Actually, of all the weird and worst-selling candy on the shelves, I think that "orange slices" are the candy people are most likely to stand up for.  Orange slices are not quite a gummy candy, although they belong to the same family.  They could more accurately be described as being large, strangely shaped gumdrops.  They are, as you might imagine, orange flavored.  Each slice is loosely orange slice shaped, and dusted with sugar granules.

Orange slices are pretty sweet, even as far as candy goes.  The better orange slices contain actual orange based ingredients (usually this is orange oil, although Brach's orange slices are "made with real fruit juices," I think this is probably orange oil as well).  It's a pity orange slices are so sweet, because I think you could make a pretty brisk business reinventing the orange slice into something a little more on the tangy side.  

Oddly, one serving of Brach's orange slices contains 100% of your RDA of vitamin C.  Such an odd candy to have a patina of healthiness!  Of course, one serving of orange slices is three pieces, and it contains 150 calories and 38 grams of carbs, so you have to balance out that vitamin C thing with your own thighs.

Brach's orange slices are the most familiar to the national audience, although they are closely related to Boston Fruit Slices.  I have only heard of Boston Fruit Slices (being a West Coast native) but apparently they come in a fruit salad like variety of apple, watermelon, orange, lemon, and so forth.  

Boston Fruit Slices are one of the few remaining small candy manufacturers left in a world gone mad for centralization of candy power.  They are still made by hand, in the Boston Fruit Slice kitchen in New England.  Boston Fruit Slices are, as you might imagine, available only in the Northeast part of the country.  I am sad that I have never had Boston Fruit Slices, but I guess Boston people might be sad because they have never had a Mountain Bar or an Idaho Spud.  

Fruit slice candies are mimicking actual candied fruit slices, which humans have been ingesting with glee for hundreds of years.  Known as "glace fruit" in fancier circles, to make it you basically soak a slice of fruit in a heated sugar syrup until it is infused with the sugar.  (This is similar to the process of fossilization, except with fruit and sugar instead of bones and minerals.)

Candied fruit is shelf stable, which made it a popular and important food treat item in the medieval time when it was invented.  Candied fruit can keep for many years without any further preservation, which allowed it to be used out of season, shipped across continents, and stored in a time before refrigeration and electricity.

Most of us know of candied fruit now only through our experience with fruit cake.  Therefore you might not be surprised to learn that there is a flourishing collection of recipes involving Brach's orange slices.  You can even cut them up and bake them into a cake, to make a thoroughly post-modern fruit cake!  (Please don't send it to me, though.)

Creative Commons-licensed image courtesy of Flickr user photoguyinmo