Reggie!
With its bright orange wrapper, emblazoned with the image of future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, it was hard to miss the Reggie! bar in the candy aisles. Making its major league debut in 1978, the Reggie! bar didn’t enjoy the same longevity of its namesake, but it was a fine confection, fondly remembered by many to this day.
It all started when Jackson was playing for Baltimore. The rarely modest ballplayer remarked to the press one day that if he was playing in New York, they would name a candy bar after him. The following year, he was traded to New York, and the Wayne candy company decided to make his prediction come true.
They already had a candy bar called the Wayne Bun which wasn’t exactly flying off the shelf, so they changed the wrapper and name, and the Reggie! bar was ready to make its debut on opening day of the 1978 season. Each fan that arrived at the home opener against the White Sox received their very own Reggie! bar.
What those fans received consisted of a round patty of caramel and peanuts that were dipped in a layer of milk chocolate. It bore a resemblance to the GooGoo Cluster candy bar, but without the layer of marshmallow. Not exactly a groundbreaking innovation in the world of confections, but not a bad candy bar either.
Reggie Jackson and his candy bar both hit a home run on that April evening at Yankee Stadium, although the slugger wasn’t sure that the crowd liked the Reggie! bar, since they kept throwing them onto right field. He later realized that it was a celebratory gesture from the New York fans, not a judgment.
Reggie! bars sold reasonably well through the remainder of the decade, but but not long into the 80s, Reggie would don a California Angels uniform and the Reggie! bar would soon be inducted into the extinct foods hall of fame. The bar enjoyed a brief return when the slugger received his own Hall of Fame induction in 1993, but it now belongs to the ages.
Do you remember eating the Reggie! candy bar? Do you wish they would bring it back? I’d love to hear all of your thoughts and recollections in our comments section below, as we tip our hat to Mr. October and his rather tasty candy bar.
I loved that candy bar and now I have Goo Goo Clusters shipped to me, but they are a “plan B” in this candy saga that I’m having. I would have The Reggie! Bar delivered to my front door every week if they brought it back!
I remember these particularly as I sometimes went to the advertising agency my mom worked at for years in Melville, LI, which shall remain nameless, although they also handled advertising for The NY Islanders, and being a major ad. agency, some of the folks working there would get advance products and wholesale stuff, or stuff they were promoting or trying to snag as clients as well, I recall being handed on one visit, some early version of a health bar or meal replacement metrix type bar (not sure of the brand), and the eponymous Reggie Bar, one of the ad men handed us some when they were barely on the market yet or whatever. Loved it!