National M&M Day
Who doesn’t love M&M’s? Apparently, today is National M&M Day! Sounds like a reason to celebrate to us! There are multiple varieties to choose from… the traditional milk chocolate ones and M&M’s with peanuts. Then throughout the years, M&M’s have added so many other ones. There’s the Mini M&M’s, Almond, Dark Chocolate, Crunchy Cookie, Fudge Brownie, Peanut Butter, Caramel, Pretzel, and more!
M&M Varieties
And then there are the seasonal varieties. A few years ago, I discovered their Pecan Pie M&M’s. I think they usually come out around early November. But, because I LOVED them, I eventually couldn’t find them anymore. The year after, I think I may have found one bag of them. I’ll have to do some research to see if they still make them. They also have Holiday Mint, which I haven’t tried, but sounds delicious. Then there’s White Chocolate Peppermint, Sugar Cookie… the list could go on and on! It seems they’re always coming up with new flavor combinations.
There have been some strange ones along the way too. Like Strawberry Nut, Coffee Nut, Candy Corn, Chili Nut, and others… No matter the flavor, we believe all of them are worth trying at least once!
Oh, and there’s also the fact that you can get customized M&Ms for any occasion! On the M&M’s website, you can choose any color scheme for baby showers, weddings, anniversaries, and more!
The History of the M&M
So when it comes to M&M’s, they’ve been around for a really long time. According to National Today, the idea for M&M’s was born in the 1930s. Apparently, after seeing soldiers carrying Smarties (chocolate pellets protected by a shell to keep them from melting), Forrest Mars Sr., son of the Mars Company Founder, pitched the idea.
But it wasn’t until 1941 that production began in New Jersey. And of course, we can’t forget the famous tagline, “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” That tagline was created in 1949.
In 1950, M&M’s got their famous branded M on each candy. But they started out with a black M. It would be changed to white in 1954.
And while M&M’s were gaining popularity in the United States, they wouldn’t arrive overseas until the 1980s. They would be sold in Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.
More Facts About M&M’s
- Red got replaced. At one point, the company stopped making red M&M’s for 10 years and replaced with the color orange. Research had linked red dye amaranth to cancer (though the red M&M’s have never contained this type of dye).
- Cardboard tubes. The original package for all M&M’s was a cardboard tube. Now, we associate the tube with Mini M&M’s (but it’s made of plastic, of course).
- The M’s meaning. The M’s stand for the owners. Forrest Mars Sr. (Mars Candy Company) and Bruce Murrie (son of Hershey president William Murrie) struck a deal to develop the candy. Thus, they marked with their initial.
- Fan votes made a difference! Mars found that having tan and brown M&M’s was a bit boring, so they let fans vote. They got to choose between blue, pink, or purple. And as you probably, blue was the obvious winner! (Although, they have recently brought out the purple M&M too!)
- Astronauts love M&M’s! Because they’re easy to eat, M&M’s are the most consumed chocolate in outer space! How cool is that?
Hope you enjoyed these fun facts, and now…
How will you celebrate National M&M Day?
You can always pick up your favorite flavor variety of M&M’s to celebrate National M&M Day… Or you can get creative, and use them in a recipe. My personal favorite is M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies! But they make perfect toppings for so many desserts. And if you really want to have some fun, maybe have an M&M Taste Test Party! Grab a few bags of various flavors, try them out, and rank your favorites!
