Jason English
The Quick 10: 10 Sweet Facts for Halloween
by Jason English - October 31, 2010 - 1:44 PM

q10

This weekend I’ve been sharing tasty facts about your favorite candy treats on Twitter. Here are some of the highlights:

wine1. Kit Kat flavors available in Japan include wine, sweet potato, wasabi, and soy sauce.
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2. A 3 Musketeers bar originally included three smaller bars: one vanilla, one chocolate and one strawberry.
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3. Chocolate magnate Milton Hershey had reservations on the Titanic. He ended up taking an earlier ship.
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4. M&M’s actually stands for “Mars & Murrie’s,” the candy’s founders—Forrest Mars Sr. & William F. R. Murrie.
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5. The name PEZ (as in PEZ Dispensers) comes from the German word for peppermint — PfeffErminZ.
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6. Toblerone is a portmanteau of the creator’s name, Theodor Tobler, and “torrone,” an Italian word for a type of nougat.
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7. Early Life Savers flavors included Lic-O-Rice, Cinn-O-Mon, Vi-O-let, Choc-O-Late, and Cl-O-ve.
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8. Until the early 1930s, the Sugar Daddy caramel candy was called the Papa Sucker.
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9. Real Names of Old Candy Bars: Chicken Dinner, Vegetable Sandwich, Fat Emma and Milk Nut Loaf.
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10. In the 1930s, Admiral Byrd brought 2½ tons of NECCO Wafers to the South Pole for his men during their two-year stay.
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A big thanks to Stacy Conradt, who has been wowing me with weird candy facts for years. If you’ve got a sweet fact about your favorite candy, wow us in the comments.

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Comments (35)

  1. Yikes, I’d think they’d get awfully sick of Necco wafers after a while.

    posted by Jennifer on 10-31-2010 at 2:12 pm

  2. Where can we sign a petition to bring back the neapolitan Milky Way bars??

    posted by Richard Y on 10-31-2010 at 2:55 pm

  3. Milk Nut Loaf may be the grossest thing I’ve ever heard.

    posted by Sasha on 10-31-2010 at 2:58 pm

  4. Let us not forget the Idaho Spud bar, which is designed to LOOK (not taste) like a potato!

    posted by Mr Retro on 10-31-2010 at 3:02 pm

  5. Largely, the wide variety of different Kit Kat flavors aren’t generally nationally available in Japan, or if they are, only for a short period of time. Many of the more unusual ones (roasted corn, butter potato etc.) are limited to a given region, depending on what it may be locally famous for. My favorite flavor that would be unusual for Americans, but was widely available in Japan, is kinako, or toasted soybean flour. Yum! ;)

    posted by Megan on 10-31-2010 at 3:35 pm

  6. Sweet Potato Kit Kats sound good.

    posted by Dany on 10-31-2010 at 5:52 pm

  7. Kit Kat produced a coffee flavored bar here in the states several years ago and it was GREAT! It became my favorite – I wish they would run it again!!!

    posted by Jackie on 10-31-2010 at 6:03 pm

  8. now why would they change such an innocent sounding name like ”Papa Sucker”?

    posted by burt on 10-31-2010 at 6:18 pm

  9. Ach! How old am I??!! Cl-O-ve was my favourite Life Saver flavour as a kid.
    p.s. No, I did not have a reservation on the Titanic.

    posted by AMR on 10-31-2010 at 6:42 pm

  10. the chicken dinner one reminds me of willie wonka.
    necco wafers are sometimes used when catholic children are practicing for their first communion.

    @AMR–LOL

    posted by tolonda on 10-31-2010 at 7:21 pm

  11. I just returned from Japan a week ago. We brought back KitKats in roasted soybean, sweet potato, wasabi and green tea. All of them but the soybean are covered in white chocolate in a color matching the flavor. I love the sweet potato ones. The wasabi ones taste like wasabi as an undertone but they are not spicy. The green tea tastes like well, green tea but a delicate blend of sweet and tea flavor. The roasted soybean are a mix of darker chocolate and soybean flavor. They are all very yummy.

    I’ve heard KitKat makes some European varieties as well.

    posted by nihil on 10-31-2010 at 7:51 pm

  12. I don’t think I’ve been around for too long (50 years) yet, but I remember milk nut loaf bars, they were good, sort of like a milky way but fluffier, with crushed peanuts mixed in and covered with chocolate. I hadn’t even realized they were gone, until just now when I read this and went “yeah, I haven’t seen those for a long time”

    posted by John on 10-31-2010 at 9:01 pm

  13. I <3 the random flavored candy in Japan. The weirdest KitKat I saw wasn't sweet potato though ('cause sweet potato flavored ANYTHING is amazing) – it was corn flavored. I found it in Hokkaido.

    posted by Tindy on 10-31-2010 at 9:36 pm

  14. Don’t remember Choc-O-Late but I do remember Choc-O-Mint.

    posted by Jeff on 10-31-2010 at 11:57 pm

  15. The other day I saw Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kats in a convenience store in Kashiwazaki, Japan. Didn’t try them, though.

    My favorite weird Japanese candy? Ramen-flavored chocolate bars. Yeah.

    posted by BlueAloe on 11-1-2010 at 3:59 am

  16. Vi-O-let lifesavers sound excellent! Cl-O-ve sounds a little weird but I’d like to try it. Bring em back, Lifesavers!

    posted by andFauna on 11-1-2010 at 8:07 am

  17. I wouldn’t mind the Lic-O-rice or Choc-O-late Life- Savers. What on Earth is Milk Nut? The Chicken Dinner bar was introduced in the ’30′s and was based on FDR’s promise of “A chicken in every pot.’ It had a picture of a roast chicken on the wrapper. I think I can thank Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader for that fact. I know I can. I read it there first.

    posted by Sara in Al on 11-1-2010 at 10:50 am

  18. I wish they would bring back the Elvis reeses peanut butter cups ( chocolate , peanut butter and banana cream)

    posted by tom on 11-1-2010 at 10:57 am

  19. I read a great book a few years ago, called Candy Freak and it talked about how some candies make it and others fade away and the politics involved. I love that book forever b/c it specifically mentioned my two favorite bars as a kid: Choco-o-Lite (really light chocolate malty goodness covered in chocolate) and Marathon bars (big bar of caramel covered in chocolate). I still remember hearing the movie called “Marathon Man” and assuming (in my grade school mind) that it must be about the candy bar!! Oops!

    posted by TeacherPatti on 11-1-2010 at 11:05 am

  20. @TeacherPatti, I had a similar confusion about Marathon bars and the movie.

    I really miss Marathon bars. :(

    posted by Karen on 11-1-2010 at 1:54 pm

  21. Gotta agree with both TeacherPatti and Karen- I, too, miss Marathon Bars. There was also a candy called “Milk Shake” that I was pretty fond of but is no longer made.

    posted by DaveK on 11-1-2010 at 2:12 pm

  22. anyone else remember Peanut Butter Frost from the mid-80s?

    posted by Wayne on 11-1-2010 at 2:22 pm

  23. Wasn’t there a candy bar named Skor (it was great)? I think my mom had a problem with the name. She also had a problem with me going to watch the movie Private Benjamin. I am now in therapy. :)

    posted by elynorah on 11-1-2010 at 3:59 pm

  24. I remember Milk Shake bars back in the 70s and how delicious they were (a lot like a 3 Musketeers, but not as rich) and one year for Halloween I got one…a big one. And my father, God rest his soul, came home late from work and while I was fast asleep, he wanted something to satisfy his sweet tooth and ate it….out of all the candy I had! You wouldve thought that he killed my dog the way I carried on, but ya know….it was a Milk Shake bar!!

    posted by Marty on 11-1-2010 at 4:34 pm

  25. @elynorah – I still find Skor (like a Heath Bar) in some stores in Florida

    posted by Richard on 11-1-2010 at 4:36 pm

  26. I’m the great grandson of DL Clark (Clark Bar). We used to get a fresh case of Clark Bars and Zagnuts for Halloween each year. There is a BIG difference between a fresh one and one with some shelf life on it. I went to the factory in Pittsburgh and it was like my great grandfather was Willy Wonka. The folks in Pittsburgh were awesome. Sad to see it go. They are still made but by another company.

    posted by Dan on 11-1-2010 at 4:45 pm

  27. “…the Sugar Daddy caramel candy was called the Papa Sucker.”

    Lacking some documentation, I’m gonna have to throw the urban legend flag on that one. It’s just a bit too trite. Funny, though.

    posted by Apathy Curve on 11-1-2010 at 5:58 pm

  28. I saw the Kit Kat thing and I needed to share… In Japan Kitsu Katsu (shortened to Kit Kat) means I’ll win or good luck depending on who you ask. Japanese citizens, especially teenagers, eat Kit Kat bars before big tests and meetings for good luck. I would want some extra flavors too with the number of tests I have been taking lately.

    posted by Junell on 11-1-2010 at 5:59 pm

  29. After further review, the ruling on the field stands. Apathy Curve will be charged a timeout (but in our league you get unlimited challenges):

    Here are a couple Sugar Daddy/Papa Sucker sources:

    Candy, The Sweet History
    by Beth Kimmerle

    http://books.google.com/books?id=jF0UUL-bjTAC&pg=PA156&dq=%22papa+sucker%22+%22sugar+daddy%22&hl=en&ei=2D_PTPysJoSBlAfr37XyCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22papa%20sucker%22%20%22sugar%20daddy%22&f=false

    The Great Depression in America: a cultural encyclopedia, Volume 1 (page 80)
    By William H. Young, Nancy K. Young

    http://books.google.com/books?id=QYYMqXUyjnUC&pg=PA80&dq=%22papa+sucker%22+%22sugar+daddy%22&hl=en&ei=2D_PTPysJoSBlAfr37XyCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22papa%20sucker%22%20%22sugar%20daddy%22&f=false

    posted by Jason English on 11-1-2010 at 6:37 pm

  30. Green tea Kit-Kats are disgusting. I like green tea, I even like the tea made from the super condensed Japanese green tea powder, but green tea and Kit-Kats are best enjoyed separately.

    Have any of you tried mango Lays? Those are surprisingly good.

    posted by Kat on 11-2-2010 at 12:54 am

  31. Skors are widely available around me in MA. Stores usually carry either it or Heath bars, but not both.

    I love violet flavored candy

    posted by Kathe on 11-2-2010 at 10:04 pm

  32. Does anyone remember a Seven Up Bar(not like the soft drink),, it was 7 different flavors linked together… I remember fudge, vanilla, coconut, orange.. On another note, my sister had to start a collection of some sort in 3rd grade and she chose candy wrappers. It’s funny to look over some of those older ones(esp. those with the 5 cent price on the wrapper!… I didn’t have a ticket for the Titanic either)

    posted by Jill on 11-7-2010 at 7:55 am

  33. This one isn’t very old but I loved it…Bar None. I haven’t seen them in years. Does anyone know if they still make them.

    posted by BamaLady on 12-5-2010 at 1:53 pm

  34. http://www.candywarehouse.com/nostalgic.html?page=6

    In case the link does not work candywarehouse.com has a large selection of nostalgic candy. I did not look through them all, but they did have the “Idaho Spud” candy bars that are mentioned.

    Hope this helps! (sorry it is over a year late)

    posted by Lily on 5-31-2011 at 1:09 am

  35. i really want to start collecting different kit kat bars now. i guess i’ll be moving to japan soon.

    posted by Evan on 9-26-2011 at 5:18 am

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