Fun with Fizzies: A Blast from the Past

If you were a kid in the 60's, then you remember Fizzies:

You dropped Fizzies into a glass of cold water and watched them fizz and bubble, transforming ordinary H2O into an exotic, effervescent elixir. The last swallow always seemed to have a sliver of undissolved Fizzie, offering up one final blast of flavor on the tongue.

Fizzies were a very special treat for my brothers and me; as I remember, about the only time we had Fizzies was when Mom packed them in the lunches she sent with us to summer Vacation Bible School.

Oh, Fizzies, how I have missed you!

Where did Fizzies come from, where did they go, and most importantly, where are they now?

The answers to these compelling questions and more can be found below, so get with it and go!

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You don't have to choose just one, because Fizzies come in a variety pack!

Nineteen cents for eight Fizzies tablets made them about 2.5 cents apiece, giving us a lot of fun for a couple of pennies.

Mom packed one for each of us each of the three days my brothers and I went to Vacation Bible School each summer, which meant that Mom would have to buy 2 packages of Fizzies.

That means there would have been seven Fizzies left from the second package. Thinking back, I don't remember ever having Fizzies any other time of the year, so I wonder what became of the rest of the Fizzies.

Hmmm. I'll have to ask my brothers...

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Were Fizzies your favorite?

How about you?

My brothers and I grew up on a farm where 'store-bought' treats, like Fizzies, were seldom brought home.

Because Fizzies are rarity in our home, just being able to have them was unusual, making the whole experience extra special.

To us, Fizzies were magical.

Source

1. Fizzies were invented and introduced to the Northeast US regional market in 1957 by the Emerson Drug Company, who also made Bromo-Seltzer.
2. The bubbles in both Bromo-Seltzer and Fizzies are a result of a simple chemical reaction between the two main ingredients, ascorbic acid and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
3. Emerson's chemists thought it would be fun to use the same effervescence found in Bromo-Seltzer to make a sparkling, sweet drink for kids; that's how Fizzies were born.
4. In 1962, Emerson was bought by Warner Lambert Company, who then marketed Fizzies on a national and international level.
5. By 1968, Fizzies had captured more than twice the sales volume of Kool-Aid.
6. At that time, Fizzies were offered in seven flavors: root-beer, grape, cherry, orange, lemon-lime, and cola. The sweeteners used in Fizzies changed over time, going from sugar to artificial sweeteners, such as saccharine and cyclamates.

Those really were simpler times, weren't they?

I'm looking at these anodized tumblers, bowls and pitcher and thinking how great it would be to have a set again.

I know everything would taste better in them!

Fizzies were marketed as something the whole family could enjoy.

I don't remember Mom or Dad ever having drinking Fizzies; it was really more something my brothers and I loved.

Since we got Fizzies so very rarely, we looked on them as a real treat and something to be savored and enjoyed.

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1. In 1968, the FDA banned the artificial sweetener, cyclamate, used in Fizzies, claiming it caused cancer. Emerson Drug Company could not come up with an cost-effective sweetener that replicated the FIzzies flavor, so the product was dropped.
2. Emerson was allowed to sell its remaining Fizzies inventory until it was gone.
3. Fizzies disappeared from store shelves in 1970. It was the end of an era.

Since Fizzies came 8 to a pack and there were three of us kids at home, there was always a tussle when it came to the last Fizzie tablet. Maybe that's why Mom only bought Fizzies for Vacation Bible School, hoping we'd behave well. Although I don't really remember the details, somehow I think it was always a fight to the finish.

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1. With the advent of NutraSweet in the 1990s, Fizzies were brought back to the market, only to have the company go bankrupt, forcing Fizzies out of existence.
2. Once again, the future of Fizzies was fraught with failure.

1. In the 2000s, a Minnesota-based company, AmeriLab Technologies, bought the rights to Fizzies.
2. Amerilab makes and sells seven cold flavors of Fizzies: root beer, grape, cherry, orange, lemonade, cherry cola, blue razz, and two flavors designed as hot drinks: hot cocoa and hot apple cider.
3. Fizzies of today have 5 calories, are sweetened with Sucralose, and contain Vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid.

Blue Razz Fizzies are one of the latest flavor concoctions created by Amerilab Technologies for today's market. They also have two seasonal offerings, Hot Cocoa and Hot Apple Cider.

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Use Fizzies in your holiday baking for an extra measure of color and flavor.

1. Crush up Fizzies and add to a basic sugar cookie recipe.
2. Add bigger bits of Fizzies to the top of unbaked cookies for a burst of big flavor.

Set up a DIY 'Fun with Fizzies' table at your next party. Kids of ALL ages will have a blast creating making their own fabulous Fizzies fun!

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