We've all at some point
in our lives tried these cute little
round candies they were real joyous
children we got to taste different
flavors and even trade with our friends
we would play games and stick our
fingers through them however sometimes
it's not all fun as there's something
sinister behind these colorful candies
here are 10 lifesaver facts that will
change your life
what like a candy maple sugar sugar and
syrup yes Clarence Crane the inventor of
lifesavers was a successful businessman
his father was a maple sugar producer
and Clarence worked with him until 1903
when he then decided to branch out and
form his own company
his company quickly emerged as the
largest producer of maple sugar in the
world two years later
Clarence sold his maple sugar business
and started the Queen Victoria Chocolate
Company he realized that many people
refused to buy chocolate in the summer
months because they melted easily in the
heat oh god it's so hot so in 1912 he
invented a summer candy which was
peppermint that could withstand the heat
he later got the idea to change the
shape of the candy to resemble a
traditional ring style life-preserver
also known as a lifesaver he did this to
compete with the European mints that
were square and flat initially
lifesavers only came in peppermint
flavor crane marketed the candy as
peppermint lifesavers as a breath mint
flaming on the packaging that it was for
that stormy breath in 1913 Crain sold
the rights to lifesavers to a New York
candy manufacturer they changed the
packaging to better preserve the candy
and market at the candy to saloon owners
to give their patrons in order to
improve their breath after drinking and
smoking lifesavers soared into
popularity the company was sold for
$2,900 after trademarking the company in
1912 Crain sold the rights to peppermint
to edward noble in 1913 for a mere
$2,900 Edward Noble already a candy
industrialist and later
founder of ABC American Broadcasting
Company was rich and famous in
zone right Nobel helped promote the
lifesavers brand and turn it into what
it is today
he changed things by eliminating the
cardboard packaging which was
unsuccessful and repackaged them to keep
the mints pressure this process was done
by hand until 1919 until his brother
Robert Nobel developed machinery to
streamline the process
Robert was CEO and primary shareholder
of a lifesavers brand for more than 40
years until it merged with Beechnut in
1956 together they significantly
expanded the market by installing
lifesavers displays next to every cash
register at a restaurants and grocery
stores he also encouraged owners of
these establishments to give customers a
nickel in change to encourage sales the
slogan still only five cents helped
lifesavers to become a favorite treat
for children crane remained involved in
the candy business for the remainder of
his life but not with lifesavers he
formed another company called the crane
Chocolate Company in 1916 it did well
but not as well as the lifesavers brand
did with future generations our
generations got everything under control
a pharmaceutical accident it was an
accident there are no accidents the
whole notion came about accidentally
while crane was at the pharmacy
purchasing flavoring extracts he noticed
their pill making machine producing
round flat pills and figured this would
be perfect for his peppermints single
punch tableting machines are commonly
used in the pharmaceutical industry
their high speed machines they create
thousands of tablets in a small period
of time
crane hired a pill manufacturer to make
the package for his mints
what are you but there was an issue the
pill machine kept poking holes in the
middle of the candy crane thought they
looked like life preservers and that's
what he called them lifesavers in 1925
technology improved to allow a hole in
the center of fruit candies introduced
as the fruit drop with the hole and came
in orange lemon and lime each package in
their own separate roles the new flavors
quickly became popular with the public
especially the kids
candy the gift that keeps on giving
would you like it gift-wrapped in the
late 1930s and early 1940s five new mint
flavors were introduced Milazzo mint
spearmint charcoal mint stick Oh PAP and
Christo mint aside from the mints for
original clear drop candy flavors were
introduced shortly thereafter they were
a nice butter rum Cola and root beer
these were not as popular as the fruit
drop flavors and were eventually
discontinued in 1927 cherry flavor was
introduced and subsequently a cough drop
with menthol but it was not successful
either kids don't usually like medicinal
flavored anything the same year also saw
a new tropical flavor pineapple
everyone's favorite the classic five
flavor rolls were introduced in 1935
pineapple lime orange cherry and lemon
really with my lemons aside from that
the flavor lineup hasn't changed for
nearly 70 years it wasn't until 2003
that three of the flavors were replaced
making the rolls pineapple cherry
raspberry watermelon and Blackberry
however orange was subsequently
reintroduced and blackberry was dropped
in 1992 lifesavers gummies were
introduced to the lineup of lifesaver
products the flavors came in three
varieties five flavors grape and mixed
berry that being said the only thing
that really changed throughout the years
has been ownership as its merged and was
bought out by different companies over
time you're at a company now you have to
find your right place all about mergers
and acquisitions when we formalize this
merger are there any outstanding
questions we might address the
lifesavers brand went through a series
of mergers and acquisitions which began
in 1958 being relatively untouched for
forty five years is a good track record
but did you know that they also
purchased Beechnut life in 1968 a
company that's well known for selling
baby food 13 years later it was taken
over by squib which is better known as a
pharmaceutical company in 2000 abisco
bought it over Nabisco is better known
for its cookies and they wanted to get
into the snack food business business
that didn't last long either before
Kraft gobbled them up today
it's owned by the Mars company yes the
chocolate makers and it's more in line
with the snack food business in Canada
where things are always different and in
a class of their own the Canadian life
savers company was acquired by chocolate
makers Hershey Canada and then by beta
brands and eventually by Kraft Foods
they also expanded their line to include
the lifesavers gummies lifesavers
Minnie's cream savers and lifesavers
fusions
discontinued varieties include fruit
juicers poles lifesaver lollipops and
squeeze it in 1995 a lifesavers drink
was introduced to compete with Snapple
and Fruitopia but was quickly
discontinued old holiday traditions
happy human holiday dad lifesavers has
kept its squeaky-clean image for many
years in fact they have been a model of
political correctness
they were so loved that during World War
two other candy manufacturers donated
their sugar rations to keep lifesavers
in production for the Armed Forces as a
reminder of home in the eighties they
had a special holiday edition gift set
for kids that were particularly good all
year round the box story book contained
a full-time roles of different flavors
there's lots of flavors out there set in
a book called the sweet storybook the
lifesaver book was packed with the
classic flavor roll with a lifesaver
flavor pack it was always exciting or
disappointing to see what flavour came
up next yes--you Christmas Garrett the
inventor son committed suicide this will
be the mistake of your life lifesavers
was invented by Clarence Crane in the
early 1900s in Jarrettsville Ohio USA he
may be well known for having invented
this popular candy but he also had a
famous son Hart Crane Hart was hailed as
being one of the most influential poets
of the century born in 1899 Clarence's
only son Hart Crane had many issues his
mother Grace Edna suffer from mental
illness his parents marriage was a
difficult one and they divorced in 1917
he dropped out of high school moved to
New York and took different copywriting
jobs living with different friends and
became a heavy drinker in the early
1920s
some literary magazines published some
of his work and he gained notoriety
it was while working on his epic poem
the bridge that his drinking got worse
became a serious problem while in Paris
in 1929 he started a brawl over a tab at
a bar he was beaten arrested in jailed
you are under arrest you have the right
to remain silent
after six days in prison a friend bailed
him out and gave him some money to go
back to New York where he finished his
work but it received poor reviews and
the sense of failure became too much for
him to handle while in Mexico on a
fellowship in 1932 his drinking
continued as he suffered bouts of
depression and struggled with his
personal demons on a voyage back from
the Caribbean in 1932 he committed
suicide by jumping overboard the ship or
Abaza while traveling back to New York
after hours of search and rescue the
body was declared lost at sea and was
never recovered never seen a dead body
before have you
urban legend but what et well it's
nervin legend yes there's an urban
legend around this favorite candy which
is such that the inventor created the
life Reserva style candy after his
daughter choked to death his reasoning
for creating the lifesaver candy with a
hole in the middle was that so if it
lodged in your throat you would still be
able to breathe through the hole in the
candy hence the name it is said that the
inventor created it so to prevent anyone
else from choking to death
further urban legend has it that he was
so distraught after his daughter's death
he committed suicide so we all know by
now that this urban legend is false
Clarence Crain did not have a daughter
he only had a son by the name of Harold
Hart Crane who lived to the ripe age of
43 his son never choked on any candy and
died but rather committed suicide from
depression Clarence Crane also did not
kill himself he went on to become a
successful businessman he went on to
other ventures and started other
companies he died a year before his son
killed himself and never got to see his
heirs demise
he's got the sign of the times yes
when I first began lifesavers only came
in peppermint flavor and was more of a
mint than a candy then called peppermint
crane came up with a slogan for that
stormy breath playing on the nautical
theme it may sound gross but it worked
cranes lifesavers also had an ironic
popularity since it was also the year
the Titanic was lost at sea in 1912 for
years to come the ads centered around
its shape and images of the water beach
life and the sea emphasizing its
freshman flavors and fresh breath after
lifesavers was sold to Edward Noble
their marketing changed to focus more on
children they used the slogan still only
five cents highlight its affordable cost
it was also marketed as the candy with a
hole which was obvious to everyone
what's so obvious about it during the
Depression and times of war it was hard
to get sugar in candy and it was
considered a luxury item so Edward Noble
marketed it as a more affordable product
and small treat to make people forget
about hard times lifesavers became part
of American history slogans such as fish
in your pocket for a little old nickel
and for a breathtaking rescue it catered
mostly to children who would play games
with the candy and quickly pop them in
their mouths get my van I'll give you
some candy okay
all the flavors you can imagine combined
one flavor with another we all know they
started off as mints the original flavor
was peppermint six years later six other
flavors were introduced wintergreen
clove licorice cinnamon violet chocolate
and these remain the standard flavors
until the late 1920s nice play on words
trying to figure them out when the
company began to produce solid fruit
drops with holes in the center they came
in orange lemon and lime each packaged
in their own separate roles until they
created the five flavor pack in 1935 in
1931 the lifesavers cough drop was
introduced with menthol but it was not
successful either the same year brought
us pineapple and cherry in 1932 a new
variety of mints called Crystal mint was
introduced the classic five flavor roles
offered a selection of five different
flavors pineapple lime orange cherry and
lemon and
2003 three of the flavors were replaced
making the five flavors pineapple cherry
raspberry watermelon and blackberry but
the best blackberries are right at the
very top in the late 1930s and early
1940s for new mint flavors were
introduced Milazzo mint spearmint choco
mint and stick Apep in 1981 once
purchased by Nabisco brands some mint
flavors including clove violet licorice
and cinnamon were discontinued due to
poor sales
Nabisco introduced a new cinnamon flavor
called hot cinnamon the other original
mint flavors were retired and a number
of other flavors were also quickly
discontinued in 2004 Wrigley introduced
two new mint flavors orange mint and
sweet mint and revived wintergreen still
waiting for other magical flavors it's
hard to plan something to be magical you
know we've got more than life savers on
the menu so stick around and tap on one
of our other great videos first time
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