Abba Zaba Where Are You?

I need help. One of my duties as CUWPie program assistant is to present the daily "Mugging," a ritual that involves a minimal amount of pain via public exhibition, depending on the answers the fellows provided to a pre-program questionnaire I sent out earlier. "Mugging" is a more sophisticated term for spotlighting and get-to-know-you stuff. At the end of each CUWP session, I get to "Mug" someone by sharing the answers to a selected fellow's questionnaire. For example, today, some of the chosen fellow's clues were: "This person loves country music and wishes she had written the Twilight series (but that she would have gotten a better editor to fix all the typos) and said her mother-in-law ruined her wedding by exercising her talents as a control freak and acting like the day was all about her instead of the happy couple. Who is this person?" And then I present the Mugee with a mug bearing the CUWP logo.

My boss said I could approach the mugging however I wanted and so I added a new feature: I fill the mug with the Muggee's favorite candy. Most people savor the regular gamut of sugary sweets--Snickers, Smarties, jelly beans, hard candy. But some are indecisive and don't know what they want. Some are recovering chocolate-aholics and so I have to put fruit in their mugs. And one person said, when asked, "What's your favorite candy?" "Doritos and cottage cheese!!! Have you tried it? It's sooooooo good!" I wondered if she discovered this treat while pregnant.

Someone said Abba Zaba is their favorite candy. Cool. I didn't know anything about Abba Zabas, except that I get them once a year in my stocking when Jesse and I visit Rancho Cucamonga. I vaguely recalled they had electric green and black wrappers, but that's all. I went to Wal-Mart in search of an Abba Zaba. Couldn't find it. Then today, I found out why. They are made in southern California!

A speedy Google search yields the following information about the candy. Abba Zabas first appeared in 1922 but are currently manufactured by Annabelle Candy Co. Before Annabelle took over Abba Zaba, the packaging was considered by some to be racist (see right). The candy makes a cameo appearance in the movie Half Baked when the custodian Thurgood Jenkins declares, "Abba Zaba, you my only friend." The candy is also the title of a very weird 1967 song by Captain Beefheart that mentions Babbette baboon and an anonymous yellow bird taking on the sky, which, along with the rest of the lyrics, convince me that drugs of some sort could have very well facilitated the song's composition. See the very scholarly source Wikipedia for other such references to Abba Zaba in popular culture.

Another site with the article "The United States of Snacks" that lists Abba Zaba as a CA specialty (http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/eats-the-united-states-of-snacks/1) lists various other states with their own regional treats. Utah's is fry sauce. Who knew? The best delicacy in my opinion (or the most deranged) is Mississippi's "Koolickles," made by marinating pickles in Kool-Aid. Yum! How fun would it be to pack up your bags for a road trip and visit all the states listed on this site?!

A well-intentioned website with the heading "Nostalgic favorites in candy are now available online" directs readers to other sites that sell Abba Zabba online in bulk. But I only need one or two! This site also says: "Great gift possibilities for friends with nostalgic cravings! Very bad idea for those of us with a weight problem and little or no will power."

I may just have to settle for this writing fellow's second choice, a Whatchamacallit, an item with which Wal-Mart is always well stocked.