Humans have been eating candies and sweet confections for thousands of years. Today, is the day to celebrate. The consumption of candy dates back to the ancient Egyptians who preserved nuts and fruit in honey, and the Aztecs and Mayans who ate chocolate during their religious rituals as early as 300 AD.
Today, there are thousands of types of candy, all with their unique history. Take today to indulge in a handful of your favorite candies, whether you like chocolate, caramels, hard candy or marzipan — treat yourself to something delicious and celebrate.
Here are some interestingly sweet facts about candy for you to snack on:
•Cotton Candy used to be called Fairy Floss! I think I like Fairy Floss better.
•200-million individual Skittles are made every day.
•When E.T. was released, sales of Reese’s Pieces went up over 65%. M & M was offered the role, but turned it down.
•Tootsie Rolls were once marketed as a “health food.”
•In 1953 it took 27-hours to make one Marshmallow Peep! Today it takes 6-minutes.
•The sugar in candy isn’t what rots your teeth. The “streptococcus” bacteria in your mouth like to munch on sugar. The acid they excrete can give you cavities.
•The founder of Hershey’s Chocolate started his candy making business at just 18 years old.
•Two different universities created machines to see how many licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. One took 411, the other 364.
•Peppermint Patty from the “Peanuts” comic strip was named after Charles Schultz saw a dish of the candy sitting on a table.
•Americans over the age of 18 eat about 65% of all the candy produced each year.
•The average American eats 25-pounds of candy each year.
•Despite the close association between candy and Halloween, Christmas is actually the biggest candy sales season of the year.
•Across the country, red jellybeans are most commonly chosen as the favorite amongst children.
•Tootsie Rolls were given to soldiers during WWII as a part of their rations because they held up well over time and in different kinds of weather.
•The man who invented cotton candy, William James Morison, was actually a dentist.
•Three Musketeers candy bars got their name because each bar originally came as three pieces, each with a different flavor, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.
