Designed to look like a 3-stage rocket, the Astro Pop variety of candy has long been a staple in Canada, and is now one of the many products that are emblematic of rising inflation.
The sucker was first introduced in 1963, and was created by two actual rocket scientists who worked at the space program for Rocketdyne in El Segundo, California.
If you're a child of the 80s or 90s like me, you'll remember buying them for 35 cents at the corner store.
If you were in your candy-manic phase between 2004 to 2012 you won't recall them at all, as they briefly went out of production, but were brought back by a Canadian company called Leaf.
Still yet, if you're a child and you're reading this today (which is highly unlikely) your first memory of these is seeing them for sale between $4 and $5.25.
I'm here to argue that, while the sticker shock may be intense, one of these candies is well worth five hundred and twenty-five pennies.
This week I was happily surprised to find them for sale at Yum on Main Street in Vancouver and picked up two, strictly for the sake of nostalgia.
Getting them home and thinking back about how they were priced 40 years ago when I last bought them, I wondered if I had actually wasted money. I concluded that the answer was hell no - these are worth it for the memories alone.
And while the price has rocketed into outer orbit, when you remove the inconvenient memory of the old price and simply stack this up against other sugary treats, the value is incredible.
How long does it take you to get through a $10 pint of ice cream? One hour at the most? An Astro Pop will bring you joy for at least two times that long, and you just might be able to get two rounds out of it if you keep the wrapper and put aside the second half for another day.
The only downside I see in Astro Pops, beyond them being wildly unhealthy, is the fact that they might not only result in cavities but also fillings being pulled completely out of your mouth, should you decide to chew them.
This is where the modern-day warnings on the packaging come in handy. They now explicitly state that "small children" are not to be given this treat and others are not to eat it "without adult supervision."
Eat an Astro Pop like a grownup and the bang will be well worth your five bucks.
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