Is there more to life than....chocolate?

I have, in past articles, given you a history of chocolate. I have since then uncovered some more fun information about other of our confectionary delights. It isnt just limited to chocolate, you know!

Upon some research, I uncovered something really interesting about jelly beans. I know that (regardless of age) we all grew up with them. In fact, they are so old that jelly beans were reportedly advertised as early as the

1860s when William Shraft claims to have sent them to Union soldiers as treats during the Civil War!

Licorice, a favorite among movie- goers, was found (in licorice root form) in King Tuts tomb. It was used as a cure-all for everything from curing "thirst and hunger" to curing kidney disorders. And just about everything in

between, including stomach problems and coughs. Licorice in root form, was used during the middle ages to help with food poisoning, and was so popular in 1305 that it was taxed in England to help repair the London Bridge!

Another one that had an interesting background were candy cigarettes, also referred to as candy sticks. You could blow the powdered sugar so that it looked like you were exhaling smoke and then, of course, you would wrap

the cigarettes under the sleeve of your T-shirt. Among the "tough, cool" kids of the 50s, 60s and 70s, it was definitely a fun thing to do, with its red tip (did you know that on the bubble gum version the wax paper wrapping

simulates a filtered cigarette?) They are still available with brands being sold in Spiderman, Popeye and Tom and Jerry varieties. What a way to go for those who didnt really want to smoke (mostly due to parents wrath!), but

wanted to look cool anyway!

Straight from that into really smoking? Had to cover your breath somehow...so enter Sen-Sen mints. Still available today, they were marketed as a breath perfume, created by T.B. Dunn company literally to mask the breath of

smokers.

Okay, so I would be re-miss not to add one chocolate fact, since that remains far and above most peoples favorite. Lets take 3 Musketeers.

In 1932, 3 Musketeers was packaged with three (hence the first part of the name) chocolate bars: one vanilla, one strawberry, and one chocolate (hence, the musketeers.)