Sweets That Will Take You Straight to Your Childhood

A trip down memory lane – or shall I say, candy lane – to the good old days of sugar overload is coming your way

 

This list is all about those classic South African sweets you could grab for just five bob, but they made you feel like you hit the candy lottery. They were the ones that sparked playground trade-offs and made you dream of the day you’d have enough pocket change to clear the entire shelf.

 

Do you remember gripping that coin tightly in a sweaty hand as you walked home from school and stopping at the spaza shop to ponder the possibilities. It was always a tough decision between the fruity chews and chocolate varieties. And who could forget the gummy and sour options that made your face pucker?

 

The best were the birthday parties where the table overflowed with colourful wrappers and tongues turned technicolor. Weekends spent riding your kiskar around the neighbourhood fuelled by sugar power until the streetlights signalled it was time to head home?

 

We bet there are some sweets you totally forgot existed. As in, they’ve been lost in the back of your brain for years. But don’t worry, we’re here to dig them back up.

 

Wind Chips 

These light and airy corn puffs were a cheap knock-off of Cheese Curls. They came in massive 1-meter bags that shopkeepers would split up into smaller 10-cent packets to sell. With their high air-to-corn ratio, it’s no wonder they were called wind chips!

 

Bibo

The squeezable juice pouch launched by Coca-Cola in 1998. Kids loved sipping on the fruity flavours of Bibo until it was discontinued in 2004. The pouches were ahead of their time, but nothing beats nostalgia.

 

Lucky Packets

Lucky packets were the best! Not only did you get sweet sherbet powder to eat, you’d also find a little plastic toy or trinket inside. It was always so exciting to pour out the powder and see what you got. Ring pops and tiny action figures were common surprises.

 

Dirkie

The sweet condensed milk came in a tube that made it easy to squeeze directly into your mouth. It tasted delicious but often ended with sticky fingers.

 

Candy Cigarettes

What 90s baby didn’t pretend candy cigarettes were the real deal? These chalky sticks let us mimic smoking, because apparently we didn’t know any better. Thankfully most places have banned the sale of these controversial candies.

 

Gum Balls / Fireballs

Gum balls and fireballs, the South African version of jawbreakers, were a rite of passage for kids. Could you keep one in your mouth for hours, working your way through layers of flavour, until it dissolved into a sugary puddle?

 

Sweet Peanuts 

Sweet peanuts looked like little peanuts but did they really taste like peanuts? These crunchy candies were confusing but delightful.

 

Apricots

Apricot balls were soft, chewy, and flavoured to taste like apricots. They were a fruity alternative to regular marshmallows.

 

Nicker balls

Though they looked like grapes, nicker balls were actually small, round hard candies meant for sucking on slowly. The longer you kept them in your mouth, the blacker your lips turned.  

 

Pixie Sticks

With just a snip of the straw, you could pour colourful jelly powder right onto your tongue.

 

Chomp

This popular chocolate bar with the iconic yellow and purple wrapper was a childhood favourite. The thin wafer covered with smooth chocolate coating always left you wanting more. Just one Chomp never seemed to satisfy!

 

Strawberry Candy Bon-Bons

Oh, so that’s what these were called? No visit to grandma’s house was complete without strawberry candy bon-bons. The strawberry-flavoured sweets were always on hand for the grandkids.

 

Love Hearts

Those old fashioned heart-shaped sweets with short sweet messages printed on them. Cheesy and cute all at once. “Be Mine” and “Kiss Me” were familiar phrases to find on those chalky tablet candy.

 

Champion Toffees 

Then there were Champion Toffees, those squares of chewy toffee that could glue your gums shut in an instant. They were a dentist’s nightmare but a child’s dream. Though they tasted faintly of burned sugar and required a good chomp to bite through, Wilson’s Toffees were always a popular treat.

 

Popcorn in Newspaper Cones

The best popcorn always came served in a cone rolled from an old newspaper page.

 

Colourful Lollipops 

I have no idea what these were officially called but they were colourful lollipops without wrappers that were coated in sugar. They weren’t even round like normal lollipops. Do you remember them? Come on, you have to remember them!

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