Curiosity About Candy

It is amazing what floodgates of memory can be opened with just one little find at the beach.

I found this little piece of abandoned candy on the stairs to the top of the dune when I was at the beach last week working on a class photography project.

It might be a little hard from this photograph to tell what kind of candy this is. It is one lonely little Smartie.

I haven't had Smarties in years, but when I was a kid I remember riding in my Grandma's big green Chevy Impala with the white vinyl top and going to the service station where I always got a roll of Smarties. Back in those days there were still full service gas stations. Which means to you younger ones my grandma would pull up to the pump and an attendant from the service station came out to her car asked if she wanted it filled up, and then proceeded to fill her car with gas for her.

I remember folding down her half of the large bench-style front seat and climbing into the back, then off we would go to the Texaco station next to the library where the attendant would fill her up. After my grandma paid for the gas, the attendant always gave me a roll of Smarties that I would safely tuck away in my little white wicker purse to be enjoyed after perusing the children's books at the library. My favorite series was by Marguerite Henry about the horses of Chincoteague. I would sit in the wooden children's carousel with my books and open my little white purse, take out my Smarties, carefully open the wrapper and place them one by one along the ledge at the bottom of the angled desk surface. Slowly sucking and savoring each flavor, never crunching or chewing since that made too much noise for the library. My favorite flavor was and still is grape.

Finding that little Smartie on the steps at the beach brought back all those memories. It also made me curious about Smarties. So I did a little research.

In the United States, Smarties are a type of tablet candy produced by the Smarties Candy Company, formerly known as Ce De Candy Inc. They have been in production since 1949. Smarties are produced in Union, New Jersey and Newmarket, Ontario.

After World II, the Dee family bought gunpowder pellet machines and repurposed them to make candy. This gave the candy its resemblance to tablet-style pills in shape and texture. 

Ingredients in Smarties candies are dextrose, citric acid, calcium stearate, artificial flavors and color. There are 25 calories and six grams of sugar in a roll of Smarties. Smarties are gluten free and vegan. 

The flavor of each color is as follows; white is orange cream, yellow is pineapple, pink is cherry, green is strawberry, purple is grape, and orange is orange. 

It is a good thing that a roll of these little darlings is only 25 calories since I bought a big bag of them for this photo shoot.

What about you? Do you have memories of going places with your grandma in her car? Or memories of a favorite childhood candy? I would love to hear your stories.

*Smarties information source: Wikipedia

Joining Kim for Friday Finds