[Hepcat]

About ten years ago The MAN thought it might be cool to distribute one of the Surprise Bags that are sold in convenience stores to tricksters on Halloween:

But we then decided we could do a better job making up our own treat bags (sadly plastic bags as opposed to more traditional paper) which would include little toys as well as candies. We did gender specific ones by adding plastic dinosaurs to the boys' bags and plastic unicorns or winged horses to the girls' bags. (I know, I know, so sexist.) Here are some pictures we took in past years:

Boys' Treat Bags 2014

Girls' Treat Bags 2014

Boys' Treat Bags 2015

Girls' Treat Bags 2015

That's another member of my household posse, Scout, auditing the contents of the bags to make sure The MAN and The WOMAN didn't forget anything.

 

[MT_Grave]

Cool! Are you a fan of the Calgary Stampeders or the Saskatchewan Roughriders? Have you ever attended one of their games?

I'm a Stampeders fan - Primarily because Alex Singleton used to play at Montana State. Have never been to one of the games - but that's something I should put on my Bucket list. I do like watching the CFL. It's a more wide open game - especially when you having 12 mend and multiple players able to be in motion. I used to coach semi-pro football (Rocky Mountain Football League - receiver coach and specialty teams) and the differences are just enough that my mind sometimes boggles at how pass centric the games are.

 

[MT_Grave]

Our local Walgreens has boxes of Bottle Caps most of the time. My favorite flavor is the Root Beer ones.

Th Root Beer and the Cola for me! We have a little convenience store about 1 1/2 miles from our house. (I live 2 miles out of the city limits and our town is less than 50,000) that always has them on the shelf. I've been known to ride my bike down there just to get a box.

 

[Hepcat]

I'm a Stampeders fan - I do like watching the CFL. It's a more wide open game - especially when you having 12 men and multiple players able to be in motion.... the differences are just enough that my mind sometimes boggles at how pass centric the games are.

So this past Sunday it was a barn burner of a Western semifinal in Regina:

Saskatchewan 33 Calgary 30 (OT)

 

[mr.macabre]

I miss the Jolly Rancher "sticks". Anyone else remember them, they were flat rectangles about 1" x 4". I used to be able to find them at the snack bar at my little-leauge games. My favorite flavor is still grape.

 

[Hepcat]

I like most sour/sweet candy including Smarties a.k.a. Rockets in Canada....

The reason what are called Smarties in the States are called Rockets in Canada is because Smarties have for generations been the name brand of a type of candy coated chocolates in Canada similar to M&Ms:

Coming in all of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and brown colours though, Smarties are even more colourful than M&Ms. And together with three other Nestlé chocolate bars, Smarties are available as a variant for Halloween in both full and shell-out sizes:

 

[mr.macabre]

The reason what are called Smarties in the States are called Rockets in Canada is because Smarties have for generations been the name brand of a type of candy coated chocolates in Canada similar to M&Ms:

Coming in all of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and brown colours though, Smarties are even more colourful than M&Ms. And together with three other Nestlé chocolate bars, Smarties are available as a variant for Halloween in both full and shell-out sizes:

What is a coffin crisp? Looks like a 3 Musketeers inside, why is it "crispy"?

 

[Hepcat]

Coffee Crisp!

Neither the texture nor the taste is anything like 3 Musketeers. It's one of the many chocolate bars available in Canada but not the States.

 

[Hepcat]

I miss the Jolly Rancher "sticks". Anyone else remember them, they were flat rectangles about 1" x 4". I used to be able to find them at the snack bar at my little-leauge games. My favorite flavor is still grape.

I can't remember when I last saw them in the little sticks/rolls either. It could have been years ago but I haven't been looking for them. Hershey seems to have decided to make them available only in bags:

The Jolly Rancher candies remind me of Charms. Are Charms still widely available in the States?

They're very tough to find in Canada. Even specialty candy shops seldom have any.

Life Savers are no longer easy to find in rolls in Canada either, and they're only available in Assorted Fruit, Wint-O-Green and Pep-O-Mint flavours. Can you still get Butterscotch Life Savers in the States?

Whenever I break down and buy a whole bag of Wint-O-Green or Assorted Fruit Life Savers though, I find them highly addictive and raze through them very quickly:

If however you really like the Grape Jolly Ranchers, I'd strongly suggest you track down Regal Crown Sour Grape:

They're British but they were widely sold in Canada back in the 1970's and I used to buy the Sour Cherry and Sour Grape all the time until they disappeared sometime in the 1980's. They're really good and I'd suggest you give them a try even if you have to order them on-line.

 

[Famous Pumpkin]

the candy-coated chocolate balls that came in little cellophane tubes that were sort of like m-n-m’s;

We must be the same age. I remember every single thing you described. I LOVED those coffins. The ones you described above are Sixlets and you can still get them. Dollar tree always carries them!

 

[mr.macabre]

Mine will always be plain M & M's, sweet tarts, and candy corn(Brach's only).

 

[Malicious]

butter rum lifesavers can still be found but not sure if that is the butterscotch lifesavers you mentioned above.

 

[LabMama1]

I always have to buy Heath or Skor bars for my husband and neighbor. I will eat anything, and the ToTs don't seem to have a marked preference. But I used to love the old Mars Bars with nougat and whole almonds. There is a Snickers with almonds that comes close.

 

[LabMama1]

When I was a kid, I loved getting those strips of white paper with the rows of colored candy buttons; the candy-coated chocolate balls that came in little cellophane tubes that were sort of like m-n-m’s; chocolate b-b bats; Cracker Jacks; Pixy Sticks; double lollies that tasted like Sweet Tarts; Krackel; mini plastic coffins with Sweet Tart-flavored bones inside; Mounds; Chewy Sweet Tarts; watermelon Jolly Ranchers; Lik m Sticks; and M-n-m’s.

Everything with peanut butter, nuts, licorice, Necco Wafers, & wax was up for trading. I got the heebie jeebies from those marshmallow ice cream cones.

The candy-coated chocolate balls are Sixlets. Yum!

 

[internet troll]

Reese’s are the ones that mysteriously disappear from my sons stash.

 

[LabMama1]

For me it would have to be ordinary M&Ms, KitKats, Almond Joys or Mounds (I think I like them a little more than almond joys because of the dark chocolate lol), and of course candy corn.

Since I'm allergic to peanuts, there is one that I wish came in a large bag or variety pack around Halloween - the almond snickers. It doesn't qualify as Halloween candy since it's a year round thing and isn't very common anyway.

I like the almond Snickers, too, but you can get the peanut ones in Halloween packages, and they aren't Halloweeny, either. I guess it's a popularity issue. Or maybe cost, as almonds are pricier than peanuts.

I can't remember when I last saw them in the little sticks/rolls either. It could have been years ago but I haven't been looking for them. Hershey seems to have decided to make them available only in bags:

The Jolly Rancher candies remind me of Charms. Are Charms still widely available in the States?

They're very tough to find in Canada. Even specialty candy shops seldom have any.

Life Savers are no longer easy to find in rolls in Canada either, and they're only available in Assorted Fruit, Wint-O-Green and Pep-O-Mint flavours. Can you still get Butterscotch Life Savers in the States?

Whenever I break down and buy a whole bag of Wint-O-Green or Assorted Fruit Life Savers though, I find them highly addictive and raze through them very quickly:

If however you really like the Grape Jolly Ranchers, I'd strongly suggest you track down Regal Crown Sour Grape:

They're British but they were widely sold in Canada back in the 1970's and I used to buy the Sour Cherry and Sour Grape all the time until they disappeared sometime in the 1980's. They're really good and I'd suggest you give them a try even if you have to order them on-line.

For some reason, Lifesavers candies are hard to find in the States, too, as well as Charms. They were very good. Maybe the companies have been bought out or gone out of business. The Regal Crown hard candies are excellent, though.

 

[Shadowbat]

Reeses pumpkin shape.

 

[Hallowed31]

🤨... So this is what happened to the world... Where my '80s people at?

5. Pick your fave chocolate. Extra points if they're the Hallowe'en branded version.

4.

3. (I don't give a care...my Dad would pick these up at a Canadian Tire. Slow release energy tubes that teachers have come to FEAR). Still have some from '85 and they're still good

2.

1. (You're welcome)

Booyah.

 

[Hallowed31]

My favourites are the same treats I shell out on Halloween. That's not an accident. I know I'll be devouring the leftovers, supplemented of course by any deeply discounted sale stock from local stores!

I used to dole out one of the small bags of Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips that were sold in Halloween boxes of 25:

When the Humpty Dumpty name brand disappeared in 2006 we switched to Cheetos:

And these comparatively new Old Dutch Popcorn Twists:

In addition, in the last few years I've been giving out Halloween boodle bags with several of the following items:

Oh Henry! (which is a different bar in Canada than in the States) has been our favourite chocolate bar since Neilson Sweet Marie was discontinued some ten years ago.

Some legit choices here

 

[lizzyborden]

I'm partial to Hershey bars (plain), Reese cups and Kit Kats. I absolutely despise Zero bars (do they even make them anymore?) as my great-grandmother had a candy drawer and it was always a sad day when there was nothing but Zero bars left.