Charleston Chew

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A chocolate Charleston Chew split in half.

Charleston Chew is a candy bar consisting of flavored nougat covered in chocolate flavor coating. It was created in 1922 by the Fox-Cross Candy Company, and the candy was named for the Charleston, a popular dance at that time.[1]

History

The company was purchased in 1957 by Nathan Sloane and later sold to Nabisco in 1980. Although he did not invent the Charleston Chew, he did change the candy's original blueprint, chocolate-covered vanilla taffy. In the 1970s, he introduced such new flavors as chocolate and strawberry.[2] Warner-Lambert purchased Charleston Chew from RJR Nabisco in 1988; Tootsie Roll Industries purchased the brand from Warner-Lambert in 1993.

Flavors and varieties

Miniature Charleston Chews.

The candy is available in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors. At one time, there was a fourth flavor, banana. "Mini Charleston Chews" are a bite-sized, similarly-shaped version of the candy bar, introduced in 1998. The original packaging for Charleston Chews was a grey box that had the brand name in small red font at the bottom of the box. Freezing results in them shattering with ease when chewed. Some people prefer eating them frozen.

In popular culture

  • Charleston Chew is frequently referenced on Futurama, as either a sponsor or favored snack of Richard Nixon's head.
  • Charleston Chew is the favorite confection of Tim on the television show The Life & Times of Tim.
  • Charleston Chew is mentioned by Bart in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Drama Queen".
  • Charleston Chew is mentioned in the Psych episode "Earth, Wind, and... Wait for It" (season 3, #12) as a candy kept in the office smoke detector.
  • Charleston Chew is mentioned in the Ugly Americans episode "Lilly and the Beast" (season 2, #9) as a candy topping at PinkBerry.
  • Charleston Chew is mentioned by Dean Pelton in the Community episode "Celebrity Pharmacology 212".
  • Charleston Chew is mentioned by Dana Carvey's fictional secret agent character Terry Suave in the movie Master of Disguise.
  • Dr. Dre's album Chronic 2001 features Eminem in a song titled "Forgot about Dre". At the end of the verse, Eminem says, "From here on out it's the Chronic 2, Startin today and tomorrow's the new, And I'm still loco enough, To choke you to death wit' a Charleston Chew."
  • On Prince Paul's album Psychoanalysis: What is It?, in a song titled "J.O.B. - Das What Dey Is!", at the end of the last verse, Scully B says, "Ran in the store to get me some brew, a 3-pack of condoms and a Charleston Chew."
  • An episode named "Charleston Chew" was featured in the Hardly Working series on Collegehumor. The sketch parodies the "Need a Moment?" advertising campaign for Twix, and the fact that Charleston Chews are notoriously difficult to eat.

In science and technology demonstrations

Charleston Chew candy bars have been used to demonstrate rheology (the effects of temperature and strain rate on the deformation of materials) to students in university geology labs.[3]

References

  1. ↑ The back of the box of Mini Charleston Chews.
  2. ↑ "Nathan Sloane, 97, Candy Bar Maker, Dies". The New York Times. August 18, 2006. 
  3. ↑ "Deformation of Charleston Chew Candy Bars as a Rheology Analogue in the Structural Geology Classroom". Paper No. 145-8. Geological Society of America, Denver Annual Meeting. November 7–10, 2004. 

External links

Confectionery products of Tootsie Roll Industries
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