NEW YORK (AP) -- Remember candy necklaces, Wacko-Wax lips and Necco wafers?

NEW YORK (AP) -- Remember candy necklaces, Wacko-Wax lips and Necco wafers?
These candies and others from the 1950s and 1960s are getting big displays at some of the nation's retailers, particularly this fall and holiday season. Merchants are eager to cash in on baby boomers' desire to relive their sweetest childhood memories and to share them with their children.
"I've always loved that candy," said Ken Casarsa, 40, from Cicero, N.Y., who's bought items like Razzles -- hard candy from the 1960s that turns into gum -- on the Internet. "They don't make the new stuff like that. A lot of it is unappetizing, and you can't relate to it."
Candy manufacturers including Tootsie Roll Industries have increased production of some of their retro products like Dots gum drops to meet demand.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is creating a store-within-a-store called Kid Connection, which so far is in 160 stores and highlights old-time favorites like Pez and Rock Candy.
Dylan's Candy Bar, a Manhattan store that was one of the first to catch the trend, is doubling the size of its retro candy section. The company also has stores in Houston; Orlando, Fla.; and Garden City, N.Y.
Meanwhile, online candy stores, including groovycandies.com, sweetnostalgia.com and oldtimecandy.com, have been launched to offer boomers an easy way to get the old-time goodies.
High hopes
Nostalgic candy is a growing niche in the $24.3 billion U.S. candy business, according to the National Confectioners Association, although some sources say the category still only accounts for about 5 percent of total candy sales.
Many companies believe the trend will be long-lasting.
Scott Hughes, who runs the operations of groovycandies.com, expects to double sales to $3 million in the next two years. The Cleveland-based company had $250,000 in sales in 2000.
"I think it will last at least five or 10 years," he said, noting he expects his holiday business to be up by double digits over a year ago.
This nostalgic candy craze is part of an overall retro trend that also includes toys, fashion and cars. Casarsa said that eating Razzles triggers memories of going to the local penny candy store when he was a child.
He still hasn't been able to persuade his children, ages 3 and 6, to try them. They prefer hard candy with names like Nerds and Runts.
Subtle changes
In some cases, boomers might not recognize the packaging of these retro brands and may find the taste a bit different.
Cadbury Adams USA LLC, based in Parsippany, N.J., aims to triple its Chiclets gum business and relaunched the brand this month in new packaging and two new flavors-- Citrus and Strawberry.
In also relaunching a trio of nostalgic gums -- Clove, Beeman's and Blackjack -- from September through January, Cadbury Adams toned down the licorice taste of Blackjack. The gums, created in the early 1900s, were first taken off the market in the late 1970s.
Tootsie Roll Industries is making bigger Dot candies in more vibrant colors, according to Ellen Gordon, president.
There's a growing campaign to bring some candies back that were out of circulation.
After tracking a cultlike following to Bonomo's Turkish Taffy on the Internet, New York malpractice attorney Ken Wiesen, 46, purchased the trademark from Tootsie Roll three years ago. The chewy candy -- popular in the 1950s and '60s -- was acquired by Tootsie Roll in the early 1970s but was phased out in the early 1980s.
Wiesen expects to have the taffy sold in national chains by summer of 2004 and is working to recreate the original flavors.