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May 20, 2004:
The
Magic Of Candy
Interview
with Steve Almond author of Candyfreak
Mike
Carruthers:
Candy; everyone has their favorite childhood candy.
Steve
Almond:
It is absolutely astounding how primal and deep people's connections
are to candy.
Steve Almond,
author of the book Candyfreak,
says candy, particularly the candy bar has a fascinating history,
starting with Milton Hershey.
He was
the first person to see that the chocolate bar was the future
of American snacking. You know in 1893 he went to the worlds
fair essentially and saw a candy-making machine, made chocolate
bars and he immediately bought the entire exhibit, and literally
imperialized the entire country.
The Hershey
bar was also revolutionary because of how it was sold.
He was
the first person to realize that this new thing "the candy
bar" could be sold everywhere, not just in a confectioners
shop, but in a pharmacy, you know in a grocery store, in a five
and dime store.
Some candy
bars come and go, but others like the Snickers
bar have always been around.
I will
say about Snickers, which is our most popular brand; that it
is a phenomenally good candy bar. I mean I've actually cut all
the sides off of a Snickers and cut the caramel off and just
tasted that nougat itself, which has a very rich peanutty flavor,
with an
undertone of cinnamon in it. And it gives the Snickers bar a
delicious taste. So I think it's partly a well-engineered candy
bar that survived, it's also just what you put the money behind.
Tomorrow
how the Three Musketeers bar got its name. I'm Mike Carruthers
and that's Something You Should Know.
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