Waxy Witchie

Welcome to Day 31, or as we call it in the business, "The Big Dance".  Nah, nobody calls it that.  It's Halloween!!  Or Hallowe'en or even All Hallows Eve if you like to get all olde tymey.

Today's offering is possibly the smallest I've posted this season, but to me, it encapsulates the embodiment of Halloween memories in a wax shell.  In this case a wax witch.  I found this lonely witch among a miscellaneous lot of Halloween decorations at an estate sale this past summer.

She's a survivor.  I don't believe these have been made, particularly with what appears to be the "cola" flavoring, since at latest the early 1980's.  Why someone hung onto her that long and how she managed to escape melting in a drawer somewhere is a mystery.

As a kid, I was never fond of most wax treats I received in my pumpkin pail. The lips and fangs seemed to serve no purpose.  Once you wore them, then what?  I know some kids liked to chew them, but I never liked the waxy residue it left on your teeth.

But similar to their non-holiday cousin the Nik-L-Nip, the Halloween nip treats, like this witch, held a sugary syrup in a multitude of flavors. Bite her head off (or her broom straw if you're squeamish) and squeeze her life's blood, er, liquid into your mouth. Then toss her lifeless corpse into the trash. That's what makes it so amazing this one is still around.

She balances nicely on the end of her broom.

This wax witch was made by the W&F Manufacturing Company, the same company that manufactured Gurley candles of which I've previously blogged.

Courtesy collectingcandy.com

As you can see in the above ad, in addition to the witch, they had syrup-filled wax monsters, owls and skulls as well.

Courtesy collectingcandy.com

Glenn Confections, which appears to have been a division of W&F despite their different street addresses, produced wax treats as well and what appears to be a syrup-filled skeleton. They also made possibly the greatest wax treat of all time: the Wowee Whistle.

You can still buy Nik-L-Nips, now made by the Tootsie Roll company, but the Halloween versions are but a sweet syrupy memory.

And thus concludes my participation in this year's Countdown to Halloween.  I hope I've added some seasonal joy to your life or least stirred a memory and provided a smile.  And remember, don't ding dong ditch the other bloggers. Take your treat bag over to the Countdown and see what they're handing out.  It will be their treat.

Happy Halloween!