For what it's worth, there are still a couple of brands that make something close to actual maraschino cherries, i.e. without the disgusting amounts of red 40, artificial preservatives, and corn syrup. The ones made by Luxardo are reasonably good:
Make your own the old fashioned way - just buy a bag of whole frozen sweet cherries, put them in a mason jar, and cover with Maraschino (Luxardo). After three days you'll have a mason jar full of delicious Maraschino cherries.
http://www.amazon.com/Luxardo-Gourmet-Maraschino-Cherries-36...
There are probably even better ones out there, though I haven't been able to find any yet.