He always had them candy, and we was like, 'Momma, you really need to marry this man!" "And me and my twin sister prayed my mom would marry him, 'cause he was the candy man. "Whenever he would come around, he would always have Goo Goos," Cunningham said. She hadn't eaten a Goo Goo in years, she said, but remembers how a family friend always had them handy. "For pay, he would always let me choose a candy and a Coke, and Goo Goo was one of 'em - one of my favorites."Ĭonvention-goer Heather Cunningham, a 30-something mom with several kids in tow, also stopped for a taste of nostalgia. "My grandfather had a country store, and I worked for him a lot of weekends," Sensing said. At a recent convention in Nashville, Vance Sensing stopped to grab a Goo Goo and re-live the taste of his childhood. These days, Standard Candy is on the road, passing out free samples of its signature candy at events across the South. is making a big effort to bring the gooey classic back. While the true origins of the candy's name remain a mystery, one thing is certain: Goo Goo sales have tumbled in recent years while its manufacturer was focused on other products. The gooey sweet was advertised so heavily on air through those decades that many people believed "Goo" was an acronym for Grand Ole Opry. In one popular advertisement, stage performers crooned, "Go get a Goo Goo. Goo Goo Cluster sponsored the venue's radio broadcasts from 1966 until 2006. The confection of marshmallow, peanuts and caramel wrapped in milk chocolate may owe its longevity in part to another Nashville icon: the Grand Ole Opry. The iconic candy from Nashville, Tenn., celebrates its 100th birthday this year. No one's entirely sure where the Southern treat called the Goo Goo Cluster got its name. Coincidentally, Pearl's 100th birthday is also in October. Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff perform in front of a Goo Goo Cluster advertisement at the Grand Ole Opry, circa 1976.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |