Jolly Rancher hard candies made their first appearance in
1949 and are still popular among candy lovers today.

The Jolly Rancher Company was founded by Bill and Dorothy
Harmsen from Golden, Colorado, after failing to launch a ice
cream company.

The couple had moved to Colorado from Minnesota in 1942. Bill
was a pilot for Continental Airlines, but he dreamed of owning
his own business.

The beloved Jolly Rancher first made its appearance at the
end of the decade in 1949, Hersheyland reported.

The popular sucking candy joined the Hershey Company
family in 1996.       

Bill and Dorothy Harmsen serving ice cream
at their very first Jolly Rancher Ice Cream
Store in Golden, Colorado. 

Curtiss Candy Company is a now defunct confectionery
brand and a former company based in Chicago, Illinois. It
was founded in 1916 by Otto Schnering.

In 1964, Standard Brands purchased Curtiss Candy Company,
Standard Brands merged with Nabisco in 1981. In 1990, RJR
Nabisco sold the Curtiss brands to Nestlé.

Otto Young Schnering (1891 – 1953)

In 1920, Otto invented the first five-
cent candy bar, Baby Ruth. He’s been
called the “U.S. Candy Bar King”.

Cracker Jack started its "prize in every box" promotion on this
day in history, Feb. 19, 1912.

German immigrant F.W. Rueckheim (below) first invented the
now-ubiquitous ballpark treat in the late 19th century. 

It was initially sold at his small candy and popcorn shop,
F. W. Rueckheim & Bro. (SnackHistory.com.) 

Frederich William Rueckheim (1846-1934)

WASHINGTON (TND) — Mars, Inc. has introduced a new purple
character to its lineup of M&M’s, but not a new purple color of
the popular chocolate candy.

Aptly named "Purple," the new female character is coming
aboard to help the company "represent acceptance and
inclusivity," according to a news release.

It’s M&M’s first new character in a decade. The company said
Purple’s confidence, "keen self-awareness," and authenticity
give the character a "quirky nature."

Franklin Clarence Mars (1883 – 1934)

Franklin C. Mars started the Mars Candy
Factory in 1911 with Ethel V. Mars, his
second wife, in Tacoma, Washington.

By 1920, Mars had returned to his home
state, Minnesota, where the earliest
incarnation of the present day Mars
company was founded that year as
Mar-O-Bar Co., in Minneapolis and later
incorporated there as Mars, Incorporated.

Milton Snavely Hershey
(September 13, 1857 – October 13, 1945)

Milton Snavely Hershey, a German-speaking Mennonite
farmer who turned his passion for confections into a
symbol of American affluence and goodwill, was born
in Derry Township, Penn. 

"Milton Hershey was the rarest of men — both a dreamer
and a builder," notes his biography at the Candy Hall of
Fame, into which the chocolatier was inducted in 1972.

He founded both the Hershey Chocolate Co. and the
Milton Hershey School.

The school, which he opened in 1910 to educate orphans,
thrives today as a prominent free educational institution
serving underprivileged students.

The Hershey Company, known as Hershey’s, is one of
the world’s biggest confectionery manufacturers.