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Tootsie Rolls were the first penny candy to be individually wrapped in paper. They were one of the top choices of children who only had a few pennies to spend on satisfying a sweet tooth. In the 1930s, the first soft-centered lollipops, Tootsie Pops, were sold. The hard candy on the outside covered the Tootsie Roll center. During World War II, Tootsie Rolls were favored by soldiers because they could be kept in pockets and barracks bags without melting. They were also a great source of quick energy. In the late 1940s, Tootsie Rolls were advertised on the comic pages of many Sunday newspapers. The main cartoon character was Captain Tootsie who was a Superman-like hero who took kids on various adventures. Urban Legend... A Tootsie Pop wrapper with a picture of an Indian shooting an arrow at a star on it can be redeemed with Tootsie Roll Industries for a free bag of candy. Sorry, about 30% of the wrappers have the Indian and Tootsie has never had such a contest.
 I am the youngest of four and my father was a complete "health nut" and sugar wasn't allowed in the house much less any form of candy. So, whenever my brother and I were sent on an errand we would stop on the way at the Circle K and he would let me pick out one item from the "Five cent" choices that lined the bottom rack. Oh what a magnificent display! I would carefully look over each choice and pretend I was eating each one as I pondered over the best qualities of each. In the end there was no comparison, the Tootsie Roll Pop won hands down. My mouth watered as I continued to stare at the bin and gaze at all the different flavors-cherry, grape, orange, raspberry. They even had chocolate, what a dilemma! After much prodding by my brother I would always grab a cherry one and hand it to my brother. The minute we were out of the store he would hand the lollipop to me. I quickly unwrapped it and shoved it into my mouth. Oh what heaven! I would slowly savor that strong cherry flavor periodically taking it out of my mouth to see how close I was to the chewy chocolate center. I could make that Tootsie pop last through the whole errand until we would be less than a block home. At which point my brother would tell me to stop chewing on the stick because "all the candy was gone long ago." To this day whenever I love to treat myself to a Tootsie Pop I recall those simple days when I would hang out with my brother and my hardest choice in life was to decide what flavor I was going to pick. ~ Janet from New York |
