Retro Candy - Fun Facts about your Favorites

Fans of retro candy often walk into my old-fashioned candy store, the Glen Ellyn Sweet Shoppe, and, upon seeing the shelves and bins of their favorite candies, get a bit nostalgic and are quick to share a sweet memory from their past. I have heard that Necco Wafers fit nicely into toll booths in lieu of quarters and that many of us have gotten into trouble with a Bubble Gum Cigarette pressed between our lips as the sugar-smoke wafted into the air. Not to be outdone, today's kids have some pretty explosive stories about the curious mixture of Diet Coke and Mantos. With the sweetly nostalgic, long-term relationship between candy-lovers and their favorite sweets in mind, I present some fun facts you may not know.

• In the early 1990s, Mr. T became the spokesperson for Smarties candy and the Children's Defense Fund charity. The ads showed him wearing candy jewelry instead of his trademark gold.
• The original Mary Jane candies were produced in Paul Revere's former home in Boston.
• The Snickers bar was named for the Mars family's favorite horse.
• Baby Ruth is named for Grover Cleveland's daughter, not the baseball player.
• Milton Hershey envisioned the town he was building around his Pennsylvania plant to be a chocolate utopia. It officially became known as Hershey, PA in 1906 when a post office was built.
• Hershey Kisses were introduced in 1907, but it wasn't until 1921 that the thin white strip was added to distringuish the Hershey product from copycats.
• The 1941 package of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum stated, "A Fascinating Artificial Flavor".
• During WWII, the Wrigley Company suspended production of its gum, because of quiality concerns due to rations of sugar and other ingredients.
• Bubble gum is pink because it was the only color on hand and the Fleer Company the day that bubble gum was accidentily created, when an accountant for the company was experimenting with a rubber formula.
• M&M stands for the candy's inventors Forrest Mars and Bruce Murrie. The debuted in 1941 and were loved by WWII GIs because they did not melt.
• The "BB" in BB Bats candy actually stands for "bigger and better", depsite the children playing baseball on the wrapper.
• The Mars Bars was first introduced in the U.K. in 1932 as a sweeter, European version of the Milky Way bar.
• Blackjack Gum, the licorice flavored chewing gum that made millions of kids look like they lost a tooth, is sadly no longer available.
• 3 Musketeers bars originally contained 3 mini candy bars - one vanilla, one chocolate and one strawberry - hence the name. When cost of making the strawberry piece became too high, the makers switched to one vanilla bar. The bar was still scored in 2 places so that it could be shared with 2 friends.
• Good & Plenty ads used to tout the fact that little boys will like the noise the box makes.
• From 1974-1981, the Marathon Bar enjoyed a brief but memorable life. The 8-inch bar had a ruler on its wrapper, and its ads featured the hunky "Marathon Man" portrayed by John Wayne's son. The similar-looking Curly Wurly bar can still be found in the U.K., but rumor has it, the tasted is not the same.
• Now to add some confusion..in the U.K., Snickers are known as Marathon bars, because the name is too close the word "knickers".
• Without the sour candy coating, Sour Patch Kids taste just like Swedish Fish

I hope you enjoyed learning these facts as much as I enjoyed digging them up. Stay tuned to this site for more Candy Notes. Coming soon...Gone but not forgotten