As a kid, Halloween was serious business. I remember checking the local Hallmark store and pharmacy daily, waiting for them to unbox all their wonderful and macabre Halloween decorations. Be it a spooky sounds tape or some blood capsules, I'd lay my grubby hands on anything that promised a quick fix - anything to make the long wait a little more bearable.



Wax fangs were a definite must have. While my heyday was in the 80s, the wax lips were originally invented near the turn of the century by the American Candy Company. They were then acquired by Concord, who were much admired by me for the artistry in the wax candy genre (e.g., Nik-L-Nips), but they were bought out by Tootsie in 2004.

The concept is pretty simple- you hold the wax fangs in your mouth using a little bridge designed for you to bite down on (in the back of the fangs). This gives the wearer the desired result of appearing to have giant vampire fangs.



I even remember showing up to the house of the odd ball religious family across the street donning a pair and being quickly admonished for participating in witchcraft (and I grew up Baptist!). Then again, they handed out Bible tracts for Halloween which is only slightly worse than receiving pennies.

I hadn't tried a pair of wax fangs on in years and was shocked, shocked to discover that they no longer have that strange peppermint taste. Instead it's a strange artificial cherry flavor that reminds me of something our dentist used to give us...

And as for the wax lips pictured above? Why would anyone want those when they could have fangs?