The Snickers Bar by Mars

Most everyone I think has heard of the Snickers candy bar sold by the Mars candy company.  What I didn't know was that this candy bar was created by Frank Mars, that he began selling this iconic candy bar in 1930 during the depression, and that this candy bar was named after his beloved horse named Snickers.

What I associate with the Snickers bar is friendship.  I enjoy sharing Snickers or any candy with friends.  If your friend is having a tough day, why not give him or her a Snickers bar.  One of my friends picked me up in her car on a very hard day in my life, we got in her car and were driving down the street, and she took out a Snickers bar and gave it to me.  It was certainly a kindness in a very tense moment.  My friend got me to smile and breathe all with a candy bar.

I think it's really special that this candy bar was named after Frank Mars' horse.  I couldn't find a photo of the original Snickers, but what I did find out is that Snickers is actually a very popular name for a horse.

So in 1930, Frank Mars wanted to not make a candy bar but a "confection made of nougat, peanut & caramel."1  Remember this was 1930 and candy bars were not the broad category that we know of today.  M&M's had not yet been invented and World War II was still far away.  The Snickers bar was sold at 20 cents each in the year 1930, and this stirred controversy because the average candy bar back then was 5 cents.

The ingredients of the Snickers bar has been modified slightly over the years and the size of this candy bar has decreased.  I think the decrease in size in order to have less calories per serving.  In 1939, the ingredients are listed as "white sugar, chocolate, corn syrup, peanuts, milk condensed with sugar, coconut oil, malted milk, whites of eggs and salt." 2 I particularly like the malted milk ingredient.  I don't know about you, but I love anything malted.  By 2019, the ingredients became "milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), peanuts, corn syrup, sugar, palm oil, skim milk, lactose, salt, egg whites, artificial flavor."3  Wow -- That's a lot of changes, but I still love a Snickers bar, and I'm really glad Snickers has weathered the test of time.

By Roberta Whitman Hoff

1https://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/candy-history-snickers/
2,3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snickers