Candy cigarettes for Halloween? Back to the ’60s at Crown Center

I used to love getting a few packs of candy cigarettes in my Halloween bag as a

youngster. Did those pretend-tobacco confections influence my later

pack-a-day habit? Probably not as much as old Warner Bros. movies and

the Kool-puffing juvenile delinquents I knew in high school did. Hey,

everyone seemed to be smoking cigarettes in the 1960s…even Fred Flintstone.

These days, candy cigarettes are so politically incorrect that Pat McBee, owner of the Candy Store in Crown Center, keeps her stash hidden behind the counter. Kids can still buy the chalky candy sticks — they’re not illegal, after all — but only with a parent present.