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Chicken Dinner is not for Dinner
Chicken Dinner. Of all the “jazzy” candy bars from the 1920s, this one still seems the most strange. Candy and chicken seem about as far apart as you can get. What were they thinking? Sperry Candy...
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Tootsie, Bromangelon, and a Foul Stench
Before Tootsie Roll, there was Bromangelon. Bromangelon, that delicious jelled dessert powder that was a staple of American kitchens in the 1890s and 1900s. Jell-O barely existed; it was Bromangelon...
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Another Tootsie Girl
Here at Candy Professor, we’re on the elusive trail of “Tootsie.” The official Tootsie Roll story is that candy inventor Leo Hirschfeld named the chewy chocolate bite after his little daughter Clara,...
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Sunday Candy
When I was growing up, my mother took me and my brother and sister to church every Sunday. And on the way home, we always stopped at the candy store. Each of us got 15 cents, and we could eat our...
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Oh Henry! and the Copy-Cat Candy Bars
Oh Henry! is not the most popular candy bar in America today, but it’s been around a while. It’s one of three major contemporary candy bars that you could have bought in the 1920s. Milky Way and...
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Another Copy of Oh Henry!
One thing I love about the candy business is the general spirit of fun. Granted, things get messy sometimes (witness the trail of lawsuits left by every major candy company). But generally, something...
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Corn sugar and metabolism: ancient history
Let’s add this one to the current corn/sugar debates: This is a 1928 ad from Corn Products Refining Company. Cerelose is a trade name for dextrose, which is a crystalline form of glucose. Recall that...
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Milky Way: It’s Milk!
I always figured that Milky Way candy bar was named after the galaxy. But as this 1960s TV ad reveals, the “milky” in Milky Way is meant to be taken literally: These days, we assume “junky candy bar”...
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Juice for Babies? Madness.
Mott’s for Tots is boasting 40% less sugar than regular apple juice. If you’ve seen the TV ads in the last couple of weeks, you’ll recognize the campaign, cute toddlers enjoying their snacks while moms...
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The First Milky Way Bar: Way Ugly
Milky Way Bar, live and in color, 1924. Frank Mars introduced this one in 1923. It has been a hit ever since, although you can see that our current version has evolved a bit from these rustic...
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