12 Popular Candies from the 80s

Just like bright clothing, big hair and boomboxes, sweets were nothing short of trendy in the 80s. With many of the brands and candies being colorful themselves, they too fit in with the loud, rebellious times of the 80s. These boxes and packages were traded at school and even used as a form of currency to heighten one’s cool status. In addition to chocolate, gum, colorful hard, foamy, powdery, gummy and chewy candy and even cigarette candy was being passed around. They also had some strange names: Nerds, Skittles, Razzles, Airheads, Runts, Bottle Caps, the list goes on.

Some of these were the best in history and have withstood the test of time, with a few minor changes in packaging of course. But most important of all is they haven’t changed their names, for which I as a consumer am super thankful!

Check out this list of my favorite candy brands from the 80s!

1. Bazooka Gum

Sure, Bazooka Gum might have been introduced in 1947, but it’s one that was at EVERY gas station that was sold for five cents in that big clear bucket at the checkout counter. Once you started chewing, it only lasted about 15 seconds before turning to rubber, but it was in those first few minutes when it burst with flavor that made it worth it. I also loved to read the little comic on the wrapper when chewing, something that I stared at long before my cellphone today.

Bazooka Gum has been sold around the world and was once one of the most popular brands of gum on the market. But with the introduction of hundreds of competitors, it lost the spotlight over time. But thankfully, it’s still floating around the shelves today, made from a company called The Topps Company Inc.

2. Candy Cigarettes

Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the chalky flavor in candy cigarettes, but they definitely looked cool! Back then, smoking wasn’t as frowned upon as it is today and it was fun to tease my mom when walking around with a candy cigarette in my fingers, pretending to smoke. Knowing my butt would be red after getting caught with the real thing, I could still give off that edgy vibe with the candy. Now, of course I’d never want to hang out with anyone like that today, but you didn’t think about that kind of thing as a kid.

So as you can imagine, the candy’s manufacturer, World Confections, can’t market the candy as “cigarette candy” for legal reasons. Instead, I’ve seen it marketed under the names “World’s King Size Candy” in bulk, but more specifically the pack names are Round Up Candy, Kings Candy, Stallion Candy, Target Candy Lucky Lights Candy and Victory Candy. You can get them on Amazon (affiliate links included).

3. Everlasting Gobstoppers

I love absolutely everything made from the Wonka brand, especially Everlasting Gobstoppers that change color when getting smaller. Personally, this was one of the most creative types of candy back then as it left your tongue bumpy and dark purple from all the dye. As a kid who loved everything colorful (and still does), these would always catch my eye at the grocery store as I begged my mom for it.

Everlasting Gobstoppers also come from Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, marketed to “children with very little pocket money” by Willy Wonka. The movie also blew them out of the water as Mr. Slugworth hunted Wonka’s secret recipe for the Everlasting Gobstopper that never disintegrated.

The name gobstopper is also similar to jawbreakers, which are sold in all different sizes. The biggest one I’ve had the pleasure of trying and failing to eat was the baseball jawbreaker.

4. Fun Dip

Another famous one from Wonka that was invented in 1950. With my sugar addiction as a kid and nickname “sugar cube” bestowed upon me by my step dad, Fun Dip was dangerous. When eating these, I made sure nothing went to waste, especially the “dip” itself. After finishing the white sticks, I would actually open up the package and finish off the colored sugar in the packet. Looking back on it now, that’s absolutely disgusting, but so are many other things we did as kids.

If you look closely at the package, you’ll see the name “Lik-M-Aid”, which was its original name when it was invented. They’re also very similar to Pixy Stix, with the only difference being the packaging and candy stick, which are called “Lik-A-Stix”. It’s available in the flavors lime, cherry, grape, orange, raspberry/apple, sour watermelon, sour apple, and sour lemonade.

5. Pop Rocks

Pop Rocks were a common favorite between my brother and I, but most often he would pop them in his mouth and annoy me in the car. But other times, I just liked the sound they made. I also remember these being sold at my “school store” for ten cents each as well as being able to buy them for reading points at my school’s reading program. When I read a book and took a test on what it was about, I would have points added to my account which would be used as currency at my school store.

The candy itself contains pressurized carbon dioxide gas bubbles which dissolves and pops when it becomes wet. That’s why they would get nasty if left outside in the rain or moisture seeped into the package. There’s also a rumor that when eating Pop Rocks and drinking pop would cause a person’s stomach to boil and explode. But do you really think the FDA allowed that? There have also been claims that this candy contains less gas than half a can of soda.

6. Air Heads

I absolutely loved Air Heads, especially the different flavors. Being the kid attracted to the colorful candy, these were another cheap one that I could always get my hands on at school or the grocery store. I remember picking these out when renting a movie every Friday night; I got to pick one movie and one candy for the weekend, something I looked forward to every week. Now with all the crazy streaming services, it’s not even a treat anymore (but I’m not complaining).

Invented in 1985 by Steve Bruner, the tangy, taffy-like chewy candy was first sold in short strips with a variety of flavors, but with the rise in popularity over time, they’ve exploded into different variations, including Bites, Xtremes, Sourfuls, Mini Bars, and Xtremes Bites. And while this isn’t really a fun fact, something interesting to know is that in December 2015, there was an explosion at the factory which halted production for a while, although nobody was harmed.

7. Razzles

If you wanted a candy that turned into gum, you got Razzles. While they were a candy most popular in the 80s, they weren’t necessarily my favorite, only because the gum would quickly lose its flavor. But they were a big hit in 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo, when Jenna and Matt were working on their big project for Poise, Jenna wanted Razzles. It was one of my favorite scenes where they fell in love over the nostalgic candy. I’m sure the major publicity turned into a huge profit for the candy company.

8. Candy Necklaces

Candy necklaces were another one of my favorites that I loved to wear and much on around the house. Again, because they were colorful, I loved the sugary hard candy that also made me look a bit more trendy at school with my friends. Although my neck would become sticky after chewing on them for a while. I would also stretch the elastic string too far until it broke, sending the candy pieces all over the floor.

Nowadays, you can wear candy necklaces on almost all parts of your body as they’re sold as bracelets, anklets, rings and even bikinis (naughty!).

9. Candy Buttons

Candy buttons looked just like stickers to me, only they wouldn’t stick to anything else once you picked them off. They were cute and colorful the way you could pick them off the paper and nibble on them. They’re also commonly known as Candy Dots and Pox and fun to trade around with friends. Although personally I didn’t have much of an interest in these as much as I did with others.

10. Pixy Stix

Similar to Fun Dip, Pixy Stix were another incredibly cheap candy in which I indulged as a kid. I would often eat around 5-6 at a time, get a major sugar rush, and then crash just a few hours later. My only complaint was that when the paper became wet, it would block the powder from coming out, but thankfully it was paper so it was easy to rip at the time. Another popular version of was in the plastic straws, although I didn’t like these as much since I couldn’t just rip them open.

The concept of Pixy Stix originated in 1942, derived from a penny drink mix that was sold as Fruzola Jr. But a man named J. Fish Smith discovered that children ate the sweet and sour powder right from the package, he changed up the formula and branded the product as Lik-M-Aid. In 1959, the product name was changed to Pixy Stix and re-packaged into the color-striped straws.

11. Wax Lips

Wax Lips were more of my mom’s personal favorite. Of course we didn’t actually eat these, but just the look of them were hilarious! My favorite thing to do was put them in my younger brothers’ mouths, who were less than a year old at the time, and take pictures of them. Then when I had my fun I’d throw’em into a box and forget about them until 2-3 years later, where they would would melt because I left them by the heater!

The product is now marketed as Wack-O-Wax after it was purchased by Tootsie Roll Industries in 2004. They also come in a variety of other forms, such as wax fangs, black wax mustaches and lips with buck teeth.

12. Pez

Oh my gosh the creation of Pez was simply genius! How could one ever forget this nostalgic candy? The popularity collectible little candy dispensers just blew up at the time. They were licensed with so many franchises, there were too many to count. But some of the big ones were Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles, Disney, Porky Pig and Popeye. Its concept was also brilliant because it was both a candy and a toy as people pay big bucks to purchase collections from the internet.

For over 50 years, PEZ Candy has been a big hit as an “interactive candy” that’s both enjoyable and fun to play with. The name comes from the German word for peppermint, which is “PfeffErminZ” because it was first marketed as a compressed peppermint candy marketed in Vienna, Austria. While it’s not as popular today as it was in the 80s or 90s, most people today are still well aware of the brand.

Other 80s Candy

Other famous candy brands include each of the following:

• Tootsie Rolls
• Nerds
• Push Pops
• Big League Chew
• Candy Peanuts
• Cow Roles
• Abba Zabba
• Sour Patch Kids
• Good & Plenty
• Necco Assorted Wafers
• Bottle Caps
• Sweet Tarts
• Sweeties
• Sugar Daddy
• Jujy Fruits
• Now and Laters
• Pay Day
• Candy Wax Bottles (I didn’t get the point of these)

What are Your Favorite Candies?

Do you have any crazy stories with your favorite candies as a kid? Or am I missing your favorite in my list? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Please don’t be shy!