Goo Goo Cluster

A GooGoo Cluster split open
GooGoo Cluster Collector's Tin

The GooGoo Cluster is an American candy bar created in 1912 by Howell Campbell and the Standard Candy Company in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] The disk-shaped candy bar contains marshmallow nougat, caramel, and roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate. Variations include GooGoo Supreme (pecans replace the peanuts) and Peanut Butter GooGoo (peanut butter replaces marshmallow nougat and caramel).

History

GooGoo Cluster is considered the first combination candy bar, meaning it contained several types of candy rather than an all-chocolate bar.[2]

The name is thought to refer to the sound a baby makes.[3]

Originally, the candy was sold, unpackaged, from glass jars only in the factory's local area.[2] At the time of the GooGoo Cluster's invention, there was no automated packaging machinery, so packaging required costly hand work. As a result, packaging was unusual unless the candy (like caramels) required wrapping to keep pieces separate. During the 1920s, after increased public attention to hygiene, the company began wrapping it, and it was sold all over the United States.[2]

Marketing

The candy was sold at the Grand Ole Opry (GOO), which was established in 1925, 13 years after the candy's debut. However, Standard Candy (with particular emphasis on the GooGoo Cluster) was a long-time sponsor of the program.[4][5]

During the 1920s and 1930s, the company advertised Goo Goo Clusters as "a nourishing lunch for a nickel."[2] At this time, the primary nutritional concern was caloric undernourishment, especially for working-class people, and high-calorie candies were promoted as valuable and inexpensive source of food energy.[2]

GooGoo Clusters were given out as prizes on the children's television variety show Wonderama during the 1970s.

References

  1. ↑ "The History of GooGoo Cluster". Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kawash, Samira (2013). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. Faber and Faber. pp. 152–153, 156–157, 163. ISBN 9780374711108.
  3. ↑ "About Goo Goo Cluster". Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Standard Candy Company". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "100 Years of Delicious American Candy History". Forbes. 23 August 2013.

External links

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