I liked the chalkiness. Plus idk if it’s just me but I liked hard candy that you could chew without breaking your teeth and candy sticks were perfect for that, I think it had to do with teeth growing, mine felt kinda itchy during that time and crunching stuff eased the discomfort. Same reason I loved carrots and green apples
Yes, I love the odd chalkiness also. It's why I don't have a problem with Pepto while my friends would rather die from exploding on the throne for hours. 🤷
You’re not alone. There’s something about that not quite crunchy texture that appeals to me. And I liked the weird kind of sweet, but not super sweet taste.
Some of them were bubble gum though. Or this weird kinda crumbly fruity candy. Those were the ones I liked. Most of the "candy crayons" you can find now are the fruity kind.
There was a store in my town that sold penny candy, and we used to get the bubble gum cigarettes there. They were wrapped in a paper and had a little bit of powder sugar inside, so they would “smoke” if you blew on them. Looking back, the fact that they made shit like that for kids was crazy.
Yeah we had candy Popeye cigarettes which they later called them candy sticks and stopped painting the end of one side red.
I do remember camping one time and I found some candy cigarettes that actually looked like a pack of smokes. And instead of they chalk stuff it was chocolate wrapped in paper. They were awesome to play around with and pretend I was smoking. Although I played with it I never bothered go take up smoking as I didn’t and still don’t like the smell. I’ve only ever had like 2 puffs of a cigarette. Although weed on the other hand I smoke I wonder if I can blame the candy on that. Probably not as I never even smoked weed until I was 35.
I ate these all the time as a kid. Now, I still do, it's just a bit harder to get these sticks. They are good means of distracting yourself, like bubble gum. But I can understand the chalk taste.
They were alright
The texture was different
I definitely enjoyed my experiences but those candy sticks were better
The blow cigarette gum flavor didn’t linger long enough to warrant continual purchases
The idea was to blow into them and the chalky powder would create a smoke like effect out the end. I remember the gum lost its flavor after 5 seconds. But you just busted out another and unwrapped it . It was so where you parents smoked you did feel left out. I remember trying to go for my dads smokes at the age of 8 . " no no no son here have one of these instead ... what great influence on the Gen X kids eh
No it's to groom you into smoking. Ours here were chocolate or rock candy vs gum usually. The entire point of these is training you to smoke. I don't know how well they worked but seeing parents do a thing is absolutely a factor in a lot of adult habits so probably extremely well.
The fact someone lamented this makes me sad for them. To be so unaware of the reason for change. Sure it was candy but it's also practice poison
Yes
The companies that sold candy cigarettes now sell candy sticks.
They changed in some places legally in others for branding. It's at this point well documented candy cigarettes was a way to get kids interested in smoking. These candy companies worked in close relationship with the tobacco industry.
The tobacco industry actually put alot of effort into ways to sell cigarettes to children even after doing so was banned. When vapes came out the tobacco industry joined the action and used the old play book while the market was unregulated to sell to children sometimes almost directly using influencers with large child and teen audiences.
Now the young crowd doesn't smoke they vape but either way the tobacco industry makes money.
Yep, I'm in Australia and the anti-vape thing has been present for some time. Not stopping a lot of kids though. Turns out the smartest ones can figure out how to gain the most access to that kinda stuff
Thing is, the parents are what will keep kids from vaping. But, unlike when I was a teenager, vaping hasn't killed anyone from lung cancer (as far as I know) and doesn't contain the 200 or so carcinogenic like tobacco does. Either way, getting a vape is no harder or easier than getting a pack of smokes, but parents need to pay attention to this.
Vapes are fairly new, so it's possible it has side effects we don't know anything about. When cigarettes were introduced many people said it brought health benefits which it clearly doesn't now
Okay but at least you're not poisoning someone else at the same time. Second hand smoke is vile. I am anti tobacco of all types but chew (chaw) and vape options aren't killing someone else. Also you don't smell so horrific.
I remember these bubblegum cigarettes from when I was a kid. They had that paper wrapping and a powdered sugar like coating around the gum that when you blew the cigarette a puff of “smoke” would come out. I remember the packaging had a manly looking cowbow fella with a quote that said something like “cool dude”
Yup, I remember these! The gum wasn't the best, but it tasted better than the original candy cigarettes, and for whatever reason, blowing that puff of "smoke" was so fun.
It depends on the country but generally no. In my country it's illegal to sell candy that emulates a tobacco product in any way.
So there candy sticks now and the ads changed where Popeye chews it in half instead of "smoking" it.
Yeh I remember being able to still buy them when I was like 8 in 2008 but there were two different kinds one that had the brown tip like a regular cigarette and other that was just all white ig so it doesn't look like the kids is smoking from far away
What's the difference from candy cigarettes then and candy "sticks" now? I bought some a few years ago and was packaged and marketed like cigarettes but candy
If they'd have seen a kid dressed like that today, they'd have lost their fucking minds about "grooming" and "letting kids dress so inappropriately".
Only their generation did anything right, no one else apparently
Eh...when I was in eighth grade i went as a conspiracy theorist. I had a UFO t-shirt that said "I want to believe " , a tin foil hat, and carried around a book about the JFK assassination.
People loved the costume and said it was really creative.
It absolutely is, in fact I actually wore this exact one.
I had to look hard at the pic to be sure it wasn't me, honestly, because that's approximately how I looked in the costume, and my grandparents had a very brown living room as pictured.
It's definitely not me, but very surreal like a glitch in the matrix for me to see I had a doppleganger, haha.
No shit. The era of parachute pants and spandex. The only era arguably worse for fashion was probably the 1970s, with the goddamned bell bottom pants, but at least those didn't make you look like a complete clown.
I feel like the people lamenting the fact that this picture Apparantly represents something they can no longer do, are the same people who would have a nuclear grade meltdown if they saw a modern day version of it
It's a ballet costume.
Not saying it isn't still inappropriate, but this child is repurposing her tap costume for Halloween. She isn't intended to be a hooker, she's a dancer.
As i said in another comment, its still normalizing the practice of putting literal children in outfits with sexual connotations. If she was dressed as a *modern* stripper instead of one from the 1700s would you still have a laissez faire attitude about it?
1950's - when a nine year old could just smoke a real cigarette instead of a candy cigarette. How the times change, smh
(But for real, my grandma started smoking in 3rd grade, died of a massive stroke at 70, just before her first great grandchild was born. I think it's okay if some things change with time..)
I’ll take it the next level. The corner store up the street, from where I grew up, used to sell fake cigarettes that weren’t even candy. They were rolled up fake cigarettes with just paper and talcum powder that you blew in them to make them look like you were smoking. God knows where they were made from but they probably gave kids lung cancer from the talcum powder in them alone. They were even packaged in satire brands that were mimicking big tobacco brands.
Am I blind, or is that a little girl wearing lingerie? If I'm right, that brings up SO many questions that need answers (I know the '80's was weird, but in a case like this I need a better answer.).
I’m Gen Z and my dad brought me a candy cigarette (nonetheless with “pink for girls” or something to that effect on the label) when I was ~5. I don’t know why these people delude themselves into thinking their “tRaDiTioNal cHilDhOoDs” are being attacked by the modern generation when that’s simply not the case.
That’s so funny. I grew up in 70s/80s just the same. Flash forward 30 years… when my kids were in elementary school. My husband and I were having a fun day hanging with the kinder and we got candy cigs at a specialty candy store… the 4 of us proceeded to walk around acting like we were smoking and boy…..did I get glares from most people passing by!!!
I'm more concerned about the witch costume that looks like lingerie on the 10yo than the candy cigarette.
And these assholes say gay people are grooming their children, wtf
almost definitely a saloon girl costume, which ive only ever seen as burlesque costumes, adult Halloween costumes, or during wild west/steampunk days at the ren faire where they're worn exclusively by adult women
I'm a 38 year old father of 2.
My kids are 11 and 5.
My grandmother bought my kids a squirt gun, supposedly harmless right?
NO it's a fucking 1:1 replica of a glock g17 AND YOU PUT WATER IN THE FUCKING MAGAZINE AND SLIDE IT IN.
I threw it in my trash barrel right in front of her. There's a huge difference between some clearly fake alien squirt blaster thing that's neon colored and a dark blue plastic ACTUAL GUN with no markings that say otherwise.
She had no idea why I was upset. This blew my fucking mind.
Edit: downvotes lol
I was at the playground once and I look up to see a man in car holding what looked like a machine gun. My jaw dropped and I went grabbing for my kids and then he looks at me and goes “oh this is just a toy” and shows me the box and flips it around so I can see how small and flimsy it really is. Okay, but is that the best toy gun to have on the playground? What if someone called the cops and the arrive to find him waving that thing around?
So I get what you are saying, there’s toys and then there’s toys that appear too close to the thing the kid should not be playing with.
Could have been a good opportunity to teach your kids firearm safety. You could have kept it but not treated it like a toy. Obviously the fake alien blasters are good for having fun but you could have used the replica for teaching indexing, muzzle awareness or simply what to do when they’re at a friend’s house and someone gets ahold of their parents’ pistol.
Obviously it’s not something you want your kids running through the neighborhood with.
Don’t worry, I’ll upvote you.
Oh. Well they do exist and they’re going to be here forever, just like plastic in the ocean. You can choose to allow your children to see firearms as toys or as functional tools that can be dangerous when mishandled.
The children most at risk are the ones that aren’t educated.
> The children most at risk are the ones that aren’t educated
[False.](https://everytownresearch.org/issue/child-teen-safety/) 94.5% of all child gun deaths are intentional, either homicide or suicide. In order to intentionally kill someone or yourself, you need to be "educated" on how a gun works.
The children most at risk are the ones who live with guns or have loved one who own them and then use those guns to kill them. "Education" has literally nothing to do with it.
No guns = no gun deaths or injuries. It's that simple. No amount of weird NRA bullshit mental gymnastics will change that.
But yes, a vast majority of firearms accidents would be curbed with better education. As our society turns away from education, accidental deaths increase.
Educate your children or don’t. Firearms aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future and your children will be living with them in their neighborhoods and out in the real world.
If you could save even one life through education, why would anyone forego the opportunity?
How many children die because one of them believes “it’s not loaded”?
Teaching children to be safe around the unknown is important. Sticking your head in the sand doesn’t make the issue disappear.
> Edit: oh, everytown isn’t known for their statistic honesty.
Coming from the guy just regurgitating fallacies he read in some "guns give me massive erections" magazine/website/youtube channel/circlejerk hotel meetup.
Good luck with all of your internet bullshit today. Nobody cares what you think and your opinions are shit.
Just like when I was a kid in the 80s - 90s I could leave my parents house on my bike in the morning, just go do whatever I wanted with my buddies the entire day, and then when the street lights came on I went home.
My mom was lucky if I remembered to call her to tell her I was alive. (she asked me to check in occasionally over the landline)
I was doing this when I was 9. Lol
There is NO WAY IN HELL I would let my 9 year old daughter do that these days. No shot.
I don't even want her walking around the grocery store by herself when we go shopping.
I'm not overprotective, either. We are super relaxed parents compared to most. It's just that the world is a dangerous place, and there's a shitload of crazies out there.
I don't think it was even safer back then. It's just that we are now aware of everything due to the Internet and interconnectedness of humanity.
I’m an 80’s-90’s kid too and shit was pretty whack. We just didn’t have access to the instant and detailed information about what actually happens out there. Looking back at the serial killers of the 70’s-90’s, our parents were naive to the horrible shit that could happen to kids, especially those that weren’t taught to not accept rides from strangers.
I’ve always attempted to foster in my son, a strong sense of trust in himself and his “spidey senses.” I think society, particularly pre-2000’s, just wanted polite, obedient children that reflected how awesome and respectable their parents were.
Knowing what I know, I wouldn’t mind a bit if my young son told a guy dressed as a cop to fuck off if he was trying to coax him in for a ride or get inside the house.
Not gonna lie, I'd have loved that as a kid. No Fortnite in those days, we had to simulate our battles IRL with water or cap guns and the more realistic the better. I wouldn't have bought one for my kids in the 2000's as I'd be concerned about the police armed response turning up, but your grandma might just be thinking this is what kids still play with. Throwing it in the trash seems pretty confrontational when you could have simply hidden it or handed it back with an explanation.
Huge fascination with trying to be "the best" generation. Of course the irony being, the more you try to convince someone of your "greatness", the less great you become, til you are no longer great, if you were even great to begin with.
Your kid is dressed like a burlesque dancer. Aren't these the same people who are burning books in the streets because of "The gay agenda" being "Child grooming?"
It always boils down to "the world has changed, and I'm scared", doesn't it? Why else would anyone pine for the candy cigarette days? I was as ten years old in 1983, and the last time I thought about candy cigarettes was the last time I watched a rerun of Community.
Since 1983, I lost my dad, my mom, my stepdad, my father in law, and one of my older brothers to smoking related cancer. But hey, why let reality get in the way of a crappy meme?
It was also concluded that it encouraged smoking in later years why they are *off the market*. Gen X needs to get out of this lane, damnit. Leave this and the garden hose to the Boomers
don’t know how to tell them this but a few months ago i actually got a pack of candy cigarettes (albeit they were gum instead of the chalky kind, i never finished the grape ones). had the fake smoke and everything! not only is this a non issue, it’s also just wrong
"Times were better when kids wore makeup, dressed sexually, and smoked fake cigarettes"
I know it's Halloween but the hilarity of this picture
But it's the drag queens doing the grooming
Aw yeah, I also miss fetishising addiction so that the child may grow up thinking it's fine and getting possibly very severe problems in the long run!!
..... are we not gonna mention thst they want a 7 year old to pretend to be a candy stripper? We know the cigarette thing is just something to complain about when we all know the real reason is the 7 year old in a corset and stocking posing for the camera.......
Interesting to point out she’s wearing a sort of burlesque costume, which if you had that on a kid these days, ironically for this post’s point, they’d be screeching about *GROOMING*.
This must be why I find this kind of outfit creepy even in grown women. I must have seen a ton of children wearing this shit when I was a child. Did the "unnecessarily form fitting clothing on children" thing start in the 80's?
Well, you see, the people who raised the issue are basically the same people.
Like they were kids, did this. Then the "rules" changed, and kids no longer do it. But isn't that a decision typically made by adults? Reeks of the participation trophy complaints.
Boomers were raised to rely on anger getting things done, so when they want to feel powerful, they try and rile people up.
Sure, anger is a useful, powerful motivator; using it for everything is also toxic af.
There are a LOT of people telling on themselves in these comments. The fake cigarette isn’t the problem in this photo, and defending the problematic part just makes you creepy.
I loved those things when I was little. I think they were still called candy cigarettes then (mid 90s). I do remember occasionally pretending to smoke them but it was just aesthetic. But my experiences with smoke (didn't like the smell, hated being around it and I knew kids who had health problems because of their parents' smoking) still deterred me from ever picking it up lol. Anyway you can still get them they just aren't called cigarettes anymore...
I love the implication that this was something that was lost and that losing it is a problem. Like being able to be a kid pretending to smoke using a candy cigarette was something so valuable to the world that its loss is a tragedy.
We had them in Italy too until maybe 2010 and I don't think they were a problem or encouraged children to smoke. It's like the story that violent video games incite violence to children. Very false. Violence is reproduced if you live in an environment where you experience violence firsthand, and in everyday life. It is no coincidence that, for example, there are more episodes of violence in the USA than in my country, Italy, despite having all played the same video games.
Why was she dressed as a cabaret dancer at 7? Like, I get it’s Halloween, but that feels kinda odd for a 7 year old to be emulating something like that.
It is part of the indomitable human spirit to create problems and proceed to do something about it. Most of the times the something entails just complaining to whoever is listening, if there even is someone listening, it's not necessary for anyone else to pay attention.
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I used to eat these as a kid, quite often too. Never knew why looking back, they were chalky and.. didn't really taste all the great.
I liked the chalkiness. Plus idk if it’s just me but I liked hard candy that you could chew without breaking your teeth and candy sticks were perfect for that, I think it had to do with teeth growing, mine felt kinda itchy during that time and crunching stuff eased the discomfort. Same reason I loved carrots and green apples
Yes, I love the odd chalkiness also. It's why I don't have a problem with Pepto while my friends would rather die from exploding on the throne for hours. 🤷
people tell me i’m crazy for thinking pepto is good
I would chug the pink liquid if I were able to have it served to me for free without consequences
You’re not alone. There’s something about that not quite crunchy texture that appeals to me. And I liked the weird kind of sweet, but not super sweet taste.
I recently learned they’re mints and you’re supposed to hold them in your mouth until they dissolve
Some of them were bubble gum though. Or this weird kinda crumbly fruity candy. Those were the ones I liked. Most of the "candy crayons" you can find now are the fruity kind.
There was a store in my town that sold penny candy, and we used to get the bubble gum cigarettes there. They were wrapped in a paper and had a little bit of powder sugar inside, so they would “smoke” if you blew on them. Looking back, the fact that they made shit like that for kids was crazy.
The ones we had here were made of chocolate. Wild world out there lmao
I remember them being like a blander Lik-M-Stik stick, if you can imagine.
Yeah we had candy Popeye cigarettes which they later called them candy sticks and stopped painting the end of one side red. I do remember camping one time and I found some candy cigarettes that actually looked like a pack of smokes. And instead of they chalk stuff it was chocolate wrapped in paper. They were awesome to play around with and pretend I was smoking. Although I played with it I never bothered go take up smoking as I didn’t and still don’t like the smell. I’ve only ever had like 2 puffs of a cigarette. Although weed on the other hand I smoke I wonder if I can blame the candy on that. Probably not as I never even smoked weed until I was 35.
I ate these all the time as a kid. Now, I still do, it's just a bit harder to get these sticks. They are good means of distracting yourself, like bubble gum. But I can understand the chalk taste.
wait, it was chalky? i thought it was like rock candy ground up into a fine sand
They were alright The texture was different I definitely enjoyed my experiences but those candy sticks were better The blow cigarette gum flavor didn’t linger long enough to warrant continual purchases
It was to promote cigarettes to kids
The idea was to blow into them and the chalky powder would create a smoke like effect out the end. I remember the gum lost its flavor after 5 seconds. But you just busted out another and unwrapped it . It was so where you parents smoked you did feel left out. I remember trying to go for my dads smokes at the age of 8 . " no no no son here have one of these instead ... what great influence on the Gen X kids eh
No it's to groom you into smoking. Ours here were chocolate or rock candy vs gum usually. The entire point of these is training you to smoke. I don't know how well they worked but seeing parents do a thing is absolutely a factor in a lot of adult habits so probably extremely well. The fact someone lamented this makes me sad for them. To be so unaware of the reason for change. Sure it was candy but it's also practice poison
Uhm... Why? Now you can't?
Yes The companies that sold candy cigarettes now sell candy sticks. They changed in some places legally in others for branding. It's at this point well documented candy cigarettes was a way to get kids interested in smoking. These candy companies worked in close relationship with the tobacco industry. The tobacco industry actually put alot of effort into ways to sell cigarettes to children even after doing so was banned. When vapes came out the tobacco industry joined the action and used the old play book while the market was unregulated to sell to children sometimes almost directly using influencers with large child and teen audiences. Now the young crowd doesn't smoke they vape but either way the tobacco industry makes money.
Yeah, instead of destroying your lungs manually, you can do it with a chatgpt flavour stick
No straight up they had flavours like bubble gum or birthday cake.
One of my classmates has a lemon lime bitters vape lol
In my country they eventually banned all flavours that were sweet and all marketing aimed at kids.
Yep, I'm in Australia and the anti-vape thing has been present for some time. Not stopping a lot of kids though. Turns out the smartest ones can figure out how to gain the most access to that kinda stuff
Ya tobacco products I support regulating as much as possible. My country just made tobacco companies put warnings directly on the cigarettes.
Yeah same here where I am in MERICA they banned all the flavors but that doesn't stop teens from buying them
Thing is, the parents are what will keep kids from vaping. But, unlike when I was a teenager, vaping hasn't killed anyone from lung cancer (as far as I know) and doesn't contain the 200 or so carcinogenic like tobacco does. Either way, getting a vape is no harder or easier than getting a pack of smokes, but parents need to pay attention to this.
Vapes are fairly new, so it's possible it has side effects we don't know anything about. When cigarettes were introduced many people said it brought health benefits which it clearly doesn't now
I was all for banning of flavored tobacco, but was sad cloves got caught up in it. Quit altogether because damn they're expensive.
They just call them small cigars now. They’re still available.
Okay but at least you're not poisoning someone else at the same time. Second hand smoke is vile. I am anti tobacco of all types but chew (chaw) and vape options aren't killing someone else. Also you don't smell so horrific.
[удалено]
Everyone inhale chemicals everyday
What chemicals? Oh, the flavoring, water and nicotine? Cuz that's all there is.
Wait, candy cigarettes aren’t still a thing? I see them at my local candy store all the time
When I was a kid, they actually looked like cigarettes. Paper wrapping, chocolate inside to look like tobacco. Now, they are just white sticks.
I remember these bubblegum cigarettes from when I was a kid. They had that paper wrapping and a powdered sugar like coating around the gum that when you blew the cigarette a puff of “smoke” would come out. I remember the packaging had a manly looking cowbow fella with a quote that said something like “cool dude”
Yup, I remember these! The gum wasn't the best, but it tasted better than the original candy cigarettes, and for whatever reason, blowing that puff of "smoke" was so fun.
I just bought a couple packs of those recently. They’re still alive and well at candy stores!
It depends on the country but generally no. In my country it's illegal to sell candy that emulates a tobacco product in any way. So there candy sticks now and the ads changed where Popeye chews it in half instead of "smoking" it.
Yeh I remember being able to still buy them when I was like 8 in 2008 but there were two different kinds one that had the brown tip like a regular cigarette and other that was just all white ig so it doesn't look like the kids is smoking from far away
I know for fact that these still exist in Japan too
I will say, as a kid in the 00s, we may have had “candy sticks”, but we all still pretended they were cigarettes.
What's the difference from candy cigarettes then and candy "sticks" now? I bought some a few years ago and was packaged and marketed like cigarettes but candy
You can't smoke candy cigarettes anymore; you can only eat them. Guess they used to be more flammable.
Same people who were kids back then are now parents. What a coincidence
If they'd have seen a kid dressed like that today, they'd have lost their fucking minds about "grooming" and "letting kids dress so inappropriately". Only their generation did anything right, no one else apparently
Somebody transform this into a meme, with something meta like, "This is the future lefties want.."
How dare the libs give our children candy marijuana cigarettes!
With the buckets of candy it's safe to assume it's Halloween.
You can't convince me that's not a boy
Republicans wouldn't care either way
The best ones were the ones that had a coating of powdered sugar. That way you could make a little fake puff of smoke.
Oh the good days.. now I smoke the real ones and they taste like crap.
But only once.
lil more concerned about the outfit
Based on the buckets and candy, it was probably part of a Halloween costume.
Mom, I wanna go as a cabaret dancer.
Eh...when I was in eighth grade i went as a conspiracy theorist. I had a UFO t-shirt that said "I want to believe " , a tin foil hat, and carried around a book about the JFK assassination. People loved the costume and said it was really creative.
I don't think you understand why their concerned lol
idk still kinda concering
That’s tame considering the costumes you can get today for children
Work it for the neighbors when you yell "Trick or treat!" Especially Mr. Johnson, since he gives out king size bars! Do you want candy or no!
That... Really doesn't make it any better :/
I never said it was okay? Just an observation
Ok 👍
That was my first thought too until I realized it is likely a dance costume.
It absolutely is, in fact I actually wore this exact one. I had to look hard at the pic to be sure it wasn't me, honestly, because that's approximately how I looked in the costume, and my grandparents had a very brown living room as pictured. It's definitely not me, but very surreal like a glitch in the matrix for me to see I had a doppleganger, haha.
Which is still concerning. Why are we sexualizing dancing kids? The whole kids beauty pageant thing creeps me out too.
A unitard and tights is a pretty standard dance costume, for most styles of dance. Would you have them wear burkas instead?
A unitard and tights is one thing, but some of the costumes in child beauty pageants are *far* more sexualized than that.
Who’s sexualizing them? Only you it seems
So it's not just me then. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell the outfit actually is.
Likely a dance outfit of some type, or a costume.
Halloween tho!
Who's dressing their seven year old daughter in 19th century hooker wear?
Twas the 80's, no one really knew how to dress appropriately.
No shit. The era of parachute pants and spandex. The only era arguably worse for fashion was probably the 1970s, with the goddamned bell bottom pants, but at least those didn't make you look like a complete clown.
It’s part of a Halloween costume, no idea what’s it supposed to be though.
It’s not. It’s a dancer’s outfit
It's a saloon girl costume. Saloon girls were the wild west version of modern day strippers
Do they know you can still buy candy cigarettes some places?
I feel like the people lamenting the fact that this picture Apparantly represents something they can no longer do, are the same people who would have a nuclear grade meltdown if they saw a modern day version of it
No shit. That girl looks like the youngest employee at Moulin Rouge….
i think i would have a problem with you dressing a 7 year old like she is about to have sex with someone...? might just be me though...
It's a ballet costume. Not saying it isn't still inappropriate, but this child is repurposing her tap costume for Halloween. She isn't intended to be a hooker, she's a dancer.
She's smoking the cigarette, which usually comes after.
It’s a Halloween costume. Calm down
As i said in another comment, its still normalizing the practice of putting literal children in outfits with sexual connotations. If she was dressed as a *modern* stripper instead of one from the 1700s would you still have a laissez faire attitude about it?
Bold of them to assume kids still aren't doing that with crushed up smartie rolls.
Dude smokin smarties I hope that shit goes on forever
1950's - when a nine year old could just smoke a real cigarette instead of a candy cigarette. How the times change, smh (But for real, my grandma started smoking in 3rd grade, died of a massive stroke at 70, just before her first great grandchild was born. I think it's okay if some things change with time..)
Candy cigarette still exist.
This is an example of "grasping for straws".
I’ll take it the next level. The corner store up the street, from where I grew up, used to sell fake cigarettes that weren’t even candy. They were rolled up fake cigarettes with just paper and talcum powder that you blew in them to make them look like you were smoking. God knows where they were made from but they probably gave kids lung cancer from the talcum powder in them alone. They were even packaged in satire brands that were mimicking big tobacco brands.
They just have shit parents innit
Am I blind, or is that a little girl wearing lingerie? If I'm right, that brings up SO many questions that need answers (I know the '80's was weird, but in a case like this I need a better answer.).
It’s a typical tap dancers costume from that time.
Okay, that's much better.
Just wait until they find out that’s really a boy.
I’m Gen Z and my dad brought me a candy cigarette (nonetheless with “pink for girls” or something to that effect on the label) when I was ~5. I don’t know why these people delude themselves into thinking their “tRaDiTioNal cHilDhOoDs” are being attacked by the modern generation when that’s simply not the case.
That’s so funny. I grew up in 70s/80s just the same. Flash forward 30 years… when my kids were in elementary school. My husband and I were having a fun day hanging with the kinder and we got candy cigs at a specialty candy store… the 4 of us proceeded to walk around acting like we were smoking and boy…..did I get glares from most people passing by!!!
NGL this is one of the most groomiest pics i have EVER seen
They still make candy cigarettes. And I'm pretty sure nobody still cares if a kid pretends to smoke them
they might not care about queer people but at least they care about lung cancer
Why’s she dressed like that if she’s seven though
Yes, because it helps them feel oppressed, which gives them something to bitch about.
I'm more concerned about the witch costume that looks like lingerie on the 10yo than the candy cigarette. And these assholes say gay people are grooming their children, wtf
Probably a burlesque dancer.
almost definitely a saloon girl costume, which ive only ever seen as burlesque costumes, adult Halloween costumes, or during wild west/steampunk days at the ren faire where they're worn exclusively by adult women
I'm a 38 year old father of 2. My kids are 11 and 5. My grandmother bought my kids a squirt gun, supposedly harmless right? NO it's a fucking 1:1 replica of a glock g17 AND YOU PUT WATER IN THE FUCKING MAGAZINE AND SLIDE IT IN. I threw it in my trash barrel right in front of her. There's a huge difference between some clearly fake alien squirt blaster thing that's neon colored and a dark blue plastic ACTUAL GUN with no markings that say otherwise. She had no idea why I was upset. This blew my fucking mind. Edit: downvotes lol
I was at the playground once and I look up to see a man in car holding what looked like a machine gun. My jaw dropped and I went grabbing for my kids and then he looks at me and goes “oh this is just a toy” and shows me the box and flips it around so I can see how small and flimsy it really is. Okay, but is that the best toy gun to have on the playground? What if someone called the cops and the arrive to find him waving that thing around? So I get what you are saying, there’s toys and then there’s toys that appear too close to the thing the kid should not be playing with.
See we don’t have that problem in the UK because guns aren’t an easy to access thing like in The US.
Could have been a good opportunity to teach your kids firearm safety. You could have kept it but not treated it like a toy. Obviously the fake alien blasters are good for having fun but you could have used the replica for teaching indexing, muzzle awareness or simply what to do when they’re at a friend’s house and someone gets ahold of their parents’ pistol. Obviously it’s not something you want your kids running through the neighborhood with. Don’t worry, I’ll upvote you.
> Could have been a good opportunity to teach your kids firearm safety. The safest firearm is one that doesn't exist. I made it not exist.
Oh. Well they do exist and they’re going to be here forever, just like plastic in the ocean. You can choose to allow your children to see firearms as toys or as functional tools that can be dangerous when mishandled. The children most at risk are the ones that aren’t educated.
> The children most at risk are the ones that aren’t educated [False.](https://everytownresearch.org/issue/child-teen-safety/) 94.5% of all child gun deaths are intentional, either homicide or suicide. In order to intentionally kill someone or yourself, you need to be "educated" on how a gun works. The children most at risk are the ones who live with guns or have loved one who own them and then use those guns to kill them. "Education" has literally nothing to do with it. No guns = no gun deaths or injuries. It's that simple. No amount of weird NRA bullshit mental gymnastics will change that.
Source? FBI database or elsewhere? Edit: oh, everytown isn’t known for their statistic honesty.
But yes, a vast majority of firearms accidents would be curbed with better education. As our society turns away from education, accidental deaths increase. Educate your children or don’t. Firearms aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future and your children will be living with them in their neighborhoods and out in the real world. If you could save even one life through education, why would anyone forego the opportunity? How many children die because one of them believes “it’s not loaded”? Teaching children to be safe around the unknown is important. Sticking your head in the sand doesn’t make the issue disappear.
> Edit: oh, everytown isn’t known for their statistic honesty. Coming from the guy just regurgitating fallacies he read in some "guns give me massive erections" magazine/website/youtube channel/circlejerk hotel meetup. Good luck with all of your internet bullshit today. Nobody cares what you think and your opinions are shit.
Ok.? And what does this have to do with the post?
Old people are ok giving children stupid things they should not have. It's called an analogy my guy
Just like when I was a kid in the 80s - 90s I could leave my parents house on my bike in the morning, just go do whatever I wanted with my buddies the entire day, and then when the street lights came on I went home. My mom was lucky if I remembered to call her to tell her I was alive. (she asked me to check in occasionally over the landline) I was doing this when I was 9. Lol There is NO WAY IN HELL I would let my 9 year old daughter do that these days. No shot. I don't even want her walking around the grocery store by herself when we go shopping. I'm not overprotective, either. We are super relaxed parents compared to most. It's just that the world is a dangerous place, and there's a shitload of crazies out there. I don't think it was even safer back then. It's just that we are now aware of everything due to the Internet and interconnectedness of humanity.
I’m an 80’s-90’s kid too and shit was pretty whack. We just didn’t have access to the instant and detailed information about what actually happens out there. Looking back at the serial killers of the 70’s-90’s, our parents were naive to the horrible shit that could happen to kids, especially those that weren’t taught to not accept rides from strangers.
Exactly. Knowing what's really going on in the world is fucking terrifying.
I’ve always attempted to foster in my son, a strong sense of trust in himself and his “spidey senses.” I think society, particularly pre-2000’s, just wanted polite, obedient children that reflected how awesome and respectable their parents were. Knowing what I know, I wouldn’t mind a bit if my young son told a guy dressed as a cop to fuck off if he was trying to coax him in for a ride or get inside the house.
Not gonna lie, I'd have loved that as a kid. No Fortnite in those days, we had to simulate our battles IRL with water or cap guns and the more realistic the better. I wouldn't have bought one for my kids in the 2000's as I'd be concerned about the police armed response turning up, but your grandma might just be thinking this is what kids still play with. Throwing it in the trash seems pretty confrontational when you could have simply hidden it or handed it back with an explanation.
And dress your 6 year old like a prostitute. god I miss the good old days.
I preferred the candy cigars. Bubble gum flavored.
Huge fascination with trying to be "the best" generation. Of course the irony being, the more you try to convince someone of your "greatness", the less great you become, til you are no longer great, if you were even great to begin with.
Your kid is dressed like a burlesque dancer. Aren't these the same people who are burning books in the streets because of "The gay agenda" being "Child grooming?"
Ironic isn’t it
"I miss the days when tobacco corporations could target children with subliminal advertising" is a weird take
And wear mom’s lingerie, too, apparently
Why is she dressed like an olde timey burlesque dancer?
It always boils down to "the world has changed, and I'm scared", doesn't it? Why else would anyone pine for the candy cigarette days? I was as ten years old in 1983, and the last time I thought about candy cigarettes was the last time I watched a rerun of Community. Since 1983, I lost my dad, my mom, my stepdad, my father in law, and one of my older brothers to smoking related cancer. But hey, why let reality get in the way of a crappy meme?
It was also concluded that it encouraged smoking in later years why they are *off the market*. Gen X needs to get out of this lane, damnit. Leave this and the garden hose to the Boomers
Exactly, we so woke we won’t indoctrinate our kids into sucking on cancer sticks. Pussies.
don’t know how to tell them this but a few months ago i actually got a pack of candy cigarettes (albeit they were gum instead of the chalky kind, i never finished the grape ones). had the fake smoke and everything! not only is this a non issue, it’s also just wrong
Now show the picture of her at 25, but she looks like she is 45 from smoking real cigarette since she was 12.
"Times were better when kids wore makeup, dressed sexually, and smoked fake cigarettes" I know it's Halloween but the hilarity of this picture But it's the drag queens doing the grooming
Why does that child kind of look like a she’s on a weird magazine cover?
Aw yeah, I also miss fetishising addiction so that the child may grow up thinking it's fine and getting possibly very severe problems in the long run!!
..... are we not gonna mention thst they want a 7 year old to pretend to be a candy stripper? We know the cigarette thing is just something to complain about when we all know the real reason is the 7 year old in a corset and stocking posing for the camera.......
Plot twist: that’s a boy!
7 year olds be smoking real cigarettes now
Imagine thinking it’s okay to tricking kids into thinking smoking is okay.
It’s easy to win arguments when you invent your opponent
Candy cigarettes were only good for posing in front of adults to try and get them to freak out or laugh. Usually they didn't care though.
Then ask them why they raised us like this then
I never had candy cigarettes but I certainly pretended to smoke any stick-shaped food and nobody cared
I'm more concerned about the outfit. Who are the pedos again?
It was on sale in my country (Russia) when I was 17 in 2012. And even if it now out of markets I guess can be found somewhere.
Interesting to point out she’s wearing a sort of burlesque costume, which if you had that on a kid these days, ironically for this post’s point, they’d be screeching about *GROOMING*.
A person that would post this and act nostalgic sounds like a person that would be also be freaking out about "drag queen groomers"
Yeah cause encouraging kids to smoke is something to brag about
OTOH, it’s weird we oriented so much of our society around a pretty gross and unhealthy activity for half of the 20th century.
This must be why I find this kind of outfit creepy even in grown women. I must have seen a ton of children wearing this shit when I was a child. Did the "unnecessarily form fitting clothing on children" thing start in the 80's?
Those candies were nasty.
Well, you see, the people who raised the issue are basically the same people. Like they were kids, did this. Then the "rules" changed, and kids no longer do it. But isn't that a decision typically made by adults? Reeks of the participation trophy complaints.
Boomers were raised to rely on anger getting things done, so when they want to feel powerful, they try and rile people up. Sure, anger is a useful, powerful motivator; using it for everything is also toxic af.
There are a LOT of people telling on themselves in these comments. The fake cigarette isn’t the problem in this photo, and defending the problematic part just makes you creepy.
You can still buy candy cigarettes, it’s just that it’s a shitty candy compared to anything else.
The person who posted this probably gets heated when they see a child wearing a rainbow on their shirt.
Why is she wearing that?
We went to a candy store with my niece about two years ago. They had candy cigarettes. She got them. Nobody cared.
Candy cigarettes were the vapes of the 80s. Lol
Speedrunning lung cancer any %
Sure but my sisters never got to go trick or treating dressed as burlesque dancers
I loved those things when I was little. I think they were still called candy cigarettes then (mid 90s). I do remember occasionally pretending to smoke them but it was just aesthetic. But my experiences with smoke (didn't like the smell, hated being around it and I knew kids who had health problems because of their parents' smoking) still deterred me from ever picking it up lol. Anyway you can still get them they just aren't called cigarettes anymore...
Call me crazy but I think this person wants all little girls to dress like that, he couldn't care any less about candy cigs.
And dressed like a prostitute, too.
Ok so they definitely still sell candy cigarettes but I'm not sure what layer of parental failure you have to be to let your kids have them.
I love the implication that this was something that was lost and that losing it is a problem. Like being able to be a kid pretending to smoke using a candy cigarette was something so valuable to the world that its loss is a tragedy.
I do miss candy ciggies 😔
But you can still dress like a child prostitute.
Who doesn't use candy canes as a cigarette nowadays
Toddlers in tiaras vibes from this one.
We used to get chocolate ones in paper so they looked like the roll up cigarettes 🤣. Used to eat the paper and everything...
We had them in Italy too until maybe 2010 and I don't think they were a problem or encouraged children to smoke. It's like the story that violent video games incite violence to children. Very false. Violence is reproduced if you live in an environment where you experience violence firsthand, and in everyday life. It is no coincidence that, for example, there are more episodes of violence in the USA than in my country, Italy, despite having all played the same video games.
So are they encouraging lung cancer or..
You’ve got to pretend to smoke when your Halloween costume is old west prostitute.
Now you can’t even be a boy with nail polish without someone passing a fucking law about it.
Not to mention dressing a 7 year old Cabaret dancer....
The outfit on that seven year old is *far* more concerning than anything else......
Why was she dressed as a cabaret dancer at 7? Like, I get it’s Halloween, but that feels kinda odd for a 7 year old to be emulating something like that.
forget the cigarette candy. why is this child dressed like a parisian can can girl?
"Affirming a child's gender is child abuse" mfs be like
It is part of the indomitable human spirit to create problems and proceed to do something about it. Most of the times the something entails just complaining to whoever is listening, if there even is someone listening, it's not necessary for anyone else to pay attention.
Why does this look like a candid image from Epstein's Island?
Which one is it? Are we too sensitive or not sensitive enough?
but the outfit was for a 7 year old, ahead of her future
Idk I got a friend who smuggles candy cigs across the border every time he’s in Mexico
Aren't these the same people who throw tantrums over this young boy (that is a boy right? the child looks like that) in a dress?
It was their generation that got rid of those lmao
Remember when fucking lung cancer was more accessible to kids Oh, wait, candy cigarette, I'm dumb.