Everyone loves candy, and with Halloween having just happened, we thought you might like to know the history behind your favorite types of candy. How did they get their names? Why do they have such odd names? How many times have they been renamed? It’s a long—but short enough to read in less than five minutes—list, and it’s certainly more fun than doing schoolwork! What is Charlotte Latin School’s favorite type of candy? What’s the weirdest candy the kids here have ever tried? Do the kids like chocolate or non-chocolate candy more? If you are curious, we have the answers for you. Just keep scrolling to find out!

We randomly polled students of the Charlotte Latin Upper School and found out some interesting data. The weirdest candy the students of Charlotte Latin have eaten is candy covered bugs. Though the close seconds were candy corn and chocolate covered bugs. Some candies that weren’t as high on the list but we thought were pretty weird were crickets with powdered sugar and bacon flavored candy. 68.8% of the students here prefer chocolate candy to non-chocolate candy (who’s percentage was only 31.3% ). The most popular candies at Charlotte Latin School are chocolate and Reese’s. Twix is proudly in second place. Now, let’s get onto our history…

M&M’s—According to MentalFloss.com, it is a very popular candy that got its name from the creators, Mars and Murie or M&M. 

Hershey— As seen on Hersheypa.com, it was named after the guy who started the company, Milton S. Hershey. He was also a humanitarian and a philanthropist. 

Snickers—  MentalFloss.com says they were originally called Marathon bars, and they got this name because it was the name of the favorite horse of the family who invented it. In 1990 they changed the name to Snickers so their product was aligned with their UK product, so it fit the global brand. 

KitKat—The information from TheDailyMeal.com states that it was actually a popular political meeting club in London in the 1700’s and the mutton pie’s served there became known as KitKat. Rownatreee trademarked the term in 1911, but it took a couple decades to put the name to good use. 

Reese’s—As discovered in OldTimeCandy.com , the guy who invented Reese’s, his last name was Reese. Who would’ve thought naming candy after yourself was such a big thing? 

Milkyway—As seen on RewindAndCapture.com, Milkyway’s name was chosen because they were like a popular malted milk (milk shake) with the same name. 

Twix—According to MentalFloss.Com, although it is unknown for sure, the name twix most likely is a combination of the words twin and sticks or twin and mix.

Milk Duds— According to the Hershey website, because the creator could not shape the chocolate caramel candy into round balls, he called them duds.

Heath Bars—The MentalFloss.com website explains that the creator’s name was L.S. Heath, and he owned a candy shop.

Krackels—According to Snack History, originally, in the 1930s, it was named the Krackel Crisp Nutty when it was made with crisped rice and toasted peanuts; however, in 1941, the Krackel became just a crisped rice bar.

Mr. GoodBar—MentalFloss.com states that when Hershey chemists were working on a new peanut candy bar, they were taste testing it and someone enjoyed it and said, “That’s a good bar”. Milton Hershey thought they said Mr. Good Bar and the name was created.

Tootsie Roll—The MentalFloss.com website says that Leo Hirschfeld named the Tootsie Roll after his daughter in the late 1800s ( officially ), whose nickname was Tootsie; however, others have found this story flawed, as there is evidence proving Tootsie Rolls were invented in 1907 and that the company who applied for the trademarks was the creator of a product called Bromangelon with the Tattling Tootsie as its mascot. 

DumDums—According to MentalFloss.com, the guy who made it wanted a word anyone—even a child—could say.

Airheads—In the article by MentalFloss.com, it says that Steve Burner who chose the name knew that it takes a generation of a candy name to become part of the collective consciousness-unless it was a word used all the time. He went to his children and he asked, “what would you call your friend who did something silly?” They decided on Airheads.

Life Savers—As reported by MentalFloss.com, the name life savers is kind of obvious, they are shaped like one. Just so you don’t worry, the hole does not exist to prevent choking, it’s most likely just there for the aesthetic.

Smarties—As seen on OldTimeCandy.com , the verb “to smart” means to have one’s face involuntarily pucker which is exactly what happens when you eat a Smartie. 

Nerds—This website, CandyFavorites.com, says it could’ve originated from the Dr Seuss Book If I Ran the Zoo where it mentions the narrator collecting creatures called nerds; others believe it was named for those who devoted their lives to homework.

Sour Patch Kids— According to SnackHistory.com,when they were first made in the 1970s, this candy was called Mars Men and was shaped like martians because of the excitement surrounding space. In the 1980s, Cabbage Patch Kids became popular, so the name changed to Sour Patch Kids to go along with the new shape of little children. 

Jolly Rancher—On the MentalFloss.com website, it states William and Dorothy Harmsen moved to Colorado, and they wanted to create a small farm or ranch. In the end, they ended up opening an ice cream parlor named The Jolly Rancher and a hotel, The Jolly Miller, both inducing Western Hospitality. Apparently as their sales declined in the winter months, they decided to add candies to their menu. The candy’s popularity grew, making it famous like it is today.

Skittles— MentalFloss.com says that in the UK, skittles means bowling, so the term is used to represent happiness and fun.

What did you think? Did you already know some of the information? What surprised you? The history of things that we have in our lives, the things we don’t think about much can be fascinating, or maybe it’s just more interesting than studying for Geometry, Algebra II Trig Honors, AP Stats— or whatever math you happen to be in. We hope you learned something interesting while reading this!

GRAPHS RESULTS

Candy by popularity:

Weirdest candy you’ve ever eaten:

Chocolate vs. non-chocolate candy: