Heide’s Mexican Hats!

CC_Mexican Hats TITLE PLATE

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a CollectingCandy.com reader named Jeff, asking me about a candy box that he’d remembered from the early 1990’s but couldn’t find any information for online.  He believed that what he was remembering was a box for Heide’s Mexican Hats and I’m inclined to agree with him.  With this little mystery in mind I thought it was the perfect time to dedicate a post to the topic.  So today I’ll be showcasing the trio of Mexican Hats candy boxes I have in my collection.

I first added a Mexican Hats box to my collection back in the spring of 2009, and I was truly excited to find it when I did.  I hadn’t seen a box or a photo of one since I was a kid, and I probably would have forgotten what they looked like save for the fact that it was the basis of one of my favorite Wacky Packages stickers – Martian Hats.

Mexican Hats were a Heide’s classic, a spice-flavored hard-jelly candy from a family of products that included Jujubes and Jujyfruits, but with a flavor all their own.  I think the last time they could be found in individual boxes was the early 1990’s, but you might still be able to purchase them in bulk.

Here are the two 1970’s Mexican Hats boxes I now have in my collection.  They’re nearly identical but do sport a number of subtle differences:

Heide - Mexican Hats candy box - 1970

Heide – Mexican Hats candy box – 1970

Heide - Mexican Hats candy box - 1975

Heide – Mexican Hats candy box – 1975

The last box I have to show is the one that I believe reader Jeff was asking me about.  This is what he had to say,

In the 1990s, I had a Heide box of candy that I saved which was yellow and had a picture of a decorated blue bull on the front.  I thought perhaps it was Mexican Hats, yet wherever I search online, I cannot find the box design.

Though the color he describes is different, the rest of his description matches up with the 1980’s Mexican Hats box I have.  Here it is:

Heide - Mexican Hats - 7oz candy box - Gummi Bear beach towel mail-away - 1985

Heide – Mexican Hats – 7oz candy box – Gummi Bear beach towel mail-away – 1985

I think it’s pretty clear that Mexican Hats was the box that my reader Jeff remembered.  It makes me wonder if the background box color was changed to yellow sometime in the early 1990’s – it’s certainly possible.  It also makes it another box I’d love to track down, if it exists in a different 1990’s color scheme.

Based on what I’ve determined with Heide packaging, chances are there was at least one additional box Mexican Hats packaging design used in the later 1970’s not included here – but I’ve never seen any version of Mexican Hats beyond what I’ve shown today.

So that’s everything I’ve got on Mexican Hats at the moment – I hope you’ve enjoyed checking it out.  Special thanks to reader Jeff M. for writing in with the question and inspiring today’s post.

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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6 Responses to Heide’s Mexican Hats!

  1. Pingback: Heide’s Red Hot Dollars! | CollectingCandy.com

  2. Doug M. says:

    The mexican hats candy you can buy in bulk today on amazon is NOT the same. They don’t taste right. It is a shame, when a great candy no longer exists. Don’t understand why people always change recipes or stop making the greats.

  3. gwenn c. smith says:

    where are my mexican hats candies? breaks my heart, a favorite of my moms, & a childhood/ lifetime fave of mine. bring them back, who agrees?

    • Debbie says:

      Favorite of my Mom’s too and mine. I can’t find them anywhere. I even went to a store that just sold candies and they didn’t even know what Mexican Hat Candies were. Such a shame that it’s now another memory of my past.

  4. Colleen Myers says:

    We’re can I please get some Mexicans hats me and my friends have been trying to find them can you help some old schoolers ☺ Thank you.

  5. Norman Gerard says:

    904-442-4533 I know there’s somebody out there that has some Mexican hats stashed away and I’m willing to pay the price to get them call me if you know where I can get them and you will be rewarded thank you I’ll enjoy it is

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