SWEET TALK – FALL SPOOKTACULAR!

A nice ghoulish twist on the Lik-M-Aid sticks.

Summer is my favorite time of year, so I always reluctantly adjust to fall. I complain about this every year, despite the fact that complaining changes nothing. I’m not saying that summer is perfect; the days can be too hot and too smoggy, but the days are longer, the colors of summer products are cheerful, and there is an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. With fall, you get the crisp weather, the bluer skies, and a certain something in the air. However, my main complaint is that the days get shorter, ultimately leading up to Daylight Savings Time, which transforms fall into a season I call “bummer.” Nothing worse than still working at the computer to finish my day’s work while the world has turned pitch black.

The festive holidays are in fall and winter to help compensate for descent into darkness, and they really do create a great distraction and a lot of fun. First up is Halloween, a top holiday for candy and all the revelry that comes with it. Judging by the expense of vintage Halloween items, it would appear to be the most enjoyed holiday of the year, especially for its aesthetics. For some reason, the traditional colors of orange, yellow, and black have made way for purple, orange, and black, but you will find little of this color scheme in the wonderful vintage ephemera in this following gallery.

: A 1960 ad depicting a classic Halloween.

: A Curtiss box of Halloween candy from the same time as the ad.

: A Curtiss ad appealing to the more generous person handing out candy.

: A great old-style Curtiss ad from 1954.

: An ad from 1928, back when it was okay to advertise a product in a creepy way.

: The classic freckle faced kid in an ad from 1954.

: A nice ghoulish twist on the Lik-M-Aid sticks.

: A good look at classic Halloween candy.

: Another great look at classic Halloween candy.

: A cool vintage box of Halloween candy.

Back in the day when kids didn’t drink so much soda for their sugar fix, they relied on Kool-Aid, Funny Face, or chocolate milk. Any of these could be enjoyed all year round, but fall was the time to shift gears and enjoy a nice warm mug of cocoa. It could be made from Hershey’s syrup or powder, Swiss Miss, or Nestle’s Quik.

I think of cocoa as candy you can drink. Over the decades, cocoa and chocolate milk companies have pandered to childish interests and fads in order to increase their sales. This has been a win-win situation for kids with a sweet tooth. The companies have also upped the ante of delight at times by offering special Halloween packaging for their products. The following gallery shows some classic packaging for our chocolate milk and cocoa favorites.

: Many people will remember this wrapper!

: Some kids preferred strawberry to chocolate. This posting is especially for them.

: Hot chocolate and Kodak camera? Sign me up!

: Nestle’s Spook Group, just to make Quik even cooler.

: A collectible and something to drink.

: Who collected all 32 and still have it? Not too many, I suspect.

: Robot? Spaceman? Deep sea diver? You be the judge.

On a related note… we love Clanky, Clanky the Spaceman!

Ahem! Where was I? Ah, back to Nestle, Halloween, and lost products of yesteryear. Anyone remember Keen? Nestle launched this powdered drink mix in the early 60s in what appears to be an attempt to compete with Funny Face. I’ve included a gallery of their packets just because they’re so fun! They also made a monster version named “Chiller” for Halloween. Hope to get my hands on this sometime. In the meantime, check out a commercial for Keen Chillers from 1966. The audio is vintage, and the video maker thoughtfully included images of the Chiller packets. Very cool!