Abba-Zaba is a taffy

candy bar A candy bar is a type of portable candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate wi ...

with

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

center, made by the

Annabelle Candy Company The Annabelle Candy Company, also known as Annabelle's, is a candy manufacturer based in Hayward, California, United States. The company was founded in San Francisco, California in 1950 by Russian immigrant Sam Altshuler, who named the company af ...

Hayward, California Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in ...

History

According to the Candy Wrapper Museum, the first Abba Zaba bars were manufactured in 1922 by Colby and McDermott. Before Annabelle Candy Co. started manufacturing Abba-Zaba, the packaging featured racist imagery. Annabelle Candy Co. will only say that the wrapper has been the same for as long as they have manufactured the candy. The bar was later manufactured by the Cardinet Candy Co. along with

U-No Bar The U-NO Bar is a truffle type bar with almond bits covered in a thin layer of chocolate, and wrapped in a silver foil-like wrapper. It is comparable to a 3 Musketeers bar in appearance but has a higher fat per gram ratio. Its center is a choco ...

. Annabelle Candy purchased the Cardinet Candy Co. in 1978. Annabelle now manufactures both candy bars in addition to others. Abba-Zaba bars can be found almost exclusively west of the Rockies. The wrapper features a yellow and black checkerboard "taxi" pattern since the 1950s. They can be purchased in bulk on the web. They can also be found in candy specialty stores anywhere in the US and Canada. In 2005, Annabelle introduced an apple-flavored taffy variant of Abba-Zaba. There is also a new bar that has a chocolate taffy and contains chocolate spread and peanut butter.

In popular culture

Music * The bar was a favorite of

rock musician Rock is a genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has its ...

Don Van Vliet, who is best known by his stage name

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

. He used the bar's name as a song title on his album ''

Safe as Milk ''Safe as Milk'' is the debut studio album by American music group Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released in August 1967 by Buddah Records. A heavily blues-influenced work, the album features a 20-year-old Ry Cooder, who played guitar ...

'' in 1967. Artwork on the rear album sleeve also features a black and yellow checkerboard pattern inspired by the Abba-Zaba wrapper. * Abba-Zaba is mentioned, along with

Almond Joy Almond Joy is a candy bar manufactured by The Hershey Company, consisting of sweetened, shredded coconut topped with whole almonds and covered in milk chocolate. The company also produces Mounds bars, a similar confection without nuts, coated in ...

in the

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

song "Chocolate Jesus" that appeared on his album ''

Mule Variations ''Mule Variations'' is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Tom Waits, released on April 16, 1999, on the ANTI- label. It was Waits' first studio album in six years, following ''The Black Rider'' (1993). The album was backed by an ex ...

''. *

Fenix TX Fenix TX (styled as Fenix*TX) is an American pop punk band. The band originally formed as Riverfenix in 1995 in Houston, Texas. Under that name, they independently released an EP, '' G.B.O.H.'', and an album, '' Riverfenix'', before having to ...

included a song entitled "Abba Zabba" on their 2001 second album '' Lechuza''. Film * Abba-Zaba bars are featured prominently in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

comedy film ''

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''. Series * In HBO's ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter for the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s. The series sta ...

'' Gillian offers an Abba-Zaba bar to her grandson Tommy. * In the episode "Brenda's Unemployment" of ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American sitcom television series created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974 to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The ...

'', Brenda Morgenstern mentions wanting a Abba-Zaba bar, even though the show is set in

NYC New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

. Celebrities * Actor

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

had a sweet tooth and Abba-Zaba bars were his favorite candy. * Actress and TV host

Tiffani Thiessen Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress. Her roles as List of Saved by the Bell characters#Kelly Kapowski, Kelly Kapowski on NBC's ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993) and its Saved by the Bell#Spin-offs, spin-off me ...

counts the candy bars among her favorite snacks on set while filming episodes of ''

Saved By the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United ...

''.

References

Other sources

* {{cite journal, last=Pacyniak, first=Bernard, date=September 2004, title=Sweet on Annabelle, journal= Candy Industry Magazine, volume= 169, issue= 9, pages=18–25, issn=0745-1032

External links

Annabellecandy.com
- Official website

- Earliest known Abba-Zaba box and wrapper Candy bars Peanut butter confectionery Annabelle Candy Company brands Taffies (candy)