Bubble Gum

Chewing gum has been around for a very long time, dating back almost 9,000 years ago! There is some evidence that North Europeans were chewing birch bark tar for enjoyment and possibly to relieve toothaches. The Ancient Mayan and Aztec chewed on chicle which comes from sapodilla trees while in North America Indians chewed on spruce tree resin which continued with European settlers.

In 1840 John Curtis developed the first commercial spruce tree gum and in the 1850's he made the first chewing gum factory. But, spruce tree gum did not do well because it didn't taste that good and would become brittle when chewing which lead to the switch to paraffin wax. Soon after that Thomas Addams got his hands on chicle which helped him form a chewing gum company around 1880 but in the mid 1900's all gum manufactures had switched to synthetic materials.

Competition soared in the gum industry and every gum manufacturer was trying to develop new gum or ways to sell their gum to beat out their competition. Frank Fleer who had been in the gum industry since around 1885 wanted his product to stand out so he worked long and hard on trying to make a product that could blow bubbles. In 1906 he developed a chewing gum called Blibber-Bubbler but it was too sticky to blow into bubbles. It wasn't until 1928 that a Fleer employee named Walter Diemer accidentally made the right concoction to create the perfect bubble with chewing gum! It was named Dubble-Bubble

Walter Diemer wanted to test his new recipe so he took some gum over to a local store and it sold out by the end of the first day! To help sell the new gum Diemer taught store salesmen how to blow the perfect bubble so they could show people coming in who were interested.

Today gum is sold in many different flavors and shapes but Bubble Gum is usually pink, just like it was when Diemer first invited Dubble-Bubble.

Source: http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/chew-on-this-the-history-of-gum

-SugarPop's Candy & Soda
248 N. Main Street
Historic Downtown
Mooresville, NC
(704)799-0959

Chupa Chups

Chupa chups have been around for quite some time! These lollipops come in a very wide variety from their classic flavors to filled lollipops and ice cream flavors! With their brightly colored fun wrapping and diverse flavors, no wonder they have been around for 50+ years!

Chupa chups came out in 1958 and were created by a man named Enric Bernat. During the 50's candies of different colors, shapes, and sizes were widely popular but they were all missing something- a stick. Kids would often take the candy out of their mouth to observe the changing colors , show their friends, or save for later in their pockets. You can imagine the mess it would make. Enric came up with the idea of putting a stick in his Chupa Chups to keep the mess to a minimal and make it more appealing to consumers.

Enric didn't come up with the quirky name Chupa chups. Originally he wanted the candy to be football shaped and name it "GOL" because of the shape and when you put it in your mouth it would be like scoring a goal. When he didn't like the name he hired an advertising team to come up with the name and create a jingle to go with it.

The Chupa Chups logo went through a couple changes before Salvador Dali had a creative revelation in 1988 and changed the logo to the bright a cheery daisy shape it is today. In 2008 Chupa Chups celebrated their 50th anniversary and held special events throughout the year in different countries world wide like Germany, France, the Philippines and finished with an MTV concert in Barcelona.

-SugarPop's Candy and Soda shop
248 N. Main Street
Mooresville, NC
704-799-0959

Red Hots or Cinnamon Imperials?

Red Hots or Cinnamon Imperials are a candy that everyone is familiar with. With their bright red color and spicy cinnamon smell and taste its hard to overlook this delicious candy! 

This spicy candy has been around for ages! Ferrara Pan Candy company was the first to manufacture these candies under the name of Cinnamon Imperials in 1932. Ferrara Pan Candy company is still the one and only company to manufacture the now Red Hots, once Cinnamon Imperials. Cinnamon Imperials are now sold as a general brand by many candy distributers.

Since Red Hots have been around since 1932 they have a large fan base! Not only can you eat these candies in their natural form but people are now using them to spice up their Jell-O or apple sauce to give it a nice spicy cinnamon flavor! Do you have any special Red Hot recipes?

-SugarPop's Candy&Soda shop
248 N Main St 
Mooresville, NC 28115 (704) 799-0959

Candy facts you probably didn't know!

1.) Dum Dum's mystery flavor is always a combination of two different flavors. Instead of cleaning out the flavoring from the machine before switching to the next flavor they just let it run and sell the mixture as the mystery flavor. That means it will always be different!

2.) There was a hotline set up for parents that were concerned about their children exploding because of eating a combination of Pop Rocks and soda. You can check it on the Pop Rocks FAQ.

3.) Tootsie Rolls were once marketed as a health food.

4.) Sugar isn't what rots your teeth! The streptococcus bacteria in your mouth like to munch on the sugar but the acid they secrete is what rots your teeth. Luckily saliva cuts down the acid so if you have five candy bars its better to eat them all at once instead of throughout the week because you will produce more saliva to cut the acid down. Moral of the story, eat all your candy at once!

5.) Nestle originally sold baby formula

6.) Candy is a health scape goat. 100 years ago doctors blamed candy for the spread of Polio.

7.) In 1943 Tootsie Roll created an advertisement featuring two super heroes: Captain Tootsie and his sidekick Rollo.

8.) The candy forest and chocolate river in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was actually edible! The producer wanted the kids and parents to have a genuine reaction! The only thing that wasn't edible was the tea cup Gene Wilder bit into. Later it was made with real sugar for the scene. 

9.) The PB max bar was discontinued because the executive and Mars family member Alfred Poe had a distaste for peanut butter. 

-SugarPop's Candy and Soda

Chocolate Turtles

There is nothing better than the classic combination of chocolate, caramel, and nuts. This combination is used in a variety of candies and chocolate bars.


Peanuts tend to be the choice nut for candies but in 1916 George Demet created the classic Turtle by adding pecans instead of peanuts in the city of Chicago. Just pecans dipped in chocolate was popular in the 1900's but Demet was the first to trademark this candy combination. It wasn't until 1918 that Turtles got their "turtle" name. A salesman went into the dipping room and pointed out to the dippers that the candy looked just like a turtle.

Today, Turtles are owned by Yildiz Holding and to keep up with demand they use 7,000 tons of chocolate and 13,000 tons of nuts! Not only do they come in their classic form, but they also come with cashews, sea salt caramel, dark almond, and hazelnut varieties!

-SugarPop's Candy

Whoppers

Whoppers are a classic and unique candy that can be found almost anywhere and is a great movie
theater candy!

These classic treats have a long history dating all the way back to 1887. In 1887, William Horlock created the very first malted milk powder in England which he had planned on marketing as a health food. Malted milk powder quickly became a staple sweetener for everything! The first chocolate covered malted milk ball came about in 1936 when Forrest Malt created Malteasers.

It wasn't until 1939 that Whoppers was introduced to the U.S under the name Giants by Overland Candies company. 10 years later Giants became Whoppers for seemingly no reason but the name stuck! When Whoppers first became available they were sold individually unwrapped until cellophane came along and then they were sold in sleeves. In 1950 the milk carton packaging came through and have stuck with Whoppers ever since. Today Whoppers not only come in the classic chocolate flavor but also Strawberry Milkshake and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup!

Easter candy facts!

Easter is right around the corner! Do you have your easter baskets ready?

1.) Chocolate bunnies are a must have for any easter basket! Or maybe you prefer Peeps? More than 700 million Peeps, marshmallow bunnies, and marshmallow eggs are bought each easter season! This makes these tasty marshmallow treats the most popular non-chocolate item.

2.) 90 million chocolate bunnies are produced every year! Do you prefer milk or dark chocolate?

3.) Chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first, according to 76% of Americans. Five percent said bunnies should be eaten feet first, while 4% favored eating the tail first.

4.) In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a marshmallow Peep. Now it takes about six minutes and about 5 million assorted Peeps are made each day in preparation for Easter.

5.) If we took all the Jellybeans that American's consume on Easter and lined them up end to end it would circle the earth nearly three times!

6.) What is your favorite Jellybean to eat on Easter? Children voted for their favorite jellybeans and the votes were: cherry (20%), strawberry (12%), grape (10%), lime (7%), and blueberry (6%).

7.) 70% of Easter candy bought is chocolate. 

8.) Easter is the second most popular candy holiday right after Halloween, beating out Valentines day by almost more than a billion dollars!


Candy isn't just for eating anymore! Try dyeing your easter eggs with some candy this year!

Now&Later's
-12 Now&Later candies (separate colors)
-2 cups of water
-1 tbsp of vinegar
Boil 2 cups of water with 1 tbsp of vinegar, add the Now&Laters and let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain into a mug or dish for dyeing.

Red Hots
-7 ounces of Red Hots (3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons)
-2 cups of water
-1 tbsp of vinegar
Boil 2 cups of water with 1 tbsp of vinegar, add the Red Hots and let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain into a mug or dish for dyeing

-SugarPop's Candy & Soda shop

248 N Main St, Mooresville, NC 28115
(704) 799-0959

How to make your snow day sweeter!

The snow is upon us again! Maybe you're snowed in and maybe you aren't but nothing makes a snow day better than something sweet both you and your kids can enjoy. We gathered up a few fun and simple candy treats and activities to help you curb your sweet tooth while we are closed today.

1.) Melted candy bar hot chocolate
Okay, so nothing really gets any better then this. After a long day of playing in the snow everyone wants something warm to snuggle up with and Momtastic has the perfect recipe!

Heres what you need: A chocolate bar of your choice, milk, whipped cream for garnish, and other candies for garnish.

Serving size: 2

- 1/2 cup chopped up chocolate bar
- 1 3/4 cup of milk
- 1/4 cup of candy to garnish

Combine the milk and chopped up chocolate bar together in a pot over medium heat and whisk until chocolate is melted and everything is mixed together.
Remove from heat, pour into your favorite mug, and garnish as you please!

2.) Reese's S'mores

We love s'mores here at SugarPop's, we have s'more buffets, in house s'more toasting, and we can even make you s'mores to give as gifts and favors! We know you love s'mores, so as a small gift from us to you, we are going to teach you how to step up your s'more game in a very very easy way. 

Here's what you need: Marshmallows, graham crackers, and reese's peanut butter cups. 

Toast your marshmallows how you like them, you can either do this by fire or by wrapping marshmallows in tin foil and toasting them in the oven. Next, carefully assemble your S'more: graham cracker, reese's peanut butter cup, marshmallow, and then graham cracker! 

Candy activities! 

Maybe the snow isn't for you or you want to keep the fun going after you've come inside from the cold! 

1.) Glossy skittles paint 

Here's what you need: craft paint brushes, skittles, small plastic jars or cups, corn syrup. 

First divide skittles up into different jars according to their color. Add corn syrup over the skittles until they are completely covered. Next, you wait. Some colors may start to divide their pigment before others, so wait a few hours for everything to completely divide. 

Now, paint what ever you please! These paints smell delicious and look beautiful and glossy! You can paint these on regular paper but card stock works best. Set them aside to dry, depending on how thick the paint is it could take a day or two to completely dry.  

2.) Candy chromatography from Mama Miss 

Here's what you need: Nerds, water, and coffee filters. 

In this activity you will be separating the dye from the nerds onto the coffee filter to create colorful sheets of paper! 

For the best results you should use two coffee filters and less water. 

Lay nerds out onto your coffee filter and carefully drop water over the nerds. Wait 30 seconds to a minute in between drops. Keep adding nerds little by little, dropping water over them, and repeat until your whole coffee filter is covered with beautiful color! 

After the nerds dye is mostly washed off the nerds, remove them from the filter and throw them away. Hang your coffee filters to dry and enjoy the color pointillism! 

  

Make sure to stay safe and warm on this snow day!! 

-SugarPop's Candy 

248 North Main St.

Mooresville, NC 28115

(704) 799-0959  

Swedish Fish!

It's rare that a bag of candy leaves SugarPop's without at least one Swedish Fish nestled between various other candies! Swedish fish are hugely popular in the candy scene and for a good reason. Their delicious cherry-esque flavor and sweet aroma has captured many hearts throughout the years, dating back to the late 1950's.

Swedish Fish first arrived in the states around the late 1950's as an import from the Swedish confectionery company Malaco. While Swedish Fish is considered a gummy candy, it is very different from the usual gummies one is used to eating. Swedish Fish contains no gelatin and is actually a wine gum candy (it doesn't actually contain wine), that is where its denseness comes from and it makes it a wholly vegetarian candy! After its debut in the states it became fully accepted into the candy scene between the 1960-1970's.

There has been much debate over what a Swedish Fish "Original red" flavor actually is. It has a very aromatic cherry smell upon first opening up a jar or bag filled with these treats and the tastes can go from cherry to raspberry, fruit punch or even lingonberry! Not even the candy company who produces Swedish Fish can tell consumers what the actual flavor is because it is a special flavor specifically crafted for Swedish Fish. Cadbury currently owns and distributes Swedish Fish in the U.S and produce the original red flavor, green, yellow, orange, and purple. 7,000 metric tons of Swedish Fish are produced each year, that could approximate to 1,929 orca whales!

In Sweden you can find a Swedish Fish called salmaik which is a salty black licorice flavor that is hugely popular and can be found almost anywhere in Sweden. In 2009 Rita's Italian Ice company released a Swedish Fish flavor that was hugely popular in the United States!

-SugarPop's Candy

248 North Main St.

Mooresville, NC 28115(704) 799-0959

Jaw Breaker

We have all had a jawbreaker in our lifetime and I think everyone can agree that a jawbreaker is a real commitment! Jawbreakers can range from the size of a small pebble to as big as a golf ball, some are hard all the way through and some have soft chewy centers. Here at SugarPop's we have brightly colored and marbled jawbreakers the size of golfballs and tiny jawbreaker that have a soft chewy center. 

Jawbreakers, or gobstoppers, rose to popularity due to Ferrari Pan Candy Company in Forest Park, Illinois. The term gobstopper comes from British slang being that gob refers to ones mouth and jawbreaker refers to how hard the candy is and how it can cause a substantial amount of dental problems due to the high sugar count and if one where to chomp down onto the jawbreaker. These candies can take a few hours to dissolve or weeks depending on their size or how determined a purchaser is. Jawbreakers take about a week to manufacture due to the many layers of sugar and color that has to be added to get the giant size and flavor! 

Fun trivia: 

The cartoon Ed, Edd n Eddy,  featuring three adolescent boys, had many episodes centered around the three boys trying different schemes to obtain a jawbreaker and in 2003 they released an Ed, Edd n Eddy game called Jawbreakers that centers around you trying to obtain 100 different jawbreaker flavors! 

See how Jawbreakers are made! 

Gummy candy!

Here at SugarPop's we don't mess around with our gummy candy! We have more then just your average gummy bears and worms, we have sharks, whales, army men, teeth, brains, chicken feet and much more! Gummy candy has a short and sweet history but it is one of the most popular candies today! 

The first gummy candy was invented by Hans Riegel when he invented the gummy bear during the 1920's. He owned the German candy company Haribo and went on the manufacture the first American gummy candy in 1982. In 1981, another German gummy candy manufacturer under the name of Trolli made the very first gummy worm, which soon became the most popular gummy candy ever made! 

Here is a brief history and some facts about other popular gummy candies!


Bottles
Bottles are sweets in the shape of classic Coca-Cola-style bottles with a cola flavor. They are produced by numerous companies. "Fizzy Blue Bottles", made by Lutti (formerly part of the French division of the Leaf Candy Company, now controlled by a private investment group), are sweets typically found in a pick and mix selection. They are very similar to cola bottle gummies in shape, but blue and pink colored and usually sour. "Blue Bottles", a variation from another company, have small rims around the sides, and are chewier and thicker, with a sweeter taste.

Rings
Ring-shaped gummy candy is often covered in sugar or sour powder. The most common and popular flavor is the peach ring, but other flavors include green apple, melon, blue raspberry, strawberry, and aniseed - although these are typically coated in chocolate. A commonly known producer of gummy rings is Trolli, for which the gummy rings are an important asset.


Red frogs
In Australia, jelly confectionery in the shape of frogs has been very popular since the 1930s. They are colored red or green, although they are usually referred to as "red frogs".

Road kill gummies
In February 2005, following complaints by the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Kraft decided to stop production of the controversial Trolli U.S. Road Kill Gummies. The society complained that the products, shaped as partly flattened squirrels, chickens and snakes, would give children an incorrect message on the proper treatment of animals.


Teeth gummies
In Australia, jelly confectionery in the shape of teeth has been very popular since the 1930s. They are colored pink and white, with pink representing the gums and teeth being white. They have a slight minty flavor, similar to mint toothpaste.

How gummy candy is made

Now and Later fun facts!

Now and Later Fun facts!

• Although the most common flavors you see are the Cherry, Watermelon, Strawberry, and Grape  there are actually twelve flavors in production. 
• The production of Now and Later's can date back to around 1862
• The slogan "Hard 'N Fruity Now and Soft 'N Chewy Later" found on each square's wrapping, replaced the original "Eat Some Now, Kid."
• It is was a ten-cent candy bar of nine beige-colored squares
• It was originally produced by a woman- Josephine Klein 
• Now and Later was named after the fact that consumers could enjoy most of the candy "now" and still have some for later! 

Here is a list of all the Now and Later candy flavors ever produced. Would you want to try all of these?

Almond Apple Apple gum Banana Banana/Strawberry split Black Radberry (raspberry) Blue Radberry Bubble Gum Candy Canes Cherry Cherry Apple Cherry Cola Cherry/Apple Split Cherry/Limeade split Chocolate CocoBanana-Rasmataz Cola Corn Coffee Bean Cotton Candy Cream Soda Dreamberry Grape Green Tingleberry Jumbleberry Hulaberry Kiwi Kollapse Lemon/Berry Split Lime Mango Melon Metallica Berry Mystery Mix Omega Orange Peach Smash Peppermint Pickled Cabbage Pineapple Pink Lemonade Pizza Pizzazz Rainbow Raspberry Red Radberry Red White and Blueberry Rum Caramel Sour Soft (Orange, Strawberry, Raspberry) Spooky Sausage Strawberry Tapioca Surprise Thriller Tickle Me PinkBerry Tropical Lemonade Tropical Punch Tropical Fever Vanilla Ice Watermelon Wild Berry Wasabi Blast

Chocolate!

We offer a wide variety of chocolate from milk chocolate to dark chocolate, but this delicious treat wasn’t always the way it is now. Chocolate consumption can be dated back to Pre-Columbian Mexico were the Mayans and Aztecs used the beans from the cocoa tree to make a drink called Xocoatll that was bitter and frothy. From 1528 up until 1847, chocolate was not widely accepted and was still made into the frothy bitter drink the Mayans and Aztecs used to consume. In 1847 Fry and Sons created the first “eating chocolate” but also did not attract much attention because the chocolate was still bitter in taste. It wasn’t until Daniel Peter, a famous Swiss chocolatier, experimented with the chocolate and added milk to balance the flavors did it become a huge success. 

Fun fact: White Chocolate really isn’t chocolate! It is made with powder from a Mediterranean evergreen and only has the same consistency as regular chocolate.   

How its made: Luxury chocolate

How its made: Hershey chocolate 

-SugarPop's Candy and Soda shop

248 N Main St Mooresville, NC 28115

(704) 746-3166 

Marshmallows!

 These tasty treats are fit for a pharaoh and now come in all sizes and flavors! We’re talking about Marshmallows; soft, fluffy, and sweet! They are a perfect treat or snack for any occasion!

Marshmallows originated in ancient Egypt and were special candies just for the pharaohs! They made marshmallows by extracting sap from the marshmallow plant and mixing it with honey and nuts. Another pre-modern version of marshmallows was to take the same plant, but use the stem instead of the sap, boil it in sugar syrup and then wait for it to dry to get a soft chewy candy. Marshmallows, before they were a treat, were used for medicinal purposes because the root of the marshmallow plant soothed sore throats. Unfortunately today’s marshmallows can’t soothe a sore throat because they now are made with gelatin instead of marshmallow plant powder because it is hard to obtain.

Personalized Marshmallow pop on etsy!

Even though a marshmallow today might not be able to soothe and soar throat, it is still a delicious treat and here at SugarPop’s we can even make it into a gift! We custom make personalized marshmallows in store! It can make any event like weddings, baby showers, birthdays, corporate events and much more extremely memorable for your guest! You can check out our Etsy store to order these unique treats or pop over to the store to place your order today!

Personalized S'more box on etsy

           


-SugarPop's Candy and Soda shop

248 N Main St Mooresville, NC 28115

(704) 746-3166 

Visit SugarPop's Etsy store here!