The shelves in supermarket confectionery aisles seemed to be jammed with every possible sweet sensation.
Despite this, there are certain childhood treats that you wished would make one more comeback.
Here are some of the most sought after. Fancy a bite?
Pacers
The king of chewy mints! Produced by the same company that gave us Opal Fruits (which has morphed in to Starburst), these were the ‘sophisticated’ chews that kids wanted to be seen with.
The advertising alluded to sport and fitness, to give you a feeling of something ‘good’ to eat.
Of course, they were just sugary confectionery like all other sweets and eventually lost their place on the shelves before the 80s were up.
Bar Six
Imagine a Kit Kat that had six stubby fingers with a hazelnut cream twist.
Well, that’s Bar Six in a nutshell.
It may not have been a staple of school lunch boxes but it could be found lurking in every swimming pool vending machine.
Spangles
Essentially Spangles were square boiled sweets that had thumb shaped indents on either side.
What elevated them to legendary sweet status was that they came in orangeade flavour.
You could almost taste the fizzy bubbles as you tried to suck a hole in to the centre of the sweet, so you could poke your tongue through!
Bazooka Joe
What’s better than a massive slab of bubble gum and a comic strip to raise a smile?
As a child, that tombstone of gum would fill every crevice of your mouth, making it a test of endurance.
The comedy of the comic strip may have been lost on you, the fact that it was there at all made for happy days!
Chocolate Cigarettes
Nowadays these would definitely be frowned upon by the PC among us but back in the day, they seemed so exotic.
Evoking thoughts of iconic US film stars, it was the closest to looking cool that you could get with a chocolate cigarette hanging from the corner of your mouth.
Fry’s Five Centre
Fry’s Chocolate Cream was always that choccy treat that your mum enjoyed. It wasn’t for kids for certain.
So, you had to sneak a piece when she wasn’t looking and it tasted like heaven.
Five Centre upped the ante with a different fruit flavour with every bite and it seemed so exotic.
Where else has pineapple fondant ever made an appearance?
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This multipack bar was up against the big hitter of Jacob’s Club but it had an advert that made you just want to have it.
Fusing wafer, fondant, rice crispies and caramel, all smothered in thick milk chocolate, it would inspire impromptu sing-a-longs as excited school children recalled its signature tune.
Unfortunately, once this novelty wore off, then so did the appeal of the product and it was discontinued in 1989.
Oh, for one more bite though…
Banjo
The Banjo chocolate bar was originally phased out in 1954 but it was when it made a colourful comeback in the late 70’s that it looked like it would stay.
It took the best bits of a Twix and melded it with what you loved about a Drifter.
A layer of crushed peanuts were then added and in theory, the ultimate chocolate bar had been created.
The general public were not so keen and Banjo had gone for good within ten years.
It was one helluva bar though!
Treets
Before there were M&M’s, there were Treets. Chocolate covered peanuts which, according to their slogan, would “melt in your mouth, not in your hand”.
They were a real treat (hence the name probably) for film days at home, when you drew the curtains and slid your favourite film on VHS in to the video machine.
There was a brief comeback in the 90’s, alongside M&M’s but that ended up being the final nail in the coffin for Treets.
They were still better than it’s replacement though…
Liquorice pipes
The height of sophistication!
If you ever wanted to combine your love of liquorice with the look of Sherlock Holmes, then this was the sweet for you.
Of course, there were some that ate it ‘wrong’ by going for the candy pay off at the end of the pipe with their first bite.
For those that took the time to enjoy their pipe over a relaxing half an hour were rewarded with the sugar rush on the end.
Oh yeah, you’d also end up sticky, stained fingers but it was worth it.