Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

en.wikipedia.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 50 posts

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#31

Post by MrGilbert »

TrackerFF wrote: post #27

When I grew up (Norway), the portions were quite small. And we didn't have that big of a selection. If you go to the super market today in Norway, you'll likely find tens to hundreds of different flavors. Same in Sweden and Denmark. Interestingly enough, I don't think this kind of candy ("smågodt", which you buy by the weight) is too popular elsewhere? At least I haven't seen it too much in convenience stores when I'…

In Germany, that‘s usually part of the "Kiosk"-Culture. You can select an assortment of candy for a fixed price (say, 3€), and the owner will ask you what you want and pick it for you in a small bag. At least that was the way it worked when I was younger, some 25-ish years ago.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#32

Post by boxed »

fleebee wrote: post #17

The intention was to prevent tooth decay by regulating candy intake. But it turns out that mandating a special weekly(!) day for candy consumption had the opposite effect. Children are naturally interested in things that are forbidden from them, and so when the restrictions are lifted they tend to eat large amounts of candy. Furthermore, restrictions and rules are not a good way of teaching moderation. Practices like…

My wife once asked a friend from England what they have "instead of lördagsgodis".

The reply? "Obese kids".

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#33

Post by flanked-evergl »

TrackerFF wrote: post #27

When I grew up (Norway), the portions were quite small. And we didn't have that big of a selection. If you go to the super market today in Norway, you'll likely find tens to hundreds of different flavors. Same in Sweden and Denmark. Interestingly enough, I don't think this kind of candy ("smågodt", which you buy by the weight) is too popular elsewhere? At least I haven't seen it too much in convenience stores when I'…

Where I grew up, candy by weight was also popular, but as we seized being a high trust society it just no longer worked and the supermarkets stopped selling candy by weight. The same thing will happen in Norway.

Not sure I get why it's a good thing to not have high trust societies but it's been decided that we can't have that anymore. Maybe it reduces obesity … thought that was somehow also less of a problem before.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#34

Post by boxed »

web64 wrote: post #11

Here is an article in Norwegian that goes a bit deeper into the grotesque history behind the tradition of saturday sweets: https://www.nrk.no/kultur/xl/lordagsgodt-er-typisk-norsk-og-...

You mean the grotesque experiments that lead to the scientific knowledge that in turn lead to lördagsgodis. The distinction is pretty important.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#35

Post by tasuki »

TrackerFF wrote: post #27

When I grew up (Norway), the portions were quite small. And we didn't have that big of a selection. If you go to the super market today in Norway, you'll likely find tens to hundreds of different flavors. Same in Sweden and Denmark. Interestingly enough, I don't think this kind of candy ("smågodt", which you buy by the weight) is too popular elsewhere? At least I haven't seen it too much in convenience stores when I'…

Candy-by-weight is available in most supermarkets in Poland, but I've never seen it in the Czech Republic. Perhaps the Baltic states have it too? Or Germany?

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#36

Post by boxed »

rasse wrote: post #8
4gotunameagain wrote: post #6

This is one of the things I never understood about Nordic countries. Most of the people are so considerate about what they eat, good ingredients, nice compositions, making it look pretty as well.. ..and then they proceed to shove great amounts of that chemical sugary shit down their throats !

As a matter of fact, even the good ingredients are 100% chemical.

As a matter of fact, all ingredients are 100% chemical.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#37

Post by Ma8ee »

imp0cat wrote: post #28
Ma8ee wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Children are naturally interested in sweets! You don't need to make them forbidden for that. And just you are allowed to eat sweets only one day of the week doesn't mean that they are allowed to unlimited amounts of it, and, in my experience, interested to overeat it. Why would it foster an unhealthy relationship with food to learn that some things are unhealthy and eaten only at special occasions? An unhealthy relat…

My limited experience seems to suggest the same thing the op wrote. The more your hide something from kids, the more they crave it. If there is no limit, they will eventually get bored of it.

I guess that's why American kids never eat junk food or drink soda instead of water. I'm sure the 35% of the US population that are obese will get tired of eating badly any day now.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#38

Post by cess11 »

brabel wrote: post #15
triyambakam wrote: post #3

Interesting how well known Sweden seems to be in the world for its population; many countries with way more people but not popular like Sweden. I learned Swedish because I think its cool. Would love to learn other languages with even more speakers but Sweden has so much media and resources it's so easy.

They’ve got good jeans! Sorry just joking. They were big proponents of Eugenics before Hitler found out about it. But let’s be honest, a land of blondes is much more likely to be given media attention. Just like a war in Ukraine is a lot more talked about than a war in Sudan or Yemen. At least in the Western world.

I think most people would consider the Myrdal couple winners in the battle regarding eugenics, which were proponents of a strain of thought they called 'social hygiene' that was the main opposition to the eugenicists. One outcome was that the social democrats started to financially strangle the eugenicist institutions.

Swedish diplomats and politicians did quite a bit in international politics during large portions of the 1900s, and the country spawned some quite successful corporations and innovations. Dag Hammarskjöld, Folke Bernadotte, Nobel dynamite, Ericsson telecom, things like that.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#39

Post by QuantumNomad_ »

cristea wrote: post #21
fleebee wrote: post #17

The intention was to prevent tooth decay by regulating candy intake. But it turns out that mandating a special weekly(!) day for candy consumption had the opposite effect. Children are naturally interested in things that are forbidden from them, and so when the restrictions are lifted they tend to eat large amounts of candy. Furthermore, restrictions and rules are not a good way of teaching moderation. Practices like…

"Lørdagsgodteri" here in Norway was always restricted though. I read your comment as if kids have unlimited access to candy, which I have never heard of. The idea is that the parents give the kids the amount of candy allowed, and they only do that in saturdays.

Right? When I was a child growing up in Norway, we went to the kiosk on Saturdays to buy my lørdagsgodteri and I was given a very specific small amount of money to buy a couple of hectograms of candy for or thereabouts.

Re: Lördagsgodis (Saturday Sweets)

#40

Post by rainingmonkey »

TrackerFF wrote: post #27

When I grew up (Norway), the portions were quite small. And we didn't have that big of a selection. If you go to the super market today in Norway, you'll likely find tens to hundreds of different flavors. Same in Sweden and Denmark. Interestingly enough, I don't think this kind of candy ("smågodt", which you buy by the weight) is too popular elsewhere? At least I haven't seen it too much in convenience stores when I'…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulk_confectionery

Fairly common in the UK too where it's known as "pick n' Mix".

Less common these days since Woolworths, the main chain known for Pick n' Mix closed in 2009.

Post reply on HN