Mars, Inc.
Frank Mars was born in Minnesota in 1883. A sickly child, he stayed indoors to help his mother make candy in their home kitchen. After graduating high school, Frank began making and selling candy. He married, then he and his wife Ethel produced and sold candy out of their kitchen, starting a same-day service for the treat. In 1920, they moved from their home in Tacoma, Washington, back to Frank's home state. There they started the Mar-O-Bar company, which eventually became the candy giant Mars, Inc.
Snickers History
Frank and Ethel Mars created the Milky Way chocolate bar in the early 1920s. It became the nation's most popular candy bar, enjoying enough sales between 1927 and 1929 that the company expanded. The Mars' began experimenting with recipes for chocolate-based candy bars and took three years to invent Snickers, releasing it in 1930. Originally, they made the Snickers bars by pouring peanut butter nougat onto a large tray, layering caramel and peanuts on top, hand-slicing then dipping each bar into melted chocolate. In time, machinery took over the process.
The Horse
Concurrent to becoming candy moguls, Fred and Ethel Mars owned a Tennessee farm, named the Milky Way Farm, that bred racehorses. Some of these horses became regular sweepstakes winners; Ethel's favorite was named Snickers. Alas, the horse died just two months before the couple released their new candy bar. They named the Snickers bar in honor of Ethel's favorite racehorse.
Advertisements
Because of its high calorie count, the Snickers bar has always been associated with sports and providing fuel for athletes. Actually, for many years Snickers went by the name Marathon in Europe. Snickers' slogan still advertises that the candy bar "handles your hunger," allowing consumers to go on with their activities. After World War II, with wholesome shows being the norm in entertainment, Snickers gained acclaim for sponsoring "The Howdy Doody Show" from 1949 to 1952. Snickers has gone on to create Super Bowl advertisements and maintains support for youth activities.
Hershey's Chocolate Bar
The Hershey's chocolate bar was the first candy bar created by Hershey in 1900. The recipe for the chocolate resulted from a quest by Hershey to help more people taste and experience the delicacies of milk chocolate. At that time, only the affluent could afford to eat chocolate. Several years later, he created a variation with almonds as well. Many variations followed; Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar was created in 1971.
2Mr. Goodbar
The Mr. Goodbar candy bar was one of the first candy bars developed by the Hershey Company, introduced to the public in 1925. The mixture of salty, whole peanuts and milk chocolate in this candy bar was a new taste sensation at the time. People enjoyed this combination and the candy bar has remained popular throughout the years. In the 1990s the Hershey Company changed the Mr. Goodbar recipe to add more peanuts.
3Hershey's Symphony
The Hershey Company created two Hershey's Symphony candy bars in 1989. One is simply a milk chocolate candy bar and the other contains almonds and toffee. The Hershey Company created the Symphony candy bars to be a tasty treat for the mouth in the same way that a musical symphony is a treat for the ears. The recipe for these candy bars is creamier and slightly less sweet than the regular Hershey's chocolate bar.
4Whatchamacallit
The Hershey Company presented the Whatchamacallit candy bar to the public in 1978 as a treat with a name and a taste that are hard to forget. Inside the candy bar is a crispy peanut candy and caramel. The caramel was not a part of the original recipe and was added to the candy bar in 1987. Around the outside is a chocolate coating. In 2002, The Hershey Company updated the wrapper design.
5Krackel
The Hershey Company created the Krackel candy bar in 1938. Over the years the Krackel candy bar has undergone several recipe changes with nuts being added and then removed to result in the current recipe containing crispy cereal and milk chocolate. The Krackel candy bar is now only available in a tiny size as a part of the Hershey's Miniatures collection.
6Heath Toffee Bar
The Heath Toffee Bar contains toffee, almonds and chocolate. The Heath Brothers created this chocolate and toffee candy bar in 1928. Their candy company began growing and making additional products during the 1970's and 1980's until it was sold to another company in 1989. In 1996, the Hershey Company purchased this company, thereby acquiring the rights to the Health Toffee Bar. Since the Hershey Company took over production of the Heath bar, little has changed to the recipe or the wrapper design.
Fry's Chocolate Cream Bar
Fry's eating chocolate bars proved to be very popular. People had enjoyed drinking cocoa for some time, and now they had the option of carrying around a bar that could be readily enjoyed at any time. In 1866, Fry began mass producing Fry's Chocolate Cream Bar, the world's first proper candy bar, in his family's chocolate factory.