Military origin of M & M's

Perhaps you will not be surprised that the cause of many discoveries was the Second World War. For example, popular sweets M & M's, which both adults and children like. They became an innovation in the middle of the last century.

Production for the army

Forrest Mars could not get along with his father, who incidentally was the creator of the Milky Way candy, and went to England, where in 1932 he opened the production of Mars bars for British soldiers. During the civil war in Spain, Mars discovered that soldiers were eating chocolate capsules encased in a hard sugar shell. Such a dessert allowed to get all the advantages of chocolate and at the same time it did not melt completely in the heat. In those days, consumption of chocolate fell in the summer season due to lack of sufficient cooling. Forrest realized that a product that does not melt at high temperatures can become a real event in the market. He returned to America and met Bruce Murry, son of the director of the chocolate company Hershey, who was offered cooperation. The Second World War flared up in Europe, and Mars needed a collaboration that would help him cope with the lack of necessary resources. And he got it - sweets were named after the capital letters of the names of the partners, Mars and Murry. Now it was possible to start producing an unusual pellet, which the American market had not yet seen.

Patent for sweets

In March 1941, Mars received a patent for his production process and began work in New Ark, New Jersey. Initially, sweets were sold in cardboard cylinders and were covered with brown, red, orange, yellow, green or purple glaze. When the troops of the United States of America joined the fighting, the candies began to be supplied exclusively to the front, so that they could be included in the ration of the soldiers. By the time the soldiers were able to return, they were already accustomed to such sweets. This became the basis for the future popularity of chocolate pellets in stores across the country.

Success in the whole country

Soon after the war, sweets became available to ordinary consumers. Forrest Mars bought a share of shares from Murry and began to manage the company alone. The familiar brown packaging was proposed in 1948, and from 1950 on each candy appeared the letter "M", which was originally black, and in 1954 it became white. Sweets with peanuts also appeared in 1954, at the same time, when heroes were invented for advertising. By 1956, the brand had become the best in the United States. In 1964, Forrest united his business in the production of a variety of foods from animal fodder to rice with his father's company, and soon their joint efforts led to even greater success. At the request of the team of the first NASA spacecraft, Forrest's candies were sent with the astronauts into orbit. Three years later, they became the official dessert of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

In addition, to this day the M M's sweets remain part of the daily menu of the American soldier in the field. Favorite taste and incredible convenience in eating make these sweets popular for many decades in a row, and it is unlikely that this situation will change in the near future.