17 discontinued candies that are gone but not forgotten

Stacker // Reddit
Stacker // Reddit

The candy aisle has never been particularly sentimental. One minute, your favorite chocolate bar is sitting right beside the checkout counter; the next, it's gone, leaving behind nothing but a passionate group of people wondering what happened. Some discontinued candies vanished decades ago, but if the right candy is mentioned in the right crowd, someone will immediately light up with nostalgic heartbreak.

Candy is a sandbox for flavor and marketing experimentation. Over the years, companies have played with different combinations of chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, wafers, cookies, and plenty of ideas that made more sense on paper than they did on shelves. Some caught on for years before sales faded, while others had remarkably short runs.

The 17 discontinued candies that we selected come from different eras and met very different endings, but they all earned enough fans to still inspire nostalgia today. A few have prompted petitions and repeated requests for a comeback, while others survive mostly through old commercials, vintage wrappers, and people insisting they tasted better than anything on the shelves today.

A classic sticky and sweet treat: Squirrel Nut Zippers.

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Squirrel Nut Zippers (1920s–late 2010s)

The strange name wasn't the only thing that made Squirrel Nut Zippers memorable. These little candies skipped chocolate altogether and combined chopped peanuts with seriously sticky vanilla caramel, creating a treat that could satisfy a sweet tooth while also testing the strength of every dental filling.

A very popular candy bar during the 1950s: Chicken Dinner candy bar.

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Chicken Dinner (1923–early 1960s)

For those who are unfamiliar with it, this candy sounds absolutely disgusting. But despite the name's promise of dinner,  this candy bar contained absolutely no chicken. Instead, this wonderfully odd vintage bar stacked peanuts, caramel, and a fudge-like cream beneath chocolate, becoming popular enough to survive for roughly four decades before disappearing after its manufacturer changed hands.

Milkshake Bar wa very popular during the 40s and 50s among caramel and chocolate lovers.

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Milkshake Bar (1927–1980)

No straw was required for this nearly forgotten treat. The Milkshake Bar combined malted-milk nougat and caramel beneath a chocolate coating, and some fans even discovered that freezing one made for an especially good summertime snack.

Older people can say that Caravelle combined all the best: crips, soft caramel and chocolate.

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Caravelle (1965–late 1970s)

Texture was the main event with Caravelle, which brought crisp rice, soft caramel, and milk chocolate together in one bar. Some versions also incorporated Brazil nuts, adding another layer to a candy that managed to be creamy, crunchy, and chewy without forcing snackers to choose just one.

People confirm that the Wonka Bar was the ultimate gas station snack.

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Wonka Bar (1971–early 2010s, with several relaunches in between)

A chocolate bar invented for Willy Wonka's factory eventually escaped fiction and landed on actual store shelves. Different versions appeared over the years, including one that paired milk chocolate with crunchy graham cracker pieces, allowing fans to buy a little piece of Wonka's world without touring a dangerously eccentric candy factory.

Marathon bar classic wrapping from the 70s.

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Marathon Bar (1973–1981)

At eight inches long, Marathon wasn't exactly designed for a quick sugar fix. Mars twisted chewy caramel into a distinctive braid, covered the whole thing in milk chocolate, and even put a ruler on the wrapper to make sure nobody missed the joke about just how long this candy bar really was.

Summit candy bar commercial from the 80s.

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Summit (1977–1984)

Two slim pieces came inside every Summit package, each layering crispy wafers and peanuts beneath milk chocolate. The bar was promoted as a lighter alternative to some of the era's heavier candy options, although its unfortunate habit of melting quickly made warm-weather snacking a bit of an adventure.

Classic orange and blue wrapping from the Reggie! Bar

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Reggie! Bar (1978–early 1980s)

Baseball fever made its way into the candy aisle with the Reggie! Bar, named after New York Yankees star Reggie Jackson. Instead of the usual rectangular shape, this treat was round and packed with roasted peanuts, chewy caramel, and a chocolate coating, making it almost as recognizable as the player on the wrapper.

White chocolate lovers were a huge fan of Nestlé Alpine White candy bar.

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Nestlé Alpine White (1980s–1993)

White chocolate was just beginning to find a bigger American audience when Nestlé introduced Alpine White. Real almonds added some crunch to the creamy bar, and although it never became one of the company's heavy hitters, it developed the kind of following that still has people asking for its return decades later.

PB Max small bite size was all the peanut butter lovers needed.

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PB Max (1989–1994)

PB Max wasn't shy about the peanut butter. A crunchy cookie base carried a generous layer of the stuff before everything was coated in milk chocolate, resulting in a bar that reportedly generated $50 million in sales during its surprisingly brief five-year run.

Imagine Reese's cups but in small, bite sizes.

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Reese's Bites (1990s–2007)

Reese's Cups weren't exactly difficult to eat, but Bites made the process even easier. These small, round candies packed the familiar peanut butter-and-chocolate combination into a poppable format that became especially popular as a movie snack before disappearing in 2007.

Butterfinger BB's had the perfect size for those who wanted a little sweet treat.

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Butterfinger BB's (1992–2006)

Butterfinger's famous crispy peanut butter center once came in a much more snackable form. BB's turned it into small chocolate-covered balls that could be eaten by the handful, and their memorable advertising with "The Simpsons" made them especially hard for '90s kids to forget.

Reese's Swoops was loved by sweet and salty lovers.

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Reese's Swoops (2003–2006)

Reese's took its famous chocolate-and-peanut-butter combination and flattened it into something that looked suspiciously like a potato chip. The thin, curved Swoops were designed to melt easily in your mouth, giving Reese's fans a completely different way to get their peanut butter fix.

Hershey's S'mores candy original wrapper.

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Hershey's S'mores (2003–2012)

Campfire logistics became optional when Hershey's turned s'mores into a candy bar. Marshmallow cream and graham cracker crumbs were tucked inside a milk chocolate coating, capturing the three essential ingredients without requiring anyone to find sticks, build a fire, or accidentally burn a marshmallow black.

 

For those fans of the crispiness, Butterfinger Crisp was a must.

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Butterfinger Crisp (2004–2010s)

Rather than simply shrinking or reshaping a regular Butterfinger, this spin-off completely changed the texture. It featured crisp, layered, crunchy wafers with peanut butter creme, covered in chocolate, keeping that familiar Butterfinger flavor while making the whole experience considerably lighter and crispier.

Hershey's Kissables were colorful chocolate drops.

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Hershey's Kissables (2005–2009)

Hershey's Kisses got a colorful early-2000s makeover with Kissables. The familiar bell-shaped chocolates were covered in crunchy candy shells and sold in bags, making them easy to toss into popcorn or trail mix... or, more realistically, eat several at a time straight from the package.

The classic packaging of Twix Java candy bar, popular among coffee lovers.

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Twix Java (2007–early 2010s)

Coffee met the candy aisle when it gave Twix a java-inspired makeover. The familiar cookie and chocolate remained, but coffee-flavored caramel replaced the traditional filling, creating a short-lived variation for anyone who apparently wanted dessert and a coffee break in the same wrapper.

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