The History of M & M's

So when you were a kid, you have probably had one of those delicious candied shelled chocolate delights known as M & M’s. But where did these candies from the heavens come from and how many flavors are there?

M & M candy is created by the Mars Corporation, which was originally founded by Forrest Mars. Supposedly Mars got the idea for the M & M candies during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) when he saw soldiers eating chocolate candies that had a tempered chocolate shell which preventing the inner chocolate from melting. In 1941 Mars patented the very first M & M candies.

When production of this candy began in 1941 Forrest Mars joined forces with Bruce Murrie the son of William Murrie who owned a little known Chocolate company, that we know a the Hershey Corporation. This arrangement allowed for the candy to be filled with Hershey Chocolate. Because of this partnership one of the “M”s were for Mars and the other for Murrie.

The Milk Chocolate M & M’s are the oldest form of these shelled candies. The Milk Chocolate M & M first came out in 1941, and sponsored a black “M.” The hard coated candies originally came out in five colors: yellow, red, green, brown, and violet. Instead of the wrapper you see today the candy came out in a cardboard tube similar to the Smarties tube (see Picture). The compact tube allowed for easy production and distribution to our troops during World War 2. The white “M” replaced the black “M” in 1950.

**Fun Fact: During World War 2, the M & M candy was sold exclusively to the military.

-The Peanut M & M was introduced in 1954, and only appeared in the tan color. The colors yellow, red and green were released for the Peanut M & M in 1960.
-In 1988, Almond M & M’s were released as a promotional candy sold only during Christmas or Easter. This candy didn’t become a standard production line until 1992.
-Dulce de Leche (Carmel-like) M & M’s came out in 2001 but were soon removed from production due to sporting 36 grams of fat per serving.
-Mars announces the release of customizable M & M candies online. These candies come in a near unlimited variety as you can imprint any picture onto these delicious candies.
-2004 M & M’s ran a promotional candy line that released “ogre-sized M & M’s that came in green and tanned colors. This was due to the movie Shrek 2.
-2005 was the date that Mars reduced the brightness of colors in all their candy line in an attempt to attract more adult customers.
-In 2006 Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate M & M’s appeared
-2007 brought several new flavors including Dark Chocolate Peanut, Berry, Cherry, Peach, orange, mint,nut, oreo cookie, raspberry and crispy mint M & M’s.
-2008 Cherry and Mint flavor was released for the movie Indian Jones and the Crystal Skull.
-2009 Strawberry peanutbutter M & M’s for the movie Transformers
-2010 Brought two new flavors Pretzel and Coconut.
-2011 & Beyond….Time will tell!