Smoking Again – But This Time With Candy

I just bought my first carton of cigarettes in probably 40 years or more.  I quit cigarettes altogether on May 5, 1990 but only bought them a pack or two at a time once sliding back into the habit after quitting the first time about 1984.  I am trying to figure out if this cigarette purchase is more embarrassing or less when I add that they are . . . . . candy cigarettes.

Is there a confection that says Boomer childhood more than candy cigarettes? We were the generation whose parents smoked like chimneys.  Ash trays were on every flat surface and pretty much every business gave away promotional books of matches.

There was no greater thrill than being handed some change (around 40 or 45 cents, as I recall) and being tasked with a trip to the cigarette machine when Dad’s Tareytons ran out in a restaurant. Of course, I hated the smell of cigarette smoke. Until I took up smoking myself during my college years. I wrote about that experience a couple of years ago, and the difficulty I had in kicking that habit. But candy cigarettes? Now that, as we say in Indiana, is a whole ‘nuther thing.

I had not thought of candy cigarettes in years. Maybe even decades. But when I was researching another topic under the category of obscure, old-time confections, I stumbled across a listing for them online. Once I saw them, there was no turning back. I simply HAD to buy a pack. Which was kind of a problem because the only way they were offered was a carton of 24 packs. So, by my finely honed skills in ESP, I can sense every one of you asking “Was it worth it?”

Let us come back to the answer of that question, but first a little history. It seems that candy cigarettes came along right on the heels of real cigarettes that started to become a thing in the late 19th Century. They became quite popular by the 1920’s and 1930’s, as more and more adults picked up cigarette habit in an attempt to add a little mystery and sophistication to their lives and their children sought a way to mimic the adults in their lives and on movie screens.

At some point, tobacco companies actually shared packaging designs with makers of candy cigarettes as a way to build brand identity among the large pool that they hoped would become future customers. Even during my childhood in the 1960’s I recall buying packs of “Lucky Stripe” candy cigarettes which featured the same iconic packaging design as the adult version (Lucky Strike).

We all know how real cigarettes went from being cultural icons to the next step above something that has to be bought from under the counter in a brown paper bag. And I had thought that candy cigarettes had (at least in the U.S.) become completely extinct. Some states outlawed them even decades ago. North Dakota banned them from 1953 to 1967 and they are illegal in Maine and Tennessee even today. And probably for good reason, as studies showed a connection between kids’ consumption of candy cigarettes and becoming smokers of real cigarettes as they became older.

Some believed that the U.S. had joined other nations in banning candy cigarettes in 2009, but that law only banned flavorings (other than menthol) of real cigarettes, though there have been some attempts. Those forces have brought changes. For example, the pink coloring on one end is no longer on the product, and the word “cigarettes” appears nowhere on the packaging. They are candy STICKS, you see. Yes, yes, I understand. Also, the packaging is no longer the blatant copying of actual cigarette pack designs. Although they are at least reminiscent – the red circle of Luckies, the dark red pack of Pall Malls, and the horses that remind us of Marlboros.

It appears that the only company still making them in the U.S. is World Confections out of Maplewood, NJ, a company that has been around since the early 1950’s. Of course it would be New Jersey, which I sometimes think of as the “Attitude Capital” of the U.S. “Quit making candy cigarettes? You talkin’ to me?” Personally, this ex-smoker is happy that this scrappy little company still offers them. In fact, I my research reveals that adult ex-smokers are probably the biggest consumers of these today.

So, what are they like? They are pretty much as I remembered them. They are white and chalky, with a wintergreen/pepsin flavor that I always liked. Wint-O-Green was always my favorite flavor of Life Savers candy, so the candy cigarettes (er, sticks) hit the spot with me on that score. Also there is that nostalgic feeling of peeling the cellophane wrap from a fresh pack and the reaching in to pull one out. They are about the same length I remember – around the length of a standard cigarette before filter tips or “King Size” became a thing. Think of the original Camels or Luckies.

However, they are a little smaller in diameter than I recall. But then maybe my memory is playing tricks on me. Little kid-sized fingers are smaller and so candy cigarettes (er, sticks) should be smaller too, right? Also, were there always only 10 in a pack? Real cigarettes were always 20 to a pack, but perhaps inflation has played its cruel joke on buyers of candy cigarettes (er, sticks).

Anyway, I will not lie – I find myself enjoying this little nostalgia trip. A fresh candy cigarette (um, stick) between the lips, a little drag to fill my mouth with imaginary smoke before I pull it out and take a deep breath. And even making hand gestures with a little white stick between my index and middle fingers. Yes, I realize that I probably look silly doing this, but these things really do bring back most of the pleasures of actual smoking. And there are the pleasures of the candy too – after awhile of sucking on the end, I still lose patience and start chewing up the crunchy candy for that burst of sweet wintergreen flavor.

So yes, I am glad I bought them (he says, as he sticks a third one into his mouth during the initial draft of this piece). Will I buy more? Probably not. A little nostalgia goes a long way, and there are quite a few things for a guy of my age to get nostalgic about. And to contradict those studies I read about, I am not on the verge of going out to buy a pack of the real thing. I did, however, just look it up and confirmed that Wint-O-Green Life Savers are still a thing, and are much 1) less expensive and 2) more readily available. And there is nothing about them that will tempt me to look like an idiot with one dangling from my lips or waving around between my fingers. But until my candy cigarettes (sorry, sticks) have been consumed or given away, a nostalgic idiot I shall be.

30 thoughts on “Smoking Again – But This Time With Candy”

  1. These were around, but dwindling in popularity, during my early years. However, I remember the taste being exactly as you describe. These may be the only cigarettes (or sticks) Mrs. Jason wouldn’t be upset with my purchasing. Who knows – she may want one herself.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. These were a big deal when I was about ten, but I have to say, they seemed to be a once or twice purchase? I don’t particularly remember them being “value priced” enough to make them a constant purchase. I think there were much better ways to spend my meager allowance with a much larger payoff. I do remember them being thin little sticks, tho, not much there.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I was probably much like you – they seemed like a great idea every once in awhile, but I remember them costing about what bigger, better candy bars cost at the time, so they were not something I consumed regularly. I am a little surprised that I have never seen them in the kinds of stores that feature retro or nostalgic candy. But then again, places like Cracker Barrel is probably trying to avoid them for the same reason everyone else does – they don’t do a very good job of dissuading kids from taking up the real thing.

      Like

      Reply

  3. “So, by my finely honed skills in ESP, I can sense every one of you asking”… want to send me a pack??? I’d hate to see you overdose…

    I do remember candy cigarettes, and yes, my parents were smokers (they were roll your own people). For some reason, I was never tempted to even try real cigs or anything else teens were smoking in my day… so I can’t blame that on my short stature.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. This is a cool post. My siblings and I loved these things. We had a local store with penny candy, and we could get a pack of smokes for a dime! Our parents did smoke like chimneys, and we wanted to be like the adults. This made me smile you found this “case” of candy sticks. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Funny, I opened up this post, just moments after commenting on a meme from a fellow blogger that showed how to properly pronounce the word “pecan” and I referenced Stuckey’s, only to see the matchbook for Stuckey’s in this post. I remember the pecan pie from road trips as a kid.

    I do remember candy cigarettes, but having grown up in Canada and with limitations on what candy I could eat (just on holidays), I probably only saw candy cigarettes from my Halloween bag. I had no idea that the candy cigarette packages went hand-in-hand with the regular cigarette manufacturers. I remember it was a big thing when cigarette companies ceased advertising in radio/television.

    My mom smoked for many years and quit cold turkey, but kept a pack of Pall Malls in the freezer for the longest time. She initially cut a plastic drinking straw in half to have it in her hand and/or her mouth and later also used plastic coffee stir sticks until she wore the enamel off her teeth clamping down on them. She also used frozen marshmallows.

    It’s always good to go back and reminisce a little and feel like a kid again JP. We had a store that periodically sold those 70s chewing gum favorites: Black Jack, Clove, Teaberry and Beeman. Every time I saw them, I’d pick up some, all but the Clove (I thought it had an odd taste).

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I knew you’d get around to these sooner or later, J P. They’re a nostalgic part of my Halloween memories and I was surprised you could still get them today. Having said that, smoking was already on the outs in the mid-70s so I don’t think we enjoyed pretending to be “just like Dad” as much as simply enjoying the candy. I forgot about the chalky, wintergreen candy. I remember some of them being bubble gum instead, unless I’m confused them with candy cigars.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I was surprised too, and thought for certain that these had gone the way of Lawn Darts and cars without seat belts.

      I remember some that were Chocolate sticks wrapped in white paper and the bubblegum cigars, but would not be surprised if bubblegum cigarettes were on the shelves too.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I remember these well…can’t say I ever liked them all that much, even as a kid! But then, my parents never smoked real cigarettes. My mother couldn’t stand the smell of cigarettes or tobacco in general. So even chewing tobacco was forbidden in our house.

    In the early 1980s, I worked in a small-town book/newspaper/magazine store that also sold cigarettes. A lot of people in town smoked at that time. I still remember the time a newly imposed state tax pushed a pack of cigarettes to the unheard-of price of…$1. That was enough to spark a run on cigarettes!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • In my college years I remember a 10-pack carton of cigarettes selling for $6.99-7.99. I just looked up Indiana’s minimum price for a carton of Marlboros – $91.63!!!! I could never afford to smoke now. And wow, what a bargain the candy cigarettes seem like!

      Like

      Reply

      • But now some of the people who were anti-tobacco (for good reasons) have said it’s okay to smoke marijuana. Trading one vice for another hardly represents progress.

        Liked by 1 person

      • I had a buddy that smoked all his life and quit cold-turkey when the pricing in Cook County / Chicago got insane due to taxation. It was tough, but he did it! I believe the current competitive price of ONE PACK of Marlboro Reds in Cook County is $18.89 plus taxes! That would put the carton price around $190.00! I always considered Indiana an amazingly cheap smoking state when I lived there.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment