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.
Click on image to enlarge:
- 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.
Click on image to enlarge:
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.
Click on image to enlarge:
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.
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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 DC.
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