Chick-O-Stick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Chick-O-Stick is the Atkinson Candy Co.'s most well-known candy, having been manufactured since the Great Depression. It is made primarily from peanut butter, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and toasted coconut, with colorings and preservatives added, and contains no trans fats. There is also a sugar-free version of the candy.

In appearance, the Chick-O-Stick appears to be an orange stick of varying length and thickness, dusted with ground coconut. The interior of the stick is honeycombed with peanut butter and the orange hardened syrup/sugar mixture that also forms the shell. When eaten fresh, the candy is dry and brittle, and biting into a stick can cause the bitten-off end of the stick to crumble messily. If left uneaten, the candy has a tendency to draw dampness and become hard and chewy. The Chick-O-Stick is available in .36 ounce, .70 ounce, and 2.0 ounce sizes, as well as bags of individually-wrapped bite-sized pieces.

The Chick-O-Stick's original wrapper design featured a stylized cartoon of a chicken, wearing a cowboy hat and a badge in the shape of the Atkinson logo. The chicken is absent from the more recent wrapper design; some commentators have indicated that it contributed to confusion over whether the Chick-O-Stick was candy or a chicken-flavored cracker.

A comment on a CandyBlog entry suggests that the Chick-O-Stick was named for the candy's physical resemblance to the orange leg of a chicken. The Atkinson Candy Company's website/on-line store only states that the company's founder "came up with the name one day, and well, it just stuck."