Candy corn was invented in the 1880s, and oral histories credit George Renninger, an employee of the Wunderle Candy Company in Philadelphia, with creating it.
According to the National Confectioners Association, Wunderle was the first company to sell the three-colored kernels, which are made mainly of sugar and corn syrup. The candy came out when companies were molding mellowcreme into shapes of farm products such as pumpkins, chestnuts and turnips, at a time when farmers made up about half of the American labor force. Its innovation was three hand-layered colors. The Goelitz Candy Company, now the Jelly Belly Candy Company, picked up the recipe in 1898 and popularized it under the name “Chicken Feed,” because corn was then seen mostly as animal food. Candy corn was sold year-round as a penny candy and only became the signature Halloween treat after Halloween turned candy-centered in the 1950s. The National Confectioners Association estimates that more than 35 million pounds are sold each year, and National Candy Corn Day falls on October 30.
Source: HISTORY, “Who Invented Candy Corn?”
Image: Candy corn, Evan-Amos, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.