If you had to choose

Following up to my own post· Thanks for all the kind responses, and to answer the few who asked why the question...

We are (mostly) all foodies here, with expansive but often very selective tastes that run far beyond what the average non-foodie might buy or even know about.

Birthdays, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Easter, etc., seem to be the occasions where most boxed chocolates are given and eaten, and it also seems that most of these come from the companies I mentioned in my question.

Apart from the brands of boxed candies that are commonly available in drugstores, supermarkets, and other general retail establishments, some of the brands are regionally distributed in their own branded shops; e.g., See's Candies and Ghirardelli in the West, Fannie Farmer/Fannie May in the Midwest, etc. You can hardly consider New York City, as they have *everything*. :

It wasn't until Godiva Chocolates began opening shops across the US in the 1970s that many people saw other brands as options.

I was merely curious as to what folks here would choose given specific choices and so far it appears that See's Candies is the most popular choice. Our family was equally divided between the Whitman's Sampler and the Russell Stover buttortment.

Personally, I don't much care for general buttortments, regardless of brand. I'm not fond of creams or jellies, and prefer what might be categorized as nuts, crisps, and chewies. Russell Stover and See's both have such collections, as may others. Because I now live in AZ, if I need to buy an buttortment as a gift, I usually buy See's at one of their shops. It might be what the average person would expect.

For myself, more often than not I would buy a specific candy such as almond butter toffee or good quality plain dark chocolate, but those are not buttortments or collections.

Thanks again, folks!

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