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© History Oasis
How Walnettos went from a movie theater staple to discontinuation, to being revived as a niche online candy.
James N. Collins started Walnettos in Minneapolis, wrapping walnut caramels individually when competitors sold candy loose from jars. The former shoeshine boy ran his factory at 514 North 3rd Street, making just two products that reached stores nationwide.
In the Roaring 20s, Walnettos owned the movie theater candy market. Collins sent performers in Scottish kilts across America, handing out samples. By 1924, his operation was the world's largest butterscotch caramel maker, selling to every state and several foreign countries.
Collins sold his empire weeks before the stock market collapsed. Whether luck or genius, the timing saved him from financial ruin and ended the founding family's control of the brand.
World War II pushed Walnettos into the top ten American candies. Servicemen bought them at base exchanges and movie theaters, creating a military connection that would matter decades later when MREs needed candy that survived desert heat.
The Mounds and Almond Joy maker bought Walnettos after the war. Production continued with the original recipe, but the brand lost its independent identity and started its slow fade from peak popularity.
Walnettos appeared in early TV commercials on Texas stations. Puppet shows sold the candy to families watching at home, marking the brand's first attempt to reach consumers through the new medium dominating American living rooms.
Comedian Arte Johnson turned Walnettos into a punchline. His dirty-old-man character on Laugh-In used the candy as a pickup line on park benches, and suddenly everyone knew the phrase. Sales spiked as the show dominated television ratings.
Cadbury bought the brand, then discontinued the candy. The company wanted to focus only on chocolate, so Walnettos disappeared from shelves. Fans who grew up with the candy had nowhere to buy it for nearly twenty years.
Sandy Licht saw opportunity in nostalgia. He bought the dormant brand, fired up production in California, and kept everything authentic: same recipe, same vintage wrapper design. The bet paid off with customers who remembered the original.
Today, Lisa Licht runs the company her father revived. She maintains the 1919 recipe and original packaging while selling through specialty stores and online. The family business keeps producing what James Collins created over a century ago.
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