– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young – - Another piece of my childhood ripped away

– Time For A Tiara: Column by Ginna Young –

Included in the list of smells I never want to forget, is Fruit Stripe gum – and let’s hope that scent is forever imbedded in my memory, because the company just announced they are discontinuing the brand.

At first, I thought it was just one of those “clickbait” articles on Facebook, that sucker you in and before you know it, you’re reading a mile-long article that says allllllll the way at the end, that it’s simply an ingredient in a product that is actually being discontinued and not the entire brand.

Nope, it was all too true, as confirmed by multiple sources on the internet. I instantly felt a piece of my childhood crumble into ruin and mourned the loss. As often as a few months ago, when I ran out and purchased a different kind (I like to mix it up, so I don’t get bored), I was still chewing the gum.

Of course, with my analytical mind, I started wondering about the history of the childhood favorite.

I discovered that the chewing gum was originally produced by Beech-Nut in 1960, but the Farley’s & Sathers Candy Company acquired the brand in 2003. They, in turn, merged with Ferrara Candy Company in 2012.

Each individual piece of fruity gum is striped in colorful lines and packaged in zebra-striped wrappers, which also acted as temporary tattoos. I know some liked the tattoos, but I could never get them to stick. I did like the packaging, though, with the very happy black and white zebra mascot grinning at me from the front of the tropically-colored package.

Flavors included wet ’n wild melon, cherry, lemon, orange and peach smash, and apparently, during the late 1970s, there was a chocolate version named chocolate stripe. Didn’t know that one! Frankly, I’m not sure it sounds good to me, but I would have tried it as a kid, cause any kind of gum or candy was a treat, whether it tasted good or not.

When I saw the news about the discontinuation, it brought back a flood of memories from older, better times and the excitement of a brand new pack of the gum. It was kind of hard lately to tell the difference between the flavors, but when I was younger, I definitely knew which tasted better.

Maybe the recipe changed over time, or maybe my taste buds aren’t as discerning.

I thought perhaps I could stock up for a while, anyway, but when I searched quick online, it looks like the brand has already been pulled from shelves.

Even Amazon didn’t have any to ship. Uh, OK, so, no farewell tour, huh? We at least had enough warning to buy a few (dozen) Choco-Tacos before they were gone forever(?), more’s the pity on that! Not so with Fruit Stripe.

Unless someone knows a place to get them fast, I guess all I’m left with, are my cherished memories of the best five seconds of flavor you’ll ever have.