The old sweets are still the best

In the news

11 April 2008 14:49

Whether it's the reborn Wispa, the re-re-branded Opal Fruits or the return of the Texan, confectionery giants try to capitalise on our nostalgic yearnings. Why are adults so fascinated by the sweets of the past?

So there you are, waiting for a bus, running a little late, a little stressed - an entirely typical grown-up.

One bite of confectionery later and you are transported. You're six and round at gran's house, waiting to be taken to the park to see the ducks.

You're being given your favourite chocolate because you grazed your knee falling off your bike - or so you think for a muddled minute before mundane middle-aged reality returns.

At the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising, where hundreds of exhibits tell the story of a nation's sweet tooth, it's a regular occurrence to see grown men and women lost in a reverie.

Curator Robert Opie says the reaction of visitors encountering the most insignificant piece of packaging shows the emotional resonance that sweets have. 

"When visitors come around they are re-engaged, meeting them again as long-lost friends. All the surrounding memories come flooding back. It is the combination of the taste, the image and that whole madeleine-like experience.

"I've found people getting that waft of nostalgia just by looking at the container. They have moved back in time and are reliving."

And if there is one sugary product among all the defunct confectionery brands that tugs the heartstrings of the incorrigible nostalgics, it is Spangles. These dimpled square boiled sweets came in fruit-flavoured and Old English packs and are the most mentioned.

"People always ask why things like Spangles were dropped. Basically it's just that they weren't selling."

And that perhaps is the reason why Mars, which made them, is unmoved by the rose-tinted reminiscences on the message boards.  

What is this?