One pilot began to send his candy rations down to the children of Berlin, tied in tiny parachutes made of handkerchiefs. Gail Halvorsen, the pilot who dropped candy from his plane, would wiggle the wings of his plane as he flew over Berlin so the children would know there would be a candy drop. The German children began to call him “Uncle Wiggly Wings.” He would drop chocolate bars, gum, and raisins.

Halvorsen’s superior officers didn’t know what he was up to, but when they found out, they called him into the office. He was afraid he’d be court-martialed, but instead, his Lieutenant told him to keep doing his project, which became known as “Operation Little Vittles.” Eventually, the American public heard about Halvorsen and began to donate candy and handkerchiefs to the cause. The Confectioners’ Association of America donated large amounts of candy, and American school children tied candy to handkerchief parachutes.

Halvorsen has been credited with making a huge impact on German-American relations with his act of delivering candy to children, and for creating a positive perception of Americans to Germans, who had been at war with Americans during the years of World War II. Even recently, Halvorsen’s example has been emulated by the U.S. military, and they have dropped toys, teddy bears, and soccer balls to children in Iraq.

• The Candy Bombers – Video
• Gail Halvorsen – The Candy Bomber

Image: Public Domain and made available via Wikimedia Commons

You know, it’s my job to think about candy and candy news. Thanksgiving weekend is not traditionally a candy holiday, but what a perfect weekend this is for candy. It must be the time of year coupled with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, that got me thinking about Bertie Bott’s Jelly Beans and our review of them. Trying those awful beans with my brother reminded me of being a kid and daring each other into eating and doing stupid things. We once talked about trying out for Fear Factor but realized pretty quickly we’d both be done in by the gross foods. It’s funny what brings a family together – bonding over candy. I think that’s what makes candy so appealing to so many people.

A great example of this is Candyman: The David Klein Story showing 11/27/2010 on the Documentary channel at 8 PM, EST and PST. If you’re like me, you’ve probably never heard of David Klein, until now. In fact, though he invented the Jelly Belly jellybean, he isn’t even mentioned by name on Jelly Belly’s website under company history; he is referred to only as “a Los Angeles candy distributor”.

I won’t spoil it for everyone, but here’s the quick and dirty of the movie. Believing he had a great idea, despite everyone thinking he was crazy when he came up with the idea of individual, naturally-flavored jellybeans, Dave listened to his heart and eventually sold the Jelly Belly trademark to what is now known as Jelly Belly (formerly Herman Goelitz Candy Co). The documentary is about his rise and fall; how he “lost his beans, but kept his soul”.

And to bring this post full-circle, Candyman also has “Weird Al” Yankovic in it. Another thing that reminds me of my childhood and family as I was introduced to him by my brother, the founder of Candy Addict. It’s a good season for remembering what’s important, celebrating the entrepreneur, and dreaming big. Maybe I’ll watch Candyman tonight with my favorite Jelly Belly jellybean, Buttered-Popcorn, in your honor, Dave! Though you may not get the credit you deserve for the Jelly Belly, I hope you feel a little better knowing your creation has touched so many people’s mouths, if not hearts.

• Candyman: The David Klein Story movie website
• Documentary Channel website and movie trailer
• Jelly Belly website
• David Klein’s candy store

Also, why in the world is one of Tube Sock’s legs considerably larger than the other?! Sometimes I like to make up stories and it just so happens that right now is sometimes. I heard the uni-sock wearer broke his leg during the filming and had to continue filming because he was under contract. So, the biggest leg? That’s a cast under there. It’s dangerous work as a stunt sock, don’t ya know. Anyone else have any thoughts on leggus maximus?

• Skittles

I grew up near the East coast and made my fair share of trips to the beach as a youngster. One of my favorite spots was a local and popular restaurant, the Sanitary Fish Market. What could possibly make a kid actually request to go to a seafood restaurant? Salt water taffy can. Oh, the joy of sticky, sweet goodness. Sure, we were able to watch taffy being made at the State Fair, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the taffy from Sanitary Fish Market. That was the best taffy my 14 year-old self had ever had.

I grew out of taffy as an adult… or so I had thought.

It wasn’t until Sweet’s gourmet taffy arrived at my door that my love of taffy was re-awakened. I sampled bubble gum, strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, cotton candy, red licorice, watermelon, tangerine, banana, cherry, guava, coconut, macadamia nut, mango, and pineapple flavors, Oh My! And they were all delicious. I was especially fond of the peppermint, espresso, cappuccino, mocha latte, and buttered popcorn taffy. I love these flavors in general, and the taffy very closely resembled the taste of the foods it emulated. What was remarkable about this taffy is that it is softer than my Eastern shore variety. It didn’t stick to the wrapper, but had just the right amount of chewiness to satisfy my childhood nostalgia and make me whisper “Mmmm, taffy” in my mind. All the nostalgia minus the stickiness. My adult self appreciates that- it’s too messy to type with candy fingers. According to Sweet’s, it whips its taffy instead of pulling it and thus the lessened stickiness. Brilliant.

Sweet’s pulls all the punches and also offers some fantastic packaging to house its taffy. The twist boxes are one of the coolest and creative packages I’ve seen in a while. Since I couldn’t possible eat all the taffy and still respect myself in the morning, I took the extra taffy I had left over to work. The twist boxes were a big hit, so I know it wasn’t just me with my “refined design sensibilities” that appreciated it. The boxes of taffy make a fantastic gift! Taffy inside a taffy-disguised container. It’s like one of those stacking Russian dolls, but better because who wants another doll anyway- give me candy!

To sum it up, this taffy is crazy good and with over 50 flavors of taffy, I know Sweet’s has something for everyone. A definite, non-sticky, thumbs-up!

• Sweet Candy

Candy Addict received this product as a sample from the manufacturer. No payment was received for this review and all opinions represent an unbiased view of the product.

Tic Tac Canada has launched their “Small Fun Revolution” campaign. They are encouraging Canadian Tic Tac candy fans to submit their own small fun creation for a chance at 24 hours of small fun with $5000!

How to Enter:
Create a video or photo of something made out of Tic Tacs or Tic Tac boxes and submit it at tictacsmallfun.ca for a chance to win the grand prize, 24 hours of small fun with $5000. Creations will be judged on originality, creativity, and of course, overall fun-ness. Also, the first 1000 entries get a free t-shirt from Tic Tac. For more information, visit tictacsmallfun.ca.

They have already seen Tic Tac artwork, buildings and contraptions – the possibilities for creativity are endless!

Check out this awesome video that was entered… Tic Tac Micha:

And, for everyone that owns an iPhone – you can download two different FREE Tic Tac games for the iPhone and if you finish all the levels (and live in Canada) you can win a free t-shirt! (non-Canadians just get to play some free, fun iPhone games.

• Small Fun Revolution

File this under coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Miam! is the amazing work of a team of French filmmakers. The animated short follows a young boy as he journeys up the shelves of the candy aisle and into a magical world of candy. Along with a candy princess, he goes on an adventure through this land of candy, eventually fighting the Great Blob of Mockolate to save the princess. (Ok, maybe it’s supposed to be chocolate and not mockolate, but could chocolate really be so evil? I say nay! ‘Tis the work of the evil mockolate!)

And boy is there candy! Every kind you can think of, amazingly rendered and animated. From gummi bears to licorice to gumdrops and lollipops, it definitely looks good enough to eat. It’s like a Candy Addict’s dream come to life… on film, at least.

Many thanks to Laurent, one of the creators, for sharing this with us!

• Miam! Website

Well, Day 1 of the All Candy Expo is officially over, so I thought I’d share with you the most amusing part of the day. At the Mars press conference, we got to see this very funny “public service announcement” featuring Neil Patrick Harris. It’s part of the Real Chocolate Relief Act we reported on a couple of weeks ago.

Just to refresh your memory: from now until September, Mars is giving away 250,000 free coupons for full size chocolate on Fridays at realchocolate.com. That’s a total of 7 million bars of free chocolate! In addition, there will be special events at various cities, and some great savings on Mars chocolate at your local stores. So go check it out and enjoy some good Mars chocolate – still mockolate-free!

Watch this video and I dare you not to have this song stuck in your head… “Oh, I’m a gummi bear. Yes I’m a gummi bear…”

Oh, how I love this commercial. An old school gem from the early 80′s, this is the type of M&M’s commercial that carried the brand through the decade: happy jingles, close up shots of the (now retro!) bag of Plain M&M’s being poured into someone’s hand, and the happy M&M’s themselves, dancing about. Though our M&M friends have gotten a makeover over the past 25 years, what with computer animation, a slightly darker sense of humor, and clearly lower voices, the heart of these commercials remains the same: M&M’s are a fun and delicious candy, and, as the jingle here states: all the world loves them.

Be sure to look for my buddy, Tan M&M, who makes an appearance in this commercial. We will never forget you, Tan M&M! Though I’m not sure if it’s you in the commercial, or Orange M&M, I’m going to choose to believe it’s you! That’s how desperate I am to see a Tan M&M, people!

Also worth noting in this commercial is the computer the two kids are using. I’m pretty sure I played Oregon Trail on that computer in 1986. And I’m also pretty sure that I did it with a bag of M&M’s by my side.

If anyone missed my appearance on TV as a candy expert, it’s on YouTube now – take a look. I first appear at 1:20, in case you’re impatient.

• Video of Candy Addict on CNBC [on YouTube]
• Recap of how it all came about (with pics)
• Photo gallery of being on CNBC
• Candy Addict review of CrackHeads Candy