Chalky white sticks with a red tip, sold loose by the bag for generations - most people who grew up with them don't call them "candy cigarettes" anymore, and there's a reason for that.
A shape with a complicated history
Stick-shaped sweets styled to look like cigarettes - sometimes with a dusted "smoke" tip or a red-tinted end - have been sold in the UK and elsewhere since at least the mid-20th century. Shaped and packaged to mimic real cigarettes, including brand-style wrapping in some markets, they were a genuine novelty for decades.
Why the name changed
Public health concern that cigarette-shaped sweets normalised smoking to children, particularly from the 1970s onwards, pushed most manufacturers to shift away from tobacco imagery. In the UK specifically, the product didn't disappear - it was relabelled. Packs are now sold as "candy sticks" rather than "candy cigarettes," usually without the red tip or cigarette-style branding that used to accompany them, distancing the sweet from its original inspiration while keeping the basic stick shape intact.
Where the name still exists
Older shoppers and nostalgia sites still refer to them as candy or sweet cigarettes, and the term persists in casual use even though it's rarely printed on modern packaging. UK confectioner Barratt is among the longest-running makers of the plain white stick version sold under the candy stick name today.
What we stock
We don't currently stock candy sticks. For similarly old-fashioned penny-sweet-era lines, see our penny sweets guide and our Retro Sweets collection.
Frequently asked questions
Are candy cigarettes still sold in the UK?
Yes - generally rebranded as "candy sticks" to move away from the tobacco association.
Why did candy cigarettes get renamed?
Concern that cigarette-shaped sweets normalised smoking to children led most markets, including the UK, toward "candy stick" branding.
Do you stock candy sticks?
Not currently - see our Retro Sweets and Penny Sweets collections for similar classic lines.