DROPPIN CANDLE KNOWLEDGE: History of the American Boardwalk Candles

So as you know, these candles are making an appearance this upcoming SAS and just appeared online this morning...


Most of us ol schoolers in the know knew the story behind these particular candles and were quite excited to see them. Alas, we are a dying breed and are the minority in a league of newbies. People on social media have (wrongly) assumed these candles were new and/or think they were repackages of scents that came out last year, yknow frame of reference being small.  Which brings me to my mini rant of the day.

I vehemently loathe this "ignorance is bliss" attitude that's running rampant in the candle community on social media. No one does due diligence, "reviewers" don't do their homework, everyone seems perfectly content being blissfully unaware about everything. Backintheday, we actually conversed about scents and notes and repackages; can't do that now. You can't ask anyone about notes and what's a repackage of what cuz they have no frame of reference. And if I hear one person smugly say "I wasn't into BBW back then so it's all new to me", I'm gonna scream! That's no excuse! Back in 2011, I knew nothing but I learned; I read blogs, I watched videos, I educated myself; maybe I'm the odd one out but I just don't like the feeling of not knowing things. There is absolutely no excuse for anyone one in the candle community to be in the dark. I keep my blog catalogued with all kinds of info. Lifeinsidethepage keeps her blog up to date. All of those ol school reviewers' vids are still on Youtube - Littleballadeer, Tinadivalicious, Touchthefiretwice, Scentmyway, etc! Whether you're a candle lover or a reviewer, don't just talk out of your ass and don't assume that everything you see is new. I say this to everyone - BE SMARTER! Rant over!

So this American Boardwalk collection actually came out in late spring 2012 (if you notice very carefully, there's a seal that says "established in 2012").  It was a very popular collection, probably one of the most successful candle collections backintheday. Most of the scents were new..new at the time and there was a mix of various types of scents for everyone to enjoy. Some of these quickly became fan favorites and have been re-released since then, some were repackaged but a few just disappeared.




This collection back for summer SAS back in 2014 albeit with a few omissions. Many of us remembered this collection as it was just a few years ago and loved that BBW was giving us a bit of nostalgia. I wrote a review about them and I must have been in a pissy mood when I wrote it as I had nothing pleasant to say about them so forgive me for that.

And now this collection is back with all of the same candles that were released back in 2014 being re-released now with fancy updated labels. So I'm gonna take a little to talk about the candles we'll be seeing for SAS.

I'm skipping Summer Boardwalk and Suntan as those have re-released so often over the years and everyone knows what those smell like. Moving right along...

When pictures of this new updated Ice Cream Shop appeared on social media, folks assumed it was either new or a repackage of Banana Split Milkshake...a harmless assumption but misguided and incorrect. So Ice Cream Shop was the only non-new scent in the 2012 collection; it predated this collection by (I believe) a few years or maybe less, not sure. However the version that appeared in the American Boardwalk collection had been tweaked. In 2013 during summer SAS as throwback, Ice Cream Shop was re-released with Mint Chocolate, Creamy Nutmeg, Kitchen Spice, Salty Caramel, Homemade Cookies, Caramel Apple and my bae Apple Crumble.

So right off ICS doesn't smell anything like Banana Split Milkshake (actually I think BSM smells better and more accurate) nor does it particularly smell like ice cream..and is it's not supposed to. It's a conceptual scent that supposed to sweet like the sweet lingering aroma of various ice creams and condiments in a shop...hence the it's called Ice Cream "Shop". If you expecting Neapolitan  ice cream or a banana split, you're going to be disappointed!

Back when American Boardwalk first came out, there were 2 batches of Saltwater Taffy; there was a test version that failed and eventually a nationwide version that hit all stores. This nationwide version would later be repackaged as Strawberry Picnic and then Strawberry Sorbet  and what we now know as Cotton Candy Marshmallow.

Now based on the few reviews I've seen and heard from folks who got their hands on this new version, it doesn't smell like Cotton Candy Marshmallow and that it smells like authentic saltwater taffy. If the original smelled like that, we may be getting the rare failed test scent version.

White Sands is the lone scent in the AB collection that was a straightup repackage; it was a repackage of a failed test scent from the previous year called Island Sand. It got kinda of overshadowed by Suntan despite the two having similar notes and vibes; White Sand disappeared and Suntan was released over and over. Now some folks have been saying that this new WS smells like the recently released Salted Ocean Air. Now I personally don't remember the old WS smelling like that but who knows.

And finally, Beach Grass made its debut in the original AB collection. Because it was such a subtle and subdued fragrance and a floral scent at that, BG kinda got lost in the mix. It wouldn't reappear until late spring of 2015 when the (as I like to call it) "There once was a man from Nantucket" collection that BG reappeared and received a boost of popularity. It's easy to overlook a scent like this cuz it's different; it maintains a summery/beachy vibe without using cliche and overused notes like coconut, mango, orange blossom and driftwood.

Missing from this current iteration is Oceanside, Seashore (which we know as Renew & Refresh) and Root Beer Float (the same one we saw last summer)



If you are remotely interested in any of these candles, I highly recommend you check out these old reviews from when they first premiered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN_LSIzMuxQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1FLnjh0ek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loATKdW6Fbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetIhSjH-28

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