Vanilla cream surrounded by a ring of caramel making this candy look like a... well, bull's eye.

 

 

William A Goetze started the Baltimore Chewing Gum Company in 1895. Goetze was one of the pioneers in the chewing gum business and may have been the first to produce bubble gum. By 1915 a caramel product called Chu-ees were being manufactured in the Goetze factory. Chu-ees were packaged and wrapped in a fashion similar to chewing gum. [more below]

Goetze's Caramel Creams were introduced in 1918. The name explains exactly what the product was (and still is): a caramel jacket with a pure sugar cream center. Caramel Creams really caught on, and the gum-making part of the business was gradually phased out. In 1950 the name of the company was changed to the Goetze's Candy Company.

 

Since they look a little like the bull's eye of a target, the nickname was picked up along the way. Many people only know this popular caramel candy by the name Bull's Eyes.

 

It's funny how a candy can bring back the memory of a smell. My memory is of my brother, Joe, picking out caramel bull's eyes as his candy after a doctor's visit. My mom would always take us to the pharmacy after going to the doctor. Sometimes to get medicine, but many times just for a treat after surviving a shot.

 

My brother, Bill and I would always try something new. But Joe would always get the little rectangular four pack of the bull's eyes. To this day the sight of those candies makes me remember the smell of the doctor's office! ~ Michelle from North Carolina