An Oldie But a Goodie Trivia Quiz

In 1868, the Cadbury company produced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates, specifically designed as a gift for Valentine's Day. The small boxes were works of art, made for children to cut out the beautiful pictures and preserve them in scrapbooks, or for the receiver to use later for storing trinkets.

Candy corn was first made in the mid-1880s by the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At that time, a huge number of Americans made a living in agriculture, so making candy representing anything to do with farms was popular. Candy corn was made to replicate chicken feed and was not actually called "Candy Corn" until the 1950s when it started to be associated with Halloween and the fall harvest.

In the 21st century, it is a Halloween staple in many North American homes.

Good & Plenty candies were first introduced in 1893. The Quaker City Confectionery Company created the candies, the first branded candies in North America. These candies were even branded before the first Hershey bar! Each small piece of Good & Plenty has a chewy piece of black licorice in the middle, coated with either a pink or white hard candy shell.

The company states that each pound of Good & Plenty comes with "approximately 382 pieces".

Tootsie Rolls were developed in 1896 by a confectioner in New York named Leo Hirschfeld. He named the chewy candy after his daughter's nickname, Tootsie. He apparently wanted a chocolate candy that did not melt in summertime heat (as milk chocolate is prone to do). Tootsie Rolls were the first individually wrapped penny candy sold in the US.

In the first quarter of the 21st century, Tootsie Rolls remain a popular candy choice. In fact, over 60 million of them are created every day in the US in 2025! Tootsie Pops were introduced in 1931.

These treats are a lollipop that surrounds a Tootsie Roll centre.

In 1897, a dentist named Dr. William Morrison teamed up with a confectioner named John C. Wharton to invent candy floss, which is also known as cotton candy in some places. They actually called it "fairy floss" at first. Their invention had sugar heated up in a large bowl until it caramelized and was forced through small holes.

This made the sugar appear web-like, and it was able to be gathered and placed in boxes for easy consumption. They sold their snack at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, then sold their machine to a candy store a year later and the candy only grew in popularity from there. Today, it is known as "Dragon's Beard" in China, "Papa's Beard" in France, "Sugar Spider" in the Netherlands, and "Old Ladies' Hair" in Greece.

The first Hershey Kisses were developed by Milton Hershey in 1907. The dollop of bite-sized milk chocolate has been very popular since their introduction. Each is wrapped in thin foil with a small paper plume that sticks out the top. The word "Hershey" is written on the plume to distinguish the chocolate from competitors.

Hershey Kisses were originally wrapped in foil by hand. In wasn't until 1921 that a machine was developed to do the job. Hershey Kisses were not produced from 1942-1949 because of the rationing of aluminum foil due to WWII.

However, the treats were made again after rationing ended, and remained in production through the 20th century and beyond.

Clarence Crane invented Lifesavers, peppermint flavour, in 1912. The candy got its name from its shape. It reminded Crane of the life preservers that are found on ships. However, he was also in the business of creating chocolate candy, so when he didn't think that his peppermints would be as popular as his chocolate, he sold the rights to the Lifesavers for only $3,000! The peppermints were a light and refreshing candy, so peppermint Lifesavers were issued to troops during both WWI and WWII. Over the years, other flavours have been introduced, and now, Lifesavers of all flavours are one of the most popular hard candies in the world.

In fact, in 2020, the company sold over $43.8 million (US) in Lifesavers! That makes that $3,000 sale look like a really bad decision!

The Turtle candy is made of milk chocolate, caramel, and pecans, a delicious combination that was created by the Johnson Candy Company in 1918. At the time, peanuts were the nut that was mainly used in candy bars, so the pecans were really original. Some thought that the rounded shape of the caramel and half-pecans made the treats look like actual turtles, so a uniquely named treat was born.

Businessman Frank C. Mars created the Milky Way candy bar in 1923. These treats were designed to appeal to those who enjoyed malted milks at the local soda shops. These were a type of milkshake that were popular at the time. These bars are made with caramel covered nougat that is dipped in chocolate.

The nougat was supposed to mimic the malted milk flavour in the popular milkshakes. These bars are named "Milky Way" for this reason. They are not named after our galaxy.

Milk Duds were created in 1928 by Hoffman and Company candy company in Chicago. These candies are small caramels covered in milk chocolate. Each is about the size of a pencil eraser, or a bit larger. The original goal of Hoffman and Company was to create spherical caramels that were chocolate covered.

However, they were unable to get their candy to maintain its spherical shape, so a box of Milk Duds contains candies of different shapes, from almost spherical, to almost flat. When they were named, the "Milk" referred to the milk ingredient in the milk chocolate, and the "Dud" referred to their failure to make their candies spherical.