Posted on 10/21/2017 11:10:35 AM PDT by Trillian
Its no surprise that candy delights kids and adults alike. We love sweets so much that the average American eats about 22 pounds of candy each year. Whether youre looking to impress your friends or simply brush up on your candy trivia, check out these 50 sweet facts about your favorite candies.
(Excerpt) Read more at mentalfloss.com ...
Wow! I must be part Belgian!.
Candy corn takes the title in Alabama, while Swedish fish win in Georgia. But Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Milky Ways, and M&Ms are a few of the most consistently popular candies in all 50 states.
Harry Burnett Reese sold the Lizzie Bar and Johnny Bar, candy bars he named after his daughter and son, respectively. But his chocolate-covered peanut butter cup creation, which he named after himself and called Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, was his real hit.
Leo Hirschfield, the inventor of Tootsie Rolls, also invented Bromangelon Jelly Powder, a gelatin dessert that was a precursor to Jell-O.
You wouldnt expect a dentist to be responsible for helping to pioneer a new type of candy, although maybe he was hoping it would drum up some cavity-related business. In 1897, dentist William Morrison partnered with confectioner John C. Wharton to devise a machine that used centrifugal force to turn sugar into cotton-like strands. The result was cotton candy, but that name didnt come until the 1920s. Morrison and Wharton called their treat Fairy Floss. And who says this treat is just for summer carnivals? These days, you can buy cotton candy in several Halloween varieties, including Werewolf Hair and Pumpkin Guts.
Theyre enveloped in white chocolate and contain sake powder (0.8 percent alcohol). The Japanese can also snack on whiskey-flavored Pocky sticks, which are covered in chocolate and flavored with malt.
Introduced in 1921, when baseball player Babe Ruth was a national hero, the Curtiss Candy Company reformulated their Kandy Kake confection and gave it a name reminiscent of sports royalty: Baby Ruth. But when Ruth licensed his name for another bar in 1926, Curtiss cried foul, claiming it would cause consumer confusion and swearing that they had named their bar not after the baseball legend but after Ruth Cleveland, the deceased daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Even though Baby Ruth had died of diphtheria in 1904 and would be an odd choice for a candy bar name, the courts agreed; Ruth never got in on the treat trade.
Milky Way was meant to mimic the taste of a malted milkshake, which was popular in the 1920s.
Lovers of white chocolate, beware: Because white chocolate doesnt contain cocoa solids, it's not real chocolate.
When the chocolate bar company decided to cut costs by reducing the weight of two of their bars sold in the UK, fans loudly expressed their disappointment and mocked the new bars fewer triangular chocolate peaks.
Those are the surnames of the two businessmenForrest Mars and Bruce Murriewho developed and financed the candy-coated chocolates.
Clarence Crane, the creator of Life Savers, made his candies round rather than square, which was the typical shape for most mints at the time, after visiting a pharmacy. Inspiration struck when he saw a machine making pills that were round and flat, and the rest is history.
Human lickers, on the other hand, averaged just 144 to 252 licks.
The iconic scene in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, in which Elliott entices the alien with Reese's Pieces, almost didn't happen. Steven Spielbergs first two choices of candy were M&Ms and Hersheys Kisses, but when the Hershey Company offered to pay $1 million to showcase their candy creation, Reeses Pieces became E.T.'s favorite sweet.
Based on criteria including flavor, acidity, bitterness, and sweetness, wine experts recommend pairing Whoppers with Cabernet Sauvignon, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups with Sherry, and Hersheys Kisses with Zinfandel.
You can also snack on M&Ms in more esoteric flavors (some are limited-edition): pecan pie, peanut butter, pumpkin spice latte, pretzel, white cheesecake, coffee nut, dark mint, and caramel, for starters.
Invented by anti-smoking advocate Eduard Haas III, PEZ were originally marketed as mints to help smokers kick the habit. The candys slogan in the 1920s? "Smoking prohibited, PEZing allowed."
Franklin Mars, the patriarch of the Mars company, named the candy bar after a beloved racehorse his family owned that had just passed away. Snickers was raised on his familys farm, the Milky Way, in Tennessee.
They offered Heath bar and Almond Joy flavored options.
According to the American Chemical Society, eating 262 fun-sized Halloween candy bars would poison a 180-pound person. But don't worry about death by candy: You'd vomit before youd be able to down that many candy bars in one sitting.
Candy fans have heated online debates about which licorice product has a better taste, texture, and appearance.
Its actually recycled Kit Kats. Technicians pull any imperfect Kit Katswith off-center wafers or not enough shine, for exampleand then grind them into a paste.
He loved eating them so much that Air Force One was outfitted with special jelly bean holders, lest turbulence cause his beloved beans to spill.
It was called "chicken feed," since real corn kernels were usually only fed to livestock. (In 2001, the Herman Goelitz Candy Company changed its name to the Jelly Belly Candy Company.)
M&Ms have proven to be among the more popular candy requests for astronauts on space missions. Because theyre bite-sized and candy coated, they dont make much of a mess. They can also be released in the air and gobbled up, Pac-Man style, by space travelers.
U.S. soldiers in the First Marine Division used the phrase as a codename for mortar shells. But the real candy came in handy when the soldiers used chewed-up Tootsie Rolls to patch holes in their vehicles' fuel lines.
In 2009, Butterfinger debuted Butterfinger Buzz, a candy bar containing 80 milligrams of caffeine (the equivalent of a can of Red Bull). But due to low sales, the product was discontinued.
That was the name given to the candy bar in England because Snickers rhymed with knickers, a popular slang term for womens underwear. (The Marathon brand made a comeback in 2008.)
Junior Miss ran from 1941 to 1943.
The first dispensers geared toward children were shaped like Santa Claus, a robot, and a space gun.
That means that over 44,440 Tootsie Rolls are created per minute!
Creator Hans Riegel combined the first two letters of his first and last name with the first two letters of his hometown: Bonn, Germany.
Sport Beans contain carbohydrates, electrolytes, B vitamins, and Vitamin C. Who says you cant eat candy while exercising?
There are varieties for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, and Easter.
The inside of the candies, a mixture of peanut butter and molasses, is also virtually unchanged.
They may also be one of the most pervasive non-chocolate candies on the market: More than 4 billion DOTS are rolled out annually.
But vanilla and strawberry (as well as sugar) were scarce during World War II, so 3 Musketeers ditched the vanilla and strawberry to focus on chocolate.
The guy behind the company that makes Mike and Ikes and Hot Tamales originally made his fortune by inventing the Born Sucker Machinea device that would insert sticks into lollipops.
After automation, now it only takes six minutes. That means the Pennsylvania factory can pump out 5.5 million Peeps a day!
The state banned the candy due to concerns that it would encourage kids to smoke real cigarettes.
Theyve ranged from the intriguing (cola, pineapple) to the worrisome (chlorophyll, offering a plant-flavored experience). Flavors will also vary depending on region: PEZ enthusiasts in the U.S. cant get peach.
Its a Nutella-like spreadable that contains chocolate, caramel, and crunchy pieces of biscuit.
Just make sure to store it at room temperature away from heat and light.
The standard strawberry ones are made with corn syrup, enriched wheat flour, and artificial flavoring.
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, the film based on Roald Dahl's book Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, was the impetus for Quaker Oats, who agreed to help finance the film, to launch a candy line (which later became The Willy Wonka Candy Company) to bring the imaginative candy creations to life.
That works out to 4 million M&Ms a minute. Thats almost enough made each day to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, which would need about 2.4 billion M&Ms in order to become a deliciously eccentric Olympic event.
Researchers determined that the Kit Kat jingle"Gimme a break / Gimme a break / Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar"is one of the most common earworms.
Since then, the candy has been made in almost 40 different flavors, from the original fruit mix (orange, cherry, lemon, and lime) to more unusual ones such as cotton candy and root beer float.
So why the name? According to New Jersey legend: In 1883, a storm hit the Atlantic City boardwalk, flooding several candy shops in the process. When a girl went up to a candy counter afterward looking for a treat, the disgruntled proprietor jokingly told her only saltwater taffy was left. The name stuck, and todays salt water taffy still echoes the store owners sarcastic comment. These days, you can buy Halloween flavors from some retailers.
As owner of the Curtiss Candy Company, Otto "U.S. Candy Bar King" Schnering achieved success with the Baby Ruth candy bar first; he followed it up with Butterfinger, which got its name from a public contest and was another smash hit.
In 1904, the newly created town hosted a contest to pick its new name, and the winner was "Hersheykoko." The post office (and many locals, including founder Milton Hershey's wife) rejected the name, and they eventually went with the more straightforward "Hershey."
bfl
Always liked candy corn - I also remember when a Tootsie Roll Pop cost two cents at Tuffley’s grocery.
The thought of drinking wine with candy is gross. In fact, the thought of drinking wine with anything is gross. Okay, I never developed a taste for wine.
THE RIVALRY BETWEEN FANS OF TWIZZLERS AND RED VINES IS FIERCE AND DEEP-SEATED.
Candy fans have heated online debates about which licorice product has a better taste, texture, and appearance.
It's not even close. Red Vines are yummy. Twizzlers *might* be okay, if you've been starving for a few days.
Franklin Mars, the patriarch of the Mars company, named the candy bar after a beloved racehorse his family owned that had just passed away. Snickers was raised on his familys farm, the Milky Way, in Tennessee.
I'll never be able to eat a Snickers again without feeling a little dampness in the eyes.
I enjoy watching programs that go behind the scenes at food factories to show how various products are made.
Here’s a general YouTube link to some on popular Halloween candy...
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=halloween+candy+how+it%27s+made
#7, my favorite candy bar as a kid was called Milkshake. Don’t make them anymore I guess.
Ike and Mike get a mention, but not the superior good and plenty or hot tamales.
I don’t remember 3-flavor 3 Musketeers, but I do remember when there were two lines inscribed across the bar so you could break it evenly share it with two friends. 3 Musketeers was larger (likely just more air) than either Snickers or Milky Way, so as I kid I bought it (and didn’t share) more often.
Some years ago, I got to thinking of how much, as a kid, I loved Valomilk candy. Not having seen it, I ordered some off the internet (after ransacking my memory for the name.) It was not nearly as good as I remembered it to be. Much too thick.
“#7, my favorite candy bar as a kid was called Milkshake. Dont make them anymore I guess.”
Hollywood Candy Co made the Milkshake bar. I loved it too.
They also made the Payday bar so whoever presently makes Payday was probably responsible for killing off the Milkshake bar.
I used to LOVE 5th Avenue candy bars- then Luden sold them to Hershey and they ruined them. They are now very hard to find.
5th Avenues were just like Butterfingers only 10 times better. They were made by Luden’s cough drop co. (believe it or not). When Hershey got control, they removed the delicious whole almonds from the top (which were covered in milk chocolate and also must have changed the formula. They were never the same.
Anyone else here who used to love the old 5th Avenues?
The first time I ever had one, it did not have the almonds on top. It must have been after they changed them. Sad to have missed out on that!
I used to love watching those a long time ago when we had cable. I once went to a Jelly Belly factory and saw those being made in person. It was pretty neat.
Junior Mints can be very refreshing.
Don’t stop off for Jujyfruit after hearing someone was in a car accident.
Twix is the only candy with the cookie crunch.
O’Henry has chocolate, peanuts, nougat and is delicious, scrumptious - outstanding!
I loved O’Henrys and another one called Butternut. I don’t see them around anymore.
I thought it was 3.
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