A&W Root Beer Candy!

I grew up with an A&W Drive-In in my hometown and it was a place I fondly remember.   That drive-in was closed down by the time I entered junior high school, but I never forgot it.

Sugar Free A&W Root Beer, 1970’s & 1980’s – Image Courtesy Allen Sandquist

Ironically, not long after my old hometown A&W was shuttered the A&W brand seemed to be at an all-time high, with the branded soda pop advertised all over the place.  And there were a couple of A&W-branded confectionery treats that were sold around that time too.

One that I have some recollections of was 1983’s A&W “liquid center” bubble gum.  In the wake of the novel success of Freshen-Up, other companies were trying to find a way to grab some of that liquid-center gum market share.  Amurol took a shot by licensing popular soda pop brands.  Here’s my wrapper for A&W gum:

Amurol – A&W Root Beer liquid center bubble gum pack wrapper – 1983

From right around this same time, Ferrara Pan released an A&W Root Beer flavored hard candy.  It came in a great box.  Here’s an example I acquired earlier this year as part of the L.M. Kallok Collection:

Ferrara Pan – A&W Root Beer candy box – early 1980’s

It’s great that the A&W brand survived tougher times and exists to this day as both a consumer packaged soda and brand-flavor, as well as a nationwide chain of restaurants.

Though I don’t have anything in my collection directly from that childhood A&W, I do have a great vintage A&W call-in menu from the early 1970’s.  This one comes from a California A&W location and I think it’s a fun way to close out today’s A&W coverage:

A&W Root Beer Drive-in Restaraunt call-in menu – 1225 Forest Avenue, Pacific Grove, California – 1970’s

Check out those prices!

And that’s everything for today’s post on A&W candy.  I hope you enjoyed it.

See you next time!

About Jason Liebig

A New York City based writer, editor and sometimes actor. After spending much of the 1990′s in the comic book business helping tell the stories of Marvel Comics’ X-Men as series editor, he has since split his time between developing his own entertainment properties while still consulting and working on others. Having been described as “the Indiana Jones of lost and forgotten candy”, Jason is one of the country’s premier candy collectors and historians with his discoveries appearing in countless blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, and books. Always happy to share his knowledge and unique perspectives on this colorful part of our popular culture, Jason has consulted with New York’s Museum of Food and Drink and has also been a featured guest on Food Network’s Heavyweights, France’s M6 Capital, and New York’s TheActionRoom.com. My Google Profile+
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5 Responses to A&W Root Beer Candy!

  1. James says:

    It’s disappointing that root beer flavored candy has for the most part disappeared from shelves. It’s one of my favorite candy flavors.

  2. Kyle Turner says:

    I remember Ferra Pan making a chewy version of the A&W candy (that also came in a Dr. Pepper flavored variety.) It had an outer coating of candy the same texture as a Lemonhead, but the inside was clear, and had the consistancy of a jelly bean. I last remember seeing these in the early 90’s.

  3. johanna says:

    The root beer flavoured Jelly Belly jelly beans are pretty good!

  4. Ryan says:

    I really like the dr pepper gum and orange crush and was wondering if I could order the 7 up gum from you guys because here in Arkansas they only sell dr pepper and orange crush.

  5. Pingback: An Array of New Soda-Flavored Confections! Plus Some History on the Love of Cola Candy! | CollectingCandy.com

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