• Cavemen who dug honey from bee hives were the first to enjoy a sweet treat. Recorded history traces candy to the Egyptians 3,500 years ago.
  • During ancient times the Egyptians, the Arabs and the Chinese prepared confections of fruit and nuts candied in honey.
  • In Europe during the Middle Ages, the high cost of sugar made sugar candy a delicacy available only to the wealthy.
  • Cacao, from which chocolate is made, was discovered in 1519 by Spanish explorers in Mexico. The scientific name of the cacao tree's fruit is Theobroma Cacao, which means "food of the gods!"
  • Boiled sugar candies were enjoyed in the seventeenth century in England and in the American colonies.
  • By the mid-1800s, more than 380 American factories were producing candy – mostly "penny candy" which was sold loose from glass cases in general stores.
  • Sweet-making developed rapidly into an industry during the early nineteenth century through the discovery of sugar beet juice and the advance of mechanical appliances. Homemade hard candies, such as peppermints and lemon drops became popular in America during that time.
  • The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.
  • Each year over $2,000,000,000 worth of Halloween candy is sold.
  • Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!
  • Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.
  • What Italian famed for his way with women, reportedly consumed chocolate instead of champagne to induce romance? If you guessed Giacomo Casanova , you're right!
  • Cotton candy was originally called fairy floss.
  • Great supplies of licorice were found in King Tut's tomb.
  • Sixty million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.
  • The Aztecs of Mexico introduced Europe to chocolate in the 16th century.
  • Americans over 18 years of age consume 65 percent of the candy that's produced each year.
  • Seven billion pounds of chocolate and candy are manufactured each year in the United States.

Candy Corn!
Of the 20 million pounds of candy corn made each year, 75 percent is sold at Halloween. When it was first made by the Wunderle Candy Co. in the 1880s, the tri-colored candy was considered revolutionary. Goelitz Confectionary Co. (famous for its Jelly Belly jelly beans) began making candy corn around 1898, and the product carried the company through two world wars and the Depression.

Mommy? Where Do Sugar Babies Come From?
Well... we'll save that for later, but here's how they got their name: Robert Welch launched Sugar Daddy in 1926, first referring to it as "The Papa Sucker." (The name was changed in 1932.) On the success of Sugar Daddy, Sugar Babies came along in 1935, with the name coined after the song, "Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby." Today, they are made by Tootsie Roll. And so are Junior Mints, which were launched by Welch's brother, James Welch, in 1949. He named the candy after his favorite Broadway stage performance, "Junior Miss."

What happens to swallowed gum?
You may have heard people say that swallowed gum stays in your stomach for seven years. Not quite. According to the health experts at KidsHealth.org, swallowed gum, like other food, moves through your digestive system. With any luck, it will come out the other end, if you know what we mean. But for kids who swallow a lot - and we mean a lot - of gum, it can cause a blockage in the intestine. So when youre done with your gum, get rid of it the right way - by spitting it out.

When were lollipops invented?
There is some dispute about who exactly invented lollipops as we know them today. George Smith claimed to have invented the candy-on-a-stick idea in 1908 - he thought a stick would make the candy easier to eat. He named his invention after Lolly Pop, a racing horse, and later trademarked the name. Eventually, Smith stopped making the sweets, and “lollipop” became a generic name. Racine Confectioners Machinery Co. claims to have invented the first lollipop machine around the same time Smith was inventing his lollipop. Their machine could make 40 pieces of the candy per minute. Samuel Born also gets credit with having a hand in the development of lollipops - he invented the Born Sucker machine in California in 1916. San Francisco awarded Born the keys to the city to honor his contribution to candy history. Today’s machines can make about 5,900 lollipops in a minute. The Spangler Candy Company, which makes Dum Dum Pops, produces about 8 million of the bite-size sweets each day.

How big was the world’s largest lollipop?
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest lollipop weighed 4,759.1 pounds and was made by Franssons of Sweden for a festival on July 27, 2003.

  • 1854 The first packaged box of WHITMAN'S chocolate debuts.
  • 1868 RICHARD CADBURY introduces the first Valentine's Day box of chocolates.
  • 1880s Wunderle Candy Company creates CANDY CORN.
  • 1893 William Wrigley, Jr. introduces JUICY FRUIT gum and WRIGLEY'S SPEARMINT gum.
  • 1896 TOOTSIE ROLLS debut, introduced by Leo Hirshfield of New York who named them after his daughter's nickname, "Tootsie".
  • 1900 Milton S. Hershey of Lancaster, PA introduces the first HERSHEY milk chocolate bar.
  • 1901 Pastel-colored little candy disks called NECCO WAFERS first appear named for the acronym of the New England Confectionery Company.
  • 1902 NECCO makes the first conversation hearts - tiny Valentine's Day favorites with messages printed on them.
  • 1906 HERSHEY'S KISSES chocolates appear in their familiar foil wraps.
  • 1912 LIFE SAVERS, the candy named for its ring shape with the hole in the center is introduced in peppermint flavor. 22 years later, the five-flavor roll is introduced.
  • 1912 The WHITMAN'S SAMPLER box of chocolates is born when the company president decides the needlework sampler hanging in his home would make beautiful packaging. It is the the first box of chocolates to include a now-famous index showing the filling in each candy.
  • 1913 GOO GOO CLUSTERS, a Southern favorite, was the first bar to combine milk chocolate, caramel, marshmallow and peanuts.
  • 1920 FANNIE MAY CANDIES opens its first candy shop in Chicago producing a variety of chocolate enrobed buttercreams and caramels.
  • 1920 The BABY RUTH candy bar is introduced, named for President Grover Cleveland's daughter, not the famous baseball player.
  • 1921 CHUCKLES - colorful, sugared jelly candies are first made.• 1922 Goldenberg's PEANUT CHEWS are first made in Philadelphia.
  • 1923 MOUNDS, the double candy bar, offered a coconut filling enrobed in chocolate.
  • 1923 M&M/Mars MILKY WAY Bar is the first of many candies to be introduced by the Mars family, created to taste like a malted milk that would be available anywhere, any time.
  • 1925 BIT-O-HONEY debuts, the honey-flavored taffy bar made with bits of almond.
  • 1926 MILK DUDS are introduced as bite-size caramel morsels covered in chocolate.
  • 1927 PEZ introduces PEZ Candy in Peppermint Flavor. It would be in the 1940's when the first dispenser is introduced.
  • 1928 Crunchy HEATH Bars appear, offering chocolate covered toffee.
  • 1928 REESES PEANUT BUTTER CUPS, named for the man who created them, are a peanut butter-chocolate combination among the most popular candy bars today.
  • 1930 M&M/Mars introduces the SNICKERS bar, named for a favorite horse owned by the Mars family. It is the number-one selling candy bar in the U.S. today.
  • 1931 TOOTSIE ROLL POPS are introduced and soon widely advertised as the lollipop that offers two candies in one - flavored hard candy on the outside and chewy Tootsie Roll center inside.
  • 1931 VALOMILK, the creamy marshmallow center candy bar, was created by accident when a candymaker at Sifers Candy Company forgot about a batch of cooking marshmallow and it remained runny when cooled. Combined with chocolate, it made a wonderful, gooey treat.
  • 1932 MARS® Almond Bar introduced by M&M/MARS
  • 1932 RED HOTS are made by Ferrara Pan Candy Company. These fiery little candy pellets are flavored with cinnamon.
  • 1932 M&M/Mars debuts the 3 MUSKETEERS bar, originally made as a three-flavor bar featuring chocolate, vanilla and strawberry nougat. In 1945, it was changed to all chocolate nougat.
  • 1936 The 5TH AVENUE BAR was originated by the man perhaps best known for his cough drops - William H. Luden. It was made from layers of peanut butter crunch coated in milk chocolate.
  • 1939 Hershey's MINIATURES chocolate bars debut.
  • 1941 "M&M'S" Plain Chocolate Candies are introduced in response to slack chocolate sales in summer. Fifty-nine years later, M&M/Mars changed the name of this popular candy item to "M&M's" Milk Chocolate Candies.
  • 1942-1945 Women working on the Whitman's Sampler production line secretly slipped notes to soldiers in those boxes destined for military shipment. The notes resulted in several long-term friendships and even a few marriages.
  • 1949 JUNIOR MINTS offered soft mint centers drenched in dark chocolate.
  • 1949 SMARTIES small pastel candy disks are introduced, followed by the Smarties Necklace nine years later.
  • 1949 EL BUBBLE Bubble Gum Cigars are the first five-cent bubble gum. In the mid-1980s, the same company began to make pink and blue bubble gum cigars to celebrate births.
  • 1953 MARSHMALLOW PEEPS are introduced by Just Born, Inc. in the shape of Easter chicks. Today, Peeps come in a variety of seasonal shapes and more than 2 million Peeps are made each day.
  • 1960 M&M/Mars STARBURST Fruit Chews are introduced and later fortified with 50 percent of the daily value for Vitamin C.
  • 1960 LEMONHEAEDS are created by Ferrara Pan Candy Company, later inspiring the introduction of GRAPEHEADS, APPLEHEADS, ORANGEHEADS and others.
  • 1963 SWEETARTS The candy pellets with sweet & tart flavor combination are introduced.
  • 1976 Introduced by Herman Goelitz Candy Company, JELLY BELLY Jelly Beans offer consumers fun and unique flavors in a tiny jelly bean.
  • 1972 Topp's introduces WACKY PACKAGE STICKERS. Stickers that parodied brand name products were stuck everywhere from bed posts, lunch boxes & school locker doors.
  • 1978 Hershey's REESES PIECES bite-size candies are introduced and four years later made popular by the blockbuster movie E.T.
  • 1979 TWIX Caramel Cookie Bars introduced in the U.S. by M&M/MARS
  • 1980 Goelitz introduces the first American-made GUMMY BEARS and GUMMY WORMS. Formerly, these candies were imported from Europe.
  • 1981 A European favorite since 1974, SKITTLES Bite Size Candies are introduced in the U.S. by M&M/MARS
  • 1992 DOVE Dark Chocolate Bar and DOVE Milk Chocolate Bar introduced nationally by M&M/MARS.