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One of the world's most famous and biggest-selling chocolate confectionary
brands got its start and ascended to international stature from
a base in Newark.
I'm talking about M&M's coated milk chocolate candies.
Start-up operations were begun in 1940 from a factory building
at 285 Badger Avenue, between West Bigelow and West Runyon Streets
in Newark's Clinton Hill section.
However, with America's entry into World War II and receipt of
government contracts, the company soon moved to larger quarters
in the old 11th Ward on 200 North 12th Street, at Fourth Avenue1.
It remained in this building for 17 years until 1958.
The company was originally founded as M&M Limited. One of
the two "M's" was for Forrest Mars Sr., the company founder.
The other "M" was for Bruce Murrie, who put up some of
the capital for the projected new candy-making operation. When operations
were started, the hard-coated chocolates were made in six different
colors: Brown, Yellow, Orange, Red, Green and Violet.
Founder was Son of Milky Way's 'Father'
The founder of the Newark company, Forrest E. Mars St., was the
son of Frank C. Mars, a candy-maker dating back to 1911. In that
year, Frank Mars and his wife began making candies in the kitchen
of their Tacoma, Washington, home.
Frank Mars then moved his candy-making operations to Minnesota
in 1923, where he introduced the Milky Way bar. His company, in
1926, was then relocated to a new plant in a Chicago suburb where
the Mars Almond Bar, the 3 Musketeers, and the Snickers bar were
introduced.
Origin of Idea for M&M's
Forrest Mars Sr., having been raised in the shadow of a world
of candy-making, had gotten the idea for M&M's in a visit to
Spain during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. He'd encountered
soldiers eating pellets of chocolate encased in a hard sugary coating
which prevented them from melting.
Inspired by this idea, Forrest Mars went back to his kitchen and
invented the recipe for M&M's chocolate candies.
M&M's in World War II
Shortly after the company began production as "M&M's
Ltd Newark NJ" the tiny chocolates became a favorite of American
GIs serving in world War II. Packaged in cardboard tubes, they were
quickly adapted by the military who included them in American soldiers'
C-rations because they withstood extreme temperatures. In the hot
tropics, these candies were especially practical.
In the war years, the company's advertising was largely on billboards,
which reflected the wartime theme in these two versions accompanied
by this overprint: "Now Entirely at War"
- Uniformed soldier holding the tube of M&M's behind the back
of a uniformed WAC (Women's Army Corps) who appears to be trying
to guess what the surprise is.
- Uniformed sailor holds up tube of M&M's behind the back
of uniformed Navy WAVE (Women Accepted for Emergency Service)
who appears to be trying to guess what the surprise is.
Newark Plant Production Capacity
With the 12th Street candy factory going full blast during World
War II, when it could reach peak production, it would turn out 200,000
pounds of M&M's a week--nearly all of it going to the military.
By war's end, with help from Ingmar Monson, an engineering contractor
from Fairfield NJ, who was putting in 80-90 hours a week, the Newark
plant's capacity was gradually stretched to 600,000 pounds per week.
by the 1950s, the capacity was further expanded to reach its maximum
output--1 million pounds a week, running in variable shifts, 1st,
2nd, 3rd, 24 hours a day.
Newark M&M Landmarks and Innovations
1941 - M&M begins production in Newark and
first M&M go on sale. They are described as "Plain Chocolate
Candies."
1942 - America enters World War II and Armed Forces
incorporates M&M's into soldiers' C-Rations.2
They are also sold in Post Exchanges and Ships Service Stores.
Company, known as "M&M Ltd Newark NJ" incorporates
statement in advertising: "Now 100% at War."
1946 - World War II over, M&M's become available
to general public again.
1947 - Quarter-pound package of M&M's advertised
for sale at 15 cents.
1948 - Original cardboard tube packaging is changed
to the clear see-through cellophane packaging still in use today.
1950 - Company begins imprinting an 'm' on each
candy, in black.
M&M launches heavy national advertising and becomes household
name.
1954 - M&M Peanut Chocolate Candies introduced3,
in Brown only.
The 'm' imprint on M&M's is changed from black to white.
M&M begins TV advertising4,
launches a new slogan; "The milk chocolate melts in your mount--not
in your hand."
1958 - Demand for M&M's surpasses Newark plant capacity of
1 million pounds per week.5
Company relocates to Hackettstown, NJ.
**********
Gone From Newark: The Operation and Aroma
After the M&M operation left its North 12th Street premises,
along with its departure went the smell of chocolate that had constantly
lingered in the neighborhood air. The chocolaty aroma for 17 years
had been instantly recognizable to neighborhood visitors, but was
something that nearby residents had learned to ignore.
The M&M operation relocated to Hackettstown, where it still
maintains its world headquarters. The current CEO and Co-President
is Forrest E. Mars Jr., son of the company founder, Forrest E. Mars
Sr.
Today, the former Newark M&M factory is the site of Tony's
Pallets, a firm engaged in the making of wooden pallets -- the platforms
used for storing and moving cargo or freight.
* * *
On April 12, 1981, M&M chocolates rose to heights never before
achieved by any other chocolate. The first space shuttle astronauts,
John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen, asked for M&M's to be included
in the food supply for a two-day, record-setting earth orbit. Consequently,
M&M's became a component of the space food exhibit at the National
Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.
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