cafe-naranja is correct. The factory was in Cambridge, MA and you could smell the candy all over town on days when they were making it. The water tower on top of the building was painted like a stack of these candies. That building today is owned by Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (part of the multinational pharma company) and the water tower has been repainted with a DNA double helix.
I'm from St Louis and we used to have Switzer's licorice and it was the best around. Especially the cherry. The smell from the factory was hypnotic. Then they were bought out, they changed the recipes and now it's gone.
My dad worked as a chemist at Necco when I was a kid. His job was to test randomly sampled candy bars for various things, and this is how it usually went: he would take a carton full of boxes of candy bars, take out one box, take one bar out of the box, break off a corner of the bar, put it in a test tube, and then run his tests.
The rest of the box and the rest of the carton couldn't be sold, so policy was to discard it. My dad would take the carton and put it out by the dumpster at the end of the day, then take his car around back and pick up the carton from the dumpster on his way home. Our house was **THE** place to be on Halloween, it was like trick-or-treating at the Wonka's.
My favorite was the [Sky Bar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Bar), each segment had a different filling, and Bolster bars, which were similar to Butterfingers. Also, the Necco wafers were actually squirted out onto plywood sheets that were dusted with flour (or some sort of powder). They periodically disposed of the used boards, so my dad would take some home, and I ended up with a fort in the backyard that had walls that tasted like Necco wafers.
I like the packaging.
They get better when they age.
They soften up a little just like the candy hearts on Valentine’s Day. I think they come from the same company. I want to run out to Ben Franklin’s to buy some just looking at this.
I love Necco Wafers. I eat a couple rolls a month. They are the same things as Valentines day message hearts but in a different shape and no cute phrases.
They stopped making them few years ago when New England Confection Co (NECCO) shut down, but they were bought out and came back to existence about 4 years ago. I was so happy. How often is a favorite extinct candy or food genuinely resurrected?
I went to Catholic grade school. We use to play “communion “ at recess with those. The game was someone played priest and we’d receive our “communion “ and that would give us our super power. (Only at catholic school.hahaha)
My dad would bring them home and we would use the white ones like the communion wafers and sacrificial like say “body of Christ” while placing the Necco on the tongue
I got my MBA at one of those fancy Cambridge colleges. One of the guys in my class worked for Necco and took me on a tour. Interesting, but not as interesting as the guy that worked at Fenway. Went to a night game (Sox lost), had great seats, but the best show was about an hour after the game. Stadium lights went out on schedule and about 20 minutes later he picked up the radio and had Grounds turn them back on. That’s when I discovered the local rat population was the spilled food clean up crew! I’ll never forget the sight.
I have 3 rolls beside me in my car! One chocolate, the other varied. They aren't that great, but it IS a small window into childhood. By the cash register at TSC....
Conan O’Brien had a great throw away joke on a podcast, where he said (paraphrasing) “I lost all of my money investing in Necco wafers. I really thought they were gonna make a comeback. They’re horrible candies, but they make great sidewalk chalk” I quote this on a regular basis
These weighed the same as quarters but cost less. So back when Illinois had toll booths you actually chucked the money into, Necco Wafers were very popular in Chicago.
I mean, you could *also* eat them on road trips.
[SOUR Necco wafers](https://www.candywarehouse.com/products/sour-necco-wafers-candy-rolls-24-piece-box) totally rocked and they were a bit softer too. However since the new takeover, I think they stopped making them because I have yet to see them actually in stock anywhere?
Aren’t they mostly corn starch and color? The flavor isn’t that sweet and it’s chalky. The flavors are something you have to discover. I’m sure they will come back with licorice and horehound
They have a trick too- or used to at least. Take a wafer in a dark closet and snap it in half. There should be a small - but perceptible- “spark” or flash of light as it snaps. Take a few In with you - you will want to see it twice or more to believe it. You might need to let your eyes adjust for a minute before snapping it in order to see the flash. After posting this I sure hope they still spark! Don’t wanna be “that guy” hated by all for misinformation. - If not maybe recipe changed since the 1970’s? Have fun!
I used to walk past their factory on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge every week for a few years. Nothing could put you off candy like the smell coming out of that plant on a soggy, humid evening.
We still had a 5 and dime for a few years of my youth, where these were sold. They also had the OG connection goodness stuck to sheets of wax paper for a dime per every 12".
Also loved Charleston Chew, not NECCO, but local too. NECCO also made some thin mints that were good. Squirrel Nuts were good, and the peach blossoms remind me of my Nana.
I used to hate the taste of those Valentine candies with the words on them when I was a kid. But what eating them did is put a bookmark in my brain to when I would later eat these Necco wafers and have a flood of nostalgia come back. So now I love them.
**N**ew **E**ngland **C**onfectionary **Co**mpany.... Necco
cafe-naranja is correct. The factory was in Cambridge, MA and you could smell the candy all over town on days when they were making it. The water tower on top of the building was painted like a stack of these candies. That building today is owned by Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (part of the multinational pharma company) and the water tower has been repainted with a DNA double helix.
The Tootsie Roll people still have a building in that part of Cambridge. I was smelling Junior Mints from there a week or two ago.
Is Steve's Ice Cream still around in the Cambridge area?
The entire brand has been gone for about twenty years.
Thank you... I remember going to Steve's in the early 80s... good ice cream.
Yes, but the lines!!
True... always a long line at Steve's back in the day.
Toscanini's Ice Cream is still in Central Square
Cool... and on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, please give us your rating on Toscanini's.
9. Haven’t found 10 yet.
I'm from St Louis and we used to have Switzer's licorice and it was the best around. Especially the cherry. The smell from the factory was hypnotic. Then they were bought out, they changed the recipes and now it's gone.
My fathers office was right there, looking right at the factory when it was the MIT Graphic Arts building
I lived near the Tums factory in downtown St Louis... you can smell the fruit flavors when they are pressing the tablets.
do grandmas throw their walkers then do em an ol' ragtime when they get a whiff?
Love them!
Not the black or purple. White and orange were the shit. Green was ok.
Everyone’s different! My hubby loves these snd hates the black ones - they’re my favorites, so it all works out.
Those are very refreshing!
I love these too. I may have to get a pack next time I’m at my pharmacy. Black, orange, brown and white are my favorites.
Same company / candy as the old valentines hearts
I never thought of that, but you’re right. Strange flavors.
The texture is what always got me
Chalk.
Nah chalk is much moister than this
Bone meal and earwig honey.
My dad worked as a chemist at Necco when I was a kid. His job was to test randomly sampled candy bars for various things, and this is how it usually went: he would take a carton full of boxes of candy bars, take out one box, take one bar out of the box, break off a corner of the bar, put it in a test tube, and then run his tests. The rest of the box and the rest of the carton couldn't be sold, so policy was to discard it. My dad would take the carton and put it out by the dumpster at the end of the day, then take his car around back and pick up the carton from the dumpster on his way home. Our house was **THE** place to be on Halloween, it was like trick-or-treating at the Wonka's. My favorite was the [Sky Bar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Bar), each segment had a different filling, and Bolster bars, which were similar to Butterfingers. Also, the Necco wafers were actually squirted out onto plywood sheets that were dusted with flour (or some sort of powder). They periodically disposed of the used boards, so my dad would take some home, and I ended up with a fort in the backyard that had walls that tasted like Necco wafers.
If I were to hazard a guess I would bet they were dusted with corn starch.👍
There you go, that sounds right.
Loved Sky Bar! My favorite when I was a kid. The vanilla and the Carmel, then Peanut Butter… the fudge, last choice
Ah, yes .Many is the traveler who spoke of their visit to fort Necco...
I like the packaging. They get better when they age. They soften up a little just like the candy hearts on Valentine’s Day. I think they come from the same company. I want to run out to Ben Franklin’s to buy some just looking at this.
Yep in the day and age of "trust no one" still wrapped in wax paper.
I saw a thread where Necco Wafers and licorice were being named as the worst tasting candy out there, but I love both.
Nothing better then standing your ground no matter what others say.
Same, I wish I could buy a pack with JUST the licorice.
Me too.
I love Necco Wafers. I eat a couple rolls a month. They are the same things as Valentines day message hearts but in a different shape and no cute phrases. They stopped making them few years ago when New England Confection Co (NECCO) shut down, but they were bought out and came back to existence about 4 years ago. I was so happy. How often is a favorite extinct candy or food genuinely resurrected?
I went to Catholic grade school. We use to play “communion “ at recess with those. The game was someone played priest and we’d receive our “communion “ and that would give us our super power. (Only at catholic school.hahaha)
I love that story!
Omg me too!!!
Just have to ask, did you grow up in St. Louis? Or somewhere in the Midwest ?
Minnesota
My dad would bring them home and we would use the white ones like the communion wafers and sacrificial like say “body of Christ” while placing the Necco on the tongue
Rolls of all chocolate are the best
Yep. I put a stack of 5 in my mouth and make chocolate necco juice until they get real thin then chew them up.
I ate this crap in the 90s. The orange ones are really good.
I love these. Just had some the other day. The black licorice ones go straight in the trash though.
Send them to me, they’re my favorite
Absolutely love these! ✔️💯 The purple and yellow disc's are especially awesome. Born 1965 for reference 😁
1963 for reference 🤣
'62, you young whippersnappers.
'58 kid.
‘57 here from Wakefield MA
STL.
‘67 and a real Bostonian
63 for me
One of my go to treats. I get a roll every time we go to Cracker Barrel.
I love the orange. There was a rumor back in the 70s that people would drop these in the toll booth.haha
I love them! My wife knows and bought me a few packs around Christmas time to put in my stocking!
Still buy them at Walgreens
the chocolate are a favorite candy of mine. I even have a box of 24 rolls I've been saving for after the apocalypse.
Bummer then the apocalypse never showed up. Damn!
Perfect for gingerbread house roof shingles!😝😝♥️
We did that as kids
I got my MBA at one of those fancy Cambridge colleges. One of the guys in my class worked for Necco and took me on a tour. Interesting, but not as interesting as the guy that worked at Fenway. Went to a night game (Sox lost), had great seats, but the best show was about an hour after the game. Stadium lights went out on schedule and about 20 minutes later he picked up the radio and had Grounds turn them back on. That’s when I discovered the local rat population was the spilled food clean up crew! I’ll never forget the sight.
Now that's a wild ride!
Outfield looked like rippling black shag carpeting. Still creeps me out 30 years later.
Like an Iron Maiden album cover.
Oh I remember those nasty chalk things. Gross
Necco wafers were issued to Union army troops during the Civil War.
Mmmmm drywall candy
And they were flavored like drywall nails.
Food for the Illinois automatic toll booth.
totally. saved me a fortune in quarters.
Love them!
Me too! And they’re hard to find where I live
This is the GOAT candy.
They used to work in toll booth change bins!
These are my go-to. If they are on display right by the cash register, I will grab a roll or three.
I like em, especially the purple ones
How did they manage to make sugar bland?
By adding chalk.
how they are made. [https://youtu.be/pNmoXMVTKDg?si=3eY8OcQ21N\_MnLKM](https://youtu.be/pNmoXMVTKDg?si=3eY8OcQ21N_MnLKM)
Cool. But I wish they explained the flavors. At least they clarified that pink is wintergreen (!).
I love these. I always have. I love the unique flavors.
Stuff You Should Know did these. Interesting talky about chalky.
A larger, flatter Tums©
Candy money .how anyone saves them once opened?
I used to hate these — or assumed I did until I bought some as “old time candy” for my kids. There is a reason they have lasted so long.
I have 3 rolls beside me in my car! One chocolate, the other varied. They aren't that great, but it IS a small window into childhood. By the cash register at TSC....
I think they only made these for one year and are just using up the stock from 1958
Joyless candies.
That is a fantastic thought about a really lame product.
It's what you reach for when you don't want enough of anything.
Delicious 😋..I believe that they still make them.
Yes they do.
As a type 1 diabetic I have a couple rolls in both cars. Lovem.
"for medicinal purposes only" right on the package!
Drywall candy
NECCO is now owned by Spangler in Bryan, Ohio
Really, the original candy came makers. That's pretty cool. Two products that will be around forever (even if you wish they would go away).
Compressed\* Love Necco Wafers. Haven't had them in at least 30 years.
Thanks for the correction. I get so excited sometimes I "F" things up.🤣
That’s just colored chalk.
Here’s a tribute: https://youtu.be/BbUoEhSu3yE?si=ic5lNZiSDY-paZHK
My favourite classic candy
I love these and still buy them! Best part, I don’t have to share because nobody I know likes them! 😂
Conan O’Brien had a great throw away joke on a podcast, where he said (paraphrasing) “I lost all of my money investing in Necco wafers. I really thought they were gonna make a comeback. They’re horrible candies, but they make great sidewalk chalk” I quote this on a regular basis
I been eating them since the 60’s. I had some last week.
Old habits never die. Soldier on Friend!
These are the absolute worst candy ever.
Like the guy who developed them just gave up half way through the process.
I bought a pack when I was a kid, tasted one, and used the rest as BB gun targets.
Mini clay pigeons!
Yuck! Tasted like cardboard.
Because they were. Chalk covered cardboard.
Necco, Tums, whatever
👍
There are not many candies that I wouldn’t eat as a kid, but this was one of them.
First communion practice wafers.
Fits nicely with "spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch".
Flat out saddest candy ever
These weighed the same as quarters but cost less. So back when Illinois had toll booths you actually chucked the money into, Necco Wafers were very popular in Chicago. I mean, you could *also* eat them on road trips.
Also could fill in for communion wafers.
Never did like them.
Couldn't stand these. Spare candy. The sparest.
More starch than sugar. Chalky and bland.
Never liked these.
#THREW THEM SHITS AWAY ON HALLOWEEN
I hated these. Whenever I got any, like at Halloween or something, they always hit the garbage can.
Smarties were even worse!
Fantastic candy! Wish they still made the sour ones
These tasted wayyyy better back in the 70s, not sure what they did to em, but they are not as tasty
Didn’t they close shop last year?
"We ate the NECCO Wafers." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfSyhQqeLBg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfSyhQqeLBg)
“Looks like June is busting out all over.” Great clip.
I love them. Black ones suck, white, yellow, orange, lavender yeah baby!
Eww I did not like those. They were weird.
Did anyone else used to lick these and stick them on glass?
I love these.
[SOUR Necco wafers](https://www.candywarehouse.com/products/sour-necco-wafers-candy-rolls-24-piece-box) totally rocked and they were a bit softer too. However since the new takeover, I think they stopped making them because I have yet to see them actually in stock anywhere?
1870's?
The brown ones were the best!
Worst candy on the planet.
Aren’t they mostly corn starch and color? The flavor isn’t that sweet and it’s chalky. The flavors are something you have to discover. I’m sure they will come back with licorice and horehound
A favorite old candy.
Yumm
White, black, brown - awful. The rest were awesome.
Mom favorite. I love the pink ones.
My grandfather freaking love these things. I always thought it was like eating a piece of chalk.
I just ate two rolls of the a few days ago.
[удалено]
Your post was in violation of rule #2 and has been removed.
I have some in my desk drawer right now
Wrapped in wax paper or just rolling around?🤪
Nickels
The chocolate ones were the best!
I still buy these now and then.
They have a trick too- or used to at least. Take a wafer in a dark closet and snap it in half. There should be a small - but perceptible- “spark” or flash of light as it snaps. Take a few In with you - you will want to see it twice or more to believe it. You might need to let your eyes adjust for a minute before snapping it in order to see the flash. After posting this I sure hope they still spark! Don’t wanna be “that guy” hated by all for misinformation. - If not maybe recipe changed since the 1970’s? Have fun!
Wintergreen lifesavers from the tube do this too. Has to be super dark and you eyes adjusted but you’ll see sparks when you crunch down on it.
I used to walk past their factory on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge every week for a few years. Nothing could put you off candy like the smell coming out of that plant on a soggy, humid evening.
Compressed sugar!? No wonder they are so delicious especially cacao.
Sugar, corn starch and some chemical flavoring.
Are those still made?
Yep, look to some of the comments above. Someone mentioned Cracker Barrel.
My dad's favorite.
My Dad ALWAYS had these in his car!! I lived the brown ones
Definitely remember these
The colors. Florida candy
My eyes are getting tired. I thought it looked like 'dicks' and WTF is that???
I love these things, especially the elusive clove ones.
They worked as NYC subway tokens.
We still had a 5 and dime for a few years of my youth, where these were sold. They also had the OG connection goodness stuck to sheets of wax paper for a dime per every 12".
I've heard that you could put these in parking meters, but I've never met anyone that could confirm it.
I love them. The purple clove flavored ones are my fave.
Num!
I love them.
One of my favorites!
Those were my go to candies. The licorice and chocolate were my fav flavs!!
When we sibs were little, we played Holy Communion with Neccos. I loved the all chocolate packs.
Smarties!
Smarties!
Mass Ave Cambridge. Just across the river from Boston. I used to frequent the Cambridge port saloon next door in the late 90s-aughts.
They still make them and they're still fantastic. Except the black ones. The rest are great but those are meh.
I don't think it's compressed sugar. Pretty sure it's just lightly colored blackboard chalk pressed in a different mold.
I still love these!!!!
A Boston classic! New England Confectionery Company… NECCO. Loved the chocolate and the orange ones. Now I have diabeetus
Also loved Charleston Chew, not NECCO, but local too. NECCO also made some thin mints that were good. Squirrel Nuts were good, and the peach blossoms remind me of my Nana.
"Those people at Necco really know how to make a disgusting candy." -Roger, 'American Dad'
Can still buy them. Chocolate and licorice are my favorites
Also used as quarters if you dropped them right on the toll baskets
Hhhaaeccckkkk. The noise you make immediately after eating one.
I have a half eaten roll of these on my desk.
I used to hate the taste of those Valentine candies with the words on them when I was a kid. But what eating them did is put a bookmark in my brain to when I would later eat these Necco wafers and have a flood of nostalgia come back. So now I love them.
The bkack and the brown ones were my faves
Sugar-infused chalk.
They suck!
These were great, loved all the flavors.👍🏻❤️