One of the fun things about candy history, and about product packaging more broadly, is that it’s something that isn’t very well documented. For me, that means I get to become a bit of a pop-culture archeologist, hunting for things and revealing things that a lot of folks don’t remember, or never even knew existed. There isn’t too much primary research being done in the realm of pop culture, but with candy packaging and candy history, there is.
For years over on Flickr, I’ve been endeavoring to track down items and share high-quality images of things that you couldn’t see anywhere else, and I’m continuing to do that in a different, more-focused way here on this site.
Today is one of those special days where I get to reveal a piece of pop culture ephemera (and confectionery packaging history) to the world that most folks have never seen.
If you remember Steven Spielberg’s The Goonies, you may remember that the character Chunk befriends Sloth, partially through sharing a Baby Ruth with him.
These guys love their Baby Ruths!
When the film was released in 1985, Nabisco Brands was the company that owned the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger brands. Nabisco had acquired the brands of the Curtiss company some years earlier, though years later they would pass to Nestle. Most Goonies fans are well aware of the Baby Ruth connection to the film. What most fans probably don’t know is that after the film came out, Nabisco’s Canadian arm released a Goonies licensed candy bar, and it’s a cool one.
It might seem hard to believe, but I have the wrapper and I’m going to share it with you right now:
Canada – Nabisco – The Goonies – candy bar wrapper – 1985
It’s a strikingly beautiful wrapper that captures the search-for-buried-treasure element of the film. It also features Sloth, rather than any of the human characters (maybe they couldn’t get or afford the rights to any of the other actors’ likenesses – I’m not sure).
I honestly don’t know any historical details about this bar, other than what the wrapper itself reveals. Until recently, I’d never heard a thing about the existence of this one, and from what I can tell there is not a single mention of it anywhere on the internet, not even a whisper or a distant recollection. With most oddball forgotten candy products, you can at least find a forum post with someone talking about them, but not so with The Goonies candy bar.
This is one of those lost gems of the confectionery world, as well as of Goonies history.
For now, we can at least be certain that it did exist. It is lost no longer, and Goonies fans can begin to wonder why this one never made it to their corner store.
Do any of my Canadian readers remember this one? Or anyone else for that matter? If you do, please let us know by leaving a comment.
This is everything I’ve got on The Goonies candy bar. I figure this is enough for today. I hope seeing this one blew some of your minds, as much as it did mine. See you back here tomorrow!
One last thing – I was told it would be enjoyable if I could include this in some way, so here is the Truffle Shuffle, as only Jeff Cohen (aka Chunk) could bring us:
About Jason Liebig
A New York City based writer, editor and sometimes actor. After spending much of the 1990′s in the comic book business helping tell the stories of Marvel Comics’ X-Men as series editor, he has since split his time between developing his own entertainment properties while still consulting and working on others.Having been described as “the Indiana Jones of lost and forgotten candy”, Jason is one of the country’s premier candy collectors and historians with his discoveries appearing in countless blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and books. Always happy to share his knowledge and unique perspectives on this colorful part of our popular culture, Jason has consulted with New York’s Museum of Food and Drink and has also been a featured guest on Food Network’s Heavyweights, France’s M6 Capital, and New York’s TheActionRoom.com. My Google Profile+
