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FUN STUFF

Fun Facts About Lollipops
Alice, Golden Empire Council

Being served on a stick may be a new thing for some foods like pickles and cake, but for the lollipop it's been that way the beginning.

Here are 10 fabulous facts about the classic candy.

1. 
   The world's largest lollipop was made in 2012. The confectioner behind the job was See's Candies of California, and their creation weighed over 7 thousand pounds. It was chocolate-flavored.
   

2. 
   The first high-production machine was invented in 1908. A manufacturer in a Racine, Wisconsin was asked to build something that could make a lot of lollipops in a short time. They came up with one that could push out 40 in a single minute.
   
3. 
   The term lollipop used to mean other things. The first known use was in the mid 1780s. Charles Dickens used it to refer to stick-less candies. At another time it a different place it's what they called sweetmeat on a stick.
   

4. 
   The Chupa Chup label was designed by Salvador Dali. He and the guy who invented the popular candies were friends. It's reported that there was also money involved, which Dali was rumored to not typically turn down.
   
5. 
   Dum Dum's mystery flavor is a pretty simple recipe. They're created as one flavor batch is running out and the next one is beginning, whatever those two may be.
   

6. 
   Some are made for adults. The candy company Lollyphile produces a variety of beer flavored ones. For fans of the grape, they also offer merlot, chardonnay, and cabernet.
   
7. 
   On request they can come laden with viruses. In 2011 it was reported that moms across the country were ordering lollipops that had been licked by kids infected with chicken pox The goal was to introduce the virus to their own children in hopes of building immunity and avoiding vaccinations.
   
8. 
   George Smith was the first to really run with the idea. He saw a West Haven, Connecticut sweets maker put a caramel and chocolate confection on a stick and an idea came to him. He began to manufacture a hard candy version and named it the Lolly Pop.
   
9. 
   It's easier than ever to sneak a lollipop into class. A team of designers created a pencil/candy hybrid. Instead of a boring, flavorless eraser the writing tool is topped with a delicious twist of candy.
   
10. 
    There's a line specifically for insect lovers. Hotlix, a snack manufacturer that specializes in earthier nibbles, sells a variety of lollipops that contain bugs. Options include scorpions, ants, worms and crickets. Which lollipop flavor is your favorite?
    

Lollipop History

http://www.candyfavorites.com/shop/catalog-lollipop-history.php

The first incarnation of the lollipop was probably created by cave people thousands of years ago who collected honey from beehives with a stick. Not wanting to waste the sweet nectar, they most likely licked the stick, thus inventing the world’s first lollipop. Good for them and us. Archaeologists believe the ancient Arabs, Chinese, and Egyptians all produced fruit and nut confections that they candied in honey for preservation, and inserted sticks into to make easier to eat.

If the 17th Century English version doesn’t count as the first modern lollipop, you could look to the Civil War era for another early forerunner, when hard candy was put on the tips of pencils for children. The early 20th Century was the era of automation, which is when the birth of the lollipop as we now know it begins in earnest, but there are still discrepancies as to who is the true creator.

In the 17th Century, as sugar became more plentiful, the English enjoyed boiled sugar candy treats and inserted sticks into them to make them easier to eat, too. Linguists say the term ‘lolly pop’ literally means ‘tongue slap’ since the word for ‘tongue’ is ‘lolly’ in Northern England and ‘pop’ means ‘slap.’ London street vendors may have coined this term as they peddled the treat, which was soft rather than hard, but still considered a possible forerunner to the modern lollipop.

As early as 1905, the owner of the McAviney Candy Company may have stumbled upon the lollipop by accident. The company made boiled hard candies that were stirred with a stick, and at day's end, the owner brought the sticks covered with the candy home for his kids to enjoy. It wasn't until 1908 that he began to market these "used candy sticks."

Also in 1908, in Racine, Wisconsin, the first automated lollipop production was brought about by the Racine Confectionary Machine Company that introduced a machine that put hard candy on the end of a stick at the rate of 2,400 sticks per hour. Owners of the company believed that they could produce enough in a single week to supply the nation for an entire year.

In approximately 1912, Russian immigrant Samuel Born invented a machine that inserted sticks into candy. The machine was called the Born Sucker Machine and the City of San Francisco considered it so innovative that they awarded him the keys to the city in 1916. George Smith, owner of a confectionary company called the Bradley Smith Company, took credit for inventing the modern version of the lollipop which he began making in 1908, and in 1931, he trademarked the term ‘lollipop,” borrowing the name from a famous race horse named Lolly Pop, which is when the term lollipop finally connects back to the 17th Century phrase (‘tongue slap,’ remember?).

As you can see, the development of the lollipop took its time and there is some competition for the title “creator of the lollipop,” but regardless, it’s here to stay and it’s currently one of the most popular candies in existence. Modern companies can produce up to 3,000,000 per day, which hardly satisfies the nation's sweet tooth.

Lollipops now come in all shapes and sizes, some companies offer over a 100 varieties. Let's end with:

"When you don’t know what else to do,
put a stick in it."

For more info – go to: http://www.candyfavorites.com/shop/catalog-lollipop-history.php