# Who made and sold the first candy bar nationwide? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking, baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [December 25, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127 "2023-12-25T18:47:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **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:** [December 25, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/1 "2023-12-25T18:47:17Z")
Is there an accepted _first_ candy bar that sold nationwide? My life long favorite is **Baby Ruth. Created in 1920**. The history of the name alternates between President Grover Cleveland’s daughter Ruth and the baseball player. It’s not coincidence that the candy was introduced at the height of his fame. Hard Candy makers and Chocolatiers have a long, long history. The corner candy shop that made and sold candy used to be common. It’s not hard to imagine the hundreds of mouth-watering recipes from immigrant families. It’s surprising that such a easily made product got mass produced and sold across the US. Payday is my 2nd favorite and first introduced in 1932 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/2 "2023-12-25T18:59:02Z")
I’m going to assume you mean the United States. [This page](https://www.oldest.org/food/candy-bars/) says the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar was created in 1900. It says the Nestlé’s Milk Chocolate bar was created in 1875, but the country of origin was Switzerland and it didn’t come to the U.S. until 1919. The page says [emphasis mine]: > Although Nestlé debuted its milk chocolate bar 25 years before Milton S. Hershey, **his milk chocolate bar was the first mass-produced chocolate in the United States**. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/3 "2023-12-25T19:06:45Z")
Hershey probably is the first. There’s not much too it. I’d guess any corner candy shop made and sold a thin chocolate bar. Hershey deserves credit for marketing and distribution on a massive scale. Curtiss Candy was right behind them. I’m not sure if their Kandy Kake bar was widely distributed. Renaming it Baby Ruth was a wise choice. I liked Baby Ruth because it’s more complicated with the nouget center, peanuts, and chocolate coating. > [@](#): > > The [Curtiss Candy Company](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_Candy_Company) asserted that the “[Baby Ruth](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Ruth)” candy bar was named after Ruth Cleveland. Known as “Kandy Kake” from 1900 to 1920, it was renamed in 1921, thirty years after Ruth Cleveland’s birth and seventeen years after her death. That same year, legendary baseball player George Herman Ruth, better known by the nickname [Babe Ruth](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth), was nearing the top of his popularity, having just broken the single-season home run record. Snickers introduced in 1930 is similar to Baby Ruth. Snickers out sells Baby Ruth by a wide margin. [https://delishably.com/desserts/Snickers-vs-Baby-Ruth](https://delishably.com/desserts/Snickers-vs-Baby-Ruth) ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/4 "2023-12-25T19:33:28Z")
I still occasionally buy Mallo Cup. I would love a Sugar Daddy except my fillings & crowns would get pulled loose. I substitute Werthers Hard caramels instead and let them dissolve without biting down. Don’t google Sugar Daddy 🫣 Google sugar daddy candy [https://delishably.com/desserts/Candy-of-Yesterday-Produced-by-Candy-Makers-of-Today](https://delishably.com/desserts/Candy-of-Yesterday-Produced-by-Candy-Makers-of-Today) Favorite candy by decade [https://delishably.com/desserts/Candy-Favorites-from-the-1920s-30s-40s-50s-60s-1970s](https://delishably.com/desserts/Candy-Favorites-from-the-1920s-30s-40s-50s-60s-1970s) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/5 "2023-12-25T19:54:23Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Hershey deserves credit for marketing and distribution on a massive scale. That’s usually what I hear Hershey credited with. They didn’t invent the chocolate bar, but they were the first company in the United States to make it widely available to the average consumer. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/6 "2023-12-25T19:58:48Z")
It’s hard to imagine a world without chocolate bars. You hear penny candy 🍬 mentioned in movies. That was hard candy like lemon drops, cinnamon or butterscotch candies. I vividly remember country grocery stores without air-conditioning. You learned early to break candy bars in half before eating. I’ve found and thrown away at least a dozen candy bars that had white worms. The cashier would swap it out with a different candy. It’s not that common. I probably bought a couple hundred candy bars during childhood. A dozen bad ones is a pretty small percentage. I still snap a piece off my candy before eating it. But it’s probably been 40 years since there was anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/7 "2023-12-25T20:00:19Z")
I suspect much of the trick was in figuring out how to ship chocolate long distances in varying weather, without having the customer get a melted and possibly resolidified lump instead of a chocolate bar. ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/8 "2023-12-25T20:21:15Z")
Chocolate became 😋 popular in Spain in the mid to late 1500’s. It was probably different from the smooth textured Hershey bar that we grew up eating. The consistency of Hershey is noteworthy. They get it right in every box. I used to love Butterfinger. They changed it in 2019. Huge Marketing campaign. I don’t like the new texture and haven’t bought any since. > **[History of Chocolate: Cocoa Beans & Xocolatl | HISTORY](https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/history-of-chocolate)** > > The history of chocolate and its creation from cocoa beans can be traced from the xocolatl-loving Olmec, Maya and Aztecs of Mexico to the courts of Europe. > [@](#): > > Chocolate arrived in Florida on a Spanish ship in 1641, and it’s thought the first American chocolate house opened in Boston in 1682. By 1773, cocoa beans were a major American colony import and chocolate was enjoyed by people of all classes. > > During the Revolutionary War, chocolate was provided to the military as rations and sometimes given to soldiers as payment instead of money. (Chocolate was also provided as rations to soldiers during World War II.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/9 "2023-12-25T22:35:13Z")
I believe I read the French aristocracy first made candy from chocolate. I’m looking for where I may have read it. Seems like it was a cook book. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/10 "2023-12-25T23:03:09Z")
Usually credited to [Fry and Sons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._Fry_%26_Sons). (UK) [The History of Candy Bars](http://www.candyhistory.net/candy-origin/candy-bars-history/) ---
**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:** [December 25, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/11 "2023-12-25T23:55:50Z")
The foundation of many commercial candy bars is nougat. My grandmother made Divinity candy. Isn’t that a type of nougat? Divinity is temperamental and will totally fail in the wrong weather. I bought pecan Divinity from Ebay 2 Christmas ago. > **[What Is Nougat and What Is It Made Of?](https://www.allrecipes.com/article/what-is-nougat/)** > > Learn all about nougat, what it's made of, what it tastes like, and where it comes from. Plus, learn how to make nougat at home. How to make commercial candy bars. I wouldn’t even try to copy a Snickers or Twix. There are too many fantastic hand-dipped Christmas candies that are better. The homemade Almond Joy looks pretty easy. > **[10 Easy Homemade Candy Bars To Try Today](https://insanelygoodrecipes.com/homemade-candy-bars/)** > > What's the best thing about homemade candy bars? Well, they're just as dreamy and sweet as anything store-bought, but you get to modify them to the max! > [@](#): > > Homemade Almond Joy bars are the perfect example of this. You can whip these up with just five ingredients; no preservatives needed. > > You’ll need [chocolate chips](https://insanelygoodrecipes.com/chocolate-chip-blondies/), shredded coconut, coconut milk, and maple syrup. And of course, you can’t forget the almonds! > > Otherwise, you’ll have homemade Mounds bars instead. > > It literally takes about three minutes to prepare these for the freezer. You just can’t beat that kind of simplicity. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/12 "2023-12-26T00:14:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You hear penny candy 🍬 mentioned in movies I am old enough to remember “2 for a penny” candy. ---
**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:** [December 26, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/13 "2023-12-26T01:17:46Z")
I remember the Brach bulk assortment in grocery stores. There was a coin box for samples. It was an honor system. I usually had a nickel in change and dropped into the box for a couple Maple or Fudge caramels. I liked the White Nougat candy with fruit chips too. The White Nougat candy got stale & hard quickly. I learned 12 to 15 seconds on medium strength in the microwave softened them perfectly fresh. It’s been 20 years since I had these candies. The grocery stores removed the Brach assorted candy table in the mid 1990’s. You can only buy bags now. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/85/26/0a85266f66ee307c4c2288e227cf6beb.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/85/26/0a85266f66ee307c4c2288e227cf6beb.jpg) 😋 I picked out the fudge and maple candies. I had to quit eating caramel candy in my thirties. It tore my stomach up. I can’t even eat a full Payday bar. 😫 A Payday is basically salted, soft caramel with peanuts. I cut them into thirds, wrap in Saran wrap, and eat a piece once a day. I usually skip days and make a Payday last 5 days. That avoids belly aches. [![](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a87ed266-6e59-4e72-8c0e-ce790701bf76.9de06238f253db1dd1ecdcc889065f7b.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff) ](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a87ed266-6e59-4e72-8c0e-ce790701bf76.9de06238f253db1dd1ecdcc889065f7b.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2023, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/14 "2023-12-26T03:41:04Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Usually credited to [Fry and Sons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._Fry_%26_Sons). (UK) Having just munched on some Cadbury chocolate a couple of hours ago, I agree\*. \*_That’s how opinions get formed, right?_ ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/15 "2023-12-27T13:03:34Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You hear penny candy 🍬 mentioned in movies. That was hard candy like lemon drops, cinnamon or butterscotch candies. When I was a child in the early 1970s in Pakistan the 10 paisa (0.1 Rupee, exactly 1 US cent at the time, and about 0.4 British pence) unwrapped hard candies (“seeets” or “lozenges”) sold from a glass jar were ubiquitous at every type of shop. My mother of course thought that 10 paisa was an outrageous price as they were 4 pies (pre-decimalision) when she was little in the 1940s. She was also extremely poor, and 4 pies (equivalent of something like half a farthing (£0.0002) was still real money to their family. Even as middle class people in the 1980s, a roll or Smarties or a Mars Bar was a treat you might see once a year. I see that the buying power of the rupee has deteriorated by a factor of 150x, but I hear that the hard candies are no longer sold unwrapped in bulk, and almost all stores are now self service, not counter service. Sorry in advance for the digression down memory lane. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2023, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/16 "2023-12-27T13:18:45Z")
Hard candy 🍬 was one of the few treats that most children could get occasionally. It depended on the family’s income. Honey and bread were treats for my dad. They sharecropped in Louisiana before grandad saved enough to buy farm land. The honey came from my grandad’s hives. Chewing honeycomb was like gum to my dad. He did get hard candy once in awhile. They didn’t have a lot but dad had a few pennies in his pocket. I had forgotten unwrapped candy. I bought some when I was very young. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/17 "2023-12-27T16:04:49Z")
The history channel actually produced a really good series on the history of candy in America. As I recall, one of the first mass produced candy bar (other than a plain chocolate bar) was the Milky Way, introduced in 1923 and named after a malt shop shake. (Snickers, incidentally, was named for a horse) The guy who developed it was named Mars, and he founded a successful candy company. When he didn’t promote his son as an heir of the operation, the junior Mars teamed with another guy, named Murrie, to form a rival - M&Ms. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/18 "2023-12-27T16:26:57Z")
I remember a list of super-rich people from decades back where John D. Mars was the fourth richest person in the US, and prolly pretty far up on the world’s richest people list. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/19 "2023-12-27T17:07:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > You hear penny candy 🍬 mentioned in movies > > I am old enough to remember “2 for a penny” candy The little town in northeastern Ohio where I grew up had a “penny candy” store. As @aceplace57 noted, it was mostly hard candies - peppermints, butterscotches, root beer barrels, boot buttons (colored sugar drops on paper). Also Mary Janes and Sugar Daddies. Looking back as an adult, the commonality seems to have been long-lasting, easily shipped candies that could be sold in small amounts. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127/20 "2023-12-27T20:43:46Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The guy who developed it was named Mars, and he founded a successful candy company. > > When he didn’t promote his son as an heir of the operation, the junior Mars teamed with another guy, named Murrie, to form a rival - M&Ms. It was rather more complicated than that, as I understand it. Forrest Mars (the son) moved to the UK with all of Frank Mars’s recipes, and started his own Mars company. He made a number of changes (for what seems to have been business and marketing reasons): the (US) Milky Way became the (UK) Mars Bar, the (US) Snickers became the (UK) Marathon, and so on. The new company was very successful, which is pretty good going since the British confectionery sector was (and still is) very competitive. More successful than the US Mars company apparently, since when his father’s business ran into financial trouble, Forrest was able to buy it out and take over. M&Ms began as a WWII collaboration to supply the armed forces, since no single company could get enough supplies, due to wartime rationing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-and-sold-the-first-candy-bar-nationwide/995127.md?page=2)