Food and Beverage
Now and Later: The Candy That Taught Us Patience (and Stuck to Our Teeth)
A nostalgic look at Now and Later candy, its history, bold flavors, and why cherry remains a childhood favorite for generations.
Assorted flavors of Now and Later candies, a chewy taffy made by Farley’s and Sathers and sold in the United States. Image Credit:
Now and Later candy has been a staple of American childhood for generations, known for its bold fruit flavors and famously long-lasting chew. First introduced in 1962, the candy became a cultural icon of corner stores, schoolyard trades, and after-school treats. Among its many flavors, cherry stood out as a fan favorite—delivering a rich, lingering taste that made Now and Later more than just candy, but a shared memory of growing up.
A Candy Built to Last
Now and Later candy was introduced in 1962 by the Phoenix Candy Company, and its name was more than clever branding. It was a promise. You could enjoy it now—and still be chewing it later. Unlike many candies that dissolved quickly, Now and Later were intentionally firm, almost stubbornly so. They softened as you chewed, rewarding patience with long-lasting flavor.
That firmness became part of the experience. You didn’t rush a Now and Later. You worked through it.
Cherry: The Standout Flavor
While the brand offered plenty of bold fruit options—grape, apple, strawberry, watermelon—cherry stood apart. It wasn’t subtle. It was rich, sweet, slightly tart, and unmistakably artificial in the best possible way. Cherry didn’t fade quickly either. It lingered, coating your taste buds and staying with you through the entire chew.
Ask anyone who grew up with Now and Laters, and many will tell you the same thing: cherry was the one you hoped to pull from the pack.
A Ritual, Not Just a Candy
Now and Laters weren’t just eaten—they were managed. Some kids warmed them in their pockets to soften them. Others bit off tiny pieces to make them last longer. There were unspoken rules: don’t pull too hard, don’t rush it, and never assume you’d be done in five minutes.
In a way, Now and Later taught a small lesson in patience—long before we had endless scrolling, instant gratification, or same-day delivery.
A Cultural Snapshot of Childhood
Candy like Now and Later represents a time when small pleasures mattered. A quarter or a dollar could buy a moment of joy that lasted through recess, the walk home, or an afternoon bike ride. You didn’t need a screen or a subscription—just a square of candy in a bright wrapper.
It’s no coincidence that Now and Later remain deeply nostalgic for people who grew up in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. They’re tied to a physical, tangible childhood—one where time moved slower and experiences lasted longer.
Still Around, Still Remembered
Though ownership of the brand has changed over the years, Now and Later still exist today, and the flavors remain recognizable. But for many, the real magic lives in memory: that first bite, that stubborn chew, and that unmistakable cherry taste that refused to quit.
Some candies are forgettable. Now and Later—especially cherry—weren’t.
They didn’t just give us something sweet.
They gave us something to hold onto.
Want to get the full story? The links below dive deeper into the history of Now and Later candy, its flavors, and why it’s still remembered decades later. If this sparked a few childhood memories, they’re worth checking out.
- Official Now and Later Brand Page (Ferrara Candy Company)
- The History of Now and Later Candy – CandyHistory.net
- Now and Later Candy History – OldTimeCandy.com
- A Brief History of Now and Later Candy – Mental Floss
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Recipe of the Week
Jumpstart Busy School Mornings with Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos
Hectic school mornings get much easier when breakfast is already waiting in the fridge or freezer. These Healthy Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos can be assembled in advance, frozen individually and easily reheated for quick, filling meals to keep your family going through the day.
(Feature Impact) Hectic school mornings get much easier when breakfast is already waiting in the fridge or freezer. These Healthy Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos can be assembled in advance, frozen individually and easily reheated for quick, filling meals to keep your family going through the day.
Eggs, cheese and black beans supply protein to fuel kids for gym class or sports, while vegetables, beans and whole-grain tortillas add complex carbohydrates and fiber to stave off hunger until lunch. Breakfast burritos also make for a hearty, grab-and-go option for adults heading off to work.
One of the best things about homemade breakfast burritos is how easily they can be customized to fit each family member’s unique nutritional needs and preferences. If you’re making a batch for the whole family, prepare a basic filling and let everyone choose their own combination of ingredients. Spice fiends might want to add jalapenos or hot sauce, while vegetable lovers can pack in sauteed broccoli or diced roasted sweet potatoes. Just remember to label the different varieties separately before storing, e.g. “Mild” and “Spicy.”
Although it’s best to avoid mixing in ingredients that don’t freeze well – like avocado or fresh tomatoes – you can always serve the reheated burritos with a side of guacamole or pico de gallo for even more flavor and nutrition.
Find more school-year meal prep inspiration at Culinary.net.
Healthy Make-Ahead Breakfast Burritos
Recipe adapted from The Gracious Pantry
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- 1 cup cooked black beans
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 tablespoons salsa
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk, water or dairy milk
- 4 large whole-grain tortillas
- 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- In pan over medium heat, heat olive oil. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted.
- Stir in cooked black beans, cumin, smoked paprika, salsa and salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from heat.
- Whisk eggs with milk or water. In nonstick skillet over medium heat, scramble until just set; avoid overcooking. Season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Lay tortillas flat. Divide eggs, veggie-bean mixture and cheese across each. Roll into burritos then toast, seam side down, in dry skillet to seal.
- Remove from pan and let cool. Wrap in parchment then foil. Freeze up to 2 months.
- To reheat, remove foil and parchment. In microwave or oven, heat until warmed through.
Notes: To prevent tortillas from becoming soggy, let filling cool to room temperature before assembling burritos.
Burritos can be warmed from frozen or, for best results, thawed overnight in refrigerator before reheating.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
SOURCE:
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The Knowledge
When Did Water Vending Machines Become a Thing?
When did water vending machines appear in America? Explore their history from a 1908 penny water vendor to the refill machines of the 1970s and 1980s.
You’ve probably seen them hundreds of times.
They sit outside supermarkets, convenience stores and shopping centers—or sometimes stand alone in small roadside kiosks. You bring an empty bottle, usually one, three or five gallons, put in some money, push a button and watch purified water pour into your container.
For many people in California, Arizona and other parts of the American West, water vending machines seem like they’ve simply always been there.
But when did we actually start buying water this way?
The answer takes us back more than a century, although the machines we recognize today didn’t really arrive until the 1970s.
The Water Vending Machine’s Surprising Ancestor
The story begins in Boston in 1908 with a man named Lawrence Luellen.
Luellen was working on something that sounds surprisingly modern: a machine that would allow someone to pay a penny and receive a clean drink of water in an individual disposable cup.
At the time, public drinking water was often consumed from a communal cup or metal dipper—a practice that increasingly worried public-health officials because of the potential spread of disease.
Luellen developed a paper drinking cup along with what became known as the Luellen Cup & Water Vendor. The porcelain machine contained water, ice, disposable cups and a place for discarded cups.
For one penny, a customer could get a drink of cold water in a fresh cup.
Historical records at Lafayette College’s Hugh Moore Dixie Cup Company Collection show that Luellen completed work on the vending apparatus in early 1908. His company, the American Water Supply Company of New England, was incorporated on April 4 of that year.
There was just one problem.
The complete water machine was expensive to manufacture.
The company eventually concentrated on selling the disposable cups and cup dispensers instead. Those cups ultimately evolved into one of America’s most recognizable household products—the Dixie Cup.
So although Luellen’s machine wasn’t the five-gallon refill station we know today, the basic idea was already there:
Put money into a machine and receive drinking water.
The Modern Water Vending Machine Arrives
The next major chapter didn’t occur until roughly 65 years later.
According to histories of the water-vending industry, the first practical machines designed to sell purified water in bulk appeared during the mid-1970s.
These were fundamentally different from Luellen’s machine.
Instead of giving customers a cup of water, the new machines treated water—typically municipal tap water—and allowed customers to fill their own reusable containers.
And we have unusually strong evidence that these machines were operating by 1976.
On July 26, 1976, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a memorandum specifically addressing the regulatory status of water vending machines.
The EPA described machines that filtered and disinfected water with ultraviolet light and then dispensed the treated water into a customer’s own container using a coin-operated mechanism.
In other words, by the summer of 1976, the basic water-refill machine many of us recognize today was already operating in the United States.
Why the 1970s?
The timing wasn’t accidental.
Americans had become increasingly concerned about pollution and drinking-water quality during the 1960s and 1970s.
Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, establishing a federal framework for protecting public drinking-water supplies. National drinking-water regulations followed during the decade.
Meanwhile, technologies such as filtration, activated carbon treatment, ultraviolet disinfection and eventually reverse osmosis made it practical to build relatively compact systems capable of treating municipal water at the point where it was sold.
The result was a new business opportunity:
Instead of transporting thousands of bottles of water to a store, a vending company could connect a machine to the local water supply, purify that water on site and sell it by the gallon.
Customers supplied the bottle.
California Helps Turn It Into a Business
California became one of the industry’s most important early markets.
One company that would eventually become a major player was founded by Robert G. Miller.
In 1983, Miller established Bottle Water Vending Inc., the predecessor of Glacier Water Services.
The company manufactured water vending machines and placed many of them outside supermarkets. Customers brought their own containers, while participating stores often sold reusable plastic jugs nearby.
The machines treated municipal water using combinations of filtration, reverse osmosis, carbon treatment and ultraviolet sterilization.
The idea caught on quickly.
In 1984, the company expanded from California into Arizona.
Nevada followed in 1986.
By 1987, the company reportedly had nearly 900 water vending machines operating.
Texas and Florida followed in 1988.
The familiar supermarket water-refill station was becoming a significant business.
Then Came the Drive-Up Water Kiosk
Another variation appeared at almost exactly the same time.
In 1984, Lani and Don Dolifka developed what became Watermill Express in Colorado.
Their idea was an automated stand-alone purification kiosk capable of taking municipal water, processing it through multiple purification stages and selling the finished drinking water directly to customers.
Instead of walking into a supermarket, customers could pull up to the kiosk with their bottles.
Later Watermill Express systems were designed to accommodate reusable containers ranging from one to five gallons, using treatment processes including sediment filtration, activated carbon, reverse osmosis, ultraviolet disinfection and ozone treatment.
That basic concept remains familiar today.
Why Five-Gallon Bottles?
The five-gallon container was already well established through traditional bottled-water delivery services.
But refill vending changed the economics.
Instead of purchasing another filled bottle—or waiting for a delivery—a customer could keep the same container and refill it repeatedly.
That eliminated much of the packaging and transportation involved with conventional bottled water.
It also made purified drinking water relatively inexpensive.
Bring the jug.
Buy the water.
Take the same jug home.
Bring it back when it’s empty.
More than four decades later, that’s still essentially how the system works.
So Who Invented the Modern Water Vending Machine?
That’s where the story gets complicated.
There doesn’t appear to be a single universally recognized inventor of the modern bulk purified-water vending machine.
Lawrence Luellen developed an important early coin-operated water vending concept in 1908, but his machine dispensed an individual drink and disposable cup—not gallons of purified water into a customer’s reusable bottle.
The modern bulk-water machine emerged much later, apparently during the mid-1970s, as water-treatment technology and consumer concern about drinking-water quality converged.
By 1976, the EPA was already dealing with the regulatory implications of machines that treated municipal water and sold it through coin-operated dispensers into customers’ own containers.
Entrepreneurs and companies then refined and expanded the idea during the 1980s.
From a Penny Cup to Five Gallons at a Time
The evolution is remarkable.
1908: Put in a penny and receive a cup of cold water.
Mid-1970s: Machines begin treating municipal water and selling purified water in bulk.
1976: The EPA documents coin-operated machines dispensing treated water into customers’ containers.
1983: Bottle Water Vending, the predecessor of Glacier Water Services, begins operations in California.
1984: Glacier’s predecessor expands into Arizona, while Watermill Express develops its automated purification kiosk in Colorado.
Late 1980s and beyond: Water refill machines become increasingly familiar outside supermarkets and at stand-alone locations throughout the United States.
Today, paying a few coins—or tapping a card—and filling a five-gallon jug might seem thoroughly ordinary.
But the machine sitting outside your neighborhood supermarket represents more than a century of evolution in how Americans buy something that once seemed almost unimaginable to sell from a vending machine:
a drink of water.
Sources and Further Reading
U.S. EPA — Status of Water Vending Machines Under Public Law 93-523
Lafayette College — Hugh Moore Dixie Cup Company Collection
U.S. EPA — Safe Water Research Milestones
Glacier Water Services Company History
World Vision — History of Watermill Express
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Food and Beverage
6 Simple Yet Fun School-Day Meals to Feed Your Kids with Minimal Chaos
School-Day Meals: When it comes to planning lunches and dinners on busy school days, simplicity is the name of the game. Parents who are already juggling carpools, practices, errands and homework don’t need anything extra added to their plates while they’re trying to get food onto everyone else’s. Make it easy for your loved ones with these registered dietitian-approved meal ideas packed with the nutrition to keep your family fueled all day.
6 Simple Yet Fun School-Day Meals to Feed Your Kids with Minimal Chaos
(Feature Impact) When it comes to planning lunches and dinners on busy school days, simplicity is the name of the game. Parents who are already juggling carpools, practices, errands and homework don’t need anything extra added to their plates while they’re trying to get food onto everyone else’s.
Choosing uncomplicated meal ideas like these back-to-school recipes lets you reclaim some precious time from the morning and evening chaos. Designed to fit seamlessly into your existing routines, the recipes are familiar, flexible and filling – and, perhaps most importantly, won’t keep you standing at the stove for hours. Make it easy for your loved ones with Healthy Family Project’s registered dietitian-approved meal ideas packed with the nutrition to keep your family fueled all day.
Visit HealthyFamilyProject.com to find more easy, family-friendly recipes for back-to-school season.
- Mandarin Chicken Rice Bowls – This fresh, fun dinner starts with a base of rice topped with juicy mandarin slices, savory chicken, fresh vegetables and a bright citrus dressing. Plus, it’s easily customizable to each family member’s tastes and preferences.
- Lemon Blueberry Pancake Lunchbox Bites – To make your kids’ eyes light up when they open their lunchboxes, opt for recipes that feel a little playful. These mini pancakes paired with colorful fruits definitely fit the bill, and they’re a great way to disguise nutritious ingredients like oats, eggs and bananas. Include a cup of yogurt on the side to make lunch dippable and interactive.
- Tomato Turkey Burger Bowls – Burger night gets a healthy twist in this creative recipe, which swaps a beef patty for lean ground turkey and oily French fries for roasted potato wedges while leaning into classic toppings like lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. If the kids still prefer their burgers as sandwiches instead of bowls, provide buns on the side so they can build their own.
- One-Pot Cheeseburger Mac – If just imagining a sink full of dishes makes you tired, that means it’s the kind of night for a one-pot dinner. Pasta, cheese, tomatoes and onions combine with your choice of protein for a hearty and satisfying comfort meal that might remind you of your own childhood.
- Greek Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Watermelon – Whether you pack them as a healthy school lunchbox side or serve as a refreshing after-school snack, these salad cups keep weekday flavors fresh and interesting. The combination of cucumbers, watermelon, tomatoes, feta and mint means your loved ones are getting fruits, veggies, protein and herbs all in one. For on-the-go enjoyment, remember to pack the dressing on the side.
- Easy Quesadilla Dippers – Cookie cutters aren’t just for cookies anymore. Eating is generally less of a battle for kids when their food is in fun shapes, so let them choose their star, heart, gingerbread man or dinosaur to make these quesadillas more craveable. Fillings are flexible, too: layer cheese with chicken, beans or cooked veggies of your choice then serve with a side of salsa or guacamole for dipping.
SOURCE:
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