This Divisive Halloween Candy Dates Back to the 1880s — and Used to Be Called 'Chicken Feed' (Exclusive)

Every October there is a great debate: what is the best Halloween candy? Many people jump right in with Reese’s, Snickers or KitKats – maybe Sour Patch Kids or Gummy Bears if you want something fruity. I will always remember the popcorn balls my neighbor gave out every year.

But how did we get here in the first place? Where did this idea of ​​going door to door to distribute sweets come from? Well, Halloween actually originates from Samhain, an ancient Celtic harvest festival celebrated between October 31st and November 1st. The Celts believed that the border between our world and the spirit world was the thinnest in those days and that the inhabitants of the underworld could cross over into this one and wreak some havoc.

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To bring order to the chaos, participants left offerings outside the village for any fairies, ghosts or monsters that might appear. Fires were lit and later – during the Middle Ages – small carved turnips called Jack-o-Lanterns began to sprout to ward off evil.

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According to some sources, people also disguised themselves in animal skin costumes in an attempt to scare away these unwelcome ghostly visitors. Over time, this developed into a practice called “venting”. Then poor people in each community would visit rich households where they would receive small cookies in exchange for prayers.

It later became a kids-only experience, where those kids would dress up and — after knocking on the door — trade a song, poem or joke for a snack.

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Modern Halloween took full shape in the United States with many communities organizing group trick or treating in the early 20th century. The trend took a brief hiatus for World War II, and in the baby boom that followed, many of the Halloween traditions we know and love today became a cemented part of the culture.

Among the candies being handed out today is one that’s much older than you’d probably guess. In fact, one version can trace its roots all the way back to Philadelphia in the 1880s. There, a man named George Renninger worked for the Wunderle Candy Company. And he had a new crazy idea.

A group of kids joking around.

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He suggested shaping the buttercream into the shape of harvested vegetables. Shapes like chestnuts, turnips, corn pods, and peas were all meant to appeal to America’s agricultural roots. And while they all sounded great, corn was the easiest form, so it came first. We’re not sure what the original recipe was, but it was probably some mixture of sticky sugar and corn syrup.

Renninger worked hard to perfect the recipe and shape of the candy. His grandson later told the newspaper that his grandfather threw loads of it to the family’s chickens and knew it was in perfect shape when the chickens followed him. He realized that if the chickens were fooled into thinking it was real corn, he hit it off.

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As a nod to that cause, when the Goelitz Confectionery Company took over his recipe, they advertised it as “chicken feed,” complete with a large rooster on the front of the box. And they soon became one of the largest producers of buttered corn in the country. And they partially achieved this by using paint.

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Each piece of candy is poured by hand to keep the colors separate and distinct. This process involved factory workers carrying heavy buckets filled with a candy mix, who then walked backwards along a conveyor belt filled with trays. And when I say heavy, I mean it; some of these buckets could weigh up to 200 pounds.

Fortunately, this labor-intensive corn was not produced year-round. Part of the reason was to give the workers a break, but also to create a link in the minds of the American people. “Chicken Food” was meant to tap into the joys of a bountiful harvest, which later helped tie it to Halloween.

But not at first.

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Instead, it should have been a candy, a joke, or a novelty. You see, the name “Chicken Feed” was quite literal. Most Americans thought of corn as food for cattle, not for humans. It wasn’t until after World War I that people started eating these vegetables in the same way we do today, and even then, it was mostly out of necessity.

A bowl of candy.

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As a result, Goelitz could barely keep the boxes on the shelves. In the era before machine automation, it was difficult to meet demand. However, thanks to modern mechanization, their production reached a new peak in the 1950s. Along the way, they realized that the old agricultural roots of their sweets were lost in the past. A new name was needed for their delicious treat and it was eventually rebranded for the modern world.

The bright colors and catchy new name helped the candy secure its place as a Halloween staple, and it remains there to this day. Sure, it might be one of the most divisive candies in America and have a shelf life longer than a Twinkie, but you have to admit: Halloween just wouldn’t be the same…

…without Candy Corn.

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Aaron Manke’s new book, Cabinet of curiosities: a historical tour of the incredible, disturbing and bizarre is out on November 12th and is available for pre-order now, wherever books are sold.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education