The Discontinued Puzzle Candy You Probably Forgot About

We never forget the nostalgic candy we begged our parents for during childhood. Depending on the generation you grew up in, this may include long-gone confections from the 1970s or some of the discontinued snacks of the 1990s. One often overlooked candy existed during both of these eras, and part of the sentimentality is that it was not only sweet, but entertaining.

Debuting in the 1970s, Mr. Bones was a unification of candy and jigsaw puzzle wrapped into one product. Each plastic casket package contained several SweeTarts-adjacent candies shaped like pieces of a puzzle. The candy pieces fit together to construct Mr. Bones, a skeletal confectionary figure that was whimsical and interesting compared to a humdrum Hershey's chocolate bar. 

Not every package held all the necessary parts to put Mr. Bones together; but, if you could hold off devouring the sweets until you purchased a few more packs and acquired all the parts, Mr. Bones could be constructed right before your eyes. The appeal of being able to play with your food was a hit for a spell, but the candy-toy hybrid was discontinued in the '90s.

In the 1970s, Vero Ricci was hard at work creating Garbage Can-dy for the Topps company. The strange treats were shaped like little fish bones, old tennis shoes, and other bits of trash (thankfully not reflective of the actual taste); what's more, it was all housed inside a plastic garbage can — a perfect example of why some snacks are discontinued for good reason. When the trash can container no longer held Ricci's interest, he came up with the unusual concept of putting candy in a harrowing casket, and the idea took off.

Ricci's invention was produced by the Fleer organization, the first company to commercially sell bubble gum. Fleer stopped producing the confection well before the 2000s saw several more foods become discontinued, much to many a child's dismay. If you are lucky, you can still snag Mr. Bones candy from third-party sellers, although bear in mind the sweets are decades old. You may not want to eat it, but you can still entertain yourself by putting the discontinued candy together and reminiscing over fond memories.