The "What Do You Hand Out First On Halloween? Story

It was an ordinary day.  I told my wife I was heading to Costco to have my hearing aides adjusted and as I was heading out the door she yelled to me to pick up a box of full-sized Hershey chocolate bars to hand out on Halloween.  Well, getting the hearing aides was easy, but finding the Hershey bars was a bit harder.  Couldn't find them, or should I say I must have passed that aisle, so I picked up a container of 70 Utz's individually wrapped pretzels and a box of 30 full sized candy bars that featured  Twix, M&Ms, Milky Way and Snickers bars.  

Treats to be handed out at the Woods'.

Carol wasn't real happy with my purchase, but knew it would be more than enough for our Halloween visitors.  We talked about what were our favorite Halloween treats and she told me she always liked Hershey Bars while I told her I liked just about anything, but hoped I would get a bunch of candy corn on Halloween.  Actually, I hoped our three children would get some candy corn when they went around the neighborhood so they could share it with me.  You remember candy corn?  It was yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle and white on top and shaped like a triangle.  I was always disappointed if the small white tip had been broken off.  I liked to eat it in three bites; a color a bite.  Candy corn was originally known as "Chicken Feed" when it was first made in the 1880s by the Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Allegedly made by a man named George Renninger who worked for Wunderle and during one fall harvest season was inspired to create a method for layering different colors into a single mold shaped like a kernel of corn.  Viola!  

My favorite!

Candy corn was born, but it really wasn't popular until about 100 years later when the Glitz Candy Company (now Jelly Belly) started to make it.  The candy was first made by hand by pouring a mixture of sugar, corn syrup, carnauba wax and water and cooked to form a slurry.  Fondant was added for texture and marshmallows to give the soft bite.  The mixture was heated and poured into the traditional triangular shaped molds.  Three passes for the three colors made candy corn.  Today's candy corn is still made the same way except it is now mechanically made instead of by hand.  They make about 9 billion pieces of the candy each year.  Actually, October 30 is National Candy Corn Day, but the treat wasn't associated with Halloween until after World War II, since sugar rationing during the war kept if in low production.  Then in 1947 radio programs such as The Jack Benny Show, The Baby Snooks Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet led to Trick-or-treat.  It was said that Trick or Treat Night was began by adults to re-channel activities away from the traditional Mischief Night vandalism.  No matter what the reason for the special children's night might be, I hope all the children get a candy bar and an individually wrapped pretzel.  The bag of candy corn that is still in my car will stay there unless we run out of pretzels!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of ordinary guy.