Actually, my favorite Candy was John

Do you like Necco wafers?  They are those disc-like "candies" made by the New England Confectionery Company (hence the snappy name.)

I never cared for them. I thought they were not much more flavorful than poker chips, although I once had a boss who just loved his Neccos, oh yes he did.

But someone must love them, because now that the company that has been grinding them out since 1847 (really!) is in danger of going out of business, people are breaking their necks to build up their stashes of the stuff.

Take Katie Samuels, from Florida.  I don't actually mean to take her from Florida; if she is happy down there, she ought to stay. But she is from Florida, and these awful candies mean more to her than her car does.

She contacted a candy wholesaler, Candystore.com, to see if they would be willing to swap their entire Necco inventory for her 2003 Honda Accord.

Katie says she remembers being a child (don't we all?) and how she would "play church" at home. I don't remember doing that, although I often "played home" at church, earning sharp rebukes from pastor and parents alike.

But in Katie's fun childhood, she used Neccos as pretend Communion wafers.

I really want to get to hear more about Katie's childhood, including what she dressed up as for Halloween, but the story ends there, because Candystore.com turned down the deal, but did sell her a few boxes of the tasteless treats.

Necco also makes Squirrel Nut Zippers, which always sounded like apparel for yard rodents, and Candy Buttons, another favorite of many that found no truck among my want list, and please! Just because my last name happens to be Clark, don't assume I like Clark Bars, even though dozens of would-be comics have ankled up to me and crooned,"I want a Clark Bar!"

For the record, in my candy-gobbling days, I liked Almond Joys and Mars bars, with the occasional Bonomo Turkish Taffy and Mary Jane thrown in for ballast.

The company says they will shut the doors for good the first week of May if no one comes along to buy the place. Al Gulachenski, former CEO of Necco ("Neccoceo"?) is trying to come up with $30 million to do so, but so far, his hopes that 3 musketeers will come up with the loot have mainly been met only with snickers. They say that so far, he's only raised 100 Grand.