Posted on 12/01/2006 5:10:31 PM PST by SamAdams76
Many Freepers are probably too young to remember but I can remember the day that when you bought an Almond Joy or a Mounds bar, you got the entire bar. Not "two halfs" sold as a "whole".
At some point during the early 1970s, Peter Paul decided to sell these popular bars as two individual pieces as opposed to a whole bar. I trace this seminal event as a turning point in my life - when I started to become cynical and jaded.
I forget the exact circumstances but I seem to remember these candy bars weighed in the neighborhood of 4 ounces and costed 10 cents each. A pretty fair price back in the day when Richard Nixon was making friends with China and the Boston Bruins were winning hockey games with a blond-haired guy named Bobby Orr.
But a terrible scam was perpetrated upon the American public. Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, Mounds and Almond Joy bars started showing up in two pieces weighing a total of about 3 ounces between them.
Not only did Peter Paul cut the weight of their candy bars by a solid ounce but to add insult to injury, they raised the price of these bars to fifteen cents!
But that was not the worst of it. They used the extra profits gained by shrinking the candy bars and increasing the price by launching a multi-million dollar advertising campaign geared towards making the American people think that they were actually getting more for their 15 cents instead of less!
The advertising slogan was wickedly brilliant, evidently thought up some advertising executive with a very warped mind.
The slogan was "With Almond Joy...You Can Share Half and STILL have a WHOLE!"
I can still remember the TV commercials, probably shown during the first episodes of "Sanford And Son" and "The Waltons."
The commercials showed some smiling woman opening her Almond Joy bar and giving some dorky looking man (kind of looked like "Meathead" Rob Reiner) half and then taking the other half for herself. Thus the American people were duped into thinking they were getting "two" candy bars for the price of one when in actuality they were paying more for less.
Had Almond Joy and Mounds kept their original full-size, one could easily split the bar in half and still share - while getting "bigger" halves in the process.
For some reason, I am still bothered by this to this day. While Mounds and Almond Joy were my absolute favorite candy bars at the time, I hardly ate them since, switching over to new favorites such as Zagnut (a much better version of "Butterfinger"), Milky Way and the now extinct Marathon bar (that used to be like a foot long of chewy chocolate-covered caramel - no kidding).
My sister like Three Musketeers but eating that candy bar always made me dizzy for some reason. I think they put girly sugar in that.
**Sweetie Ping** Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don't.
Hey, I did you a favor!
Not that it's a big deal but I've got to go with the other two, in So Calif. Mounds and Almond Joy were two piece in the 50's, Almond Joys were my favorites.
I think they were always 2 pieces, and I'm old as dirt.
Big bump to that.
Dark chocolate Milky Way rules.
However, I do recall that candy bars went through a sea change in the 1970s, many being discontinued in favor of new concoctions (where did Mountain Bar disappear to?). Others were shrunk in size because of the increasing costs of sugar, cocoa and even the wrappers. What you got for a dime in 1970 was a lot more candy than that same dime bought you in 1975.
Nixon's wage and price controls may have played a role in the size of candy, also. One of the ways manufacturers were able to avoid running afoul of the law was to repackage the product as a "new" size and price it accordingly. I think the large size Snickers came out during the early 70s and may have cost a quarter. They're around 79 cents these days.
Perhaps one of our FReeper candy afficianados can fill in the details.
I am as old as the hills almost :-) and they have always been two pieces as long as I can remember. Surely before the 70s
Mountain Bars are available from Amazon.com's Gourmet Foods section, $16.80 for 24 2-oz bars. Also available in cherry version.
Mounds was first, and was introduced in 1920. (George Shamlian researched and developed the Mounds' formula.) Mounds was created to replace their already-existing Coconut Cream Bar. (The coconut cream bar, peanut brittle, lolly pops, among others were the first Peter Paul candies).
They called it "Mounds" because of its shape. At first, there was only one per package. (And no, Mr. Nougat, they didn't originally call it "Mound" instead of "Mounds" as I'm sure that's your next question!). They changed the format to two pieces in 1929 so the consumer got more product of same quality for the same 5 cent price. There used to be a milk chocolate Mounds, too.
Then, in 1946, they decided to discontinue their "Dream Bar" and thus Almond Joy was developed and replaced it.
Back in the day, there was a candy trade magazine called, "Candy Industry" that reviewed and voted on the best quality candy each year. Mounds and Almond Joy were voted #1 and #2 for some time. Mounds greatest competition turned out to be Almond Joy.
Mountain Bars still exist! Cherry, Vanilla and Peanut Butter.
LOL!
What do you call that it seems similar but a different colour to our plain (dark) chocolate Bounty Bars made by Mars.
We had machines like that for chocolate and chewing gum and as you say every so many you got one free. The children would stand at the corner and count the numbers so they knew when the next few bar would be.
I don't remember Mounds/Almond Joy being a single bar. I do remember my mother and I eating a candy bar called a 7 Up bar. It was a whole chocolate bar with 7 compartments containing 7 different fillings. There'd be like a nut in one perhaps, a jelly filling, etc. Nobody but me remembers that. We used to eat them at the laundry mat with RC Colas.
I wonder if the bars in the vending machine were actually smaller than the 2 you bought in the shop ours in the vending machines were and cheaper than the bar in the shop but oz for oz dearer.
In Britain Bounty Bars which I think must be your moud bar are still in 2 pieces.
I remember 7 Up bars. They were great.:)
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