Candy Nostalgia: 80s Favorites that I'd Still Buy for My Kids

I grew up in Detroit in the 80's, when there were plenty of "penny" candy stores around the city. Penny candy stores were stores that sold individual pieces of candy for a penny each. There were numerous choices to choose from, and whenever I'd get a dollar, I'd happily go spend the entire dollar buying a bag full of candy. I would choose various types of candy, but my absolute favorites were chewy and sweet. I liked the taste of hard candy like peppermints, butterscotch and Jolly Ranchers, but I hardly ever bought any of it. My absolute favorites were:

Candy Cigarettes - although this wasn't my usual "chewy" candy, my siblings and I loved to buy candy cigarettes because we liked to look "cool" and pretend like we were smoking. Of course smoking isn't a very "cool" or healthy habit and thank goodness I'm not a smoker, but as a child this candy was a source of great enjoyment for me.

Slo Pokes - not only is chewy candy my absolute favorite, but so is caramel candy, so this candy was practically made just for me. I can't tell you how many tasty and creamy Slo Pokes I ate as a child, but I can tell you that by the time I was 12, I ended up at the dentist with a staggering 12 cavities. A cavity for each year, my sister used to tease. Still, the cavities didn't stop me from frequently indulging in this yummy comfort candy.

Now and Laters - another of my chewy favorites, Now and Laters were absolutely delicious. They had the perfect combination of sweetness with a small amount of tartness, which was pure bliss for me. My favorite flavors were grape, tropical punch, and cherry. I didn't care much for flavors like banana, orange and strawberry for some odd reason, but if those were the only flavors available, you certainly never saw me turning them down.

Big Bol - I wasn't much of a gum fan as kid, but I thoroughly enjoyed Big Bol. This gum was unique because it was coated with a great-tasting candy. After enjoying the sweet, delicious candy, for a few minutes, I was rewarded with bubble gum in the center that tasted just as good as the candy did. What a perfect combination.

Laffy Taffy - I would goabsolutely hog-wild forLaffy Taffy because this candy had the chewiness that I desired in candy, plus the flavors were terrific. I enjoyed all Laffy Taffy flavors except for the banana, so I always made sure to get my favorites like grape, tropical punch, cherry and every other flavor besides banana. I sometimes eat Laffy Taffy today, although not very often, and like me, my children love this candy as well.

All my childhood favorites are available to purchase online, and if I'm ever in the mood to treat my two boys, who happen to love candy as much as I did (and still do), I'll let them try out the candy that I used to eat. They do sell Now and Laters and Laffy Taffy at local stores, so my boys have had those before, but it would be really cool if they could taste some of my other childhood favorites. Well, maybe someday I'll order some.