Swedish Fish

When I was a kid, we used to spend every day at the Tionesta beach. It was wonderful basking in the sun, preparing ourselves for skin cancer, learning about swimming and other kids and fish and crawdads.  One of my favorite memories of the beach was the concession stand.  They sold all sorts of junk there and we got a quarter to spend each day.

They sold frozen candy bars and popscicles and fun-dip and wacky wafers.  I love sugary candy.  It’s a terrible weakness that I still carry.  Probably my all time favorite thing to buy was swedish fish.  I guess they were a precursor to gummy-bears?  Anyhow, I like the red ones.  They sold swedish fish at the beach for a penny each….bag included!  Just about every day, I would get a little sandwich bag full of 25 swedish fish…the red ones.  

I have eaten them since then, but it is fairly uncommon for me nowadays.  The other day though, I was passing through a store and saw a bag of swedish fish.  The are significantly more expensive now than the used to be.  I didn’t count, but I suppose they cost at least 2 pennies each now.  Anyhow, I bought a bag…the red ones.  I ate the whole bag by myself the day I bought  them.  That’s right, 1400 calories of red sugary goodness!  I skipped breakfast and lunch and figure I broke even for the day.

I got another bag a few days later and spaced them out a bit.  I figured that buying swedish fish this way wasn’t sustainable though.  I decided to try my hand at a breeding program.  I looked very carefully and choose a male and female swedish fish and put them in a fishbowl I had laying around at the house.  I do have some experience with fish reproduction (a story for another time), so I figure it ought to be a piece of cake.  Anyhow, I expect to be up to my eyes in swedish fish in just a few days.  I’ll be taking orders soon!

Do you have anything from your childhood like in which you still indulge now and then?

16 thoughts on “Swedish Fish

  1. We were visiting my parents a while back and my brother and his family was there as well. Lily was sitting in my brother’s lap and she told him he had a big belly. I was totally embarrassed and was about to get onto her for such a rude comment when my brother asked do you know who gave me this belly? Lily shook her head. He said Little Debbie. That is my childhood indulgence. We used to snack on those Little Debbie cakes when we got home from school.

  2. I love pop rocks! I remember eating them and then drinking grape Nehi. The combination was like fireworks going off in your mouth! Unfortunately, since I was a hyper kid anyway, my pop rocks/Nehi combo was a treat that was few and far between.

  3. Swedish Fish, I love that!
    Unfortunately I can’t get any of my favorite childhood candies or junk food here. I remember there is this one very very sticky and chewy candy(I don’t even know what the name is)that I like, it’s so sticky that one time my loose tooth got “stuck” on the candy and came right out!!! Who needs a dentist when you have sticky candy?

    YDavis’s last blog post..

  4. You, my friend, are a mess. Good luck with the breeding program. 🙂

    I’ve been disappointed when I’ve wandered back through my childhood special treats. One was Cherry Mash. It was a ball of cherry weirdness, surrounded by several coatings of chocolate with crispy things in it.
    I found them at a gas station a few years ago, and bought one. Couldn’t wait to break into it at home. I didn’t even swallow the first bite, it was soooo sweet and icky.
    I’ve had the same experience with Twinkies. So yummy as a child. Can’t even eat a whole one now.

    ceecee’s last blog post..The Object of His Affection

  5. Had some very strange favorites, Brooklyn, NY having some very obscure confections. One was a pistachio marzipan bar coated in dark chocolate, another was a square hard violet flavored candy which actually shows up occasionally in RI. Then there was the assortment of thin NECCO discs. These go back more decades than I admit to. A later one was a more delicately flavored violet pastile with a caraway seed in the middle, sold in round tins. I think I liked grossing out my friends as much as eating them. The violet candies, especially, tasted like soap to most of them.

  6. I liked Zotz. I guess you can still find them, but I’m not so much into candy these days. Every now and then, I’ll crave a Snickers. I like the bags of the Halloween sized ones because that’s just the amount I want.

    Evil Twin’s Wife’s last blog post..She’s Not Here

  7. You’re tooooo funny! My favourite was a “wig wag” chocolate bar. That sucker had to be 2 feet long. Of course they wouldn’t even think of making a chocolate bar that big these days. It would probably just be called a “wig” or maybe a “wag”.

    Cath’s last blog post..RODENTS, RAIN, AND A GREAT LOOKING RACK

  8. Loretta – Nice! Little Debbie is my friend too!

    Emily – oh heck yeah! I love pop rocks too! We need to get some again…for the kids of course!

    YD – too bad you can’t get your favs…I am sure your local dentist needs some help!

    ceecee – you should try my childhood favorites! I am sure they are good for what ails you!

    Lacy – how are you gonna rot your teeth with granola bars? I love them too actually…

    Diane – I have no idea about those candies but anything purple and sugary sounds awesome to me! We used to get necco wafers from a little store in town when I was a kid. It’s weird but I remember getting them there all the time.

    ETW – I am getting like you when it comes to ice cream…a little goes a long ways. On sugary candy, though, I am as good as I ever was!

    sugarcreekstuff – finally someone else who understands! So many people think I am crazy…they judge me! But not you…thanks so much!

    Cath – holy cow! a 2 foot candy bar! I could use that for all three meals! How awesome would that be?!

  9. I can’t believe you love Swedish Fish… I LOVE Swedish Fish. When I was a kid I played softball and after each game the town teams would all descend upon “the Custard Shoppe” which was the town ice cream joint-they had penny candy and yummy ice cream cones with the best sprinkles-sprinkles that had little bits of nuts and candy and cunchies…. mmmm. Anyway-all of the players would get a ticket that was worth about fifty cents. I would always get my quarter ice cream cone and then a quarter’s worth of swedish fish… and some days I went all out and spent the entire lot on the fish.

    Good times.

    I miss childhood.

    june cleaver’s last blog post..As God Is My Witness… I Will Defend The Mighty Swoon!

  10. June – I can’t believe it either…you deserve a swoon for that! You ought to get some and live it up!

  11. I am concerned about your breeding program. They both look like females from your photo!
    Some of my childhood favorites were Big Mo(a soft neopolitan coconut bar), Baby Ruth (always fresh and not like the stale rock- hard ones they sell now), and frozen Milky Way or Zero candy bars on a stick, and lets not forget Bun,Pepermint Patties and Mallow-Cups.
    Chased down with a Hires Root Beer or Cream Soda. A quarter would get you a soda, 2 candy bars,and 3 penny candies. God I’m OLD!!!

  12. I was the beach manager and ran that concession stand for four summers. I used to eat popsicles all afternoon. I also had a thing for ice-cream sandwiches.

  13. Ron, were you a kayaker too? I vaguely remember watching the cool looking boat in the creek. I lived the Swedish fish and frozen milkyways too. Great times!

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