Celebrating a Candy Icon

Kids love ’em, adults feel nostalgic eating them, and they won’t melt in your hand, just in your mouth — we’re talking M&M’s here. October 13th is National M&M Day, so get ready to celebrate. Created in 1941, this iconic candy has been a staple for over 75 years.

 

The Evolution of a Candy Icon

​​1930s:  ​The idea for M&M’s was born

​After seeing soldiers carry Smarties — chocolate pellets protected by a shell to keep them from melting —during the Spanish Civil War, Forrest Mars Sr., son of the Mars Company founder, pitched the idea of the candy we know today as M&M’s.

1941:  Manufacturing M&M’s began

​Forrest Mars Sr. started producing M&M’s at a factory in New Jersey

1949:  The famous tagline was created

​The popular M&M tagline, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand,” was released.

1950:  M&M’s were branded

​A black “M” is printed onto M&M’s to give them a unique look — it was changed to a white “M” in 1954.

1980s:  M&M’s went overseas

​M&M’s went on sale in Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.

​​

Did You Know…?

Orange once replaced red.

​The company stopped making red M&M’s for 10 years because researchers linked the red dye amaranth to cancer (even though red M&M’s didn’t — and still don’t — contain this type of red dye); they picked orange as the replacement.

Cardboard tubes came first.

​Today, we associate a tube of M&M’s with mini M&M’s, but back in the day, the original packaging of all M&M’s was a cardboard tube.

The “M’s” stand for the owners.

Forrest Mars Sr., of the Mars candy company, struck a deal with Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey president William Murrie, to develop a hard-shelled candy with chocolate at the center.

Fans voted to replace tan M&M’s with blue.

Mars eventually decided that having tan and brown M&M’s was silly — and that tan candy was a bit underwhelming — so they had fans choose between blue, pink or purple as the color to replace tan M&M’s; obviously, blue was the winner.

Astronauts love M&M’s.

​That’s right, because of how easy they are to eat, M&M’s are the most consumed chocolate in outer space.

 

As their famous tagline suggests, M&M’s won’t melt in your hand — making them a perfect treat for kids (and any adults who have a million things to do and can’t inhale their M&M’s in a matter of seconds). So celebrate this candy staple — and one that has saved you from being a chocolatey mess. Not that you need permission to indulge on chocolatey goodness — but still. Go ahead, take full advantage of National M&M Day. The big question: How many will you have?


Photo Credit: aperturesound / Shutterstock.com