Forrest Mars, Sr., son of the founder of the Mars Company Frank C. Mars, invented the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets with a hard shell of tempered chocolate surrounding the inside, preventing the candies from melting. Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941.[3] Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey. When the company was originally founded it was M&M Limited. [4] The two "M's" represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company and Bruce Murrie (son of Hershey's Chocolate president William F. R. Murrie)[5] who had a 20 percent share in the product. The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate which had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.[6]
The practicality of the candies during World War II caused an increase in production and its factory moved to bigger quarters at 200 North 12th Street in Newark, New Jersey where they remained until 1958 when it moved to a bigger factory at Hackettstown, New Jersey. During the war, the candies were exclusively sold to the military. Milk Chocolate M&M's were originally sold in plastic tubes, and not the trademark brown bag that we all know today. The M&M's were also all brown. After the success of M&M's during the war, they were eventually sold to the public. Parents were on board to buy the product, however, M&M's needed something to draw kids in. To do this, commercials with colorful M&M characters were made, an the colors of the candies themselves were changed from all brown to a variety of colors such as red, yellow and green. More colors were added throughout the years. Today, Milk Chocolate M&M's are one of the most popular candies around, and are very successful world wide as they were sold in all the 6 colours Red, Orange, Green, Yellow, Blue and Brown.
Trivia[]
The flavor is very popular.
During world war 2, these were reserved for the military cause they’re simple to carry, heat resistant, and easy to ration out. (Please keep cause its true)
Gallery
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The original tubes that M&M's were sold in.
Package From 2001-2013 (still seen in all stores since 2014)
package seen from 1991-1994
A vintage M&M's bag with the four original colors. Notice how it's labeled "plain" instead of "Milk Chocolate".
A bag released when the color blue was added.
The original "Fun Size" bags before the "Milk Chocolate" re-name.
The "Fun Size" design used after "Plain" M&M's were re-named "Milk Chocolate" M&M's.
The 1.69 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2001-2004 (still seen in some stores since 2005)
The 1.69 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2004-2009
The 5.30 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2004-2009.
The 11.17 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2004-2009
The 11.17 Ounce Bag design that has been used from October 1, 2004-October 31, 2009
The 14 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2004-2007
The 14 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2004-2009
The "Fun Size" bag design used from 2004-2010.
The "Fun Size" bag designs that have been used since 2005
The 11.17 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2005
The 8.20 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2009-2010.
The 9.45 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2009-2010.
The 12.60 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2009-2010.
The 42 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2009-2010.
The 1.69 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2010-2014.
The 3.18 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2010-2014.
The 3.40 Ounce Box design that has been used from 2010-2014.
The 5.30 Ounce Box design that has been used from 2010-2014.
The 81.12 Ounce Box design that has been used from 2010-2014.
The "Fun Size" bag designs that has been used from 2011-2014. (NOTE: These Packages were seen in the United States and South Korea)
The 3.18 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2011-2014.
The 14 Ounce bag design that has been used from 2014-2016.
The "Fun Size" bag designs that have been used from 2014-2020. (NOTE: These Packages were seen in the United States and South Korea)
The 1.69 ounce bag design that has been used from 2014-2020.
The 2.83 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2014-2020
The 3.10 Ounce Box design that has been used from 2014-2020
The 10.53 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2014-2020
The bag design that was used since 2016.
The 81.12 Ounce Box Design that was used from 2014-2020
The 3.14 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2017-2020
The 5.30 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2017-2020 (NOTE: These Packages were seen in the United States and South Korea)
The 5.50 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2017-2020
The 10.70 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2017-2020
The 19.20 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2017-2020
The current 62 Ounce Tub design that has been used since 2019 (NOTE: These Packages were seen at BJ's Wholesale Club and Sam's Club)
The current 1.69 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The current 1.72 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The current 2.55 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The current 3.14 Ounce Box design that has been used since 2020
The current 3.14 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The current 5.16 Ounce Bottle design that has been used since 2020
The current 5.50 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The Current 8.09 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The current 10.53 Ounce Bags that has been used between 2020-2021
The 10.70 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2020-2021
The current 19.20 Ounce Bag design that has been used from 2020-2021
The current 1.30 Ounce Bag design that has been used between 2020-2022
The current Fun Size bags that has been used between 2020-2024 (NOTE: These Packages were seen in the United States and South Korea)
The current 5.30 Ounce Bag design that has been used between 2020-2024 (NOTE: These Packages were seen in the United States and South Korea)
The Current 10 Ounce Bags that has been used between 2022-2024
The Current 18 Ounce Bags that has been used between 2022-2024
The current 14 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The Current 38 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2020
The Current 60.84 Ounce Box design that has been used since 2020
The Current 75.36 Ounce Box design that has been used since 2020
The Current 81.12 Ounce Box design that has been used since 2020
The current 1.30 Ounce Bag design that has been used since 2022
The Current 10 Ounce Bags that has been used since 2024
Here is a shot of M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies that come in 2 Christmas colors (Red and Green) from 2011-onwards
Here is a shot of M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies that come in 3 Halloween colors (Orange, Purple and Electric Green)
Here is a shot of M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies that come in 3 Patriotic colors (Red, White and Blue)
Here is a shot of M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies that come in 4 Valentine's Day colors (Red, Pink, Dark Pink and White)
Here is a shot of M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies that come in 6 colors (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Orange and Brown)
Here is a shot of M&M's Milk Chocolate Candies that come in 22 colors as seen at M&M's Stores
The 100 Calorie bag design that has been used from 2014-2020
