Everyone Seemed To Cut Their Tongue On This Nostalgic Hard Candy

Hard candy has been around for just about forever. If you think that's hyperbole, then you'd be surprised to know that even the ancient Egyptians made hard candy. But in more recent times, hard candies are often associated with childhood memories of your Halloween basket or the bottom of your grandma's purse. For as sweet as they were to savor, some types of candy might conjure more negative memories of jagged edges that were downright damaging to your taste buds.

A great example is the root beer barrel. While these tiny vintage candies are largely forgotten today, you can still find them in old-fashioned candy stores or Amish markets. Many people remember their deliciously spicy-sweet taste. But just as many people remember the cuts they'd leave in your mouth after sucking on them for a while.

Why did these little barrels have a tendency to slice up your mouth? Candy fans on Reddit seem to attribute it to two main theories. The first blames the factory mold: That seam on the side of the barrel could act as a razor-sharp edge when you sucked on it. Another theory suggests that there were air pockets inside the candy, so when you'd suck on them for long enough, it'd wear down into a crater with jagged edges. Either way, it's hard to forget that feeling of aching pain in your mouth mixed with that sugary sweetness.

Although there are generic versions, the most famous brand of root beer barrels is Dad's Root Beer Barrels. Individually wrapped with a retro red, yellow, and blue logo, these little suckers are a longtime favorite of old-school penny candy stores. They are appropriately named after Dad's Old-Fashioned Root Beer, a soda brand founded in the 1930s in Illinois. The soda peaked in popularity around the 1940s, but you can still find it in stores like Cracker Barrel today, along with its candy counterpart. That signature spicy root beer flavor comes from sassafras and sarsaparilla root — but luckily, only the candy is famous for hurting your mouth.

Of course, root beer barrels aren't the only sweets that are capable of inflicting pain. Sour candies like Warheads or cinnamon-spicy Atomic Fireballs have always been an abrasive culinary experience, if you can call it that. And let's not forget the frighteningly-named jawbreaker that is at least capable of chipping your teeth. Perhaps kids just love the thrill of danger as much as they do the sugar rush.