Abba-Zaba

Abba-Zaba is a taffy candy bar with peanut butter center, made by the Annabelle Candy Company in Hayward, California.

History

According to the Candy Wrapper Museum, the first Abba Zaba bars were manufactured in 1922 by Colby and McDermott.[1] Before Annabelle Candy Co. started manufacturing Abba-Zaba, early packaging featured culturally insensitive cartoon imagery.[2][3] Annabelle Candy Co. will only say that the wrapper has been the same for as long as they have manufactured the candy. The bar was later manufactured by the Cardinet Candy Co. along with U-No Bar. Annabelle Candy purchased the Cardinet Candy Co. in 1978. Annabelle now manufactures both candy bars in addition to others.[4]

Abba-Zaba bars can be found almost exclusively west of the Rockies.[5] The wrapper features a yellow and black checkerboard "taxi" pattern since the 1950s.[6] They can be purchased in bulk on the web. They can also be found in candy specialty stores anywhere in the US and Canada.

In 2005, Annabelle introduced an apple-flavored taffy variant of Abba-Zaba.[7] There is also a new bar that has a chocolate taffy and contains chocolate spread and peanut butter.

In popular culture

Music

Film

Series

Celebrities

• The bar was a favorite of rock musician Don Van Vliet, who is best known by his stage name Captain Beefheart. He used the bar's name as a song title on his album Safe as Milk in 1967. Artwork on the rear album sleeve also features a black and yellow checkerboard pattern inspired by the Abba-Zaba wrapper.
• Abba-Zaba is mentioned, along with Almond Joy in the Tom Waits song "Chocolate Jesus" that appeared on his album Mule Variations.
• Fenix TX included a song entitled "Abba Zabba" on their 2001 second album Lechuza.

• Abba-Zaba bars are featured prominently in the 1998 Dave Chappelle comedy film Half Baked.

Other sources

External links

• Annabellecandy.com - Official website
• Candy Wrapper Museum - Earliest known Abba-Zaba box and wrapper