Chuckles

 

What an underrated candy this is.

I've always liked them, from the first time I put down a nickle for a package way back in the day.

They were invented in 1921 by Fred W. Amend in Danville, Illinois, to solve the problem of jelly candies sticking together.

Amend added a sugar coating to prevent "sweating."

They were originally hand wrapped individually, following which they were sold as a strip of linked candies.

Amend's wife came up with the name "Chuckles," which was intended to reflect the joy people felt eating them.

What's impressive to me is that both the candy and its packaging haven't changed much over the decades.

One thing I did notice when mine arrived recently from Amazon is that the thin cardboard shelf (below) has been removed, such that the candy is now wrapped solely in plastic.

 

Looking at the various pictures of Chuckles online, my Crack Research Team©®™ observed that early on the cardboard shelf with its front and back panels was enhanced by additional curved cardboard elements to the sides, forming a kind of corral around the candy, as you can see in the photos up top and below.

My order of consumption has changed a little bit from what it was when I was a kid, when I first had the black licorice one — my least favorite — and then progressed through lime, lemon, cherry, and orange for my grand finale. 

These days I start with lime, then follow with lemon, black, cherry and orange.

My Crack Research Team©®™ discovered that the company once upon a time called the orangey one not "orange" but rather "zesty orange."

Mary B on an online Chuckles forum wrote, "There used to be a card under the candy that had a joke printed on it when I was a child. I always figured that's why the name, Chuckles. It's true, they are much smaller but I love them!"

Yes — it seems to me the individual Chuckles are smaller than when I was a kid, but then every candy seems smaller now.

I'm reminded of Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard": when the character Joe Gillis tells her she "used to be big," she responds, "I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

But don't take my word for it: 

You can get Chuckles at stores everywhere or from Amazon.