Food of the Seventies, Marathon Bar

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Description
Marathon Bar...a braded carmel and chocolate candy bar. 12 inches long. T.V. commercials often depicted Marathon John A cowboy dressed in white seem to be always on the draw... This was my favorite candy, it seemed to disappear right after the introduction of the Charlston Chew bar. What A Pitty.
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User Stories and Comments

The following are comments left about Marathon Bar from site visitors such as yourself. They are not spell checked or reviewed for accuracy.

AJ - July 19, 2007 - Report this comment
Only the BEST candy bar ever!, 12 inches of caramel braided chocolate covered heaven. I always thought my sister was stupid for choosing a Chunky bar, cause it just seemed so small. She was long finished and I still had my Marathon bar! Why? 'Cause It lasted a "good, long time"
Diane - September 06, 2007 - Report this comment
I loved the Marathon Bar! We use to freeze them, bust them and eat them. They were the greatest, and only 25 cents.
Mark - September 13, 2007 - Report this comment
The Curly Wurly bar is a close reproduction(either Cadbury or Wonka), and they still make them
Hacksaw - October 07, 2007 - Report this comment
The Curly Wurly is about half the size, but yeah, it's pretty damn close. Cadbury makes great chocolate. Unfortunately they make their superior candy overseas. I have to get the small Dairy Milk bars at the Irish stores where I live.
D - December 14, 2007 - Report this comment
Man I miss these. Seems they were discontinues in 1981. Over a quarter century ago. I can't believe it was so long ago. Some of my WoW guildies live up in Canada. Maybe they can get me some Curly Wurly bars.
J - January 10, 2008 - Report this comment
Hooray, more Marathon-ers! Definitely the best candy bar ever! Have been looking for these forever and only a handful of folks seem to remember it. Loved the ruler on the back to gauge your progress. It would usually be a melty mess before you got anywhere near finishing it. And yes, lots of jealous Chunky bar and KitKat-ers thinking they got the deal. PLEASE bring this one back!
Kelly - January 12, 2008 - Report this comment
I have quite a Marathon memory. I was 8 and eating a Marathon while waiting in the foyer of the public library while my parents and brother were in the library. Gradually I got way too much in my mouth. My mouth was absolutely full of caramel and chocolate when I realized that I had lost a loose tooth. Apparently I was able to get rid of the candy, retrieve the tooth, and act like nothing had happened by the time my parents exited. I mentioned it to my mom recently and she had no memory of it so I guess I did not cause a stir!
Mare - February 06, 2008 - Report this comment
I have vivd memories sitting in the shopping cart eating a Marathon while my mom shopped. Miss these like crazy.
Jeff - May 19, 2008 - Report this comment
I can remember eating this candy bar vividly, although it's been about 30 years since I had one. I don't eat sugar anymore so all I have left are my memories. I'm thinking these were 8" long and had a ruler to prove it on the back of the wrapper, but it seems others remember it as being 12 inches long. Either way it was a cool concept.
mimi - August 19, 2008 - Report this comment
there is only ONE thing to say about this mouthful of delicious...BRING IT BACK
Timmay!!!! - August 20, 2008 - Report this comment
I remember having these after our Little League games. The concession stand would sell them frozen. They were the best that way!!!
Joanie - September 12, 2008 - Report this comment
The BEST candy bar ever made wa the Marathon Bar. I remember these as a kid and very ferw people I mention it to know what I am talking about....even people several years older than me! Pleasssseeeee bring this one BACK soon!!!!!1
Missy - February 10, 2009 - Report this comment
As a child, when my father was in the Marine Corp. I would skate with him as he ran in the evenings. Sometimes as a special treat, he would give me a dollar, and I would skate a head and meet him at the base convenience store, and we'd share a marathon bar. I miss those days... I miss my Dad, too.
Missy - February 10, 2009 - Report this comment
As a child, when my Dad was in the Marine Corp. he would run each evening, and sometimes I would go with him and skate. Sometimes as a special treat, he would give me a dollar and I would skate ahead to the base convenience store and buy a marathon bar to split. I miss those days... and I miss my Dad, too.
Paul M - February 13, 2009 - Report this comment
mmm choclate covered caramel braid. It was long and thin and it was yummy for a long time. I would chew until I would have a sore jaw! yum!
brad - February 26, 2009 - Report this comment
marathon bar from back in da day.....awesome!!! I would love to see someone bring it back....it was so simple but soooooooooooo good!!!!
Marathon Man - April 27, 2009 - Report this comment
I loved them.. They were the best GO TO Mars website and let them know.
Lenore - April 29, 2009 - Report this comment
my grandma had a candy store when I was growing up and after her store closed it seems the Marathon bar also disappeared! What a bummer! I loved this candy.
Julie - May 31, 2009 - Report this comment
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your memories; I have never met anyone else who remembers these. They were sooooo yummy! One of the commercials I remember was of a guy flying a bi-plane and leaving a smoke trail (which, of course, he braided to look like the candy bar).
jolynn - June 16, 2009 - Report this comment
Bright red wrapper! This was my favorite candy bar; Pay Day came a close second. I was so upset when I could no longer find them.
Erik - September 19, 2009 - Report this comment
Marathon, Seven-up, and Mars "were" my favorites candy bars.
TW - January 05, 2010 - Report this comment
OMG, I have been trying to describe this candy bar to people to ask if they've heard of it lately. I used to eat these in the early-mid 70s in L.A. Thanks for listing the name!
Kimberley Rila - January 28, 2010 - Report this comment
I have been telling my daughter about these awesome candy bars. That was a lot easier time back then.
ray - February 13, 2010 - Report this comment
there are other marathon bars listed, but all the same product.they were a foot long & braided. i really loved those things.
Mike - April 08, 2010 - Report this comment
I'm glad someone else remembers the guy with the biplane! I thought i was crazy. I think they actually had the plane on some of the wrappers??? I have ordered the curly wurly bars and they are good, but smaller than the marathon bars. I ate my last one when i was 8 and i still remember how great they were. What did they put in those thing??? :)
will - May 15, 2010 - Report this comment
yes they were the best candy I remember being out of school for the summer and going to the local market with some change and getting a brown bag full of candy. boy those were the days
JONMANKUTA@aol.com - July 02, 2010 - Report this comment
If anyone has any Marathon Bar wrappers, or ANY old 70s candy wrappers they would sell, please email me, I collect them and pay good cash for them!
Tom - November 03, 2010 - Report this comment
I remember getting these at the movie theater growing up and the cowboy hawking them on TV. My youunger brother was the one that introduced them to me. They were delicious, but the last 4-6" would always end up a melted sticky mess from us holding on to them. When they originally came out they were 12" long (that was the big selling point);however, I do remember going trick-or-treating and getting some that were only about six inches long. I remember at the time feeling cheated cuz' they weren't the regular 12" ones. Funny, they didn't taste like the regular ones either.
minchat - May 18, 2012 - Report this comment
My cousins and I used to make ourselves sick trying to finish a Marathon bar in one go. We'd see the commercial and the contest was ON! After a while we couldn't even stand the sight of them, and once I started choking on a strand of the caramel and had to be thumped on the back. But those were good times!
dizzyd - August 20, 2012 - Report this comment
This was my favorite candy when i was younger and im glad to see others who liked it as much as i. Dose anyone know where to find vintage candy.
Layla Harry - June 11, 2015 - Report this comment
oldtimecandy.com
Tom - March 12, 2018 - Report this comment
Marathon bars had a braided appearance, like a woven leather belt. I suppose the gaps between the braid made it possible to stretch the bar to 12" with less caramel. Perhaps also, a solid strip of chocolate-covered caramel would be too tough. I wonder if they were discontinued due to low sales, or because they took up too much room on store shelves? When I was little, maybe five years old, my friend's father worked for M&M Mars. His mom once asked me to bring their garbage cans back from the curb to the garage, and when I did, she gifted me with an entire box of Marathon bars in return! I didn't care for them myself, so I gave them to my sister.
Bean - December 29, 2019 - Report this comment
Not sure if you guys have seen this, but Cadbury is making their version called Curly Wurly. It's braided like the Marathon but much smaller than I remember. I bought a pack of 10 on Amazon for stocking stuffers this past Christmas and they weren't bad. But nothing EVER tastes the same as it did when we were kids!
Dawn M - June 19, 2020 - Report this comment
OMYUMMINESS!!! Only the BEST candy bar EVER!!!! My favorite time to eat them was at the drive-in movies.... a marathon bar, popcorn, and a Tab soda! Lol

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