Candy

If Coca Cola is the “pause that refreshes,” candy has to be the “pause that delights.” Like its liquid counterpart, candy has the ability to give us a jolt on a Monday afternoon when we need it most or provide the perfect ending to a spectacular meal.

No matter how young or old you may be, the sweet confection that comes in hundreds of varieties always satisfies. Whether it be a Snickers bar in the afternoon, a Peppermint Patty after dinner or some Pixi Sticks first thing in the morning when we need a lightening fast kick in the pants to start the day, candy is there.

I remember as a youngster, scouring the house for pennies, pocketing them and heading down to the corner convenience store to buy some Swedish Gummy Fish, which at that time cost a penny a piece. While the clerk counted the pennies, I counted the fish, mixing a variety of classic red and my favorite, grape. I’d walk back home eating them one-by-one out of the paper sack that was their very temporary home.

Everyone seems to have their favorite candy bar. Unfortunately for me, my favorite only comes one time a year – Easter. I have to confess that I am completely addicted to Cadbury Mini-Eggs. I don’t know what it is about that rich, creamy Cadbury chocolate and crisp, sugary coated candy shell that makes these my favorite, but I dream about them! Cadbury makes great chocolate, but in my book, there’s nothing like the Mini-Eggs. In fact, my friends at BlairCandy.com sell me cases of them so I can enjoy this sweet delight throughout the year.

As much as we have our favorites, we all have our least favorites. Topping the list for me is the nostalgic candy, Necco Wafers. My father was a food broker, and one of the lines he carried was Necco. So needless to say, we always had these unique, round, flat candies that came in a wax paper roll, around the house. He loved them, my mother loved them, and I hated them. But they’re still popular!

I love looking at the Nostalgic Candy section of BlairCandy.com’s website. It’s like taking a trip back into my childhood looking at old time favorites like Black Jack or Teaberry Gum or an Abba Zaba bar.

So next time you need a little get-up-and-go, pour yourself a coke, grab a candy bar and enjoy a pause that refreshes and delights.

By Guest Blogger -Scott Sanfilippo

I must admit, I’m one of those adults that love to still get dressed up on Halloween.  I also look forward to dressing up my dog in a costume too! It’s not an easy task trying to find a costume for a 75lb boxer, but some how every year, I manage to do it.

There’s nothing sweeter than watching the trick or treaters walk onto my porch, ring the doorbell and be greeted by myself as a witch or even a Hershey’s Kiss and then have my dog peek out between my legs and appear in costume as spider dog.

I actually think the little ghosts and goblins in my neighborhood get a bigger kick out of my dog than the candy I give! I have read in many places that one in every 10 adults dress up their pets for Halloween.

Here at Blair Candy our company is filled with many employees that have all kinds of pets, but dogs do prevail. We spend a lot of time reminding pet owners this time of year to be careful with those bags full of  candy barsand Halloween candy treats. Remember they also smell and look just as good to your k9 friends. Your faithful friends aren’t as lucky as some of us who do over eat these chocolate treats. We may get a stomach ache or gain a few pounds, but these same sweet treats could be fatal for our dogs or cats.

This Halloween season, we hope everyone gets bags and bags of all their favorite nostalgic candy treats. If you don’t want your spider dog to feel left out, I suggest getting them their own bag full of dog treats!

Happy Safe  Halloween To Everyone!

There’s not a day that goes by this time of year that someone isn’t  asking, “what’s the favorite Halloween Candy this year?” I usually start to answer with a giggle, and then explain even though  there are many new candy treats made each year; the nostalgic candy treats are what they want and sells the most!

Don’t think the new gummy earthworms or chocolate shaped body parts don’t sell or the Twirly Whirly orange and black Halloween lollipops either, because they do. Not near as much as fundip, giant pixy stixs , smarties and even regular size candy bars.

I remember when I was running around the neighborhood painted up as a monster, or wrapped in toilet paper as a mummy, my eyes would light up when I saw someone throwing a full size Reese’s or Butterfinger in my pillowcase. Even better was my neighbor who would give us all a big pack of  bubble gum.

I often wonder what it would be like now to go trick or treating?  Oh I know, the candy’s still the same, but most cities don’t set Trick or Treat in the evenings, but instead have the kids running around in daylight.

Wow, I wonder how bad my makeup would have looked during the daylight back in my day?  Then you have the malls that have trick or treat night and the kids walking around and around holding out their plastic pumpkins. I guess taking a empty pillowcase isn’t a good idea into the mall these days. lol

Yes, many things change in life, even Halloween traditions to a degree, but it doesn’t matter if your city makes you trick or treat during the day, or  if they bag the door to door altogether and  make the kids dash off to the mall or a park. Kids still get dressed up, and want to enjoy the good old standbys like I use to enjoy. I guess that’s why we still sell so many oldtime nostalgic candy favorites at Halloween!

It’s been a fun two weeks watching all the videos that were sent in for our Sing For Free Candy Contest. We appreciate the time everyone took to make their video! We judged each video on originality, creativity and by the fun they looked like they had making them. Even though this candy contest called for only 3 winners, we desided to sweeten the pot and give some special singers prizes aswell! You can view them all below.

                           Congratulations To The Winners below

First Place $250 Gift Certificate  ”The Gum Drop Girls” from Willow Springs, IL. These sweet little girls  dressed up for the part, made props, sang their hearts out and danced to the beat. Ranging from age 5  to 8, their mom told us they practiced many days for this. Catherine, Sierra, Ceara and Caitlin congratulations, you can pick a lot of candy!

Second Place $50 Gift Certificate - Cindy Ficarotta from Levittown, PA. Cindy has a very creative side and did one on the coolest computer generated entry we have ever seen! Congratulations Cindy on a job well done!

Third Place $25 Gift Certificate -  “The Candy Wrappers” from Shirley, MA -  These 3 young ladies, put a lot of thought into these lyrics  and used their “own” creativity to rap their way into the winners of a $25 gift certificate to spend how they please. Congratulations girls!

Now on to some very special candy videos that we felt needed reconginized in a sweet special way too!

Annika from Chicago -  this adorable sweet little girl, caught everyone’s attention here, so we’re sending her a special box full of candy treats! We love her smiling little face and sweet voice! We think you will agree! You can watch her sing right here

Kailyn and Kyle from Marina CA - This brother and sister duo were too sweet on the eyes of many of us here, so we’re sending them a box of goodies too!

OK this one gets our family award! This singing family, gave it there all and we enjoyed it! Congratulations Mike, Stephanie and Mandra. A sweet candy box full of treats is headed your way soon!

These last two from our favorites list was sent to us from Jean at allthingsjeep.com. Jean gathered up the family dog and frog to entertain us. Jean just won herself a special box full of candy treats too for thinking outside the box!

Now for the dog lol

Once again, a special thank you to everyone who submitted their videos! If you didn’t win something in this contest, keep a look out for more fun sweet contests from all of us here at BlairCandy.com

Step up to the mic, sing us a few bars, and you could win $250 worth of sweet treats! Break out some rap, get down with some rock-n-roll, or even kick back with some country. Maybe even wow us with your opperetta!

Go solo, do a duet, or get a group together! Get in tune with your taste buds, sing about your favorite bubble gum or gummies and candy bars too! Just make sure it’s about any candies you love!

                                                         Three Shopping Sprees Will Be Given Away!

                                             Grand Prize- $250     Second Prize- $50     Third Prize- $25

Rules Are As Follows:

1.  Anyone under the age of 18 must have parental concent. 

2.You must upload your video on Youtube and tag it Blair Candy Free Candy Contest. 

3. Send us the link to your video in a e-mail to contest@blaircandy.com . 

4. Contest entries must be received by midnight August 14, 2009.

 5. Winners will be announced August 18, 2009 at Blaircandy.com contest page.

6. Winners must agree for Blair Candy to use their video and name on our website and blog for public viewing.

7. Winners can spend their winning candy dollars on anything on our website.

8. Winner must spend all their winnings by December 31,2009.

9.  Shipping charges will count in the dollar value of your candy orders.

10. Have fun and be creative !

No time to sing? maybe too shy? That’s not a problem either!  Blair Candy appreiciates the time you took to read this and is extending a coupon code for you to save 10% off your order. Just apply the coupon code ” sing2us “ in the coupon code box at checkout and we will take 10% off  all the candy you order. This 10% off  coupon offer expires August 9,2009

Working in a building full of thousands of candy items to some might seem like the ultimate dream job, but to those working daily in the wholesale candy industry like myself, it can get a little too sweet at times!

This past week I took my annual summer vacation to south Florida for some much needed R&R with my friend. It was wonderful to smell the ocean breeze instead of the sweet candy aroma I work with everyday. My friend was also enjoying the fact that she didn’t have to hear for once  about a new candy item I was about to put online lol.

 I think I was about 24 hours into my vacation and wouldn’t you know it, we walk off the beach and walked right into the largest moving snickers bar we have ever seen. For some reason I even thought I smelled the peanuts, caramel and chocolate.

I stood there laughing, as if I was almost being followed. My friend got a chuckle out of it as well. As we both stood their laughing and staring at this big  candy bar, we noticed several people staring at us as well. I could tell they almost thought we were nuts for even wasting the time to look at it, let alone snap a few pictures!  Little did any of them know that I traveled 1300 miles to get a rest from snickers bars or any sweet candy treat!

I’m still trying to figure out if the owner of this van is just a fan of the snickers bar or if M&M Mars is possibly gearing up for some new mega sized product and needed me to see it. Regardless, it had me once again thinking of what I do daily. I guess that’s not a bad thing considering, without my job selling thousands of candy items to you, I wouldn’t have any money to take a vacation away from it all!

When seasons change so do many other things in our day to day lives!  Our Sporting events change, our clothes, and even the food and candy we eat. You don’t  have to work here to understand why candy changes. Forget about the holiday candy that goes from a candy cane, chocolate hearts,  jelly beans then into gummy eyeballs. I’m talking about our candy choices controlled by the weather!

Not to many people pick a chocolate candy bar when it’s in the eighties outside and if they do, they could be in for a big messy surprise. Just like our hair or makeup that melts down in heat, so does certain candies. Doesn’t matter how long we stay in air conditioning, the second we walk out , poof instant melt down. Candy does the same thing. It leaves our climate controlled homes, or a warehouse with air conditioning and poof it begins to melt. Think when you pack a cooler full of ice. It even begins to melt. Maybe not as fast as a piece of chocolate, but a melting process does begin.

I don’t think there’s anyone  that hasn’t had some form of candy melt. This doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy your favorite sweet treats in hot humid weather.  You  just have to be careful and choose wisely. There are many candy treats that withstand even the heat of mother nature. One of my favorites is the planters peanut bar. This protein packed candy bar has been around for a longtime. Pixy sticks, smarties and jaw breakers hold up really well too! Even our summer parade candy or candy for picnic’s last a longtime in the heat. There are so many safe summer candy treats to enjoy.

Don’t let the summer heat put a sour end to all your favorite sweet treats. Choose wisely and enjoy!

Finally after a two plus year absence, Adams has released their famous Black Jack, Clove and Beemans gum. I’m shocked that these  Nostalgic chewing gums are still so popular and can still cause such a sticky situation.

The tractor trailer wasn’t even pulled away from our building and the emails and phone calls began. People calling from everywhere wanting pack after pack of these honest to goodness Nostalgic kept chewing gums.

As I began getting them ready to go live on our online candy store, I decided to open a pack of each so maybe I could understand why all the hype from a old chewing gum of the past?

I started off with the Clove gum, and as I began to chew, all the memories came back. I used to enjoy this gum many years ago when I would be sitting at my Grandma’s on a weekend or playing outside with my neighborhood friends. What wonderful memories filled my head.

Next was the Black Jack gum. Wow I began to laugh and remembered not really chewing this gum, but how we would place it over our teeth to make them look rotten lol. I didn’t even need to open the Beemans gum, because for some reason, I could almost feel my stomach settling from the pepsin mint flavors already.

I admire Adams for keeping these different tasting chewing gums not so available and a true Nostalgic treat. Yes, it makes us want them more, but…  it also can cause a not so sweet situation!

The last time Adams made these available was over 2 years ago . Most wholesalers were give x amount  of time to order. Some were lucky and got all they wanted, while others didn’t realise the popularity and didn’t order in enough. At Blair Candy we were lucky enough to get all we ordered, plus were ready for the storm 2 years ago, just like we are now!

 We’re hopping this time around another sticky situation doesn’t happen and all  the sudden a $10.00  box of 20 packs will start showing up on various so called discounted websites for $21.00 a box or higher.

All of us here don’t think there is anything Nostalgic or discounted about that!  I’m hoping that doesn’t happen again, for fear Adams may just keep these sweet goodies away even longer if not forever!

For now there is plenty for everyone to enjoy. I hope when you put a stick of your favorite in your mouth, you find the same wonderful memories inside that I did!

Like anything else in the world today, sometimes there are many names and meanings to the same item. Take the lollipop for instance! The older generation still refers a lollipop as a sucker, while the younger crowd seems to use the tame word lollipop. This use to confuse me, considering you still must suck on both to enjoy! So why is the sucker name almost a thing of the past?

I really gave this some thought. Same type of candy, and same way of eating it, but the name has changed? I started to research the good old definitions in Wiki. The  informal meaning of the word sucker states;  A person easily cheated, deceived, attracted to, imposed upon or a fool. Wow, nothing too sweet about all that, but look at the names of some of the old fashion nostalgic lollipops that started it all. Slo Poke, Dum Dum, Slap Stick, Sugar Daddy, Black Cow, Sweet & Sour, and Tootise.

Now check out the definition of the word lollipop from Wiki;  A piece of hard candy attached to the end of a small stick that is held in the hand while the candy is licked. Now check out the names of the lollipops of the younger generation. Life Saver, Double Lolli, Caramel Apple, Ring Pops, Blo Pops, Maxxed EnergyLollipop, Whistle, Cotton Candy Pops, Sports Pops and Novelty Pops.

Wow talk about taming the names down for the times!

Even though some of the old fashion suckers are my favorite, I don’t want to be one in any timeline. Nope, I’d rather be the tame little life savor with a lot of energy! lol

The first Saturday in May is always the official running of the Kentucky Derby.  What a big day for big hats, fast horses and mint julep’s

To me, it’s the most exciting 2 minutes in championship sports. Think about it, this isn’t a 4 hour Super Bowl, or the never ending World Series, or even the rough and tumble Stanley Cup Championship. This event is almost over as soon as the clock starts!

Yep,  this is my kind of sport, short and sweet! Where else can you wear the craziest of hats and it doesn’t matter!  They can be short, tall, wide or even skinny And there is no one going to be yelling at you,  ’down in front”. lol

 I don’t mean those big Mexican Hats, I mean those big fancy  floppy hats that get you the sweetest attention!

Guys this is also a good day for you!   Where else can you get away with walking around at a major sporting event filled with thousands of people carring around a beverage with a cute green plant hanging out over the top?

This year it will be interesting to see  if this event still draws the thousands of people it normally does.  If you are one of the thousands actually at Church Hill Downs or watching from home,  just remember,  those  exciting 2 sweet moments in sports  could unwittingly become the most blurry two minutes if you don’t enjoy our Mint Julep’s  instead of theirs!