The Feast of Good & Plenty

Today is National Good & Plenty Day. This is one of those candies that you either like or don’t, but If you’re looking for an old-fashioned candy, you can’t get more retro than Good & Plenty Licorice.

Did you know…?

This licorice treat is the oldest brand of candy in the U.S.A.?  The Quaker City confectionery Company of Philadelphia had the genius idea to candy coat black licorice, color it in happy pink and white, box it up and sell it way back in 1893.  And in 1996, over 100 years later, Hershey purchased the company and revitalized the brand.

It was in a 1950 commercial for Good & Plenty Candy that the inimitable “Choo Choo Charlie” made his debut on national television. Choo Choo Charlie was an engineer who used Good & Plenty Candy to make the train run, and before you know it, everyone in America was singing Charlie’s catchy jingle: “Love my Good and Plenty! Really rings the bell! Love my Good and Plenty! Don’t know any other candy that I love so well.” The Choo Choo Charlie series of commercials really boosted the candy’s sales.

So sit back, enjoy some Good & Plenty, and take a ride with Choo Choo Charlie.

—
Photo Credit: melissamn / Shutterstock.com