Junior Mints
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Junior Mints are a candy currently produced by Tootsie Roll Industries. They are small rounds of mint cream filling in dark chocolate coating, sold packaged in a single-serving box.
Junior Mints were created in the mid-1940s by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based James O. Welch Co., manufacturers of candies and candy bars such as Sugar Babies and Welch's Fudge. The name supposedly came from the Sally Benson stories in The New Yorker that were collected into a book Junior Miss, made into a theatrical play, and then a radio show starring Shirley Temple. In 1963, the brand was acquired by Nabisco, who later sold the brand to Warner-Lambert Company (now part of Pfizer), who in turn sold the brand to Tootsie Roll in 1993. Today Junior Mints are still manufactured in Cambridge.
Junior Mints are sold in many venues, but are particularly popular in movie theatres.
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[edit] Junior Mints in popular culture
In Eddie Murphy Raw, Murphy refers to Junior Mints alongside Bon Bons and Jujyfruits in a piece about an Italian challenging an African-American at a sweetshop [1]. Junior Mints were featured prominently in an episode of Seinfeld (The Junior Mint). Kramer – while observing the surgery of Elaine's boyfriend Roy – accidentally drops a Junior Mint into the retracted abdominal cavity in a struggle with Jerry. After Roy's condition deteriorates, Jerry calls the hospital intending to confess the whole situation only to discover that Roy's condition has improved. The doctor attributes the miraculous recovery to "something beyond science – something, perhaps, from above."
Several other candies were strategically placed within the plot of the show – either as paid product placement or otherwise. "Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint -- it's delicious!" Kramer, to which Jerry replies "That's True"
[edit] Junior Mints Today
There are over 15 million Junior Mints produced a day. Tootsie Roll also makes Junior Caramels (caramel filling) and limited edition "Inside Outs" (chocolate filling with a mint coating).
Junior Mints are also sold in Australia, through discount department store chain Big W.
Junior Mints are not vegetarian as they contain gelatin, a thickener made from the boiling of animal hides and bones. However, in the UK and Canada, agar is used in place of gelatin, making these Junior Mints vegetarian.
[edit] References
- Broekel, Ray (1982) The Great American Candy Bar Book, Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN 0-395-32502-1
"James O. Welch Dies at 79; Founder of Candy Company", New York Times, February 1, 1985, accessed on New York Times website 11 May 2006 [2]
[edit] External links
| Confectionery products of Tootsie Roll Industries |
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| Andes Chocolate Mint | Blow Pops | Caramel Apple Pops | Cella's | Charleston Chew | Child's Play | Crows | Cry Baby | Dots Dubble Bubble | Fluffy Stuff | Frooties | Wack-O-Wax Lips | Junior Mints | Nik-L-Nip | Razzles | Sugar Daddy | Sugar Babies Tootsie Pop | Tootsie Roll |
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