From Atlas Obscura, October 11:
From unsolved candy crimes to treats eaten only at funerals, these stories are bittersweet.
Perk up your ears and listen closely, for the soundtrack of Halloween is creeping up on us: the rustling of candy wrappers, the cracking of chocolate bars, the crunch of hard candies being crushed between eager teeth. This means that it’s time to stock up on not just your neighborhood’s favorite candy, but also some history from our archives—both sweet and sour.
by Alice Levitt
If you’re planning a visit to Malta from the end of October and into November, keep an eye out for għadam tal-mejtin (dead men’s bones), or alternatively, għadam ta’ Novembru (November bones). These bones—which are, spoiler alert, not real bones—are edible memento mori, part of Malta’s longstanding Month of the Dead celebrations. While the outside resembles a large bone-shaped sugar cookie, a bite into the crunchy shell reveals its deliciously warm “marrow” flavored with cardamom and clove.
by Sam O’Brien
In the 19th century, when mourners arrived at somber upper-class Swedish funerals, they could expect to be handed a morsel of ornately-decorated hard candy. The wrapper that enclosed the sweet made no bones about the macabre subject at hand, with designs including skulls, graves, and, in one case, a skeletal figure snipping the strings of time with scissors. Today, the art of creating this funeral confectionery has all but disappeared.
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