June is National Candy Month.  This is a mouth-watering topic if I’ve ever seen one.  Yes, I am a grown adult, but there’s something about indulging in childhood candy that sends you back in time.  So, grab your Walkman and if you want to go further back, get that Aqua Net hairspray to make those Farrah Fawcett angel wings.  Here’s some candy to take you back.

When I say candy, I don’t mean the chocolate grown-up chocolate stuff.  I’m talking about the brightly-colored, artificially-flavored, red dye #20398 colored candies that left your tongue coated with color and your head buzzing with all the high fructose corn syrup.

Lemonheads:  Sweet, sour and oh so crunchy.  Take these sweet, yellow balls into your mouth and roll them around on your tongue until they dissolve, or if you’re in a hurry, scrape the sour coating off to get to the sweet, hard center.  Either

way, you’ll get a citrusy sugar rush that’ll perk you up.

Now or Laters:  Remember that commercial, “Eat some now, save some for later?”  Now and Laters came a prism shaped pack that contained a soldier’s row of square, flavorful taffy-like candies.  They would pull out your fillings, so you had to be careful.  Green Apple was the way to go, however grape would also do in a pinch. Depending on the mood, watermelon was pretty good, but you needed to stay away from the bubble gum flavor.  It was bitter and had an obvious artificial taste.

Jolly Ranchers:  I still love these to these day.  You cannot bite through these candies.  No, you have to hold them in your cheek, occasionally rolling them around on your tongue until they finally melt in your mouth.  If you foolishly try to bite through them, they will stick on your teeth in an uncomfortable fashion.  What flavors?  Green apple, watermelon (a far far second) and that’s it.  They can keep all those other flavors.  Remember when they also came in flat sticks too? They are also very good for flavoring vodka.

Sweet Tarts:  When I buy the huge bags of Halloween candy to “hand out” to trick or treaters, I siphon off the Sweet Tarts mini-packs.  Tart, tangy and crunchy, you can let them melt in your mouth or grind them to crumbs between your back teeth.  Good for giving your water  a little flavor and kick.

So what’s your favorite non-chocolate candy?  What is the sweet candy treat that you pick up to give you a brief glimpse of childhood?