Now I’m craving gum drops, which I haven’t had in many years. 😊

I have no idea if one brand is better then another, but I would try Dylan’s Candy Bar. I’ve found good, fresh candy there.

eta: there’s one in our airport, I’m sure they sell online.

Bestyears, I was just about to suggest those. They are delicious.

These are wonderful. ask if they are available n larger packages.

https://www.sees.com/candy/soft-and-chewy/sour-orange-pumpkins/200676.html?cgid=soft-and-chewy

I've seen them online at Harry & David and Nuts.com. Could not find them on H&D web site. Used to be traditional Jewish holiday gift.

https://nuts.com/chocolatessweets/jelly-candy/gourmet-fruit-slices/

I was looking for something else on The Vermont Country Store and saw these- they've got great reviews:

classic fruit slices

If I try to edit, i always lose the original post, so I'm posting these separately, but these just came up on VCS, too:

fruit jellies

Ditto on the chocolate orange peels (or sticks). I was going to suggest them too! But those fruit slices from Vermont Country Store look great. I bet they are expensive tho, their items usually are plus s/h.

My one DD loves those too. On the other end of the spectrum, go to a high volume Dollar Tree. Their candy aisle turns over pretty quickly so they will be fresh. They have peach rings too. DD also said the ones at CVS are pretty good too! She used to buy those before HS/college volleyball games.

Check out Nuts dot com. I found them when I was looking for a small chocolate covered caramel to go in a trail mix, but I have tried a number of other things now and they have all been good quality, They have an assortment of flat fruit slices. They also have the wedge type my mom always liked, but I have to search orange sliced to find them. I'm not sure where to find them otherwise.

I didn't realize TJ's not longer has the orange and raspberry jelly sticks. We used to get them on occasion -- for ourselves and for my mom. Nuts has those too. They are also our source for good gum drops/spice drops.

Thanks so much, everyone!!! We don't have a Trader Joe's anywhere around here, and I've never heard of Dylan's, so my choices are either internet order or local (CVS/$ store) pickup. :) She likes chocolate, but I've never seen her eat chocolate-covered jellies, so I'm not sure about the sticks. I think Olychick cheated and swayed me by showing pics. lol! They really do look good -- especially the mixed slices. I might even try one if it was grapefruit-flavored! :O) I'll check at nuts.com too... I've ordered from them and know what I'll be getting. I seriously dislike their packaging. lol!

Olychick, I've been to the Vermont Country Store a few times. It's fun!

I love orange jelly slices, but I want plain old pedestrian, drug-store Brach’s. No gourmet orange slices for me.

Bbstx, those are the wedge type they have on nuts.com. They are fresh and have good flavor (and I don't mind their "nutty" packaging). I prefer them over the flat slices. My grandmother used to sometimes have the flat slices when we visited, and I might try them for a particular flavor, but Brach's is the one my mom liked and I grew up with. I just don't see Brach's -- usually a store brand that doesn't taste good. Spice drops are worse. Only buy them once a year -- no point if they don't taste good.

I suspect that my mother prefers the ordinary wedges too. I made orange jellies for her once, thinking that homemade would be better (using cane sugar rather than HFC, etc), but she never said anything about them so I guess I was wrong. lol!

Funny-- i love the nuts packaging though I do agree that the packaging isn't "gift ready".

This post made me smile.. my grandmother also loved the traditional, old school orange (and mint) jellies. I actually grew to like them through her. I wonder if it is a nostalgic thing that so many older folks love them (my grandmother would be 97). She grew up poor and lived through the depression. Maybe they were a special treat?

No matter where you get them, you can always package them in a nice glass container! Good luck!

My grandparents also loved the variety of gummy candies, both fruit and spice flavored. All in all, they had quite the sweet tooths which I think was spurred by the special quality of such items during their Depression youth or even before, in the case of my grandparents. Then they became a literal dimestore item, and now you can't even find them, at least the old style ones. An interesting transition. Gone too are the days when I would get an unwrapped pure sugar pumpkin shaped candy in my trick or treat bag . . . Candy corn was the norm, a little Snickers bar or Reese's was the something special. Now it's the norm for packaged higher end candy . . . Something I would love to give out are those root beer barrel shaped hard candies, wrapped. My Dad used to put them in his pockets when he came home from work so we would hug him and raid the pockets!

Funkyart, my grandmother kept her candy in a kitchen drawer and we weren’t allowed to touch it. Whatever she had there must have been special to her.

lpink, that’s so sweet that your father stuffed his pockets for you!

My grandmother liked those spiced gummies. I used to think I had snuck a great treasure when I found a stash, thinking they were the fruity ones. And then . . . ew, weird!

I have a vague recollection of my mother or my grandmother having a plastic ”tree” with lots of branches. You stuck a spice drop on the tip of each branch. I liked them all but the licorice.

bbstx I still have my grandmother's tree that is like you described. We always called in the gumdrop tree and it is shaped like a Christmas tree. Now my great granddaughters are decorating it each year and we always use spice gumdrops. I have great memories of it over all the years.

Had to do an image search for gumdrop trees -- how cute!

lpink, all I can think of now is 'ear wax' flavored jelly beans (from Harry Potter). lol!

bbstx, my grandmother made gumdrop trees at Christmas, but no plastic. She got a real tree branch and spray painted it with silver or gold paint and set it in a flower pot that she also gilded and decorated. They were magical for young kids, but I think they were strictly for decoration -- another of the beautiful things at her house that were "look - do not touch."

Pink -- I remember getting the root beer barrels -- my dad and brother especially liked them. My favorite treat was from a neighbor two doors down who made popcorn balls or bags of popcorn every year until homemade became a no-no -- post pixie stix.

That's funny -- my favorite neighbor always made popcorn balls to give out on Halloween. :)

You can wrap the gumdrops in cellophane or something similar, tie with a bow, for eating later. I've done that with a natural branch . . . used for the larger gumdrops and gummies, not the little ones . . .

I find Brach's orange and spearmint flavor candies at The Christmas Tree store or And That. I used to see them at Bed Bath and Beyond.

The Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate and Orange is so good, addicting.

For years we had Sunkist fruit gems at holiday time. They were always my favorite. My grandmother worked for Sunkist so we purchased them through her work, and then from a friend who was associated with Sunkist. They were always fresh and not overly sweet. They do sell them online at www.sunkistcandy.com. You can buy orange slices alone or mixed fruit.

Growing up, we had a gum drop tree like the one in the picture. With 7 children, my mother struggled to keep it filled. The tree was only used at Christmas. It was always sad to see it taken apart, flat in its box. Amazon still has the clear plastic ones. Ours was rare because it was brown, like a tree should be.

Maddielee now I want one . . . boy the last thing I need is gumdrops. Dang it!!

What a great memory Jill! I remember gumdrops as large as those "fruit gems" which would be a holiday treat kind of thing. Those products looks so inviting . . .

Those gumball tree’s are so cute

I love orange slices, but haven't had any in years. Those gumdrop trees bring back memories. A soft, easy to eat gummy that I got turned on to by my GD is Welch's Fruit Snacks in the Mixed Fruit flavor. You can find them at most places that have hanging bags of candy.

Haribo grapefruit slices are tasty. google to order online

I'm glad this popped back up, as I keep forgetting to post. All this talk about fruit jellies (I am not really a fan) and gumdrops (I kind of like them) made me think I HAD to have some. I was at Trader Joes to see if they might have gumdrops (I really detest orange and chocolate, so was not looking for those candies people recommended). I happened upon the most beautiful fruit jellies that look exactly like the Vermont Country Store jellies. I bought a carton and they are heavenly (did I say I'm not usually a fan?). Orange, lemon, grapefruit, something reddish pink, like strawberry or raspberry maybe? All are delicious.

https://traderjoesfan.com/directory/2926/fruit-jellies/

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone. I’ll try to get her a variety of them so that she can do a taste test.

Olychick, those all-natural ones look best to me, but I still wouldn’t eat one. :O) I see that there are now 4 Trader Joe’s in NY, other than in the NYC area, and they are in/near the major cities. Some day I may actually see the inside of one. lol!

Taste very similar to the Trader Joes. Made by the gummy bear company, but not like gummies. They are jelly candies, with a light sugar coating.

The Welch's Fruit Snacks that lizbeth-gardner recommended are good. The texture is somewhere between a fruit slice and a gummy. You can buy them by the box in individual pouches.

If you're going to buy gummies, buy the Albanese brand. They're a softer texture than other brands and the flavors are great.

Picked up a box of Trader Joe’s Fruit Jellies while visiting DD. OMG! They are fantastic (all except the grape ones. I don’t like grape-flavored anything)!

Bought a pound of Haribo grapefruit- deeelish! Thank you.