Elder Select

About Elder Select

For so many Americans, “old time candy” is fascinating. Orange, banana-flavored circus peanuts?  Horehound candy?? Penny candy?? But for the many elders amongst us (including several on the True Treats staff) “old time” candies are literally a taste of the past, conjuring memories and feelings of fun. They are flavors well-worth returning to – and sharing. So, we are happy to provide our truly old-time candy, and the memories that come with each, to those who deserve them the most. We are happy to discuss the best options for all our categories and adjust the products at a small, additional fee.

Who We Are

From the nation’s only award-winning historical candy company, a selection of 500+ sweets, treats, teas, and other treasures your residents will love. Our products range from the old-time candy they remember or read about in books, whether horehound or authentic Turkish Delight. We also have low-sugar items, such as teas and a variety of biscuits, crackers, and even popcorn.

ALSO: Each product comes with its own story, whether a label or tag attached to the bags or boxes used as gifts or prizes. Our programs include a cheat sheet for leaders and, in many cases, a descriptive page for participants.

About: The nation’s only award-winning historical candy company, True Treats has been honored by 50+places, such as the Food Network, PBS, delish.com and was even one of the questions on the quiz show Jeopardy. We sell at our award-winning store in Harpers Ferry, as well as to select specialty stores and museum gift stores across the nation, such as Mount Vernon and the Museum of the Bible. Our president, Susan Benjamin, regularly discusses sweets and treats on the History Channel, New York Times, ABC and NPR programs and podcasts, among countless others. Susan’s tenth book: “Sweet as Sin: The Unwrapped Story of how Candy Became America’s Favorite Pleasure” was on Smithsonian’s Best Books about Food. She is currently working on her eleventh book, due out in 2024: American Fun Foods.

We would be happy to meet with you for a tasting and to create an affordable and enjoyable plan for your residents. You can reach us by phone: (304) 535-8904. By mail: maryann@truetreatscandy.com, and by mail: P.O. Box 201 Harpers Ferry, WV  25425

AND YES – We take requests from your residents about the favorite or hard-to-find candies they love!

Overview

Gifts. Our gift boxes and bags range from tasters to full-fledged boxes and baskets. We have numerous options and would be happy to create a special box for events such as milestone birthdays – including centenarians! – at a small additional charge. Should your residents need a gift for a child or grandchild, our offerings include toys and treats, festive bags, and alcohol-flavored truffles. We are happy to discuss the best product for your resident with you.

See our full selection of gift boxes at our website: www.truetreatscandy.com.

Bags

Our bags are great for numerous purposes and come in three sizes:

Tasters: 2 ounces

Use: Treats, special occasions, good for large numbers of people

Comes in: Small recyclable bag with easy-open tie and label

Premium Assortment: 4 ounces

Use: Prizes, gifts

Comes in: Recyclable bag tied with ribbon and an assortment of candy

Gold Assortment: 8 ounces

Use: Prizes, gifts for special occasions, such as milestones, welcome bags

Comes In: Tied recyclable bag with a festive ribbon and a lively assortment, containing loose candy, bite-size pieces, and small packages or mini-boxes.

Bag Options

The following options are guides to help you select the best treats for your residents. Want bags with only one kind of candy?  Don’t see what you like? Go to our website or feel free to ask. Web products receive a 10% discount. 

Texture

When you want to focus on specific textures, depending on dental issues, health concerns, or general preferences.

• Hard: Sour Balls Butterscotch, Sticks, Reeds, Clove Balls…
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95
• Hard Filled: Raspberry-Filled, Strawberry-Filled, Zotz, Napoleons…
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95
• Melt-in-Your-Mouth: Pulled Creams, French Creams, Caramel Creams, Angel Mints,
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95
• Chewy: Toffees and Taffies
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95
• Fun:  Fruit Stripe Gum, Pixy Stix, Pop Rocks, Lollipops…Highly textured/flavorful
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95

Style

Used to stoke memories and have fun. A small number of these candies are on the mainstream market. Most are hard-to-find or have vanished and returned.

• Penny Candy. A variety found in penny candy stores, many familiar, others forgotten. Includes gum drops, circus peanuts, Pixy Sticks, pulled creams, and traditional All created in the late-1800s to early 1930s and popular for decades thereafter.
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95

• Nostalgic. “Count candy” which were not weighed but sold by the piece, wrapped and ready to go. These include mini candy bars, chewing gum, peppermint sticks, caramels, and Lifesavers. Made between the 1800s and early 1930s, these were popular through the early 1970s.
  • Taster: $2.00
  • Premium: $4.00
  • Gold: $7.90

• Cold War Favorites. The zip and jazz of candy from the 1950s-1970s, such as Zotz, Satellite Wafers, Napoleon Sours, Fireballs, and Red Hots among many others.
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95

• Yesterday’s Medicines (Today’s Delights). Have fun enjoying the flavors – and sweets – that were used as medicines for centuries. These includes NECCO Wafers and Turkish Delights (once throat lozenges) and hard candy with medicinal flavors such as peppermint, sassafras, and lemon, many made with a 1920s pill capsule mold.
  • Taster: $2.00
  • Premium: $4.00
  • Gold: $7.90
• Time Periods/Historic. When you want treats that engage your residents. They make great discussion vehicles and are a great add-on to a presentation, movie, or other event. We also provide these candies to museums around the country such as Mount Vernon, the Museum of the Bible, and the Deadwood Museum in South Dakota.
  • Taster: $2.50
  • Premium: $5.00
  • Gold: $8.87

• First in History (Pre-history)
  • Taster: $2.50
  • Premium: $5.00
  • Gold: $8.87

• 1500s-1700s
  • Taster: $2.00
  • Premium: $4.00
  • Gold: $7.90

• 1800s
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95

• 1900s
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95

• Revolutionary War
  • Taster: $2.00
  • Premium: $4.00
  • Gold: $7.90

• Civil War
  • Taster: $2.00
  • Premium: $4.00
  • Gold: $7.90

• World Wars
  • Taster: $1.50
  • Premium: $3.00
  • Gold: $5.95

Non-Candy. An increasing array of historic snacks such as Native American fruits and berry blends as well as Biblical snacks, such as unprocessed Carob pieces. Also includes 1700s tea biscuits, popcorn from all time periods, and more. Please ask about options and prices.

See more of our selections at truetreatscandy.com

Programs

Our short programs are intended to provide a fun, memorable, and highly interactive event for participants. Each one is customizable and generally includes everything you need to host it. Some sell for “sets.” For example, our Trivia games come in sets of three, with 12 possible options. Minimum participants – 10. Please ask for the prices of each. Turn-around time is usually one week, although we are happy to supply programs you can use for a month. Discussion points are provided for most of the programs. Minimum order: 15

Quizzes, Games, and Q&As

• Candy Trivia. A ready-to-go game of candy trivia – the game where you eat the answers. We supply Trivia Keepsake Cards plus a Cheat Sheet for the Leader, Prizes for Winners, and Runner Up Prizes for everyone else. Twelve trivia games to choose from. Price per person: $2.75
• Candy Bingo. A bingo game unlike any other, where the pieces are made of candy and the prizes are edible and fun. Comes with Bingo cards, Traditional Bingo Chips, but these are made of candy, Prizes for Winners, and Runner Up Prizes for everyone else. Price per person: $2.75
• Guess that Snack. The leader tells participants a tag line from a famous candy or snack and participants guess what it refers to. Prizes for Winners (the correct answer) and Runner Up Prizes for everyone else. The first-place winner gets a larger prize. Comes with tag lines, a cheat sheet, and the product. Price per person: $2.00 per person
• Q&As. A fun game where participants answer questions about eight products, such as the date they appeared, how they got started, how people used them, which were considered a health food, etc. The questions are meant to be challenging, fun, yet manageable. As the event proceeds, participants learn more about the history of candy, snack food, and even history and the questions become easier to answer. Comes with questions and answers for activity leaders. Each participant gets a bag of candy. The top three winners get a prize at the end. Price per person. $2.50

Movies and Media

• Movies with Candy and Treats in them. Candy plays a bigger role in movies than you think – until you watch our movie/TV videos. Segments are between five and 10 minutes long, with approximately five segments. Comes with bags so you can eat along! True Treats supplies movies, treats, and discussion points for breaks and before-and-after the show. Price per person: $2.50
• Candy with Candy Ads. A hilarious compilation of TV and movie theater ads of classic candy with the chance to taste-as-you-go. Brings up fun memories AND YES! Participants can guess how many licks it takes to eat a Tootsie Roll Pop. Price per person: $2.50
• Old Time Radio Shows. Host radio day once a week or once a month or whenever you like. Pick from a variety of old-time radio shows, such as comic classics like Burns and Allen, murder mysteries, like Sam Spade, or cowboy classics like the early Bonanza. Each episode is approximately 30 minutes, although some can be shorter. Comes with radio days snack food, such as chips and dips, sweets, or cheese and crackers or candy and discussion points for after the show. Fun for all, even those growing up exclusively in the TV Age. Price per person: $3.25. Candy only: $2.00

Tastings

• Guess that flavor. History never tasted so sweet, so familiar, or so surprising in the fun and festive blind candy tasting. Whoever gets the most flavors right, gets the prize. Contains traditional flavors such as sorghum and horehound, as well as grape, sassafras, and other more familiar ones! Comes in a bag with five, small, bottled water and soup crackers for palate cleansing, and a cheat sheet for the activity leader. Price per person: $2.50
• Tea Tasting. A wonderful time for all! Participants select from three different botanical teas, such as hibiscus, rose, orange peel and many others. True Treats will supply taster cups, bagged tea, a variety of sugars, and the story of each selection. ALSO: small, bottled water and soup crackers to cleanse the palate. All you need to add is the hot water. Price per person: $3.00
• Hot Chocolate Tasting. A taste of three different kinds of chocolate drinks, from the first ever through the modern ages. True Treats supplies all the dry ingredients and quick and easy cooking directions. Also comes with a voting card to see which the participants liked best. Hot chocolate from the ancients through the 1800s does require a small amount of preparation. We provide directions. Price per person: $3.00
• Tastings of specific kinds or styles of candies from early history to now. Comes with six sample pieces, small, bottled water and soup crackers for palate cleansing, and a cheat sheet for the activity leader. You may want to host a monthly or even weekly tasting group. Price per person: $2.50

Options can include the following – or let us recommend:

1. 1. Time periods: Such as 1700s, 1800s, Cold War period, or others
   2. Survey Timeline: From first ever to 1970s with representative candies
   3. Type: Story of chocolate, licorice, gummies, hard candies, or other favorites

• I remember! Classic candies just about everyone over 60 remembers and their parents and grandparents also liked, such as circus peanuts and rock candy on a string. The idea is for participants to eat the candy then say what they remember about it. Prompts and story lines will be included to encourage conversation. Comes with a cheat sheet telling the story of each. Cost per person $2.00
• Tasting Groups: Small groups, usually 3-4 at a table, taste and review various sweets and snacks from a menu you pick before-hand. Then, each group picks their favorites. The winning selection will be announced, and a sample may be given to all residents. Samples can contain sugar, such as candy, or snacks such as potato chips in a small, manageable quantity. The tasting is blind. Participants learn the identity after each tasting round and the story of each one. Cost per person $2.00 for candy only. $4.00 for non-candy items or mix.

Parties and Other Gatherings

Our party set-ups can be adjusted to size and style of candy or snack food. Please ask for prices, as our offerings vary depending on the items you select. We will be happy to discuss particulars, so you are certain to have the products you want. Prices will follow accordingly.

Birthday Parties

Pick the style, time-period or theme that interests you from our selection, or we’ll pick for you. Then, we’ll do the rest. Option to include small birthday instruments!

Includes Birthday Card for Celebrants

Birthday Bags – First of Month gift for everyone with birthday celebrants prominently displayed

• Birthday Bags for everyone (suggested size: taster)
• Birthday Cards and Bags for Celebrants (premium or gold)

Milestone birthday bags are available by request or as listed on our website. 10% discount applies. 

Birthday Party

• One birthday bag per person
• Birthday cupcakes, cookies, non-sugar snack treats
• Birthday Card

Birthday Party – Complete Package

• Party Invitations
• Birthday Bags with birthday label
• Birthday cupcakes or cookies
• Historical Party Thank You cards
• Drink Mix or Old Time Soda
• Birthday Gift (Small) or select from our offerings at 15% discount

Birthday Parties – Monthly

Any of the above at 10% Off                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Movie Night

Why not host a movie night with an old-time concession stand complete with theater-style popcorn, mini-size movie theater candies such as Mike n’ Ikes, Raisinets, Goobers, finger-food size hot dogs and more. Can include movie sodas and old-time lemonade or limeade powder. Comes in bulk and large or small sizes.

Tea Party

Choose from Tue Treats’ 50-plus teas, including Early Grey, rose petal, lavender, hibiscus, and authentic period mixed blends. Options include tea biscuits, select sweeteners, complementary sweets and nuts, a mini tea “kit” with extra fill your own tea bags, and bamboo spoons. All selections come with a True Treats’ Tea Guide.

Parties

Are your residents looking to throw a party at your location? We have kits that your residents can purchase, or you can provide including favors, cards, cakes, and cupcakes. Or get the full set, including unique old-time invitations, thank you cards, and birthday cards from Victorian to the crazy ‘60’s styles. We can also provide old time sodas, including legendary favorites such as Moxie and Nehi Grape.

Game Night

Game night has been a favorite pastime since the late 1800s and for every game was a collection of sweets and treats used for sustenance and enjoyment. True Treats kits include a variety of favorites such as bridge mix, mini sausages (refrigeration not needed) nuts, and other finger foods enjoyed at game night for over 100 years. These snacks were meant to be easy-to-reach, non-greasy, and fun. Board games, cards, dice and others are available upon request.