The Taste of Childhood
For me personally, the most nostalgic time was when my childhood memories were formed. It was from the early to late 90’s. The previous century had a special taste, which was for children mainly based on different sweets which were hard to resist. Sweets are often a nostalgic piece of memory and although you can’t get back to the time that’s already passed, you can reminisce by treating yourself to a piece of candy or sharing it with other people who might be interested in it. It’s also easy to compare what’s available on the market nowadays as opposed to what was available when I was a child.
Despite the fact that Latvia got its independence from USSR in 1991, things that were available on the market were mainly made in Russia or by Russian recipe. It took a couple of years until more and more sweets came from the West. A similar situation was also present in Slovenia, which got its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and it took years from that point for sweets from other parts of Europe to become more popular. Of course tastes and shopping habits vary, but few choices on the market meant that the majority of children loved to snack on similar sweets that now became a nostalgic memory and a symbol of a carefree childhood. Here are some of accessible and popular treats that were popular in Latvia and Slovenia in the 90s.
One of the most popular sweets in Latvia, especially in the summer, was Russian ice-cream (Rусский мороженое). It was pretty cheap and you could buy it in most shops. Some people referred to it as a ‘cookie’ ice-cream due to its square-shaped form with a thin waffle layer on both sides. The taste is similar to Slovenian Bled cream cake (Kremšnita), because the Russian ice-cream contains a creamier filling and the taste is quite smooth. It costs a bit more than the most basic ice-cream. Nowadays it can still be bought, even in Slovenia and other countries around the world. Another type of ice-cream was typically with two tastes – chocolate and vanilla. The ice-cream was put in a simple rectangle-shaped waffle. You could buy this most basic ice-cream for 0.08 Ls (app. 0.15 EUR). Of course, the value of money back then was different, but still it was considered cheap, since that was the price of one bus ride, which meant that you could choose either to take one bus ride or have an ice-cream and walk instead.
Source: Ua.All.biz
Another candy that was popular in Latvia at the beginning of the 90s were different types of toffee candies. One of them was Russian toffee (iris) candy (ирис конфеты), which came in different sizes and was made from darker or lighter iris cream and cocoa. There were also two major differences: one type of iris was really hard and you could only eat it as Chupa Chups (Spanish brand of lollipop), another was soft and it melted in the mouth. Over the years, these candies were outcompeted by Gotiņa (Cowy) produced by Latvian manufacturer Laima. It had similar consistency and taste. Nowadays, you can still find different Latvian toffee candies in shops, but they are not like the Russian ones.
Different chocolate bars were also popular among children. In the pictures above, you can see two chocolates that were really popular in the 90s. They were made by Latvian chocolate manufacturer Laima, but over time they were outcompeted by other chocolate bars like Snickers, Mars, etc. Bingo contained pieces of marmalade and Fregata had some special darkish filling with a soft taste. An approximate price of one piece was around 0.17 Ls (app. 0.20 EUR), that is until it was taken off the market.
There were also lots of different types of candies available on the market when I was a child in Latvia. Among the most popular ones were Chewits. Compared to other chewing gums, those had a sweeter taste. In 2015, Chewits celebrated 50 years of existence. The first Chewits were made in the 1960s by the manufacturing company Southport that spread the production across the UK and elsewhere. The original symbol of the soft taffy sweet is the Godzilla-resembling mascot hunting something to eat. Over time, Chewits became available in numerous tastes: ice cream, fruit salad, orange, cola and others. But back in the 90s, the most common one was vanilla. In the Latvian language, they are pronounced as ševits, which sounds nice and memorable to me.
Back in the day, sweet necklaces from Chupa Chups (lollipops) were also quite popular, especially among younger children. They used to wear them wrapped around their hands and when they wanted to have some, they simply bit off one by one. The same sweets were also packed in plastic packages with different cartoon heroes printed on the packaging. This sweet can still be bought for app. 0.27 EUR. It has a quite high concentration of sugar and yet a pleasant taste.
At the end of the 90s, Kinder products became more and more popular, they were produced by Italian company Ferrero. Kinder Surprise (Kinder Surpresa) and Kinder chocolate were one of the most popular ones. Kinder Surprise got its name because of toys inside the eggs. Meanwhile, the chocolate has two layers: a milk chocolate layer from the outside and a white chocolate layer inside. It has mild sweet taste. In Latvia, the lowest price for one Kinder Surprise was 0.38 Ls (app. 0.55 EUR), but nowadays – 0.71 EUR. Due to the high price, it became less popular among children in Latvia, but some still buy it. An interesting fact is that in the US these sweets are banned due to the regulation that does not allow a ‘non-food’ object inside food. Kinder Jajčka, as it is called in Slovenia, was and is still popular among Slovene children. The other popular Kinder product I mentioned – Kinder chocolate is known as Kinder Čokolada in Slovenia It was launched in 1967 and it’s a fine milk chocolate with a milky filling. One pack usually contains 4 to 40 bars. They were first made for children - the chocolate had more milk, less cocoa and had been wrapped in small portions to assist with portion control. In Yugoslavia and also Latvia, it was considered to be the best milk chocolate from foreign manufacturers.
Meanwhile, in Slovenia, Chunga Lunga can be stated as one of the most popular chewing gums, because it was also one of the few chewing gums available for children. It was rather cheap - 10 SIT (app. 0.04 EUR). However, it is rather hard and to me the taste is similar to an ordinary chewing gum without any specific taste. It’s still around and you can buy it for app. 0.09 EUR per piece.
Hubba Bubba is also a kind of chewing gum. To my taste, it’s way better than Chunga Lunga and it’s worth paying a bit higher price. It’s also lots of fun for children to blow big bubbles. Originally, it was produced by US Wm. Wrigley Jr., a subsidiary of Mars. Nowadays is made also in large chunks that are lashed and covered with a plastic round-shaped cover and with more diverse flavors like apple, strawberry, cola and others. The cost of one piece is around 0.99 EUR. It was also popular and still is available in Latvia as well as in Slovenia.
Then there was Viki Krema. It is a sweet cream spread. It tastes and looks similar to Nutella, manufactured by Ferrero. It was really popular and it was also really sweet. Children preferred small-sized package so that they could take them to school. It was also available in a jar and eaten with a piece of bread. The cost nowadays is around 8.00 EURO/1kg or 0.16 EURO for a small 20g package.
When talking about sweets in Slovenia, I have to mention ice cream. The first ice-cream on a stick was called Lučka. It dates back to 1958, when Ljubljana dairies started an industrial production of ice-cream. It is Slovenia’s first ice-cream on a stick. The original packaging had a drawing of a dark-haired girl. Over time her appearance changed, one type of packaging also includes a blond girl. The chocolate was named by the marketing person’s daughter. The name also has a positive connotation – lučka means small light. To my eye, she resembles Dee Dee from the cartoon Dexter’s Laboratory. You can still buy Lučka for app. 0.78 EUR.
In Latvia and Slovenia, children had accessibility to different sweets that were real gems. Due to historical circumstances, most of the sweets in the 90s in Latvia were Russian, even after the state gained its independence. However, this was the good side of the regime, which children had a chance to witness. A similar situation was also present in Slovenia, where sweets from Yugoslavia were the most popular ones. However, in Latvia as well as in Slovenia, local sweets were over time outcompeted by globally more popular brands. Ferrero production was the most popular in both countries mainly due to better taste. Many of the sweets can be bought also nowadays, but mainly in different packing and with more or less different taste. Various confection had a taste that cannot be that easily forgotten and made childhood memories more pleasant. The fact that you can still buy some of these products nowadays is of great value to the people who were growing up in the early 90s, especially those that had a sweet tooth, since they bring back fond memories.
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Refrences:
Refrences:
Konfektes CHCH''Saldas krelles'', 17,7g (Accessed: http://www.cenuklubs.lv/lat/iveikals/konfektes_un_sokolade/Konfektes_CHCHSaldas_krelles_177g.html)
Šokolādes batoniņi un tāfelītes (Accessed: http://www.partikasveikals.lv/_lv/index.php?productID=118072)
The Kinder Story (Accessed: http://www.kinder.co.uk/en/the-kinder-story?formatoData=%24dataFormat.data&birthdayDate=&d=12&m=06&y=1958&parent=0)
Why are Kinder Surprise eggs illegal in the USA? (Accessed: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/why-are-kinder-surprise-eggs-illegal-in-the-usa-10055273.html)
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