RustyC

The real problem with all this is that it's hard to be an independent candy maker and get distribution because of all the consolidation to either Hershey or M&M/Mars. Maybe you can go high-end and try to crack a place like Walgreen's (the Ghirardelli route), but you need something with staying power, and in a consolidation environment "success" can mean an offer to buy your brand out, but if you refuse the spurned acquirer could come up with a copycat and try to run you out (like Krackel bars vs. Nestle crunch, though Nestle is big enough globally to hang in there).

There was a lot more diversity when I was 5 or 6 years old and could ride my bike to the 7-Eleven. Milk Shake bars were a real fave. I liked the Spree rolls and Necco wafers, and the Chuckles were good as well.

I remember taking the Motown tour in Detroit about 13 years ago. In the old office they had a (non-active) preserved vending machine from 1967-ish with the pull knobs and Milk Shake, Chuckles and 3 other candy types from then in the window.