Memories from my childhood in the 1970s, growing up in Santa Cruz, California, and then spending a year in London, England. The history and the memory of things long forgotten, as seen through the eyes of a child.
This glorious color advertisement was in many of the comic books I read as a child. I saw it so many times, and the art was so amazing that I finally broke down and sent in my order.
And a mere eternity of waiting later, this is what arrived. A box of yellow and blue flat plastic bits that barely stood up on a flat table, let alone a floor. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. However, I kept them around and still find one or two from time to time at the bottom of boxes that I'm cleaning out.
Okay, so I am a candy freak. It's true, and one of the great pleasures of my early childhood was going to our local Safeway and gazing at wonder at the Brach's Pick-a-Mix stand.
I don't know when these disappeared, but I haven't seen one in over ten years, maybe longer. I know that many of these flavors are indeed still available separately at candywarehouse.com and amazon.com but it's not quite the same.
I'll admit, after working on this post I did order a couple sample bags from Amazon, just as a reminder of a few of my favorites.
The Pick-a-Mix stands operated on the honor system, often having a little coin can for "samples".
Overview
Old School
Here's an image of some of the items that were included in the original Pick-a-Mix stands. I used this as a guide to document all the different varieties, adding a few that we seasonal, bulk, and newer that these examples from the 1970s.
The Best of Pick-a-Mix
Sadly, Pick-a-Mix stands slowly disappeared over the years, and I don't even know if there are any left at all. For a while, Brach's had a "best of" bag that included Milk Maid Caramels, Royals, Butter Toffee, Fruit Slices, Neapolitan Coconut Sundaes, and Rich & Dreamy Assorted Chocolatey Cremes. This too has been discontinued.
Wrapped Varieties
Jelly Perkys
Who knew that those sugared jelly things were called Perkys! They were a direct competitor to Chuckles (which are still available), another candy I never bought. I would get one once in a while, but they were not a mainstay. I didn't even know their name! I liked the red ones. There were six flavors: red, yello, purple, green, suspicious (licorice), and orange.
Fruit Slices
After Perkys went away, they were replaced with Fruit Slices. These are the same thing just in a different shape, with slightly less weight per piece. And most importantly, they got rid of Licorice. With fruit slices, licorice didn't make sense so they added "other red" strawberry to the existing red cherry. You learn something new every single day, especially when they use real fruit juice in them (you can now really taste the difference). Sometimes these are called High-C Fruit Slices to co-brand with High-C fruit drinks.
Milk Maid Royals
These rich and creamy caramels rolls are made with real milk, then filled with six different flavors of crème including chocolate, maple, vanilla, raspberry, orange and butter rum.
Peppermint Star Brites
The classic Brach's candy in every way. These are ubiquitous, and I usually tossed 2 or 3 into my bag to cleanse my palette between chocolate and caramel.
Spearmint Star Brites
These were not quite as common as the peppermint. One cool trick if these were available was to put one of each in your mouth to get that unique doublemint flavor. Doublemint turns out to be one part peppermint and one part spearmint. Yet another amazing truth bomb you just learned here.
Ice Blue Mint Coolers
These are more like the Butterscotch Disks and Cinnamon Disks in shape and theme. The flavor is a more intense peppermint than the star brites, and is commonly used as a strong breath mint. They are currently only available at CandyFavorites and they are currently sold out.
Neapolitan Coconut Sundaes
Discontinued in June 2012 and no longer available but sort of like Candy Farm's 3-Color Coconut Slices. This is a candy that should be horrible. It has chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors all mixed together with a sugary coconut base. Sounds insane... however... it is amazingly delicious. I mean, I used to only eat off the top chocolate part avoiding the strawberry at all costs. As I grew older I realized the entire thing was edible and delicious!
Chocolate Cremes
No longer available, these were sort of like Philadelphia Candies Milk Chocolate Covered Assorted Cremes. These were usually the bulk of my bag. They weighed the most, but they were worth it. I usually went for the vanilla or chocolate, but sometimes got a cherry or raspberry just to mix it up. In later years the "Chocolatey" Cremes came in Orange Sorbet, Cherry Jubilee, Double Dutch, Raspberry Parfait, and Vanilla Bean. Notice below I've included the original line-up along with the Mint Creme. I think the yellowish/orange one was actually a maple creme. At least that's what I remember: Raspberry, Vanilla, Maple, and Mint.
1972 Brach's Catalog
Because I ate so many of these, I'm doubling up on the photos. Here's the types from later years.
Later version of the Chocolatey Cremes
Mint Cremes
The original line-up of the Chocolatey Cremes featured a Brach's Mint Creme that was so good it was usually in its own bin all by itself. It might be because the mint was so strong it would pollute the other flavors, but to me it made it a lot easier to grab just the mint ones! The best ones. This page might be the only place on the entire Internet where Brach's Mint Creme candies are mentioned... What happened to them?
Jelly Bean Nougats
These honestly scared me. Originally called Jelly Nougats, they looked sort of like those dreaded fruitcake candy pieces and I wanted no part of that. Reading about them now, they sort of sound interesting... a vanilla nougat with jelly beans. I had no idea what those little jelly fruit spots were and they were suspicious. They were originally squared off and never in my bag. It is quite likely that they changed the recipe to jelly beans from "fruit pieces" when they went from square to whatever shape they are now. Now I might give them a try.
Sparkles Hard Candies
These were a complete waste of time. I don't think Brach's even makes them anymore! :-) In fact they were so horrible I could only find these two grainy images from a YouTube commercial for Brach's to prove they even existed. They came in flavors. I don't care.
Cinnamon Bears
Honestly, I don't remember these at all. I only added them when someone reminded me about them.
Cinnamon Disks
I'd finished this blog post without even remembering these. I had blocked these horrible cinnamon teeth-breakers from my memory. I then I looked at the top photo and a huge bucket of red. I never got these.
Butterscotch Disks
I always got a few of these to make my mom happy. This was her favorite, besides the holiday nougats. There was another disk that came in light blue, some sort of Mint Disk.
Golden Treasures Butter Toffee
I think these were a latter addition, but I don't know. I don't really remember these all too well, but they were included in the "Best of Pick-a-Mix" collection so they must be important. Right? They certainly look a LOT like Werther's Original Hard Candies. Just saying.
Salt Water Taffy
I do not remember Brach's salt water taffy at all. Perhaps it was because the best salt water taffy in the world is made by Mariani's down by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. That's where I got my taffy.
Milk Maid Carmel Squares
I seem to remember these coming in normal and chocolate varieties, but I can find zero evidence of chocolate milk maid caramels every existing. Perhaps only in my mind, or I am thinking of Black Cow bars. They do now come in a chocolate covered version, but that's not what I remember. That would be like Riesen.
Sour Balls
I can't find these anymore, but Charms Assorted Sour Balls are pretty much exactly the same thing. I'd almost forgotten these. I love sour candy, and these were great. I think the best part of pick-a-mix was that I could pull out the red ones and avoid the green ones.
Root Beer Barrels
There are a couple different versions of these out there now, including A&W, Dads, and IBC branded Root Beer Barrels. I haven't done a taste test yet, but these and the Reed's Root Beer candies were often in my bag. Just to switch things up a bit from all the chocolate, chews, and sours.
Fruit Barrels
Another one that I missed somehow. I never saw fruit barrels. Before my time probably. These may have transitioned to the nasty sparkles. I would have tried these over the sparkles any day of the week.
Bullies
Bullies came as both Caramel Bullies and Licorice Bullies. I didn't like either one. The vanilla one are still available, but called Vanilla Caramel Swirls. Many years ago un-sliced bullies were sold as a bar.
Chocolate Caramel Swirls
While looking for an example image of these, I found these chocolate caramel swirls on CandyWarehouse and thought I'd try them. I only remember these ever being in vanilla swirl, so this chocolate variety must be a recent addition. I would have put these in my bag if they were chocolate... vanilla, not so much.
Targets
I don't think Brach's makes these any more. Other brands call these Bulls-Eyes or Vanilla Caramel Cremes. They are a vanilla center, surrounded by caramel. I'm sure these are great, but I was more of a chocolate man.
Unwrapped Bulk Varieties
Maple Nut Goodies
These are delicious and healthy. Then have peanuts which have protein. Perfect. I think these were also pulled out of pick-a-mix when they went to packaged items only. I don't recall seeing these recently except in their own stand-alone packaging. Try some. So good!
Chocolate Stars
These were by far my favorite. If these were available, I filled the entire bottom of my bag with these, building a solid chocolate foundation to start my bag off good and heavy. These came in both milk and dark chocolate varieties, and to be honest it's really hard to tell the two apart. They look and taste the same. I love them. I still order these online once in a while in bulk.
Spice Drops
Kind of like the Perkeys, a jellied flavored gum drop covered in sugar. I think these got phased out at some point when Brach's moved to only included wrapped items.
Holiday Varieties
Christmas Peppermint Nougat
These were only available at Christmas, and when they showed up we stocked up. My mom loved these.
Halloween
I'm not sure where those peanut butter taffy's wrapped in black and orange wax paper came from. I thought it was Brach's around Halloween. Not sure, but in the meantime I certainly remember the Autumn Mix with chocolate candy corn! Chocolate candy corn!
Marshmallow Easter Eggs
Yes, I'll admit it. I have eaten these. I never really like them, but I can't seem to stay away from them. It's sort of like after a year I've forgotten that I don't like them, and they look so good! Candy Warehouse has these in stock today! Enjoy!
Explore More
Collecting Candy has an amazing site filled with scans of Brach's brochures, catalogs, and paperwork associated with their candy varieties over the years. You could spend another hour on their site looking at just Brach’s Beautiful Fall Chocolate Promotion Packet from 1972!
Commercials
Pick-a-Mix Wanted
Let me know below in the comments if you spot one of these in the wild.
It was always an adventure in a hippy fairy tale land when The Pickle Family Circus set-up camp in the San Lorenzo Park near downtown Santa Cruz. I was too young to really know that they did anything other than visit Santa Cruz from time to time, as they seemed like a gang of merry pranksters to me. I have since learned that they were a local San Francisco bay area circus that was founded in 1974, who later influenced the creation of none other than Montreal's Cirque du Soleil -- now quite famous for the many venues in Las Vegas!
To us children, it really wasn't a circus. It was an exciting adventure that revolved around jugglers, clowns, music, and many many people. The park was full of people, dancing around, shopping at the various stalls of beaded necklaces, and that familiar smokey smell of 1970s Santa Cruz herb.
The circus didn't have lions, tigers, and other animals parading around. It was very people-centric, with the jugglers working out in the crowd, passing things like flaming torches to each other as we all sat around their feet. The close confines and personal danger all were part of the intimate closeness we felt to the performers, and how we felt part of all the fun and gayety. It makes sense that Juggling is what I remember best, as in the late 1970s, that was their roots. The Pickle Family Jugglers were originally part of the San Francisco Mime Troupe before splitting off to start a circus.
The circus also had some clowns that worked the crowd, making special interuptions during the shows, and otherwise bothering everyone to the great delight of all the children! Originally there were three clowns: Larry Pisoni, Bill Irwin, and Geoff Hoyle. Bill Irwin left in 1979, and after that Pisoni and Hoyle
worked as a duo.
In the 1980 movie, Popeye, starring Robin Williams, members of the Pickle Family Circus appeared. Bill Irwin played "Ham Gravy", Larry Pisoni was "Chico", Geoff
Hoyle portrayed "Scoop", and Peggy Snider ended up playing "Pickelina". Members of the troupe also were in the James Bond move, Octopussy, which had a sub-plot that involved a circus and juggling.
The Pickle Family Circus is now a part of San Francisco's Circus Center, and you can see The New Pickle Circus every December in San Francisco, and also in other special events at other times.
Accompanying Commotion
As the official Pickle Family Circus itself only occupied one book-end of the park with its stage and set-up, the rest of the park was filled with vendors, crafts, food, paint, and musicians. The one my sister and I remember best was a rag-time banjo player who played about three different songs. We sat there and watched him, filling in a wide circle of children sitting on the grass at his feet. He kept strumming, and we kept listening. The songs filled out memories, and I can still sing them to this day:
Hello My Baby, Hello My Honey
"Hello! Ma Baby" is from 1899, written by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson
Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal. Send me a kiss by wire. Baby my heart's on fire. If you refuse me, honey you'll loose me, then you'll be left alone. Oh baby, telephone and tell me I'm your own!
You Can Roll a Silver Dollar
"Silver Dollar" was originally written by Alfred Williams around 1907 as "A Man Without A Woman"
Well you can roll a silver dollar, down upon the ground,
and it will roll, because it's round..
a woman never knows what a good man she's got,
until she turns him down...
listen my honey, now listen to me, I hope you understand, that while a silver dollar travels, from hand to hand,
a pretty woman goes from man to man (I tell you baby)
a woman goes from man to man...
Put Another Nickel In The Nickelodeon
"Music! Music! Music!" was written in 1949 by Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum. It was a #1 hit song in 1950 as sung by Teresa Brewer.
Put another nickle in, In the Nickelodeon.
All I want is love and you and music...music... music... music..
I'll do anything for you, anything you want me to, all I want is love and
you and music...
Closer, my dear, come closer, my dear, it's like that old time memory, when
you're dancing close to me,
Put another nickel in, in the Nickelodeon,
All I was is loving you and music, music, money, music...
Growing up in Santa Cruz, California, we spent a lot of time at Harvey West Park. It was where the summer day camp was held, where we learned our swimming lessons, there was a steam train to climb on, junk food to eat at the snack shack, a kiddie railroad to ride on, an old cemetery to hide in, and little league baseball games to watch. As a child, you take it all in and don't really understand the history completely. The steam engine had always been there, and that was that. As I look back, I realize there was a lot more history, memories, and details standing right in front of me the entire time.
Harvey E. West, Sr (1894-1979)
To us kids, Harvey West Park was really Harveywestpark -- one word that meant fun, sun, and running around! The fact that it was actually a person's name -- a man named "Harvey West" -- didn't really connect with us.
Harvey West was born in 1894 near Santa Cruz, just down the road in Soquel, California. He was a lumberman by trade, starting the Placerville Lumber Company in 1936. Later in life, his fortune made, he became a wonderful philanthropist. Harvey donated 27 of the 50 acres that make up the park, which was dedicated on May 30, 1959. Harvey West passed away in 1979.
The Great Big Steam Locomotive
The Southern Pacific engine #1298 was built in September 1917 as one of the last of the S-10 class 0-6-0 engines by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. There were 27 S-10s built in total during the 1913 and 1917 production runs, and only six survive to this date: Engine #1215 is in San Jose, CA; 1221 is in Deming, NM; 1233 is in Woodland, CA; 1237 is in Salinas, CA; 1238 is in Fresno, CA; and 1298 is still in Santa Cruz, CA.
Back in the 1970s, you could run around and play on both the locomotive and the oil tender. The tender was sold around 1987 to Rick Hamman as a spare for the SP C-8 2706, which are all now owned by John Manley, so the SP S-10 1298 at Harvey West Park is much less imposing than it was at one time. Sadly, it kind of looks cute now -- not the super powerful monster of steam that it once was to a child's eyes. The tender looks like a C-9 style, and carried oil to power the locomotive.
In September and October of 1987, the Santa Cruz City Council voted to sell the entire train engine and tender at the recommendation of the Parks & Rec department. There were lots of letters to the editor, and eventually only the tender was sold, but the train is no longer a playground structure -- it now has signs that stay keep off.
The S-10 was a switcher engine, doing the hard work of shuffling short cuts of cars into their places, while making up trains in the yard. These switch engines moved from rail yard to rail yard, making up freight trains, or doing short shuttling jobs of moving customer cars directly to their on-rail drop-offs. Larger facilities, such as the San Jose passenger terminal, had their own depot switchers dressed up with chrome and a more glamorous livery paint job.
Arizona Eastern Railroad #39
According to HL Broadbelt Collection, as listed in the Encyclopedia of Western Railroad History, SP steam engine 1298 began its life as the Arizona Eastern Railroad Company's number 39, and was Baldwin number 46313 built in September, 1917. Arizona Eastern merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad Co. in 1924, and #39 was re-numbered as Southern Pacific 1298. It's unknown where locomotive 1298 did the bulk of its work -- it could have been nearby at San Jose or Watsonville, or even the small switch yard in Felton, as perhaps the yard downtown at the Santa Cruz depot. Since it was originally in the Arizona Eastern fleet, it was most probably used as terminal switcher in and around San Diego, including San Diego's Santa Fe Union Depot for passenger train switching -- there were a couple 0-6-0 switchers used by the Arizona Eastern in this capacity, including ones leased back from the Southern Pacific during WW II. As of 1956, the 1298 is listed as being assigned to "Southern Pacific W" as stated in a September 30, 1956 bulletin -- where "W" could just mean West.
The engine arrived in Santa Cruz in 1961, as reported by Railroad Magazine in 1961's Volume 73-74: "The Southern Pacific's final retired steam engine, a switcher, No. 1298, has just gone to a park in Santa Cruz, California."
Specifications
Wheels: 0-6-0
Builder: Baldwin Locomotive Works
Build Date: 09/1917
Construction No.: 46313
Empty Weight: 154,600
Weight on Drivers: 154,600
Driver Diameter: 51
Tractive Effort: 29,720
Boiler Pressure: 190
Cylinders: 19x26
Fuel: Oil
Gauge: Standard
The Swimming Pool
The swimming pool was built in 1959, and featured a high dive that scared every Santa Cruz child silly. The long climb up the stairs seemed to take forever, and at the top you could literally touch the clouds on a foggy day. Looking down from the high dive, you could barely make out a small blotch of blue where you assumed the pool should be. Jumping to your death was a daunting task, made all the worse by the stories that your friends told you about the kid who was split in half when his legs flew apart. It was a rite of passage to close your eyes, step off the board, and keep your legs pressed as tightly as possible together to avoid a horrible death. The water hurt your feet as you hit it, and if you managed to hold your breath through the impact, you ended up at the bottom of a 12' deep-end looking up at a surface impossibly far away. Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation held swimming lessons at the Harvey West Park swimming pool, and that's where we all learned to swim. There were two pools: an L-shaped one with the deep-end roped off, and a kiddie pool that was always very warm. Again the rumor was that it was warm because of all the little children doing unspeakable things, but I'm now pretty sure that it was the fact that the Sun can warm up a shallow of 2' of water pretty easily!
The Snack Shack and Kiddie Train
After swimming lessons, you would run over to the snack shack and get a dixie cup of soda pop and some pink popcorn. They also had hot dogs and other classic candies from the 1970s. At the snack shack, you could buy tickets for the little kiddie train that ran down the side of the park and back. The snack shack also was the locomotive barn for this miniature train.
