This sounds like you don’t live where there’s a Five Guys. You are missing out in two different ways.
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Have you had Henry Weinhard’s root beer? It’s my current favorite.
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I’ve found the Freestyle machines in Burger King and Wendy’s here. My spouse says anything that comes out of the machine tastes like whatever you’ve punched in with an aftertaste of everything else it offers.
There’s a downside to all that variety. The machine isn’t self-cleaning, unless the person before you just ordered a plain water.
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Valomilk, please. Dark chocolate marshmallow-vanilla liquid cup. “If it runs down your chin, it’s a Valomilk!” Which sounds kind of porn-y, but they’re totally delicious.
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I kind of like Moxie. It isn’t as heavily flavored as modern day sodas. The cough-syrup-and-turpentine is oddly refreshing, and probably good for battling yeast infections in the sinuses.
A few days ago I wandered through the local liquidation grocery; one of those places that sells packaged food that is past its sell-by date. They had this huge bin of candy bars and energy bars at 6 / $1. How could I resist? I found two “Twin Bings,” a midwestern regional candy that’s intriguingly horrible. Two wads of fake-cherry nougat coated in a mix of fake chocolate and chipped nuts. The manufacturer, Palmer, is responsible for the low-grade “chocolate flavored” Easter bunnies and Christmas candies that misfortune store shelves at holidays.
FWIW: “Big Lots!” stores now have a small nostalgia candy and sodas section. I picked up some Chuckles there last month. Might go back looking for more.
Now, if I can only find a Reggie Bar.
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Oh god that low grade cheap Palmer Easter chocolate. The worst.
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PREACH! Not a thing wrong with eating ice cream in the dead of winter. Also: Beeman’s gum is delicious, Goldenberg Peanut Chews are rations of pure happiness, and Moxie is the carbonated nectar of the gods.
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I should mention that whenever I buy Moxie in small stores around New Hampshire or Maine, the locals have a habit of recommending that I drink it mixed with milk. I haven’t tried that yet, but I generally treat anything Mainers or New Hamsters tell me with skepticism anyhow.
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There’s a chain of nostalgia soda and candy bar shops called Rocket Fizz that you can find various places; there’s one here in Indianapolis. Also, Cost Plus World Market tends to have a good selection of vintage sodas and obscure candies if you check around.
I never saw anything all that bad about Moxie. It basically tastes like slightly-less-sweet Doctor Pepper to me. (One of my friends claims that his great grandfather is actually the man who invented the drink.)
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If you’re in Canada, particularly the Maritime Provinces, you should keep an eye out for Pal-o-mine bars - continuously made since 1920, Canada’s oldest chocolate bar.
While you’re at it, pick up some chicken bones.
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I love Boston Baked Beans and French Burnt Peanuts.
They are my go to snack for keeping me awake driving long distances.
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Another good online store for retro candies and other old timey stuff is www.vermontcountrystore.com. I’ve had good experience with their service. If you are looking for an item for an old, they have some nice things - also have hard to find perfumes, cosmetics, and toiletries of yore.
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man i LOVED beeman’s and blackjack! also, moxie is delicious. don’t people still use the term “moxie”? at the very least, i do.
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What I usually get is “you know that’s not orange soda you’re buying, right?”
And it looks like I’ll have to try it with milk this summer. I’ll get back to you in August.
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Retro candy? How about expired for decades retro? Qualifies as ‘vintage’, I guess.
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Oh I so love those. There is a small retro candy/fudge/ice cream place here that gets them.
not sure it falls under “candy,” but you can get Hydrox cookies again finally. http://leafbrands.com/hydrox/
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I actually turned this piece into Boing Boing days before the NY Times piece came out!
They still sell circus peanuts around here in suburban Washington DC.
The new Fizzies do not takes anything like the old Fizzies … avoid!
Oddly enough, the only place I’ve found which sells Zero bars around here is a small store inside a local hospital. Wonder if that means something.
Yes, Coke freestyle machines are in our local Five Guys. My favorite concoction is Raspberry Ginger Ale.
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one drink i’d love to see an accurate recreation of was called pommac. it was an incredibly dry pear soda with a high level of carbonation. my grandfather’s brother owned a grocery store until i was 11 or 12 and he stocked it in one of the two soft drink machines in the store because her liked it so much. he would buy me one every now and then. i haven’t seen one since he closed the store 43 years ago.
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After 30+ years of drinking diet Dr Pepper and 7Up almost exclusively, I can’t drink anything with either cane sugar or HFCS any more. I can practically feel the sugar molecules flying through my brain.
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