MEMORIES:
princessdiana remembers...I like most of the Chuckles,Except Licorice.Yuck! More »
Posted on 01/15/09
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Trivia:
It's almost showtime at the Saturday matinee. Chuckles beckon from the candy counter-five wedges, five different flavors in one package. You take them into the dark theater. Hold each Chuckle up to the glowing light of the screen. Can you tell which flavor you're about to bite into? Will it be orange, cherry, lemon or lime? No, it's the licorice-flavored black one. Do you offer it to your friend or eat it yourself? Eat it first or save it for last? Such are the tasty decisions that must be made with each pack of bumpy-ridged jelly rectangles.
In 1930, Fred W. Amend moved to Danville, IL, where he ran a marshmallow factory. Amend began working on a flavored jelly candy. Aware that previous jellies tended to "sweat" a sticky residue, he invented a technique that solved this problem. His wife suggested the names "Chuckles" for the resulting treat, and a classic candy was born.
Chuckles candies came into their own around the start of World War II. Amend pitched the product as "the best candy buy in town - five flavors for five cents!" Radio ads sang of "purest candy, tastes just dandy, keep it handy." The candies, originally round, were sold in a roll of wax paper, twisted at the ends. Eventually, Chuckles became rectangular, packed in a paper tray inside a clear wrapper. This allowed Chuckles to be sold alongside regular candy bars.
Chuckles changed hands a number of times over the years. Nabisco owned them, then Hershey’s. Chuckles are now manufactured by Farley and Sathers Candy of Minneapolis.
In 1974, Chuckles candies were widely seen in a promotion for stuntman Evel Knieval's much hyped jump over the Snake River Canyon. The jump was a near disaster for Knieval, but Chuckles survived the debacle.
Film critic Gene Siskel admitted on TV that Chuckles were one of his favorite movie snacks. His colleague Roger Ebert claimed it was impossible to tell the flavors apart without knowing the color. Siskel accepted the challenge in a blindfold taste test on Late Night with David Letterman. Siskel, and Chuckles, passed the test with flying colors. (Red, yellow, black, orange and green, to be specific.)
