Some processed names are pretty straightforward (we dear you, SweeTARTS), while others are a flake more obscure. Here, we unwrap the name origins of a few delicious favorites.

1. MILK DUDS

In 1926, F. Hoffman & Company of Chicago set out to brand perfectly circular chocolate-covered caramels. The manufacturing equipment didn't quite cooperate, nonetheless, and what came out were oval-shaped candies. A worker pronounced them "duds," but anybody agreed they withal tasted skillful, and so the company kept producing them under the playful name. Ii years later, the Holloway Visitor bought out Hoffman and brought Milk Duds to the masses.

ii. SNICKERS

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When Franklin Mars, founder of the Mars candy company, needed a name for the new candy bar that would follow his wildly successful Milky Way bar, he turned to the family unit stables, of all places. Snickers, named afterwards the family unit's prized equus caballus, came out in 1930 and was an firsthand hit. According to the company, it'south the best-selling candy bar of all fourth dimension. Fun fact: Until the '90s, it was called a Marathon bar in the U.k..

three. BABY RUTH

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This one'due south loaded with peanuts, caramel, and controversy. In 1921, Otto Schnering of Chicago'southward Curtiss Processed Company reformulated his signature Kandy Kake bar (he took out pudding, for starters) and renamed it Baby Ruth. This was during the apex of Babe Ruth's reign as a major league slugger, and many speculated that Schnering had capitalized on Ruth'southward proper name while avoiding royalty payments. In 1926, The Baby himself entered the candy business, and came out with "Ruth's Habitation Run Candy." The Curtiss Company sued, claiming copyright infringement, and noting that Baby Ruth was actually named for President Cleveland's daughter. This was an odd defence force, because Ruth Cleveland had died of diphtheria in 1904, just the court upheld Curtiss's merits, ruling in 1931 that the ballplayer had profited off the popularity of a candy bar that, in all likelihood, borrowed from his own nickname.

4. JUNIOR MINTS

The name's not as literal as you might think. James Welch, founder of the James O. Welch Candy Visitor in Massachusetts, named the chocolate-covered mint creams afterward his favorite Broadway play, Junior Miss. Based on a series of stories about a meddlesome immature girl living in New York, the play ran from 1941 to 1943, and was a household proper name by the time Inferior Mints came out in 1949, with a picture and radio version (featuring Shirley Temple) reaching mainstream audiences.

5. TOOTSIE ROLLS

Leo Hirschfield, the inventor of the chewy, chocolatey candy, named them for his 5-twelvemonth-sometime daughter, Clara, who he chosen "Tootsie." It was a popular nickname at the time, and appealed to penny-toting children who bought upwards Hirschfield's individually wrapped treats.

6. 3 MUSKETEERS

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You might reason that the inventor was a big Alexandre Dumas fan. And y'all would be incorrect (well, mostly). The proper noun refers to the 3 unlike pieces of processed that used to be within each package: chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. First released in 1932, the company ran into product troubles during World State of war Ii, when vanilla and strawberry flavoring were hard to come up by. So the Mars Company phased those out in favor of chocolate. Over the past several years, 3 Musketeers has dabbled in flavor extensions, including mint, strawberry and reddish.

7. PEZ

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These days it'due south a quirky, child-friendly candy known for a wide variety of dispensers. But in 1927, PEZ was a breath mint for smokers. Invented by Austrian Eduard Haas Iii, the name refers to "pfefferminz," which is the German word for peppermint. The first PEZ dispensers, chosen "Box Regulars," were shaped similar cigarette lighters, and came with notes encouraging smokers to quit. It wasn't until the '50s that PEZ, eager to expand its U.S. marketplace, came out with fruity flavors and dispensers targeted towards kids.

8. OH HENRY!

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At that place's been much speculation about the origin of this 1, from Hank Aaron to the author O. Henry. According to Nestle, the name comes from a male child who used to visit George Williamson's processed shop in early 1900s Chicago. Immature Henry stopped by frequently and became friendly with the ladies who worked in the shop, who would frequently send him out on errands. "Oh Henry," they'd say before sending him off. Williamson took annotation of the name, and when the fourth dimension came to name his new chocolate-covered peanut-and-caramel bar, he chose the unique title "Oh Henry!"

9. Thou&Ms

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The two Ms signify the candy's inventor and his benefactor: Mars and Murrie. Forrest Mars adult Thousand&Ms while in England during the 1930s—supposedly after observing a similar candy carried by Castilian Civil War soldiers. He then went to Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Visitor president William Murrie, and gave him a 20 per centum stake in return for backing his new candy. Murrie and Mars parted ways in 1949, simply a few years later on Chiliad&Ms showtime came out, leaving Mars as the sole "M".