Pop Culture Passport - Exploring Quirky & Cool Travel Destinations in the USA
Pop Culture Passport is your guide to quirky and cool travel destinations across the USA. Every other week, we explore unique things to do, from movie and TV filming locations and theme parks to roadside attractions, quirky museums, regional foods, and the fascinating stories behind the places you visit.
If you'd happily add 60 minutes to your trip to visit a filming location, the Jell-O Museum, a legendary roadside attraction, or a local spot with an incredible backstory, this podcast is for you.
I'm Beth Schillaci, aka the Roaming Yeti. I'm a travel content creator, pop culture nerd, and firm believer that the best discoveries happen when you layer a little curiosity on top of wherever you're already headed. I call them side quests: the detours, the unexpected stops, the "wait, THAT'S here?" moments that make any trip unforgettable and personal.
Whether you're planning a dedicated trip or looking for the perfect thing to add to somewhere you're already going, a work trip, a family visit, or a drive through a new city, there's always something worth the detour.
Think of this as traveling with your slightly nerdy, sort-of-cool friend who loves deep dives, unexpected discoveries, and finding the story behind the story.
Explore episodes about:
- Movie & TV filming locations
- Quirky museums & unique attractions
- Road trips & roadside attractions
- Theme parks & themed entertainment
- Regional foods, candy history & food tourism
- Day trips & weekend getaways
- Hidden history, origin stories & local legends
- Pop culture travel across the USA
Grab your Pop Culture Passport — let's roam.
Pop Culture Passport - Exploring Quirky & Cool Travel Destinations in the USA
From Popcorn Balls to Fun Size: How Halloween Candy Took Over Trick-or-Treating
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Episode 157
How did Halloween go from homemade popcorn balls and apples to Fun Size candy bars and houses famous for handing out full-size Snickers?
In this Snack Society episode of Pop Culture Passport, we're digging into the history of trick-or-treating and the treats that have filled Halloween bags over the years.
We'll discover why early trick-or-treaters might have come home with cookies, nuts, coins, and homemade treats; how candy corn went from “Chicken Feed” to a Halloween icon; and how PEZ transformed from an Austrian peppermint marketed to adults into the character dispensers we know today.
We'll also look at the Halloween candy safety panic of the 1970s, why individually wrapped candy became so reassuring to parents, and the surprisingly contentious history of the words “Fun Size.”
So grab your plastic pumpkin and let's go trick-or-treating through a century of Halloween candy history.
In this episode:
- What trick-or-treaters received before candy took over
- How candy corn became a Halloween staple
- The wonderfully weird Nik-L-Nip
- How PEZ went from anti-smoking peppermint to character candy
- The Halloween candy-tampering panic
- How individually wrapped treats changed Halloween
- The surprisingly complicated history of Fun Size candy bars
- How the full-size candy bar house became neighborhood royalty
You ready? Let’s roam.
Get your free Field Notes Travel & Snack Journal by signing up for the newsletter.
Connect with me on social: Facebook or Instagram.
Like this episode? Share it in your stories and tag me @the_roaming_yeti
Love the show? Leave a 5-star review, and let me know where you'd like us to roam next.
Ready for more from The Roaming Yeti now? Visit our website.