See's Candies

Maybe it’s because I am from California and there are few things from the state that are not a bit more different every year than what I remember them to be*, but I truly enjoy every single aspect of See’s Candies except one: the moment I have eaten the last one.

Whenever my mother had to run errands, she promised me and my brother a See’s lollipop if we were good. I recall the brightness of the shop, with its black and white tile floor and all white walls; it was the brightest shop in the shopping mall, where the dark colors of the 1970s and muted lighting dominated. [I also remember the uniquely shaped exterior of another now-defunct California retailer, Bullock’s – its brown brick walls moved skyward at non-perpendicular angles to the earth, forming trapezoidal mountains in my five year old mind that I could just walk up if I so desired.]

The lollipops are the tastiest pieces of hard candy I have ever had, but it’s really the chocolates that to me are the best in the world. They haven’t changed their recipes since I have been eating them, and if my parents’ enjoyment of them is any sign, they haven’t altered their recipes for at least two generations. They are chocolates that taste better than if you made them at home: there is no ingredient that is compromised, and they take all the time they need to make them, and they’ve been doing it for nearly a century (their first store opened in 1921, according to their web site).

Of course, the branding and packaging is the beginning and ending. Whenever I catch a glimpse of ad artwork, no matter where it is, that seems to be just black and white, See’s immediately comes to mind. Their artwork looks original and unchanged, so when I receive a box of chocolates, I feel I have received a bit of home that hasn’t changed and that I am guaranteed the same quality chocolate I have had my whole life. When I have savored every bit-there’s always an end to a box of chocolates, no matter how hard I try to make it last!-the box is there to remind me that hopefully in a little bit there will be another box, just as good. If the artwork’s the same, I know the chocolates will be.

*That’s a sign of getting older, isn’t it, when you recall everything used to be different (usually meaning better) in the past than it is now?