Melts in your mouth... not in your hand
I like candy a lot. I mean, I am a real sucker for sweet stuff. I guess this is becoming obvious because I am eyeing what is left of my Easter candy and running google on M&M and Starburst Jellybeans? Why? Well, because since I started thinking about how candy is wrapped in shiny colored wrappers, I have started wondering about things like, How is the "m" placed on M&Ms and why they are not all crushed by the pressure of a candy ink press? Better yet, what about that "Starburst" on Starburst Jellybeans? Is the cost and the effort worth it? Don't you know you are eating an M&M? Is it over kill to have the "m" placed on the candy? These are the things that keep me up at night when I am not obsessed with house matters. I think about my second obsession- chocolate.

So, I went to the source and found out some things I did not know about M&Ms. I even took a short survey to win $500. That would buy a lot of paint. But, I digress. I looked up M&Ms and I got a new education on one of my favorite candies. I found out how they put the "m" on M&Ms, but not why they put it there, so I have sent an email that may or may not ever get answered, to ask about that. Now, the "m" is place on the candy with a machine designed especially for M&Ms. It is specially calibrated so the candy shell is not crushed during the process. Even better, for those who remember this one, in 1954 the imprinted "m" was changed from black to white. And I now know where the phrase "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" came from. This was not a mere marketing ply, no, no... As legend has it, Forrest Mars, Sr. while on a trip to Spain encountered soldiers eating pellets of chocolate encased in a hard sugary coating. The coating was to prevent the chocolate pellets from melting. So when Mars developed his plain M&M candies, this characteristic was used to entice the public to give these little candies to their children and to enjoy these candies themselves because it would not produce the unwelcome effect that a messy chocolate bar would.

M&Ms were first distributed to American GI's during the second world war and by the late 1940's they were widely found in the public. As a chocolate and a history lover, it is a joy to find that two of my favorite things go hand and hand.

Hopefully, I will have an answer soon to the rest of my burning questions. Now, next time I will address the wasted effort of the design of a beer can label (especially cheap beer). You know what I am talking about. Like we would not buy Busch Light if it was only a silver can with "Beer" on it. Beer is not like books at all.... Don't get me started, I could go for hours...