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28 April 2010

Quick poll Have you heard of Swedish Fish?[More:]
I was talking tonight to someone in a different state who had never heard of them before, which shocked me to the core. Tell me if you've heard of them and where you live, if you don't mind!
I have, live in Seattle (formerly Phoenix).
posted by Gorgik 28 April | 20:47
Yes and I grew up in India. I may have only heard of them after I got to the US (New York state) though.
posted by peacheater 28 April | 20:49
Yes! When I was very little we used to buy them by the quarter pound from the candy counter at Sears (err, way back when Sears had mix & match candy counters staffed by a clerk wearing a white apron and paper hat). California.
posted by jamaro 28 April | 20:50
Yes, and I see them in stores here (Atlanta, GA). Not sure what they are though... like gummi bears?
posted by BoringPostcards 28 April | 20:56
only after I moved to the USA. but yep, there are some in the CVS downstairs from my apartment.
posted by gaspode 28 April | 21:01
They are a gummi candy, but slightly stiffer somehow, and have a neat flavor. I don't remember a time before Swedish Fish, myself. :)
posted by leesh 28 April | 21:01
oh, New York City.
posted by gaspode 28 April | 21:02
Yes, I was disappointed that they were nothing like Swedish Meatballs.
posted by oneswellfoop 28 April | 21:05
Heard of them, but I would never eat them, because they look yucky.
posted by msali 28 April | 21:10
Yes. I first heard of them when someone in front of me in the concessions line at the theater saw that they sold it and started blasting that it was the most horrible thing in the world, and who the hell would buy Swedish Fish on a theater. So I very conspicuously bought a bag of Swedish Fish. This was after about 2-3 years living in Seattle.

Now they changed the vending machine at work to something that looks like a pinball machine with blinking lights and stuff... and one of the new things that showed up in that machine is Swedish Fish.

So, yeah, I'm at work, and now you all made me get a bag.

posted by qvantamon 28 April | 21:31
Huh? I never considered that you could not have heard of them. They've been around since I was a kid. I can't eat them anymore since one managed to rip a filling right out of a tooth but I used to like them.
posted by octothorpe 28 April | 21:50
Boston .. I ate some last week! :-)
posted by initapplette 28 April | 21:52
Qvantamon, where did you live before Seattle, if I can ask?

Initapplette, damn straight.
posted by leesh 28 April | 21:57
What jamaro said, also California. I love them!

A good Saturday afternoon used to be: 1) go to 3rd floor of Sears, 2) get Swedish fish and popcorn, 3) ride Sears exercise bikes, 4) bounce on Sears sofas.
posted by halonine 28 April | 21:57
certainly -- one of my favorite candies (any color but red is sacrilege, though)

(ditto NYC)
posted by Pips 28 April | 22:06
Yes, I adore them. They will forever remind me of refereeing at the ECC because they had them at every single site and what officials did was to take a pocketful of them and snack on them while on the stand and between matches if you didn't have enough time for sit down meals (which was often, depending on if you were in a shit venue).
posted by sperose 28 April | 22:36
Yes. Since I was little. New Mexico, Arizona, Iowa, Oregon, Pennsylvania, California. Swedish fish in all states. Only like the red ones though.
posted by Twiggy 28 April | 22:44
Heard of them, but I don't think I have ever had one. Erie PA.
posted by Ardiril 28 April | 22:51
Yes yes yes. LOVE them. I like the kind you buy in a box at Walgreens. Those are all red. I like the ones I get at the fancy grocery store at their candy counter .. red, yellow, orange and green. My friend had some tiny red ones she put out for snacks at Maj one night. I live in Chicago and I love Swedish fish. Now I want some.
posted by Kangaroo 28 April | 22:52
I've seen them all my life in "sold by weight" candy stores (Native Angelena).
posted by brujita 28 April | 23:56
Another Californian, I think I've known about them for maybe 10 or 15 years. I don't remember them from when I was a kid (60's-70's) but I rarely bought candy at anything fancier than grocery store.
posted by doctor_negative 29 April | 00:45
No, London. Don't think they ever made it to the UK.
posted by TheophileEscargot 29 April | 01:10
They're Finnish, you know.

Oh here I go to find some proof of Malaco being Finnish, and find an entire wiki page on Swedish fish. Haha! Says they're "Developed for the american market", but I doubt that. Winegum shaped as fish were my mothers favorite treat back in the 50s when she was a kid.mPerhaps they mean the stronger flavors are specifically developed for us palettes.

Ours taste better. Nyah.
posted by dabitch 29 April | 02:37
I love Swedish Fish, but I try not to eat them because they make my fillings hurt.

And you know where I live :-)
posted by pinky.p 29 April | 02:38
Oh yeah. Grew up mostly in Florida.

The small red ones are best, more chewy than the big ones.

But has anyone noticed that sometime in the last few years they changed the flavour of the green ones? They used to be really yummy (enough to hold a candle to the red ones), but now taste like bad fake lime. SO disappointing.
posted by Specklet 29 April | 03:36
Never heard of until this thread. Brought up south-east England.
posted by altolinguistic 29 April | 03:39
I'm originally from a fish-oriented society (Newfoundland) and had never heard of these; we would've called them "fish jujubes" or "gummi fish" or something. There's probably bulk bins full of them at my local (Alberta) Safeway.
posted by hangashore 29 April | 07:13
No. NYC. I've heard of lutefisk, though.
posted by Obscure Reference 29 April | 07:29
Grew up in New Jersey. We had them, but we didn't call them "Swedish fish," we called them "gummy fish" or "candy fish," ignoring the brand name.

Wikipedia says that they were developed in Finland where they are called (duh) Finnish Fish. It also says that the Swedish fish were developed for the North American market in the 60s and 70s, so maybe there's a generational aspect to it.
posted by Miko 29 April | 08:05
Yup, but I only remember the red ones for some reason. I always preferred Sour Patch Kids, though. I've lived all three of my decades in Oklahoma and Texas.
posted by ufez 29 April | 08:08
yes, Wisconsin.
posted by desjardins 29 April | 08:14
Yeah I've heard of Swedish Fish...grew up mainly in Ontario!
posted by richat 29 April | 08:26
Yes, they were a favorite treat of MuddDude when he lived in Massachusetts.
posted by muddgirl 29 April | 08:52
I'll admit they were not on my radar until I was older than ten. I never really ate them. I had a sheltered growing-up in MD.
posted by rainbaby 29 April | 09:21
I grew up in New England, then Texas, then New England again. I did know about Swedish Fish, but only the red ones. (Green? You buncha weirdos.)
posted by Elsa 29 April | 10:39
Yes, from Boston, now in NYC, had them in both.
posted by rmless2 29 April | 10:41
Never heard of them. And I have to say that the name, in and of itself, was not very intriguing to my palate.

(Grew up in SoCal.)
posted by danf 29 April | 10:42
Heard of 'em, grew up in PA and OH, probably ate 'em at one time or another, but have no specific recollection of doing so.
posted by box 29 April | 11:15
Yep. Grew up in Delaware and Wisconsin in a mostly candy-free household, but then again I AM Swedish ;)
posted by Madamina 29 April | 11:38
They only ever had them in one candy store in Water Mill, Long Island, where some family friends used to spend summers. Sometimes we would go and visit and I could ride my bike to this magical store where they had the mysterious and delicious red Swedish Fish in a big barrel. I never saw them anywhere else until the last couple years when suddenly they're everywhere but they just don't taste as good as the Swedish Fish from the 70s. I was raised up and down the east coast from South Carolina to Vermont and back again.
posted by mygothlaundry 29 April | 12:03
No. And like danf, I'm from SoCal. Also lived in Texas and Washington and am now in British Columbia.

I have, however, heard of (and used) Swedish saws.
posted by deborah 29 April | 13:14
Rita's makes a Swedish Fish flavored water ice. It's yum for the first few bites, then entirely too sweet.
posted by jrossi4r 29 April | 13:27
yup, canada
posted by joelf 29 April | 16:04
Yes, California. Now I want to find a recipe for wine gum candy with actual wine.
posted by filthy light thief 29 April | 16:15
Wikipedia said the non-red colors are recent additions to the line.
posted by Miko 29 April | 16:17
The ones we got when I was a kid (late 60s, early 70s) came in red, yellow and green and were about 2" long. I would carefully bite the heads off the yellow ones and transplant them onto a headless green one. The reds were the best tasting ones back then (and thus were spared my Dr Frankenfish experiments) but they taste much different now, very bland and ...flour-y. I also used to like to see how long I could stretch the fish before they ripped in half. They don't stretch very far though, I was thrilled when Gummi Bears came along (80s?) because one can stretch a bear quite a ways.

We used to send a pound of Swedish fish to my relatives in Japan for the holidays, that and fruit slices candy were huge hits. I preferred fruit slices over Swedish fish (loved the orange and lemon flavoring) but we rarely bought any for home, only to ship overseas.
posted by jamaro 29 April | 18:12
I was in a Bulk Barn with my girls tonight, CANDY SHOPPING (what? we used to do that once in a while BEFORE I became a single dad too!) and I noted that the "Swedish fish" were in a bin labeled "Finnish Fish".

This confused me a bit, because while the city I live in does have a large Finn population, Bulk Barn isn't exactly a local business.
posted by richat 29 April | 19:38
Yep.

(going back to read others' answers now)
posted by Stewriffic 29 April | 21:55
This is A People Suck Thread. || Frances Conroy in "Humboldt County" - a Flickr set.

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