Sweets seemingly have a universal appeal. Yet societies worldwide have also developed styles and brands that set them apart—candied seeds in South Asia, designer chocolates in Europe or salty preserved fruits in China. The multicultural United States has imported all of these while adding its own twists to taffy chocolates and gum. And, while generations of dentists have warned about cavities and generations have confiscated gum, the American sweet tooth sustains a multi-billion dollar industry Halloween is a celebration of sugar as much as ghosts. Candies and companies also tell especially American stories.

Hershey historically the number-one company producing bars, “kisses” and peanutbutter cups, fostered the American democratization of chocolate, although its different taste is strange to European palates (Brenner 1999). By the turn of the century its fivecent bars became widespread. Its rival, Mars, with $16 billion in sales worldwide, began in 1922. Still run by the Mars family it is the nation’s sixth-largest privately held company with brands like M&M, Snickers and Milky Way. Cracker Jack, meanwhile, combined two American favorites—popcorn and sugar—with tiny prizes in every box.

Its sailor logo has also changed over decades, situating the box in American nostalgia.

Fanciful products like Victor Bonono’s Turkish Taffy entered the market after the Second World War sugar rationing, only to disappear as a victim of later corporate consolidation.

Upscale markets have been dominated by imported chocolates and hand-dipped or artisanal products.

Inventiveness and legends also incorporate candies into American folklore. Did you hear the story of a child star killed by pop rocks (small fizzy gum chips)? Marshmallow peeps—marshmallow shaped like chicks or rabbits, covered with colored sugar—have a web-site for fans, including scientific experiments to perform.

Candies are not only national, but also local and domestic. The candy store and penny candies evoke a lost emporium of Main Street in a world of multinationals and franchises that sometimes imitate older local stores. Nonetheless, family recipes for candies and cookies are brought out for parties and holidays, especially Christmas.

Gum also occupies a special niche in American dental records. The corporate giant is Wrigley’s (as in Chicago’s baseball field and tower). Founded in 1891 to distribute other products, Wrigley found the gum he gave away as a premium more successful than soap or baking powder. Juicy Fruit was introduced in 1893; Spearmint in 1894. Wrigley used advertising and premiums to compete and globalize his product. While servicemen came first in the Second World War (hence the image of GIs giving away gum), the company returned to US and world markets in the late 1940s. Eventually sugar-free products and bubblegum were added. Its Doublemint advertisements, with various twins and a catchy jingle, have also become part of American media folklore.

Gum has been touted as a release from stress, an alternative to smoking or food and a form of relaxation, although it is prohibited in schools, churches and other formal settings. With twenty companies and $2 billion in sales annually (300 sticks per person) candy marks a common break in the American day.