Jelly beans have some pretty interesting facts buried in their history.
These are a favorite confection that have been around for quite some time,
just over a hundreds years or so. While info about the exact time and place
that jelly beans first came on the market is not available we do know that
they began to emerge in the early 20th century. They were sold at stores
as a penny candy and they became quite popular.
Back then there were different colors of jelly beans as well but unlike
today each color was sold separately. Instead of selling a jumble of colors
they would sell batches of red or white or some other color. This made them
very popular during the holiday seasons because they could sell specific
holiday related colors to consumers.
Jelly beans remained the same, with their semi hard shell and soft chewy
center until the mid 1970’s. That is when the Herman Goelitz Candy
Co., Inc. created a whole new era of the jelly bean and changed the history
of the jelly bean forever. This company made the jelly bean into a delicacy
by making unusual flavors. Now jelly beans could be found that tasted like
pears or watermelons or even tutti fruity.
Not only did these jelly beans taste different they looked different too.
Some of them did not even have the classic clear chewy center, they had colored
and flavored centers.
According to the history of jelly beans they became a popular favorite in
the Reagan White House. Of all the famous people who loved the jelly bean
throughout history none loved them more than Ronal Reagan, or at least none
were so public about their love for this wonderful little candy bean. Back
in those days it was not unusual to find Jelly Belly brand jelly beans in
just about every room of the White House. http://www.youreaster.com/jellybeans/jellybellyjellybeans
Once of the most interesting facts buried in the history of the jelly bean
is the fact that many of these little babies even went into space. One of
the space shuttles took up a bunch of jelly beans for the shuttle crew to
snack on while they were up there. I guess that even astronauts need to satisfy
their sweet tooth now and then.
The history of jelly beans is not finished evolving as of yet. Every year
more and more creative flavors of the jelly bean hit the market. In a few
years time there will be a whole new history for people to talk about and
record.
