Spangles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the fast food restaurant chain, see Spangles (restaurant).
Spangles were square boiled sweets, bought in a paper tube with individual sweets cellophane wrapped. They were manufactured by Mars Ltd in the United Kingdom from the mid-fifties to the early eighties. They were distinguished by their rounded corners and a circular depression on both sides, into which one would slide one's tongue when sucking them.
Contents |
[edit] Regular Spangles
The regular Spangles tube (labelled simply "Spangles") contained a variety of translucent, fruit flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime.
The sweets were individually wrapped, originally in waxed paper; later in cellophane. The tube was a bright orange-red colour, bearing the word "Spangles" in a large letters. In the seventies a distinctive, seventies-style font was used.
Over the production period many different, single flavour varieties were introduced including Acid Drop, Barley Sugar, Blackcurrant, Liquorice, Peppermint, Spearmint, and Tangerine.
[edit] Old English Spangles
The Old English Spangles tube contained traditional English flavours such as liquorice, mint humbugs, cough candy, butterscotch and pear drops. One of the flavours was an opaque mustard yellow colour, and one was striped.
The sweets' individual wrappers were striped, distinguishing them from regular Spangles. The tube was black, white and purple, and designed for a more mature and specific clientele than the regular variety.
[edit] Mystery Spangles
At one point a mystery flavour was released where the wrappers had question marks on them and one was invited to guess the flavour. It is not known whether this flavour was ever officially revealed.
[edit] Discontinued
Spangles were discontinued in the early eighties, and briefly reintroduced in 1995. There are many nostalgic references to them on Internet message boards from children who grew up with them in the sixties and seventies, now middle-aged.
Today the Tunes brand is the only remaining relative of the Spangles brand, sharing the shape and wrapping of the original product.
[edit] In popular culture
Spangles were mentioned in the Kinks hit song "Art Lover". In the UK, Spangles are associated with the 1970s and they, like Space Hoppers, have become shorthand for lazy nostalgia, as in the phrase "Do you remember Spangles?".
| Confectionery products of Mars, Incorporated |
|---|
| 3 Musketeers • Balisto • Bounty • Celebrations • Dove/Galaxy bar • Flyte • Kudos • Lockets • Maltesers • Mars Bar • M-Azing • M&M's • Milky Way • Revels • Snickers • Skittles • Starburst • Topic • Tracker • Twix Discontinued: Marathon • Opal Mints • Spangles |
