Everyone has a favorite candy. Some people like
the powdery sugar in Pixy Sticks. Others prefer
classics like lemon drops and root beer barrels.
Some like chewy candy like licorice, and some
like to suck on candy like jawbreakers.

Anyone who has a sweet tooth knows that
candy is the best way to sate it. However, you
may not know everything about your favorite
candy—like where it got its name, how it was
first made, or even why.


10 Saltwater Taffy Was Probably Named As A Joke
Although nobody knows who made it first,
saltwater taffy got its start either on the
boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, or at
Midwestern county fairs in the 19th century.
Taffy is made with sugar, salt, flavorings, corn
syrup, and other ingredients that vary between
recipes. It is then pulled and molded to aerate
the mixture so that it becomes soft and chewy.
Regardless of its name, this soft taffy does not
have saltwater in it, although some brands do
add extra salt.
According to rumor, saltwater taffy got its name
from candymaker David Bradley. During an
1883 storm, his taffy stock became soaked with
saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean. But even
though his store was flooded, customers still
came in to ask for his taffy. He jokingly called it
“saltwater taffy,” and the name stuck.
In 1923, John Edmiston trademarked the name
and tried to get a cut of the profits from anyone
selling “saltwater taffy.” But the Supreme Court
decided that the name had already been used
too often for candy and ruled against him. As a
result, Edmiston did not receive any royalties .
The term became common again and is now
the accepted way to market nearly any taffy,
salty or not.


9 Cotton Candy Was Promoted By Dentists
Originally called fairy floss, cotton candy has
gone by many monikers, such as candy floss or
spun sugar. John C. Wharton and William J.
Morrison patented their version of a cotton
candy machine in 1899. Then they introduced
the machine and their new candy concoction at
the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. They sold
nearly 70,000 boxes of candy at that fair.
As cotton candy is made entirely from
caramelized sugar, most people realize that
such a sweet overload will probably send you
to a dentist sooner rather than later.
Interestingly, Morrison was a dentist. To be
fair, he was also a lawyer, an author, and a
civic leader. But still, a dentist creating cotton
candy has to raise some eyebrows.
In 1900, cotton candy was introduced to the
Ringling Brothers by Thomas Patton, who had
invented a more modern version of the cotton
candy machine. Even later, Josef Lascaux,
another dentist , created another version of the
machine that he never officially patented. He
did, however, coin the name “cotton candy.”
As to why more than one dentist had a hand in
the rise of cotton candy’s popularity, we can
only guess that it has to do with the
consequential rise of cavities.

8 Pop Rocks Caused Urban Legend And Widespread Panic.
The fizzing candies Pop Rocks were developed in 1956 by General Foods research scientist William A. Mitchell. Originally sold for 15 cents a packet in the early 1970s, they came in orange, cherry, and grape flavors. Pop Rocks are small, crystallized pieces of sugar with air pockets of carbonation that “pop” and “crackle” when the candy melts in your mouth or in water. This popping sound led to an urban legend. As early as 1979, there were rumors about a child who had exploded after eating Pop Rocks with soda. At one point, the Food and Drug Administration even set up a hotline to field any questions from parents concerned about their children eating the candy. After a large marketing effort to combat the rumors that were gripping the imagination of the public, Pop Rocks eventually disappeared from market shelves in 1983. They have since popped back up and had a resurgence in popularity. But the crazy rumors still linger and were even featured on MythBusters. Don’t worry about busting your gut , though. The most that Pop Rocks and soda will do to your stomach is to make it upset.
candies


7 Lollipops Have Strange Name Origins Since ancient times, candies and sugary sweets have often been put on the ends of sticks for easy eating. It became popular in the 17th century to enjoy boiled sugar treats that were pressed onto sticks to eat. This treat was soft candy rather than hard, but it was one of the forerunners of the modern lollipop. In the 20th century, the owner of McAviney Candy Company often brought home for his children the leftover sticks used to stir batches of candy. He began selling these sticks in 1908, which coincided with the invention of the first automated machine that put sticks in hard candy. Samuel Born, the inventor of the candy machine, was even awarded a key to the city of San Francisco for his invention. In 1908, George Smith began marketing the modern version of a lollipop through his confection company, Bradley Smith Company. He coined the term “lollipop” in 1931 after a famous racehorse of the time called Lolly Pop . When lollipops stopped being produced during the Great Depression, the name fell into the public domain. The name also meant something like “tongue slapper” because “lolly” was Old English slang for “tongue” and “pop” meant “to slap.” Some linguists have even linked the name to the Roman phrase loli phaba (“red apple”), supposedly referring to the traditional Roman toffee apple treat . So the famous name originates from a horse, Old English slang, or ancient Rome. Or it could be made-up. Whatever the truth, it’s a unique way of looking at lollipops.

6 Snickers Also Has Strange Name Origins

The Snickers bar has an interesting story
behind its name as well. Although the Snickers
bar was not the first peanut, caramel, and
nougat candy bar, it was one of the most
popular and most enduring of its time.
Frank and Ethel Mars, founders of Mars, Inc.,
had great success with the Milky Way bar and
were open to developing new candies . After
three years of development, the Snickers bar
was released in 1930.

Just months before the release of their new
candy bar, Ethel’s favorite horse, Snickers, died.
This was a hard loss for her as she adored her
horse. So she and her husband named the new
candy bar “Snickers” in the horse’s honor.
Interestingly, the farm where Snickers had lived
was called the Milky Way Farm , just like their
other famous candy bar. Regardless of this
name theme, Snickers candy bars live on as
one of the best-selling candies in the world.

5 Circus Peanuts Inspired Lucky Charms


Fondly remembered as one of the original penny
candies , Circus Peanuts have been around since
the 1800s. The banana-flavored marshmallows
are notorious for their love-it-or-hate-it
reputation.
Maybe that’s why no one has admitted to
inventing them, much less tried to brand them.
Since we don’t know who the creator is, we
also have no idea why these peanut-shaped
candies have a banana flavor.
Either way, these little gum stickers are the
reason why we have marshmallow cereals.
General Mills product developer John Holahan
found that the mixture of Cheerios and cut bits
of Circus Peanuts was good enough to sell,
which led to the development of the ever-
popular Lucky Charms cereal .
So maybe, even if you’re not fond of Circus
Peanuts, you might want to thank whoever
made them if you love marshmallows in cereal.


4 M&M’S Lost A Color In Cancer Panic

Forrest Mars Sr., son of Frank and Ethel Mars
of Mars, Inc., was inspired by the candy-shelled
chocolates in military rations to make the
famous M&M’S candies. Named for Forrest
Mars Sr. and Hershey executive William Murrie,
these candies were patented and put into
production in 1941.
Eventually, they were sold only to the military.
But when the war ended, their popularity
continued with civilians. The candies were sold
in cardboard tubes, and the original colors were
brown, red, violet, yellow, and green. However,
in 1979, one of these colors faded from the mix
due to FDA test results.
The dye called FD&C Red No. 2 was linked to
tumors in female rats in a 1971 Russian test.
However, this test was later found to have been
incorrectly performed. The tested dye wasn’t
the food coloring that was used in M&M’S
anyway.
But the damage had already been done. Mars
had to deal with a public that was panicked
over the possible effects of FD&C Red No. 2.
Used to color several popular foods like soda,
hot dogs, ice cream, and candy, the public
demanded that the controversial dye be
removed.
Although M&M’S were colored with Red No. 40,
Mars replaced red M&M’S with orange M&M’S
to ease public anxiety. In 1987, the red color
was reintroduced for M&M’S and has been
popular ever since.

3 Necco Wafers Were Brought To The South Pole
By The Ton

These chalklike candies were invented in 1847
when Oliver Chase made the first lozenge
cutter. It became the machine that launched
the candy industry, and it wasn’t long before its
first creation, Necco Wafers, made it big.

The military commissioned a major portion of
Necco Wafers’ production during World War II
because the candies were easy to transport
without melting . They were also cheap enough
during the Great Depression to become a
popular civilian treat.

Famous Arctic explorer Donald MacMillan gave
out these candies to native Canadians on his
journeys, but that was nothing in comparison to
Admiral Richard Byrd. For a two-year journey to
the South Pole, Byrd packed 2.5 tons of Necco
Wafers. That was about 0.5 kilograms (1 lb) of
candy per week for every man on the crew for
the entire trip.

There is no record as to whether the entire
amount was consumed. Still, the eight original
flavors that Admiral Byrd carried with him can
be enjoyed today. Except for the price, not
much about Necco Wafers has changed since
they were invented.


2 Dubble Bubble Gum Was An Accident


Ancient people chewed on bits of tree bark tar.
The Maya and Aztecs also chewed on chicle
from sapodilla trees. Then, in the 1840s, John
Curtis used spruce tree resin to make gum to
chew on and later created the first chewing
gum factory.

It wasn’t until 1928, however, that our modern
idea of chewing gum was created. Accountant
Walter E. Diemer created it by accident. He
liked to experiment in his spare time. After
expanding on a failed recipe, he found a way to
make chewing gum that was easier to chew
and more resistant to breakage in packaging.
Interestingly, the iconic pink color was chosen
simply because that was the only color
available. After a successful trial run, the new
gum was packaged and marketed as Dubble
Bubble Gum. Eventually, the packages included
comics that featured Dub, Bub, and the iconic
Pud.

This only helped the popularity of the new
chewing gum. At the beginning of World War II,
it was even shipped to the military before the
scarcity of products forced the factories to stop
production. These factories reopened soon after
the war ended and still cater to our bubble-
blowing, cud-chewing needs today.

1 PEZ Dispensers Were Created To Attract Smokers

The famous PEZ candies were created in Vienna, Austria, in 1927. Originally, they didn’t have the sweet, fruity flavors that we know today. They used to be peppermint flavored. In fact, their name comes from pfefferminz, the German word for “peppermint.” Packaged in tins, the candies were popular for a time. They were supposed to be used as an alternative to smoking because their creator, Eduard Haas III, disliked smoking. In 1949, new PEZ dispensers designed by Oscar Uxa were introduced as a way to hygienically share the candies without touching all of them. The dispensers were also designed to draw in smokers. Flicking open the top of a PEZ dispenser was meant to be like flicking a lighter. For a time, Haas even used the slogan “No Smoking, PEZing Allowed.” In the transition to American markets, PEZ changed to their iconic fruity flavors, and the dispensers acquired their character tops . Whether PEZ have actually discouraged smoking is debatable. But PEZ still exist today as beloved combinations of candies and toys.