In 1919, Harry Burnett Reese, former dairy employee of the Hershey Company, was so inspired by the Milton Hershey and the need to provide for his wife and children that he decided to create his own candy company. The H.B. Reese Candy Company made different candies with ingredients such as coconut, caramel, and molasses, but in the mid 1920’s a special candy made from local Hershey chocolate and specially processed peanut butter was born. Simply known as peanut butter cups back then, as its popularity grew, it became known as the famous Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. During World War II, sugar became rationed and Reese decided to only produce one candy. He chose the one with least amount of sugar which was, you guessed it, the peanut butter cup!

In 1963, the Hershey Chocolate Company bought the H.B. Reese Candy Company for $23.5 million after Reese passed away. In 1969 Reese’s became the best seller for the Hershey Company, selling over 300 million cups each year. In 1978, Hershey’s created the iconic Reese’s Pieces, which were featured in the famous movie E. T. the Extraterrestrial. After the movie became a hit, Reese’s Pieces sales increased by 60 percent.

Some researchers estimate that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the most popular Halloween candy. Throughout the whole year, Hershey sells over $500 million worth of Reese’s. The cups can be used as a delicious treat themselves, or baked into other treats and desserts. There are a great number of cookbooks online describing the many ways to incorporate the candies into other desserts, such as cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, doughnuts, etc.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are certainly a favorite among my friends. Whenever we would go trick or treating in the past, I remember we would always fight for the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They always have and always will be simply delicious!

Fun Fact: Peanut Butter was first introduced in 1904 at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis.

Producing over 80 million bears every day, Haribo keeps their exact recipe and production method as a closely guarded secret. Many have tried to find out, but few ever have!

In 1920, Hans Riegel, a poor confectionary worker living in Bonn, Germany, decided to quit his job and make hard candies in his own kitchen. His wife would distribute the candies on her bicycle to consumers. Thus, the Haribo company was created. Two years later, Riegel decided to make gummy candies, which were becoming more popular. He chose to make the gummies bear shaped because he realized the company needed a gimmick to get people to buy his product over others. The new gummy bears became an instant hit with children living in Bonn.

The company expanded in the 1930’s, but was devasted in the 1940’s. In the beginning of World War II, the company had over 400 employees making over ten tons of candy each day. But then, Hans Riegel passed away, his sons became prisoners of war, and the company shrunk to only 30 employees. When the war ended, Riegel’s sons revived the company. By 1950, the company had over 1,000 employees and started building factories across Europe. The  company entered the market of the U. S. in 1982.

The popularity of gummy candies  exploded in the 1980’s.  In 1985, Disney created a cartoon called The Adventures of Gummi Bears, which remained in production until 1991. Probably the most familiar animated gummy bear to our generation debuted in 2007. This lovable bear sang the song “I am a Gummy Bear,” which actually cracked a few singles charts. You can watch the music video here!

Although gummy bears have not been around for as long as other candies, their popularity is still off the charts. Gummy bears are a delicious treat that are definitely on the top of my list of favorite candies.

Fun Fact: In 1997, the tobacco executive and head of Phillip Morris Co., James Morgan, claimed that gummy bears are just as addictive as tobacco!

“The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”

M&M’s, named after Forrest E. Mars Sr., founder of the Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate’s president William F. R. Murrie, was created in 1941, by Mars Incorporated during the second world war. But the M&M’s of that time were not stamped with the famous M on the front until 1950. At that time, a bag of candy only cost 5 cents. Peanut M&M’s were produced in 1954. That same year, the animated M&M’s characters were all know and love were introduced along with the slogan, “melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” In the 1960’s M&M’s became available in red, yellow, and green. Nowadays, M&M’s are available in every color imaginable for any occasion.

It is common for people to order the candies for their special events. I remember at my brother’s wedding, he and his then fiancé ordered custom M&M’s. The candies were personalized and had their names and wedding date written on half and the other half had a picture of wedding bells. The M&M’s were white and a pale pink  color.

There are different varieties of M&M’s in production today. These include Peanut M&M’s, dark chocolate, almond, and peanut butter. The mini version of the classic  chocolate style was debuted in 1996.

The famous animated M&M characters have become a hit with consumers. Red and Yellow are and always have been the most popular characters and appear in a great number of commercials together, including ones for Christmas and Halloween. The first female character, Green, was introduced in 1997. Two years later, Orange was introduced as the paranoid crispy M&M.

In 2017, M&M’s was the top ranked chocolate candy in the United States with $688.7 million dollars worth of sales, and over 400 million are produced every single day. This top selling candy just goes to show that everyone loves a classic!