Candies, Sweets & Treats: What's in a Name?

Have you ever wondered how certain candies get their names? Being a very inquisitive candy lover, I have!

Let's take for instance M&M's. I have always wondered how these brightly coloured candy coated bits of chocolate came to be called M&M's. I decided to do some research.

During the Spanish Civil War, Forrest Mars Sr. witnessed many soldiers eating hard shelled, round bits of chocolate. Forrest took note of this and became inspired almost ten years later to create these. He opened a Newark factory so he could create these fascinating bits of chocolate in mass production.The candy was named after the two surnames of the company's two founders. Forrest Mars and William Murrie, 

adding up to M&M.

What about Snicker's? Well, believe it or not the Mars family, the makers of these delicious bars, named them after their very own beloved race horse, Snickers who unfortunately came to pass. Snicker is actually related to a Dutch word that means to laugh in a half surpressed manner.

What about good old Tootsie Rolls? One of the most popular old fashioned candies to this day! The name sounds so cute, but why Tootsie?

Leo Hirshfield, an Austrian immigrant who owned a small store in the late 1800's in New York City, actually named these sweet little, retro treats after his daughter, Clara. She just happened to have the nickname "Tootsie". Awe, too sweet! To this day there are 64 million Tootsie Rolls produced every day!

Why, oh why are those delicious chocolate bars called Oh, Henry? Apparently these were first introduced in 1920, by a man named Tom Henry from Arkansas City, Kansas. Tom Henry ran a company called "The Peerless Candy Factory" where he first came up with this wonderful concoction. He later sold this chocolate bar to the" Williamson Candy Company" in 1920, where they then changed the name to "Oh, Henry".

Legend has it that Henry was young boy who loved to visit the Williamson Company , most of all he loved all the sweet girls who made the candy. Henry became sort of an assistant to these girls and loved to hear them call for him "Oh, Henry".

So there you have it. Who knew candy facts could be so interesting? ...Oh wait, we did. You learn something new every day!