Wax Bottles

Okay, you really weren’t supposed to eat them, but how were we to know? After all, they were in the candy aisle. Actually, the liquid inside was the candy, not the wax container that surrounded it – which didn’t stop us from ingesting enough wax to turn our digestive tract into a candle. That’s right, I’m talking about those little wax bottles of our youth.

Although there have been many brands of these popular treats, such as Nik L Nip, which were introduced in the 50s, most kids have always just referred to them as wax bottles. Shaped like you might imagine, each container was filled with an artificially colored and flavored syrupy liquid similar to Kool-Aid.

Just gnaw off the cap, taking care to keep the hole at the neck open so as not to restrict flow, and proceed to drench your taste buds with a shot of sweet nectar – a sugar rush and thirst quencher in every bite.

What you did from there was entirely up to you, of course. Nowhere on the package did it say not to eat the wax. Apparently, manufacturers just assumed that kids would instinctively know not to ingest the exterior.

The millions of kids that have introduced wax to their digestive system over the years prove otherwise. Luckily, nobody was ever much worse for the wear as a result of these indulgences. The evidence exists in the countless adults that consumed these little colorful cocktails in their youth, bottle and all, and survived to tell the tale.

Do you still have a soft spot in your heart for the wax bottles of yesteryear, or have they become something you wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole these days? Share your recollections of these unforgettable treats with all of us in our comments section, as we wax nostalgic over these little bottles of sugar water.