Tootsie Roll: The Penny Candy That Became America's Biggest Candy Empire
Tootsie Roll: The Penny Candy That Became America's Biggest Candy Empire
In 1896, Leo Hirschfield — an Austrian Jewish immigrant to the United States and the son of a candy maker — started making a new kind of chocolate candy at a small shop in Brooklyn, New York. He wanted something that would not melt in the summer heat, something that could be sold cheaply, and something that could be individually wrapped to set it apart from the bulk candy that filled most shop jars of the era. He named the candy after his daughter, Clara, whose nickname was Tootsie. The price was one penny.That penny candy became the first individually wrapped confectionery product in American history, the candy that soldiers carried into two world wars, the candy that may have saved a regiment of Marines in Korea, and the origin point of one of the largest candy empires in the United States. Tootsie Roll Industries today produces 64 million Tootsie Rolls and 20 million Tootsie Pops every single day — and those two products are only part of a portfolio that also includes Dots, Junior Mints, Blow Pops, Charms Fluffy Stuff Cotton Candy and Dubble Bubble.
The First Individually Wrapped Penny Candy
The specific innovation that made the Tootsie Roll significant was not its flavour but its packaging. Before Hirschfield's candy, American penny candy was sold loose — scooped from bulk jars, handled by the shopkeeper, and handed over in paper bags or directly into the customer's hand. Hirschfield wrapped each candy individually. This kept the product clean, prevented the pieces from sticking together, saved retailers time during busy periods, and crucially, gave each piece its own distinct identity. The individual wrapper was the product's first competitive advantage.The texture was the second. Before modern refrigeration, chocolate melted in summer heat, which made it a seasonal product in practice if not in theory. Hirschfield's candy used cocoa, sugar and condensed milk in a specific combination and low baking process that produced a texture the patent described as a 'peculiar mellow consistency' — firm enough to hold its shape in warm weather, soft enough to chew. It was not chocolate in the strict sense, but it delivered the flavour of chocolate in a format that could survive an August afternoon. The patent was filed in 1907 and awarded in 1908.
By 1905, demand had driven a move from the original Brooklyn shop to a five-story factory in Manhattan. By 1917, the company had merged with Stern & Saalberg and been renamed the Sweets Company of America. By 1922, it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Hirschfield did not survive to see the listing — he had been forced out of the company he founded in 1920 and died in 1922. The candy that bore his daughter's nickname would outlast him by more than a century. For more on the heritage of American sweets with this kind of longevity, see the guide to American sweets older than your grandparents.
Two World Wars and a Penny Candy
Tootsie Rolls went to war twice. During the Second World War, the US military included Tootsie Rolls in every American soldier's field ration. The selection criteria were practical: the candy was non-perishable, did not melt in heat, provided a rapid source of sugar energy, and was small and lightweight enough to carry without adding meaningful burden to an already heavy pack. The individual wrapping that had been Hirschfield's commercial innovation became a military advantage. Tootsie Rolls were distributed to American soldiers across every theatre of the war from the Pacific to North Africa to Europe.The Korean War produced the most remarkable story in the candy's history. During the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in November and December 1950, a regiment of US Marines found themselves encircled by Chinese forces in temperatures as low as -36°C. Ammunition was critically short. A radio operator called for resupply using the code word for 60mm mortar shells: 'Tootsie Rolls.' The operator who received the call was not familiar with the code. He read the message literally and arranged an airdrop of actual Tootsie Roll candy.
Dozens of cases of Tootsie Rolls landed in the middle of a besieged Marine position in sub-zero Korea. The Marines ate them. In the extreme cold, the Tootsie Rolls provided quick calories when there was nothing else. But the candy did something else entirely: soldiers discovered that softened Tootsie Roll, shaped around a bullet hole or crack in a fuel line, would freeze solid at those temperatures and create a temporary but functional seal. Marines used Tootsie Rolls to plug holes in jeep radiators and fuel lines that would otherwise have left vehicles immobile in the snow. Survivors of the Chosin Reservoir have spoken about Tootsie Rolls in interviews for decades since. The candy that was sent by accident may have helped save lives.
The Tootsie Pop and the Question That Has Never Been Answered
In 1931, an employee of the Sweets Company of America named Luke Weisgram was chewing a Tootsie Roll while eating his daughter's lollipop. The combination suggested a product. Weisgram's idea — a hard-candy lollipop with a Tootsie Roll centre — launched in 1931 as the Tootsie Pop, priced to be affordable during the Depression. It was an immediate success.In 1969, the advertising agency Doner Company created what would become one of the most watched commercials in American television history. A small boy asks a sequence of animals how many licks it takes to reach the Tootsie Roll centre of a Tootsie Pop. A fox, a turtle and a cow all confess they do not know. The boy asks Mr. Owl, who accepts the pop, counts two licks — then bites. 'Three,' says Mr. Owl. The commercial ran on American television for over twenty years. The question it posed has never been formally answered. Academic studies attempting to determine the actual number have produced estimates ranging from 144 to more than a thousand, depending on methodology. Mr. Owl's answer of three remains, statistically, implausible.
Pop Culture: Cowboys, Crooners and the Longest TV Commercial in History
From the 1940s, Tootsie Roll Industries built relationships with some of the biggest names in American entertainment. Gene Autry — the singing cowboy who was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the wartime era — appeared in Tootsie Roll advertising in the 1940s. Frank Sinatra, a generation later, was a well-documented Tootsie Roll enthusiast. A 1976 newspaper column confirmed he had been 'goofy about Tootsie Rolls' since childhood, and the official Tootsie history page includes a period advertisement featuring Sinatra. Tootsie Rolls also appear to have been the candy equivalent of a lifelong relationship for him — the product became associated with his name in a way that few confectionery brands manage with any celebrity.In 1943, at the height of wartime, the company created Captain Tootsie — an advertisement comic strip hero drawn by C.C. Beck, the same artist who had just created Captain Marvel (now Shazam) for Fawcett Comics. Captain Tootsie and his young sidekick Rollo appeared in full-colour Sunday strips and black-and-white dailies in newspapers across the country. Using a superhero to sell penny candy to children who were growing up during wartime was both commercially astute and culturally specific to the early 1940s. Beck's involvement gives Captain Tootsie an unexpected place in the history of American comic book art.
In the 1950s, Tootsie Roll became a television sponsor for two of the defining programmes of American children's television: Howdy Doody and Rocky & Bullwinkle. A generation of American children grew up with Tootsie Roll as the candy associated with their favourite Saturday morning characters. Then came the commercial that made the brand immortal.
The 'How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll centre of a Tootsie Pop?' commercial debuted in 1969. In the original 60-second animated spot, a small boy asks a cow, a fox and a turtle the question. Each confesses they cannot answer without biting. Mr. Owl is the final authority. He counts: 'A-one, a two-hoo, three...' — then bites. The world may never know. Mr. Owl was voiced by Paul Winchell, who also provided the voice of Tigger in Disney's Winnie the Pooh films. The commercial is, according to Wikipedia, the longest-running television commercial in US history — it ran in various edits for over fifty years. The Mr. Owl commercial was remade in September 2025 with new animation and new voice actors, with Mr. Turtle and Mr. Owl returning alongside the boy, now dressed for the first time in the history of the advertisement.
The Tootsie Roll story from the 1970s onwards is largely a story of acquisition — a series of purchases that turned a single-product candy company into one of the largest and most diverse confectionery businesses in America.
Dots (1972). The acquisition of Mason Brands brought Dots into the portfolio — the fruit-flavoured gumdrop that has sat in American cinema concession stands since 1945. The range includes Halloween and Christmas seasonal formats alongside the year-round core.
Blow Pops and Charms (1988). The $65 million acquisition of the Charms Company brought in Blow Pops — the bubble gum-filled lollipop — and Charms Fluffy Stuff Cotton Candy, making Tootsie Roll Industries the world's largest lollipop producer overnight. The Charms range includes Halloween seasonal formats. For the broader lollipop story, see the lollipop guide and the bubblegum history.
Junior Mints (1993). Created in 1949 by the James O. Welch Company and named after the Broadway show Junior Miss, Junior Mints are the dark chocolate mint that became the defining cinema candy for a generation of American moviegoers. Seasonal Christmas formats are in the S&G range alongside the year-round theatre box.
Dubble Bubble (2004). The acquisition of Concord Confections brought in Dubble Bubble — the original American branded bubble gum, created in 1928 by Walter Diemer, an accountant who stumbled on a formula that could blow a bubble while experimenting in his spare time.
The Range at Sweet and Glory
The Tootsie Industries range at Sweet and Glory spans all six brands across more than 100 active variants. Tootsie Rolls run from the 63g retail size through to 13.6kg bulk bags. Tootsie Frooties cover eleven flavours in 1.1kg bags. Tootsie Pops come in original and Wildberry box formats. Junior Mints, Dots, Blow Pops, Charms Fluffy Stuff Cotton Candy and Dubble Bubble each have their own dedicated range. The seasonal offer is particularly strong — Ghost Dots and Witches Brew Cotton Candy for Halloween, Tootsie Roll Elf Bites and Dots Lumps of Coal for Christmas, and the USA Flag Midgees for the 4th July. Browse the brand page for the full selection.For Retailers: The Tootsie Industries Opportunity
One company, every occasion. The breadth of the Tootsie Industries portfolio at Sweet and Glory means a single supplier relationship covers the American theatre candy category (Junior Mints, Dots, Tootsie Pops), the lollipop category (Blow Pops, Charms), the gum category (Dubble Bubble), the cotton candy category (Fluffy Stuff), the chewy candy category (Tootsie Rolls, Frooties) and both Halloween and Christmas seasonal lines. For retailers building an American candy section, this is unusual range depth from one supplier.The seasonal range is exceptional. Ghost Dots, Witches Brew and Spider Web Cotton Candy, Junior Mints Halloween, and Tootsie Caramel Apple Pops for Halloween. Elf Bites, Dots Lumps of Coal and Junior Mints Christmas Minis for Christmas. The USA Flag Midgees for the 4th July. Few American candy brands generate this volume of seasonal variant content from a single product family.
Heritage plus novelty. Tootsie Rolls and Junior Mints carry genuine 1890s and 1940s heritage that resonates with adult buyers making nostalgic purchases. Blow Pops and Dubble Bubble sit at the playful, novelty end of the category. Cotton Candy connects to the fairground tradition. The portfolio spans the full emotional register of American confectionery — from nostalgia to novelty to seasonal occasion — in a way that few candy families can match.
