M & M Candies

Can anyone remember a time when there weren't M&M's®? I can't! As a child, mom would ration out a few to me, and a few to my brother, and we'd examine the various colors to decide which ones to eat first. We'd also check each other's to make sure nobody got more reds. Reds were our favorite. You'd think that the colors tasted different, the way we'd select them so carefully. Of course, they didn't.

COLORS: The very first M&M's® actually were brown. The original brown candies had a black letter "M" on each one,soon thereafter to be changed to white lettering. Colors weren't added until 1960 when Peanut M&M's, formerly a tan color, came out with yellow, green and red.

Interesting note about RED M&M's®. In 1976, the Mars Company voluntarily took red M&M's® off the market in response to public concern about foods that were colored red. A dye called Red Dye #2 was widely used as food coloring. It had been found to cause cancer. Even though red M&M's® did not have Red Dye#2, it was considered prudent to stop making them rather than losing public confidence and, therefore, candy sales. Guess which color was introduced to replace it? Orange!

BIRTH DATE: Any idea how old M&M's® are? M&M's® have been around for a long time. The first concept came to Forest Mars Sr. during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). He observed soldiers eating small morsels of chocolate, covered in a hard shell to keep them from melting in the heat. Struck by the idea, he and a friend took the concept and produced a candy shaped like a small round button.

As we said, M&M’s® were the brainchild of Forest Mars, Sr. He was the founder of the Mars Company.

Production of the hard-shell chocolate candies began in 1941 in Newark, New Jersey. The name of the candy was inspired by Mr. Mars’ last name along with the “M” in Bruce Murrie’s name. Murrie, son of the president of the Hershey Chocolate Co., partnered with Mars in the project. Thus, each candy was marked with the letter "M".

Here is a brief timeline of the life of M&M’s®. For the full recap, see the History of M&M’s on their official website.

1941 M&M’s® were born in 1941. These nifty little candies were packaged in tubes and distributed to American servicemen overseas. M & M's have a long, proud heritage!

1948 The tube was exchanged for the classic brown paper envelope that we are familiar with today.

1954 The slogan “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” was introduced. So were Peanut M&M's®

1960 Peanut M&M's® became a colorful yellow, green and red.

1976 Red M&M's® took a 10 year vacation. Orange M&M’s® came on the scene.

1981 M&M's company rejects offer to be featured in a film. E.T.! Whoops! See article below.

1982 M&M’s became the official candy of the Space Shuttle.

1995 Blue M&M’s®? What will they think of next!

2002 By popular demand, purple was created as an M&M® color.

2004 Personalized M&M’s® became a reality via MyMM’s.com

M&M's® have been part of celebrations almost from their inception. They are frequent stocking-stuffers at Christmas time, given as colorful filling in decorative jars, offered in candy dishes at parties, used to decorate desserts, and have inspired distinctive keepsakes such as M&M's coffee mugs, t-shirts, computer desk lights, collectibles and unique candy dispensers.

HOLIDAY M&M's® can be found seasonally.  Green & red for Christmas, pink & red for Valentine's Day and pastels for Easter.

Just eat them out of the bag or bake with them. Baked goods look so nice when decked out with colorful M&M® candies!

Here are some great recipe ideas:

• COOKIES: Classic M&M's® Cookie Recipe from Joy of Baking.
• COOKIES: These artful Giveaway Cookies by Bright Ideas are so lovely that you'll almost hate to eat them...but that won't stop you!
• CAKES: Make a beautiful Butterfly Cake decorated with pastel M&M's® as shown on Floral Showers.
• CUPCAKES: Mini-cupcakes make the canvas for these summertime bugs. Wings made of Peanut M&M's® are just the right shape. Fun Flyers, again from Bright Ideas!

Want to grow your business?  As part of a unique promotional plan, include personalized M&M's®.  Your company's logo and message, even photos, can be imprinted on each individual candy.  The packaging can be personalized as well.  Put them in an M&M's Dispenser and make them available in strategic locations.  What a deliciously simple way of marketing yourself.

Personalized M&M's® and paraphernalia are available from My M&M's®.

Teach Math with candy? Why not! Teach your children how to count, use ordinal numbers, add, subtract, divide, even graph using M&M's® . Just remember, though, it's only fair to let them eat some when the lesson is done.

M&M's® Math Graphing Lesson Plan by Scholastic.

Interesting anecdote about a decision gone bad. In 1981, M&M's® passed up an offer to appear in Steven Spielberg's new movie, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.

Instead, Reeses Pieces® snatched up the opportunity to become immortalized!