When I was a kid I loved Halloween and not for the dressing up part, although that was pretty fun too, it was the candy. I loooooved the candy. When we got home from trick or treating my sister and I would dump our pillowcases of sugar filled heaven out on the the living room floor and organize it all to see what goods we had amassed. We would bunch all the chocolate bars together and then line them up by brand, the gum would go together, the lollipops, the chips and so on. Then Mom would let us munch on some of our favorites before confiscating them until the next day.

So where did the tradition of handing out candy came from? After a little googling I learned that giving out candy on Halloween dates back to the middle ages when the poor would go from house-to-house on Hallow-mas (Nov. 1) begging for food in exchange for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (Nov. 2). Some also say that food was left out on the front step as offerings to the dead who wandered the streets trying to return to their homes. People were afraid that if they didn’t leave out the food, the spirits would get angry and haunt them.

So here are some vintage-y candies to celebrate this Halloween and fun days gone by.

Joey likes the cream soda best!