The most interesting part of the candy shell addition is that the grape ones were no longer purple, they’re now blue (but thank goodness they’re not the blue punch flavor of SweeTart).

In the early 1990s Tart n Tinys were reintroduced with a new colorful candy shell (more like mini Spree than mini SweeTart now). Sunline products (SweeTart, Sprees and Bottle Caps) were then branded under the Wonka label as well. Nestle eventually made some changes to the candies, mostly because they had also recently acquired the Sunline brand of SweeTart confections in their takeover of Rowntree (who bought Sunline in 1986). In 1988 Breaker Confections sold the brand to Nestle. The texture always seemed a bit smoother than SweeTart, which had a chunky and gritty texture (which I also appreciate). The original flavors were Cherry, Lemon, Lime, Grape and Orange. The little chalky pellets were fun to sort and stack, simple to share and easy to portion. However loosely tied Tart n Tinys were to Wonka’s imagination, I loved them. The Wonka line of candies were largely a marketing invention, the only candy in the original line up of confections that was actually mentioned in the book were Everlasting Gobstoppers. The book (called Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl was published in 1964 and already wildly popular as was James and the Giant Peach which came out in ‘61.) (Nerds are still sold in this format.) They were made by Willy Wonka Candy Company, which was founded by Breaker Confections in 1971 just in advance of the feature film, Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. They were tiny little pellets of tart candy, kind of like SweeTart, only sold in a small cigarette-pack-sized box that dispensed the candies from a little slip-tab at the top. Way back in the day there was a cute little candy called Tart n Tinys.

Tart and tiny