#BABY RUTH CANDYBAR HOW TO#

Hershey’s launched a more palatable product for the Pacific Theater, the “Tropical bar,” in 1943. The resulting product was not known for its taste. Army asked Hershey Company to create the “ D-Ration bar.” It had to weigh just four ounces, provide a burst of energy, not melt in high temperatures and “taste a little better than a boiled potato” to prevent soldiers from eating it too quickly. READ MORE: How Hershey's Chocolate Helped Power Allied Troops During WWII And the military commissioned chocolate rations from American’s biggest producers, spelling an end to the regional candy bar boom. With the outbreak of World War II, shortages became even more pronounced. Hershey's, for example, cut a deal to help support the popular, but financially foundering, Reese’s Cups. The Depression slowed the chocolate gold rush considerably, as scarcity and high prices for raw candy ingredients like sugar helped drive many independent, regional confectioners out of business-or into buyouts with larger manufacturers. WATCH: Season 1 of The Food That Built America without signing in now. So did Amos ’N’ Andy and Little Orphan Annie and Betsy Ross,” Almond says.

#BABY RUTH CANDYBAR HOW TO#

Since most bars used the same six or seven ingredients, people were furiously trying to figure out how to differentiate their brand,” says Almond.Ĭandy companies often named their popular bars after pop culture icons: “Charles Lindbergh begat both The Lindy and Winning Lindy. The 18 th Amendment Bar was born in Chicago during Prohibition. The Charleston Chew took its name from a local dance craze. (Yes, really.) Because a lack of widespread refrigeration and transportation issues remained a barrier to national distribution, regional brands dominated each market, creating bars with names that appealed to local pride. How the Battle of Stalingrad Marked a Turning Point in WWII Chocolate Candy Bar Marketing: It’s All in the Nameĭuring the candy bar boom, nearly every major city had a set of confectioners cranking out as many types of candy bars as they could, filling them with everything from nougat, marshmallow and nuts to fruits and dehydrated vegetables.

By the end of the 1920s, more than 40,000 different candy bars were being made in the U.S., says Susan Benjamin, candy historian and author of Sweet as Sin: The Unwrapped Story of How Candy Became America’s Favorite Pleasure. GIs returned from the war with an insatiable appetite for chocolate, they arrived back just before the onset of Prohibition-when Americans actively sought alternatives to alcohol to boost their energy and mood, from soda to ice cream to candy. Not to be outdone, the American Army Quartermaster Corps solicited donations of 20-pound blocks of chocolate from confectioners back home, which they then cut down and wrapped by hand. The Mayor of York sent a tin of hometown confectioner Rowntree’s chocolates to residents in uniform, and in 1915, every U.K, soldier abroad received a “ King George Chocolate Tin.” In World War I, the British military gave soldiers chocolate to boost morale and energy.

Two soldiers of the 351st Field Artillery which returned on the 'Louisville' receive candy from the Salvation Army women that welcome every troopship arriving in port, 1919.

Baby ruth candybar