I just read something very interesting. Everyone knows that candy corn is a big seller this time of year. In fact, candy corn (also known as chicken feed) is the TOP selling candy in the U.S.! It even beats out M&M’s! So what’s so interesting about that? According to one source, only 46% of people actually LIKE candy corn! 

So what’s the deal? Is there some kind of “candy corn peer pressure” going on, where everybody pretends to like candy corn when they really hate it? Or is most of that candy going for decorations, where it doesn’t actually get eaten? Or are those 46% of people eating enough candy corn to make it a bigger seller than Hershey bars or licorice? If that’s the case, they must REALLY like their candy corn.  

Or maybe, like lots of stuff these days, that 46% thing is bogus, because another article I read said that candy corn comes in at 10th place for the most popular Halloween candy.  

Yet another article says that the WORST Halloween treats you can give out are circus peanuts (those awful orange styrofoam things) and…you guessed it…candy corn.

So if you are worrying about whether or not to give out candy corn for Halloween, (and I realize that with everything you are thinking about these days, this is high on your list) you shouldn’t worry because either someone will love it or they will hate it, and if they hate it they will trade it for something good. Every kid knows that when you dump all your Halloween candy on the table and start trading, it’s good to have some decent trading stock. Problem solved.

Now that we’ve solved that problem, sit back with a lollypop and think about these fun facts
about candy.

If you’re old enough to raid your grandkid’s Halloween haul, you might remember that President Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans. At his first inauguration, the Jelly Belly company invented a new flavor, Blueberry, and distributed 7000 lbs. of jelly beans to attendees. 

If you were wondering which kind of candy is the most popular of all, go with Reece’s peanut butter cups, Skittles and M&M’s. They are the top three in the nation. 

Speaking of M&M’s, do you know what those two M’s stand for? It’s for Mars and Murrie, the two businessmen who developed the candy that melts in your mouth, not in your hands.

Did you know Snicker bars were named after a horse? The owner of the company that invented the Snickers candy bar, Franklin Mars, had a racehorse named Snickers. Mr. Mars and Snickers both lived on the family farm named the Milky Way.

The prize for the most patriotic candy goes to Tootsie Rolls. During World War 2 they were included in every soldier’s rations. And during the Korean war, soldiers discovered that chewed Tootsie Rolls could be used to plug holes in their vehicles’ fuel lines. 

The Three Musketeers bar was named because it originally had chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors in it. But during World War 2 sugar was scarce, so they got rid of the vanilla and strawberry flavors and went to straight chocolate.

So now you are all prepared! You know a lot more about candy than you used to and you know that candy corn is not something to stress about. That only leaves one thing to worry about…finding a place to hide your own stash!