WAS THERE ANYTHING nicer than getting a whole 50p to spend on sweets? Of course you’d get your bars and crisps, but the real task was spending the change on penny sweets.
This is a ranking of the most popular penny sweets from worst to best - our decision is final.
Clove rock
Kind of rude that they even tried to peddle these as ‘sweets’.
White bon bons
Oh, that’s supposed to be toffee flavour? Could have fooled us.
Licorice Allsorts
They may be quite pretty to look at, but the texture is that of an old shoe. No thanks.
Black Jacks
A big fat NO to the black teeth and tongue that swiftly followed eating a Black Jack.
Bananas
They’re fine, but definitely a last resort, penny sweet-wise.
Cola bottles
These pale in comparison to their fizzy brethren.
Sour ropes
There was perhaps too much sugar to deal with here. That isn’t to say they tasted bad, but that eating one was a quick way to a sore tummy.
Green bon bons
The only bon bons that matter. However, there are points lost for the workout they’d give your jaw as you tried to chew them.
Rhubarb and custard
One of the few hard sweets that actually paid off, taste-wise. Mmm.
Refreshers
So hard to get that blue wrapper off. So hard to stop yourself eating the thing whole, blue wrapper and all.
Fizzy cola bottles
Really, the only cola bottle sweet you’d actually want. It’s all about that extra layer of sugar, man.
Milk bottles
Foamy, vanilla-flavoured goodness. Not an exciting sweet, but an essential addition to any bag nonetheless.
Those big sour keys
These could be a little more expensive (3-5p instead of 1p, perhaps) but by god did you get a lot of bang for your extra few pennies.
White mice
There’s something about that cheap white chocolate that enchants us, even now.
Milk teeth
That powdered sugar residue they’d leave on your actual teeth. Divine.
Fruit Salad
Sweet manna from heaven! (We’d totally buy a Fruit Salad-scented perfume, BTW.)
Flying saucers
Let’s consider what’s amazing about flying saucers:
- With those bright colours, they looked TERRIBLE for you, and would definitely have had your mam muttering about E numbers.
- They were filled with sugar.
- The edible paper ‘saucer’. Delightful.
- Did we mention they were filled with sugar?
No other sweet could conceivably take the top spot. Now, meet you at the corner shop for some pick’n'mix?
