The "Iconic Candy Bars" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finished lunch and grabbed a few miniature Hershey Bars from the kitchen drawer.  The classic Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar is one of the oldest candy bars ever created...with nearly 120 years of history under its belt...and holds the title of the first mass-produced chocolate in the United States.  A few years ago I wrote a story about Milton Hershey moving to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and opening a caramel factory in the late 1800s.  Then in 1893 Mr. Hershey attended the World Colombian Exposition in Chicago and became fascinated with the art of chocolate making and bought German-made machinery and had it shipped to Lancaster.  In 1984 he founded Hershey Chocolate Company as a subsidiary of Lancaster Caramel Company and started producing baking chocolate, cocoa, and chocolate coatings for his caramels.  In 1895 the Hershey Bar was born.  Two years later he bought back his family farm in Derry Township, got married and developed what today is the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania where he built a large chocolate manufacturing plant.  I tell you all of this, since I recently read a story about the world's best-selling candy bar.  

Snickers!  Picked as the #1 candy bar.

I was disappoint- ed that it wasn't the Hershey Bar, but  the Mars Wrigley Snicker Bar which is the world's best-selling candy bar.  The Snickers bar was actually called the Marathon bar until it's name was changed in 1990 to the Snicker Bar.  The bar was originally named Marathon since that was the company founder, Frank Mars' favorite horse.  

The #2 candy bar is the Hershey Bar.

The second most favorite bar is the classic Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar.  The Hershey Bar was the first mass-produced chocolate bar in the United States.  Today most people associate the taste of chocolate with the Hershey Bar.  But, Hershey's isn't as popular outside the US and many other countries say the classic American chocolate flavor tastes like vomit!  But, what do they know?  

The #3 candy bar is the Cadbury Bar.

The third most popular candy bar is the Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar which was made in the United Kingdom since 1905.  It is made with fresh milk from the British isles, which gives it it's distinct taste and texture.  The Kit Kat Bar is mentioned as an honorable mention candidate.  

Honorable Mention Kit Kat Bar.

"Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar" solidified its place in marketing history as a now instantly recog- nizable jingle, and sharing Kit Kats has gone global.  I must admit that I enjoy the Kit Kat Bar, but would prefer to eat the entire bar and not share it.  Because of the jingle, the Kit Kat is said to be the most influential candy bar of all time.  

Honorable Mention Butterfiinger Bar.

The Butterfinger candy bar is another honorable mention candy bar and is a widely loved, one-of-a-kind "crispy, crunchy, peanut buttery" candy bar, with Butterfinger history stretching as far back as the 1920s.  It has gained honorable mention status since it has a new "improved recipe."  It was awarded the 2019 Product of the Year Award in the candy bar category.  Butterfinger was created in 1923 in Chicago, Illinois by Otto Schnering and is currently manufactured by Nestlé.  

Honorable Mention Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Another honorable mention is not really a candy bar, but the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  The bright orange wrapper can't be missed when you see it at the candy counter.  Every candy bar in this story includes chocolate as the main ingredient which means that there are quite a few people who have a sweet tooth.  Actually 25% of all sales in convenience stores in the United States are candy bar sales.  Approximately five billion units of chocolate candy were sold in the United States in 2018 with billions of dollars spent on chocolate bars.  So, we in the United States have Mr. Milton Hershey to thank for satisfying our sugary chocolate craving.  And, after spending the past half hour writing this, I'm going to grab a few more of those miniature Hershey Bars from the kitchen drawer.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "With A Bit Of Sugar...All Is Made Well: Part II - Y&S Twizzler Licorice Company" Story

Y&S Candies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the Y&S Candies, Inc. factory on the west side of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  I had my camera in hand and was taking a few photographs when a gentleman came out the front door asking why I was taking photographs of the building.  Told him I wanted to write a story about the factory for the blog I write.  I also asked if he could take me inside and show me how the candy was made.  "Wish I could, but they don't allow photographs inside," he told me.  He did answer a few questions for me before I thanked him and headed back to my car.  Y&S Candies is a subsidiary of The Hershey Company and is one of the oldest confectionery firms in the United States.  

Y&S is part of The Hershey Company

The company was established in 1845 and was first known as Young and Smylie.  Twenty five years later it adopted Y&S as its trademark.  Then in 1902 Y&S became one of three small firms that together were known as National Licorice Company.  In 1908 a plant was opened in Montreal, Canada and in 1929 the Twizzler brand was established.  In 1968 National Licorice Company was renamed Y&S Candies Inc. and was acquired by Hershey Foods in 1977.  Since 1999, Twizzlers have been manufactured in Lancaster as well as Memphis Tennessee.  The Lancaster location also makes chewing gum and other candies.  The Memphis plant originally was in Farmington, New Mexico, but moved to Memphis due to transportation costs.  The plant in Lancaster employs about 550 workers and is located at 400 Running Pump Road.  

A package of Twizzlers licorice sticks

If you have no idea what Twizzlers may be, it is a licorice in tube form about the diameter of a large drinking straw that has swirled ridges on the outside of the hollowed licorice.  It is made of corn syrup, wheat flour, sugar cornstarch and in smaller amounts: palm oil, salt, artificial flavor, glycerin, citric acid, potassium sorbate, Red 40 and soy lecithin.  Yep...has all those ingredients...and we actually eat the stuff...and it tastes good!  Originally, the product that was introduced in 1845 was licorice, but in the late 1970s the company began to expand its flavors to include strawberry, grape, chocolate, cherry and watermelon flavors.  In addition to their Twists, Bites and Nibs of various sizes, Y&S introduced Pull 'n' Peel in 1994. Twerpz and Strawz came along in 2004.  A limited edition of cherry cola and "rainbow" flavors were introduced in 2006.  The Twizzler brand is sold today in stores and movie theaters.  Y&S also manufactures a special 2-foot-long variety with the regular length of Twizzlers being 8 inches long.  In 2006, Hershey's introduced the Sweet and Sour Filled Twist.  

Rainbow Twizzlers

They come in red and yellow and both have a fruity filling inside.  In 2011, Super Long Nibs were introduced, combining the flavor and texture of the classic Nib with the length of a standard Twizzler twist.  Over the past few years, Y&S has added a few other Pull 'n' Peel flavors.  According to the Guinness book of Records, the longest licorice twist ever made measured 1,200 feet long and was 100 pounds.  It was made at the Y&S Candy Plant in Lancaster.  The record breaking twist became a world record on July 19, 1998.  I was hoping I would have been allowed inside to take a few photographs to share as well as have he chance to sample a few of the products, but that didn't happen.  I finally walked away from the gentleman at the door empty-handed, but with a wealth of knowledge about the factory.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Candy That You Will Only Find On eBay" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Day after Halloween and all of the wrapped pretzels have been handed out as well as a few of the candy bars that I had purchased a week ago at Costco.  We kept the candy bars as a backup, since they are much more tasty that the pretzels plus pretzels are much better for children than candy bars.  Right?  Carol and I got to talking about what candy we enjoyed as children and it seems we both liked everything.  Then we talked about what candy we used to enjoy that we haven't seen for ages.

Teaberry Gum

 I told her I used to enjoy Clark's Teaberry Gum and haven't seen any for years.  So, I grabbed by laptop and "Googled" the gum.  Yep, it is longer made as well as close to a dozen other candies that haven't been made for many years.  As I read the list I came upon a few that I had never heard of before.  Items such as Seven Up Bars, Baffle Bars, Fat Emma Bars, Vegetable Sandwich Bars and Squirrel Nut-Zippers.  

An advertisement for the SevenUp Bar.

The seven milk chocolate squares that made up a Seven Up Bar each contained a different filling.  The anticipation of biting into a pillow of coconut, butterscotch caramel, buttercream, fudge, mint, cherry cream or orange jelly must have been a thrill when eating the Seven Up Bar.  It was first made in the 1930s by Pearson's, but was finally taken off the market in 1979.  But, another bar known as the Sky Bar, which has four squares that contain caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge fillings and was made at one time by Necco, will begin being made later this year by a manufacturer in Massachusetts.  The Baffle Bar was made around the 1920s to the 1970's.  It was made in California and was said to have "all the tang of the great outdoors" and "zest that was born of a mountain wind."  Inside the bar was walnuts, fudge and some sort of jelly.  Not something I would have eaten so it is no loss to me.  The Fat Emma Bar was made by Pendergast Candy in Minneapolis and used too much egg white in its nougat recipe, thus was known as the Fat Emma.  The candy maker, Frank Mars, eventually used a bit less egg white when he made the Milky Way and the 3 Musketeers bars.  

Chiclets were one of my favorites, but is no longer made.

Naturally the latter bars are still found on the candy shelves.  The Vegetable Sandwich Bar really sounds gross to me.  It contained dehydrated vegetables covered with chocolate. The wrapper displayed peas, carrots, celery and cabbage along with the promise, "Will Not Constipate."  I'm sure it didn't last too long.  The Squirrel Nut-Zipper was a Necco brand that was named after a prohibition-era cocktail.  The nutty-vanilla caramels were a penny candy similar to BB Bats and Tootsie Rolls.  It stopped production when Necco Company was sold.  Now, I did come upon a few candies that are no longer made that I really enjoyed.  "Chiclets" made with chicle, a natural gum found in several tropical American trees.  

Another favorite of mine the is no longer made.

The candy-coated gum hasn't been made since 2016.  Mary Janes were peanut butter-molasses penny candy originally made in Boston in a home once occupied by Paul Revere.  The candy was also made my Necco.  I'm sure there are other candies that you may have loved at one time that are no longer made, but the variety on the shelf at the supermarket has so many others that you certainly can find something that will give you cavities.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

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.

The "They're Too Good To Eat Just One! So I Had 2!!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Our granddaughters, Courtney and Camille had just arrived from Urbana, Maryland.  It's about a two-hour drive from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and it was Courtney's first time driving that far since getting her driver's license.  They had called a week or two ago asking if they could make chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs for Easter.  They love the sweet delectables which their grandmother makes so they thought they would go right to the source and ask Carol to help them with their wish.  Wasn't long after their arrival that they retrieved all the ingredients and began their wish of making peanut butter eggs with their "Amah".    Follow along if you too would like to make some of the best peanut butter eggs on earth.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

To make the interior of the eggs you will need 8 oz. smooth cream cheese, a stick of butter, 2 cups of peanut butter (smooth is much better than crunchy), and two teaspoons of vanilla.

Blend the ingredients together and add 2 pounds of 10X sugar to the mixing bowl.  Here you can see Courtney in her black sweatshirt and Camille in her red sweatshirt blending the ingredients and adding the 10X sugar. 

Next you have to form the eggs by hand, making sure you pack the ingredients tightly together.  Making them look like Easter eggs was a tough job for the girls.  

Lay the eggs on a cookie sheet that has a layer of waxed paper on it.  Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator  for a few hours to make the eggs cool.

The ingredients for the outside chocolate layer are wax and semi-sweet chocolate morsels.  The more wax you use the easier it will be to coat the peanut-butter eggs.  Carol started with about two cups of morsels and about a half-inch piece of the wax cut from one end of the stick.  Blend the two ingredients over low heat until it is a heavy liquid.  To make it thinner for coating, add more wax.

Carol was demonstrating her procedure by placing a peanut-butter egg in the mixture and using two salad forks to coat the egg and hold it above the mixture to allow the liquid to drain from the egg.  Place the eggs back on the cookie sheet.

After all peanut butter eggs are coated, return the cookie sheet to the refrigerator  until the chocolate/wax has hardened.

This is the final result of Carol's peanut butter eggs. 

And the egg after taking a big bite.  Our granddaughters returned nome the following day with an entire batch of pure delight!

The "What Do Chocolate And Teddy Bears Have In Common?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Finishing up the last Hershey candy bar that was left over from Halloween which was the end of October.  We had purchased a very large bag of miniature Hershey bars to give to those who knocked on our door while dressed in their costume.  Well, we had only about a dozen children knock on our door and close to a hundred candy bars....thus, we had to eat them ourselves.  My guess is that many of you also eat Hershey bars.  But, what else can you tell me about Hershey?  Did you know that it is actually a town in south-eastern Pennsylvania that is about a 30 minute drive from my home in Lancaster.  Did you know that they have one of the neatest amusement parks in the United States?  How about....did you you know that they have a minor league ice hockey team known as the Hershey Bears.  Yep!  And on December 2 they did something really special.  They shattered the world record for the teddy bear toss that had previously been held by the Calgary hockey team known as the Hitmen.  In 2015 the Hitmen had collected 28,815 teddy bears which were distributed to children in more than 30 different charities.  This past December 2 the Binghamton Devils, from New York, traveled to Hershey, a Washington Capitals' affiliate, for an American Hockey League game.  Most every fan who paid for a ticket carried at least one stuffed teddy bear which would be thrown on the ice after the first goal by the home team Bears.  

Hershey players help collect the teddy bears from the ice.

Hershey player Riley Barber scored a power-play goal in the first period and the bears rained down on the ice.  Those seated close to the ice had to continue to throw the bears that didn't reach the ice by fans close to the top of the Giant Center.  Many of the Bears players helped collect the miniature toy teddy bears while posing for photographs.  They actually moved up the first intermission to the time when the goal was scored since they knew it would take quite a bit of time to collect all the teddy bears.  

When the ice was cleared there was a total of 34,798 stuffed animals donated!  A few fans had also pledged $1 for every stuffed bear which added to the total of donations.  Hershey is a big hockey town having led the league in attendance 11 of the past 12 years by drawing more than 9,000 fans per game.  So now, when you pop a Hershey bar in your mouth you now know that the town is known for something more that chocolate.  It is the record holder for the Teddy Bear toss.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "And We Eat This Stuff? Story

It was an ordinary day.  Using my large magnifying glass to check out the ingredients that are printed on the label of the food we feed our two cats.  A few minutes ago I was looking at a warning for the additive carrageenan that said 70% of canned pet foods contain carrageenan.  So why is carrageenan added to cat food as well as food that we consume on a daily basis and use in everyday life.  It adds no nutritional value or flavor, but its unique chemical structure makes it exceptionally useful as a binder, thickening agent and stabilizer.  

Found in red algae and seaweed.

So where do we get carrageenan?  It is derived from red algae or seaweeds since the 1930s and is processed through an alkaline procedure to produce what many consider to be a "natural" food ingredient.  If you happen to prepare the same algae or seaweed in an acidic solution, you get what is referred to as "degraded carrageenan" or poligeenan.  And, the stuff seems to be everywhere.  It can be found in organic yogurt, tofu, coconut milk, baby formula and even in turkey cold cuts.  Now, what are the bad things about it?  It has a long and controversial reputation as an emulsifier that damages the digestive system.  Degraded carrageenan is commonly used in drug trials to literally induce inflammation and other diseases in lab animals.  And, we eat this stuff!!  Now, I know there is a difference between the disease-producing carrageenan and its "natural" food counterpart.  Carrageenan is an active ingredient in solutions we use to treat everything from coughs to intestinal problems.  

It can be found in just about anything including ice cream.

It is also known to decrease pain and swelling and has been used as a laxative and to treat peptic ulcers.  And, as I shared with you before, it is found in a variety of pet foods and healthcare products such as toothpaste.  But (you knew this was coming) research says that it can cause:  Large bowel ulcerations, Ulcerative colitis, fetal toxicity & birth defects, colorectal cancer, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, inflammation, liver cancer, immune suppression and promoting the growth of abnormal colon glands, which are the precursors to polyps.  

Also can be found in candy.

I should tell you that what I read says that as long as you don't have more than 5% of the additive carrageenan in your diet, the only side effect may be soft stools and diarrhea.  I will try to be more observant when buying and using products that contain carrageenan.  As I examined the cat food we feed our two newcomers, I found that the Friskies Tasty Treasures did have the additive in the cans while the Sheba containers and Purina Fancy Feast Medleys did not.  Since Carol and I do not want any problems with ourselves as well as our pets, we will watch what we eat and will no longer buy the Friskies cans.  As the saying goes.....Better safe than sorry!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Are You Ready For The Easter Bunny?" Story

My favorites: milk, white and dark chocolate.

It was an ordinary day.  Shopping for a few pieces of chocolate to give to our grand- children for Easter.  Our oldest is 16 and youngest 12, but they all still love to hunt for plastic Easter eggs filled with money and treats as well as enjoy a few Easter baskets filled with chocolate treats.  I must admit I enjoy shopping for the chocolate, since there always seems to be some left over that doesn't fit into the baskets and I naturally have to eat it so it won't go to waste.  Living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania we get some of the best chocolate in the world right in our area.  We are less than half and hour from Hershey Chocolate Company and 20 minutes from both Wilbur Chocolate in Lititz and M&M Mars Chocolate in Elizabethtown.  And, if we get real hungry, we can walk about 5 minutes to the nearby Miesse's Chocolate and get our favorite sea salt chocolate caramels.  Well, a few facts about chocolate for you are:  

(1) Chocolate comes from the Aztec word "Xocolati" which means bitter water.  It was an unsweetened drink that the Aztecs used to  imbibe.  (2) Chocolate is made from the cocoa beans of cacao trees which are cultivated in Hawaii and in the areas of the world 20 degrees north and south of the equator.  (3) Cocoa beans, which are seeds, and pulp are fermented together and then those beans are dried in the sun before they are moved to chocolate factories.  (4)  The beans are then sorted, cleaned, roasted and then the husks are removed by blowing air onto them so the roasted beans shatter into fragments called cacao nibs.  (5)  These nibs are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor which is used as the base for chocolate products.  When you buy chocolate items, check to see if they have at least 54% cacao which is considered good chocolate for recipes needing chocolate.  A few more things about chocolate are:  

Check out this 1940's advertisement for chocolate.

(1) It takes 400 cocoa beans to make a pound of chocolate, (2) Cacao trees can live for more than 200 years, but only produce marketable beans from about 5 years of age and until they are 25 years of age. (3) Most cocoa farmers only raise the beans and don't make the chocolate, (4) Benjamin Franklin sold chocolate in his print shop in Philadelphia, (5) It takes 2-4 days to make a single-serving chocolate bar, (6) German chocolate cake was named for Sam German who developed a sweet bar for Baker's Chocolate.  He wasn't from Germany. (6) Champagne and sparkling wines are too acidic to mix with milk or dark chocolate, but sweet bubbly mixes well with white chocolate and red wine with dark chocolate.  (7) Finally, the French celebrate April Fool's Day with chocolate-shaped fish known as "Poisson d'Avril."  Now that's something I think needs to be done in my house starting this year!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "The Time You Have In Jelly Beans!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Preparing for the arrival of the Easter Bunny at our household.  Our grandkids are all as tall as my wife, but she insists that we have an egg hunt so they can hunt for plastic eggs that are hid in our back yard.  And, what's funny is the grandkids still enjoy and expect us to have the egg hunt.  Could be all the candy and treats, as well as the dollar bills, that we put in the plastic eggs.  The 50 to 60 eggs are hid under bushes, behind fences, under flower pots, and around the rear porch.  Every summer I always seem to mow over one or two that had not been found during the egg hunt.  So, what do we put in the eggs?  Why, sugar treats, naturally!  All the good things that their parents don't want them to have.  Small pre-packaged bags as well as a variety of other treats and naturally jelly beans.  

Everyone knows I will be placing jelly beans in the eggs I prepare, since they are one of my favorite sweets.  For Christmas I usually get a container or two of cashews as well as a container or two of jelly beans.  Used to be Jelly Belly brand, but when they found they can buy store brand jelly beans at Costco and BJs stores, they opted for them.  And, I can't tell the difference anyway.  And the flavors; I just love the variety of flavors that come in those big containers.  They even put photos of the different varieties so I can guess and see if I'm right.  Do you know the origin of the jelly bean?  Seems it is a bit of a mystery.  Some believe it is a combination of the soft, chewy Middle Eastern sweet called Turkish Delight that was around for thousands of years and the hard candy shell of Jordan Almonds which are a product of the 17th Century.  Candy maker William Schrafft advertised that people should send his treat called a jelly bean to Union Soldiers fighting in the Civil War.  When penny candy was popular at the candy store, containers of jelly beans were one of the treats you could get for a penny.  Then someone decided to push the jelly bean during Easter season and our culture thought it to be a great idea.  The fact that they are shaped like an egg made sense to most who already associated the egg shape with Easter.  Then on Febuary 7, 1964 the Beatles landed on US soil and someone got the idea they loved jelly beans.  Their real treat was called a jelly baby which was much softer than the hard jelly bean. Fans began to throw jelly beans at them during concerts, not realizing how much it must have hurt when they landed on them.  And in the 1960s Ronald Reagan took to eating the treat to help him wean himself from smoking.  Worked and for his 1981 presidential inauguration, the Jelly Belly company sent him 5,000 pounds of jelly beans as a gift.  They were all colored red, white and blue.  Too bad someone didn't ask him his favorite, since the black licorice jellybean was it.  Well, I will make sure that after I have filled the colored Easter eggs, I will have a couple of handfuls left for myself to snack on for a few days.   While searching for a few facts about the jelly bean, I came across an amazing YouTube video titled "The Time You Have - In Jelly Beans".  The video, created by Ze Frank, depicts the average lifespan of a human being, which is 28,835 days, in jelly beans.  You don't have to love jelly beans to enjoy it, but it helps.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "The Story Of The Candy Cane" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Shopping at my local grocery store and found a variety of candy canes in a special section devoted to holiday candy.  Not as large a display as you might find during Easter or Halloween, but still took up quite a few feet of shelf space.  The candy that seemed to have the most prominence on the shelf was the candy cane.  The majority of the candy canes were red and white, but there was a multitude of other colors displayed on the shelf.  Grabbed a pack to place in the stockings for our grandchildren.  

The easily recognizable Christmas candy cane.

Got me thinking of when and how long ago the candy cane came into existence.  Seems that in 1670 in Cologne, Germany, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral was trying to find a remedy for the noise that the children were making in his church during the Living Creche tradition of Christmas Eve.  He asked a local candy maker for some "sugar sticks" to quiet the children and to justify giving the candy to the children, he asked the candy maker to add a crook to the top of each stick which would help them remember the shepherds who visited the infant Jesus at the creche.  He chose to keep the sugar stick a white color to teach the children about the Christian belief in the sinless life of Jesus.  Must have worked for the practice of the sugar sticks, or candy canes spread to other parts of Europe where they handed out the "candy canes" during the reenactment of the Nativity.  Thus, the candy cane became associated with the Creche and Nativity and therefore the Christmas season.  The first documented reference of the candy cane was in 1837 when the Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association had a judged competition of candy and the straight peppermint candy stick, white with colored stripes, was entered.  

A young boy looking at the tasty treat.

The "candy cane" is found in literature in 1866 and the first association with Christmas was in 1874 and by 1882 the treats were being hung on Christmas trees.  Bobs Candies was the first company to begin to mass produce the candy cane in the 1920s.  His brother-in-law, a Catholic priest named Gregory Keller, had invented a machine to mass produce the candy and churn out millions in a day.  The world's largest candy cane was built by Geneva, Illinois chef Alain Roby in 2012.  It was 51 feet long and required about 900 pounds of sugar.  He eventually smashed it with a hammer so people could take home a piece.  A few notes about the candy cane:  54% of kids suck on candy canes compared to the 24% who crunch it right away.  And, I have no clue as to what the other 22% of the kids did with their candy canes.  Also seems that the boys in the survey tended to crunch their canes more than their female counterparts.  Other names given to the candy cane are Santa's cane and Peppermint stick.  My only question I have that I can't seem to find an answer to is since the candy cane is almost entirely sugar, why would anyone who wanted to quiet children during a Christmas Eve service give them a candy cane.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "So What's The Big Deal With Halloween?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Have the bag full of candy by the front door ready for the first goblin, skeleton, witch, zombie or ghost.  Carol and I live in a rather small development near a major highway that sports shopping center after shopping center, so ... we usually don't have a pathway worn to our front door on Halloween saying "Trick or Treat".  Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows' Eve and is celebrated on October 31 the day before the feast of All Hallows' or All Saints which is observed on November 1st in most Western Christian religions.  

Actually began in the Middle Ages when Christians held a folk belief that All Hallow' Eve was the night where the veil between the material world and the afterlife was at its most transparent.  For me it was always a spooky and mysterious evening reserved for the young who can be scared easily as well as the young at heart who enjoy being scared to death.  For my readers who hail from countries that do not celebrate Halloween, I thought I would give you an idea about the traditional symbols, animals or creatures, in some cases, that we use while celebrating Halloween to scare the crap out of you.  So here goes:

• Spiders:  Spiders have always been seen as mystical creatures and symbols of fear because of their venom.  The webs that they create seem to always show up in haunted and abandoned buildings and tombs, so they are a natural to try and scare someone.  And just for your information ... all spiders have venom, which can be toxic, but its the intensity of the venom that can cause trouble.
• Bats:  At one time Halloween was celebrated by creating bonfires and this fire would attract a multitude of bugs, thus bats to consume the bugs.  Now the bat that you have to watch out for is the Vampire Bat which is bloodsucking and capable of taking human form.  Scared yet?
• Black Cats:  Carol and I had a black cat at one time that we called Midnight.  As black as can be and hard to tell where he was at nighttime when the lights went out.  Black cats are said to be scary since they would hangout with witches, or so people thought.
• Skeletons: It is said that the skeleton was the house of the soul and to ward off evil spirits people would dress to appear dead in skeleton costumes.  The Grim Reaper is said to wear a black cape over his bones.
• Jack-O'-Latern:  Jack-O'-Laterns are used to warn spirits to say away.  Many carve pumpkins with scary faces to really scare off evil spirits.
• Ghosts: It is said ghosts were roaming the earth years and years ago.  How someone decided that a white sheet was the symbol of a ghost is still a mystery to me.
• Zombies:  Ah!  Now we're getting to the creepy part of Halloween.  Zombies are said to be undead people who have reanimated bodies.  The custom came from Haitian and West African folklore.  Here-of-late they have been a popular Halloween caricature since they are really scary.
• Witches:  So now we get into religion.  The Bible condemned witches.  Just read Leviticus 20:27 where it tells you that a woman or man that hath a familiar spirit or is a wizard should be put to death by stoning them.  Still not sure why witches wore black clothes with a comical hat and rode on a broomstick.  Matter-of-fact, I've never ever seen anyone ride a broomstick, dressed in black or any other color as far as that goes.  But, I must admit, I'm scared by witches!

So, you think you have a better idea why people, mostly children, dress up as a bat, cat or witch and go knocking on doors in hopes of getting a candy bar or three.  If you really know, drop me a line and tell me about it so I might know.  Personally, I have a hard time connecting All Saint's Day to Halloween as we celebrate it today.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "A Huge Chocolate Hare" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in the rear workshop at Miesse's Candies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania talking to Tracy who is the owner of one of Lancaster's oldest candy stores.  A little over two years ago my wife Carol and I made a visit to the downtown candy store and factory to visit and sample some of their famous candies.  At the time I wrote a two-part story telling of the history of the candy maker and how they produce their chocolate candies.  

The two-part mold that will eventually
be a 42", 32 pound chocolate rabbit.

While taking a tour of the factory, we saw an extremely large plastic mold that was used to create their biggest chocolate rabbit.  Shortly after, I saw one of the bunnies in their satellite store which is about a five-minute walk from my home.  The bunny stood 42" high, weighed 32 pounds and sold for over $500.  Well, today I talked my granddaughter Camille into visiting the downtown store with so I could take a photo of the mold and the resulting chocolate rabbit so that I could share one of the largest pieces of chocolate with you.  Tracy remembered me from my past trip and ushered Camille and me to the back workshop to view the large mold and one of the rabbits that had just hatched from the mold.  The mold has two parts to it which are each held in a plywood form.  Liquid chocolate is poured in one half of the mold, filling it.  

A recently poured chocolate rabbit.
Notice the excess chocolate where
the two halves were joined.  Click
on the image to enlarge it.

Then the other half of the mold is placed on top of it and bolts are used to tighten the two halves together.  Two workers slowly rotate the mold so the chocolate can enter the other side of the mold, making sure that the chocolate has fully covered the other half and there are no air pockets.  Then, every 15 minutes they flip the mold back over again to allow even coverage of the chocolate.  This procedure is completed every 15 minutes for two hours.  After that time the rabbit is allowed to fully harden overnight and then removed from the mold.  At that point they must scrap the excess chocolate from the area where the mold has been joined together.  Decorating and wrapping in plastic follow.  Tracy said they usually sell one of these 32 pound giants every year with one recently finding a home in a nearby town.  Tracy and her husband Bob recently named their latest 32 pound chocolate creation after their first grandchild, Brigham who is 2 years old.  Wonder how many 2 year olds might weigh as much as the chocolate Brigham.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

Bunny Brigham for sale in Miesse's Candy Store.

The "The Dryer Sheet To My Heart" Story

It was an ordinary day. Being that Valentine's Day is upon us, I thought it might be neat to feature a story about something very romantic … like chocolate!  Isn't chocolate the most romantic item you can think of today?  Be it dark, light, white, filled with almonds or peanuts, or dripped over strawberries, it is fantastic!  I assume you know that milk and dark chocolate come from the cacao bean which grows on the cacao tree, an evergreen from the family Malvaceae.  Therefore it makes the most important part of the sweet treat a vegetable.  And, therefore one of the main food groups!  And, you need this food group daily!  White chocolate really isn't a chocolate since it doesn't contain cacoa solids or chocolate liquor, but does contain parts of the cacao bean; mainly cocoa butter.  Hey, that's find with me!  In both the early Mexican and Aztec cultures, cacao was brewed which yielded a bitter concoction that was often used for ceremonial occasions like weddings.  It is supposed to be the origin of our hot chocolate, only more refined and sweeter.  Love a cup of Quik for breakfast in the morning.  Gives me something to dunk my toast, cookies, cake or muffin into.  

And while I'm on the topic of hot chocolate, did you know that Marie Antoinette dipped her cake in hot chocolate.  Seems they served hot chocolate frequently at the Palace of Versailles and it went perfect with the cake she often had.  It also was believed to be an aphrodisiac; the hot chocolate that is - not the cake.  It wasn't until 1847 when a pair of British confectioners invented solid chocolate. The Fry and Sons confectionary concocted what they called "eating chocolate" by combining cocoa butter, sugar and chocolate liquor which made a grainy, solid form of treat very similar to our chocolate candy.  Actually cocao and cocoa are both the same thing.  Over time, people just switched the same letters around, but came up with the same item. Made for something like fake news, I guess.  I do that rather often you probably realize by now.  Getting back to French culture, did you know that Napoleon loved chocolate?  The French leader demanded that wine and chocolate be made available to him and his senior advisers even during intense military campaigns.  

Now, if you look in my wife's pantry, you will probably find something which is known as Baker's Chocolate which isn't just for baking.  She tells me that, but perhaps to keep me from eating it.  Doesn't work though!  Baker's Chocolate was actually developed by Dr. James Baler and John Hannon who founded a chocolate company which later became known as Walter Baker Chocolate in 1765.  It wasn't just meant to be for baking, but it sort of revolved into that since it carried the name baker on it.   Then along came Lancastrian Milton Hershey who was the real candy KING.  Built a caramel factory in downtown Lancaster on Church Street at the age of 30.  He later found that adding chocolate to his caramels made them sell faster.  He sold his caramel factory in Lancaster and built a plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania and the rest is history, as they say. Milk chocolate was actually invented in Switzerland in 1875 when Daniel Peter created a tasty treat after eight years of experimenting.  Would have loved to have worked for him in quality control.  

LDub has turned into chocolate while typiing this story!!

He finally found that condensed milk was the key ingredient in milk chocolate.  Also interesting to know that it takes 400 cacao beans to make a single pound of milk chocolate.  It was in 1842 that the Cadbury Company made the very first chocolate bar.  They still are one of my youngest sons favorites and we make sure he gets his Cadbury chocolate eggs every Easter on his dinner plate.  And finally, if you have ever put a candy bar in your pocket or under your baseball cap to keep someone from finding and eating it, you probably realized that it melts if it get too hot; 93 degrees to be exact.  That's just below the human body temperature.  And the reason for that is … so it can melt on your tongue!  Well, hope you bought some chocolate for your favorite sweetheart today, but if not, don't worry for I will be eating a few extra pieces just for you, since you realize that chocolate is the dryer sheet to my heart.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "A Bud Or A Kiss?" Story

My favorite ... the Wilbur Bud

It was an ordinary day.  Watching "Jeopardy" and eating Wilbur Buds.  Visited the new Wilbur Chocolate Store this afternoon to pick up a couple bags of one of the most delicious chocolate treats you'll ever find.  Wilbur Chocolate began in 1865 in Vineland, New Jersey and by 1934 had consolidated its shops to Lititz, Pennsylvania, which is a few miles from my home in Lancaster, PA.  In 1992 Wilbur was purchased by Cargil Cocoa & Chocolate North America who at the end of 2015 closed the doors on the plant in Lititz, planning to move the business to a more modern location they owned.  

The original Wilbur Chocolate Company.  The factory store
was located under the sign, up the steps.

On the first floor of the chocolate plant was a factory store and museum that was visited by both locals and tourists to purchase chocolate treats and the famous Wilbur Bud.  That store remained open until a few months ago when a new store, across the street from the old one, opened in what at one time was a lumber store and then a fast food restaurant.  

The new factory store across from the original one.

Cargil updated the old store with a new facade and "refreshing interior" and now features Wilbur chocolates as well as continuing the small museum  that they had before.  The Wilbur Bud is very similar to the Hershey Kiss, which was developed in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a 30 minute drive from Lancaster, but much more creamy than the Kiss.  I realize that is my opinion, but that's what matters when I'm the one eating the chocolate.  

This is the original drop-candy machine
that was used to make Wilbur Buds.
Patented in 1889 by John Smith.

Now, if you ask my wife, she prefers the Hershey Kiss since it has more of a chocolate flavor, even if it isn't as creamy.  The new store/museum employees about 20 workers who do everything from making chocolate treats to stocking the shelves to checking out the multitude of chocolate lovers who visit the store.  Carol and I traveled to Lititz this past weekend, but couldn't get into the parking lot so chose to return during the week.  Must say the store is extremely popular with cars that carried license plates from five states in the parking lot.  Well, I had my camera in hand as we walked into the store today to try and find some red and green peppermint pieces for my wife's World Famous Christmas candy.  As soon as we entered I saw a very unusual old machine to the right of the entrance.  

Wilbur Bud mold which hangs next to
the drop-candy machine.

Thing was invented and patented by John Smith in June 25, 1889 and was the original machine used to make the Wilbur Buds.  Even had the metal mold that was used in the machine. Had a chance to watch a few women making chocolate treats that were for sale and then found what I came for ... a few bags of Wilbur Buds.  They come in both milk chocolate and dark chocolate, both being fantastic!  As I walked around the store I saw many displays featuring tins that were used to sell a variety of chocolate products by different chocolate companies as well as one locked glass cabinet filled with chocolate pots from around the world.  The fine china pots are beautiful and reminded me of the chocolate pots we have that belonged to my mother.  To Carol's disappointment the store was out of the red and green peppermint pieces.  No trouble, since now we will have to return soon when they restock their shelves.  I'm sure the couple of bags of Wilbur Buds I bought will be gone by then anyway.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Old photo of a worker running the drop-candy machine.

Cabinet displaying a variety of chocolate pots.

Candy molds from a variety of candy manufacturers.

The many different ways that Wilbur Buds were packaged.

Old containers used to sell Wilbur products.

Part of the large display showing Cocoa products.

A worker making one of many chocolate treats that are sold in the store.