Whatever happened to …

… Pixy Stix?

I was excited about this but first just a reminder that I do read each and every reply to this blog.  Last week, in part, this came from Lisa Cranston.

Mojos and pixie sticks were my favourite. Maybe that’s a topic for another day – whatever happened to penny candy?

Now, this isn’t just your run of the mill opinion blog.  I take research seriously so went into town to do it.  Quite frankly, I hadn’t seen Pixy Stix for goodness knows how long.  Could it be that I just missed them?

 

Photo Credit: mateuscs309 Flickr via Compfight cc

I grabbed a Sobey’s discount gas slip from the counter.  One of my destinations was the Mac’s Milk that also retails Shell gasoline.  As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that gas was $1.01.9.  Wow, with my $0.05/litre discount, this would be the first time in any memory that I was paying less than a dollar for gas!  Research does pay off.

I looked around and, while there was all kinds of candy on sale, no Pixy Stix.  Next stop – Sobey’s and its candy selection.  Nope.  Then the Bulk Food Store.  Nada.

I’ll have to rely on memories.

There are lots of pictures that bring back memories though.  We used to buy them for just pennies at the Fina Gas station by the school.  You’d rip off the paper top, tilt your head back, and let the stuff slide down your throat.  Of course, this was way before things were labelled.  Who knows what went into the “stuff”.  I’m sure that it was mostly sugar; this was way before we were concerned about how much sugar we were eating.  It came in a number of flavours.  My favourite was Lemon-Lime.  Maybe this was where I got a yearning for margaritas?

For a Sunday, your thoughts…

• Do you remember Pixy Stix?
• Do you know where you could buy them today if you were so inclined?
• Any idea how bad they might actually have been for us?
• What was your favourite flavour?
• What other sweet and tart treats do you recall?  I easily remember Lik-M-Aid and Sweetarts.
• Old time candy purchasing was so risky when you think about it – I remember just picking them up with my hands and putting them in paper bags to check out.  None of these awkward tongs and plastic gloves we have today!  Do you think that built up our immune systems?

As always, please extend the conversation via a reply below.  I can’t be the only person to join Lisa in this sweet walk along candy lane.

This is part of a regular Sunday series and they’re all available here.  They’re fun to write and I really enjoy reading your thoughts.

If you have an idea for a future post, just let me know!  There’s a Padlet here just for that purpose.