# Movie night pick and mix

**Canonical URL:** https://sweeties.net/wiki/movie-night-pick-and-mix/
**Source:** sweeties.net, online pick and mix sweet shop

## Summary

Movie night pick and mix: how sweets got into cinemas in the Depression, why Covid emptied cinema pick and mix in 2020, and a mix to enjoy at home.

## Description

Sweets and films have gone together for most of the history of the cinema, but it was not always so.
How sweets got into the cinema
In the early days, cinemas did not sell food, and they were hostile to food being brought in, which was often sold by vendors outside. During the Great Depression, cinemas added snack stands of their own as a way to raise money in hard times, and by the 1930s they were a main fixture. Snacks at such stands usually cost more than elsewhere, which is why they bring in a significant share of a venue's money.
In the Second World War, sugar rationing made sweets scarce at American cinema counters, and popcorn stepped in: Americans ate three times as much popcorn as before.
At the cinema counter
Chocolate coated peanuts have a reputation in many countries as a cinema counter treat: see chocolate peanuts
Cinemas in Britain have sold loose pick and mix from open bins, and in 2020 Covid guidance made them remove open, self service sweets: see the pick and mix hygiene debate
Your own movie night mix
At home you can build the mix you want, by the 100 g:
Something chewy. We sell SW001 and SW002.Something sour. For a sharp change of pace: we sell SW017.Something chocolate. We sell SW041.
Every card opens up to show the full ingredients and allergens for the sweets we actually stock, which matters when you are sharing a bowl: see pick and mix and allergies
How much to get
Sellers' guides suggest about 100 to 250 g per adult and 50 to 75 g per child, so a kilo covers four to ten people: see how much pick and mix do you need per person?
For more ideas, see pick and mix party ideas

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