Today I’m going to step a little sideways and cover a topic of confection that is just on the edge of candy – Harmon’s flavored toothpix.
Some of you may be old enough to remember the happy toothpick mascot on the small wax-paper packets that contained Harmon’s Fire Pix. Produced in McCook, Nebraska for nearly half a century, Bob Harmon ran the business until his retirement. A few years later, he would briefly return to selling flavored toothpicks, before his passing in 2008. The Harmon’s Webstore is no longer selling product, though the website remains here.
I’ve talked about my love of cinnamon-flavored candy here on the site many times, so it should come as no surprise that I was a longtime fan of Harmon’s Hot Cinnamon Fire Pix. Since I grew up in Nebraska, they were always readily available at just about every sales counter in town.
I’ve always had fond recollections of them, but as a collector I learned that Harmon’s produced more than just the cinnamon-flavored Fire Pix – so I set out to get them all. After years of collecting I finally completed my set of Harmon’s flavors, and now I’m going to share them all with you. Here we go:
Harmon’s – Hot Cinnamon Fire-Pix – Cinnamon Flavored Tooth Picks – package – 1970′s
Harmon’s – Hot Cinnamon Fire-Pix – smiley face – package – 1970′s
Harmon’s Sweet & Sour Lemon-Pix – Lemon Flavored Tooth Picks package – 1970′s
- Harmon’s – Cinn-O-Mint Pix – Cinnamon and Mint Flavored Tooth Picks – package – 1970′s
Harmon’s – Sweet Anise-Pix – Anise Flavored Tooth Picks – package – 1970′s
From everything I’ve been able to turn up in my research, those are all of the flavors of pix that Harmons ever produced.
I have one other piece related to Harmon’s flavored pix – a vintage candy trade ad. This showcases all of the flavors that were sold at the time [It would seem that the Lemon and Anise pix were introduced in 1973]:
Harmon’s Flavored Pix – Candy Industry Trade Ad – August 1973
And that’s everything I’ve got for today. See you next time!
There was a kid in my grade school back in the ’70′s who sold cinnamon-flavored toothpicks 3 for a quarter. He said he made them. Now I wonder if he was buying 12 packs for 10 cents and making a killing in profit!
My friends and I were making cinnamon-flavored toothpicks and sold them at school when we were kids. You could by somewhat diluted but flavorful cinnamon flavor for about a buck or so or you could spend the same amount on a tiny little vial of cinnamon oil. This stuff was HOT but the real thing. Many kids would put them in the cheaper stuff for a few hours. We liked to soak them in the cinnamon oil for days. It would be a challenge to keep the picks in your mouth, they were so hot.