Halloween means costume parties, horror films and pumpkin carving, but most are in it for the candy.
Here’s how all your favorite Halloween candies got their names:
Musketeers- When it was first released in 1932, there were three flavors, like the three musketeers. The flavors were chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Vanilla and strawberry were eventually removed, but the name remained.
Sour Patch Kids – The original name of this candy was “Mars Men.” Then, in the 80s, they were renamed as Sour Patch Kids in an attempt to piggyback on the popularity of the Cabbage Patch Kids. They haven’t changed since.
Butterfinger – Legend has it that the Curtiss Candy Company of Chicago ran a contest to name their new candy bar. “Butterfingers” is a term used to describe a clumsy person. It also suited the new candy really well. The name was a perfect fit, and Butterfinger remains popular to this day.
Hershey’s Kisses – Over a century ago, “kiss” was used to describe any number of small candy items. When Hershey’s Kisses first came out, it was just a generic name. Only after did the name come to refer to these candies exclusively.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – Reese’s is named after its inventor, Harry Burnett Reese, who formerly worked at Hershey. But he set out on his own to create everyone’s favorite chocolate covered peanut butter candy.
Milky Way – The original focus of the Milky Way was about how “Milky” it was, and that it was source of nutrition. It was criticized by the federal trade commission and now is better associated with the galaxy.
Snickers – This candy bar was named after the Mars family’s horse. They were really into horses and even named their farm the “Milky Way Farm.”
Kit Kat- The Kit Kat name comes from a literary club that met at a pie shop owned by a pastry chef named Christopher Catling. Both Catling and his pies were nicknamed Kit-Kats. It’s a mystery how the candy bar got the name, but it’s most likely that someone just liked the name.
Tootsie Rolls – Some people believe the candy was named after creator Leo Hirschfeld’s daughter, but it’s not confirmed. Fun fact: every batch of tootsie rolls has some of the previous day’s batch in it. As a means of including some of the very first tootsie roll in every candy
Twix -It is widely assumed that Twix is a combination of “twins” and “sticks. But it’s never been officially confirmed.
York Peppermint Patties -The mint patties were made by the York Cone Company out of York, Pennsylvania, so the name has regional origins.
Baby Ruth – The candy bar was either named after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Or baseball legend Babe Ruth.
Candy Corn – Candy Corn was invented in the late 19th century when candies shaped like other things were very popular. Candy Corn was a stand-out novelty at the time because corn kernels were mostly for livestock, not people.
Sugar Daddy – In 1908, Adolph Spreckels, heir to the Spreckels’ sugar fortune, married a woman much younger than him. She called him her “Sugar Daddy” and the term became quite popular. The sucker was originally called “Papa Sucker” but was changed to “Sugar Daddy” to take advantage of the slang.