# 80th anniversary of the Kit Kat bar - how it got its name. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80th-anniversary-of-the-kit-kat-bar-how-it-got-its-name/734869 "2015-10-17T02:28:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80th-anniversary-of-the-kit-kat-bar-how-it-got-its-name/734869/1 "2015-10-17T02:28:26Z")
[Nestle video at this link](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-national-chocolate-week-kitkat-celebrates-80th-birthday-31614358.html) I enjoyed seeing the vintage commercials. Never knew I eat kit kats wrong. 😛 They snap them in half in the commercials. I’ve always broke them lengthwise into individual sticks. [Retro photos of the ads and product packaging](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3275974/Why-KitKat-called-KitKat-Vintage-Nestle-poster-reveals-inspiration-chocolate-bar-17th-century-pastry-chef-named-Christopher-Catling.html)from the 30’s and 40’s are fascinating. I never realized this is a British candy, I remember it being introduced to the US in the late 70’s or early 80’s. It’s one of three that I purchase regularly (Butterfinger and Baby Ruth are the other two) > [@](#): > > As part of National Chocolate Week and to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the KitKat, Nestle UK Archives have released evidence showing that the world famous chocolate bar was named after a Londoner called Christopher Catling. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80th-anniversary-of-the-kit-kat-bar-how-it-got-its-name/734869/2 "2015-10-17T09:34:06Z")
Huh, that’s interesting. Hershey has the rights to a Nestle candy bar in the US. That got arranged by Rowntree many years before they were acquired by Nestle. Most candy that I buy is from Nestle. The chocolate just seems to taste better than Hershey. But kit kat is the exception. They are really good. [Are wafer cookies like this](http://www.evelynclarkweddings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/wafer-cookies.jpg), used inside a Kit Kat? We buy wafer cookies and they do remind me of a kit kat without the chocolate coating. > **[Kit Kat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Kat)** > > Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, England. It is produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United States, where it is made under licence by the H. B. Reese Candy Company, a division of the Hershey Company (an agreement Rowntree's first made with Hershey in 1970). > The standard bars consist of two or four pieces composed of three layers of wafer, separated and covered ... > [@](#): > > is now produced globally by Nestlé, which acquired Rowntree in 1988,[1] with the exception of the United States where it is made under license by H.B. Reese Candy Company, a division of The Hershey Company. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80th-anniversary-of-the-kit-kat-bar-how-it-got-its-name/734869/3 "2015-10-17T11:30:43Z")
I always assumed they were named after the famous Kit-Cat Club, many of whose members were painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller ( a German actually ) on the canvas size named after the club — which was named from the meat pies the inn-keeper called kit-cats. Bunch of fucking Whigs.