Spangles

Spangles were square boiled sweets, bought in a paper tube with individual sweets cellophane wrapped. They were manufactured by Mars Ltd in the United Kingdom from 1950 to the early eighties. They were distinguished by their shape which was a rounded square with a circular depression on each side.

Regular Spangles

The regular Spangles tube (labelled simply "Spangles") contained a variety of translucent, fruit flavoured sweets: strawberry, blackcurrant, orange, pineapple, lemon and lime.

Originally the sweets were not individually wrapped, but later a waxed paper, and eventually a cellophane wrapper was used. The tube was a bright orange-red colour, bearing the word "Spangles" in a large letters. In the seventies a distinctive, seventies-style font was used.

Over the production period many different, single flavour varieties were introduced including Acid Drop, Barley Sugar, Blackcurrant, Liquorice, Peppermint, Spearmint and Tangerine.

Old English Spangles

The Old English Spangles tube contained traditional English flavours such as liquorice, mint humbugs, cough candy, butterscotch and pear drops. One of the flavours was an opaque mustard yellow colour, and one was striped.

The sweets' individual wrappers were striped, distinguishing them from regular Spangles. The tube was black, white and purple, and designed for a more mature and specific clientele than the regular variety.

Mystery Spangles

At one point a mystery flavour was released where the wrappers had question marks on them and one was invited to guess the flavour. It is not known whether this flavour was ever officially revealed. Later, circa 2001, Starburst candy also included a mystery flavour. Starburst is also a Mars confectionery product.

Discontinued

Spangles were discontinued in the early eighties, and briefly reintroduced in 1995. There are many nostalgic references to them from children who grew up with them. Spangles are associated with the 1970s and they, like Space Hoppers, have become shorthand for lazy nostalgia, as in the phrase "Do you remember Spangles?" [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh2004/story/0,,1281129,00.html Stewart Lee, Underbelly, Edinburgh | Stage | guardian.co.uk ] ] [ [http://www.sfdiplomat.net/sf_diplomat/2007/12/do-you-remember.html SF Diplomat: Do You Remember Peter Kay? the long slow death of the lowest common denominator ] ]

Today the Tunes brand is the only remaining relation of the Spangles brand, sharing the shape and wrapping of the original product. In the UK, Tunes no longer have the Spangles style packaging, and they are now lozenge-shaped.

In popular culture

Spangles were mentioned in the Kinks hit song "Art Lover". In 1977, British novelty pop band Lieutenant Pigeon released an instrumental single entitled "Spangles".

The Fall song "It's a curse" on the album "The Infotainment Scan" also includes a reference to Spangles.

References