Boomers Loved SweetTARTS

Every Halloween, boomers from coast to coast would rummage through their bag of booty for their favorite candies. Many of them were old favorites, like Milky Way, Snickers, Necco Wafers and Chuckles, while others were truly boomer candies, introduced during the prime boomer Era. One such candy favorite is SweetTARTS.

Sunline, Inc., the candy company that brought Pixy Stix to boomers in 1952, heard that parents wished for a less messy version of the popular sugar-in-a-straw candy. The result was SweetTARTS, introduced in 1963. The sweet and sour, tablet-like candies were based on Pixy Stix. The orange, grape, cherry, lemon and lime flavors gave a sweet kick like Pixy Stix, then had a sour after-note. The candy was an instant hit. By 1964, the company had sold more than $8 million worth of SweetTARTS.

Try though Mister Boomer and his friends might, it was impossible to dissolve a SweetTART on the tongue. Impatience was rewarded when a bite turned the tablets to Pixy-Stix-like dust, which was part of the fun. Kids had their favorite flavors, though Mister B didn’t mind any of them, except for not being a fan of grape.

Mister Boomer’s sister was especially fond of the sweet and sour tablets. At the height of her Halloween cravings, she would be willing to trade premium candies for a foil bag of SweetTARTS. Mister Boomer, possessive of all that he collected, would assess the quantity of SweetTARTS with which he was willing to part; after all, he was not going to barter unless he could grab some of his top favorites in return. Usually, he’d trade for Almond Joy or Snickers, if his sister was amenable. She liked Milky Way and Three Musketeers, so she wasn’t willing to trade with those. Sometimes he’d settle for extra Kits or Smarties, or maybe PayDay or malted milk balls, if candy bar chocolate wasn’t on the table. In any case, he wasn’t going to trade away his last couple of packages of SweetTARTS that he had worked so hard to attain.

This has absolutely nothing to do with SweetTARTS, but how can you resist an appearance by Bobby Pickett on American Bandstand, lip-synching Monster Mash?

Mister Boomer hasn’t had any SweetTARTS in a few decades, but hears the latest company owners have amped up the sour flavor. It seems today’s kids like sour even more than boomers did.

What memories of collecting and eating SweetTARTS on Halloween do you have, boomers?