People are only just realising what ‘M&M’s’ stands for after all these years

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Most of us like to indulge in a little chocolate treat every now and again.

And M&M's are one of the most popular brands out there.

The multi-coloured button-shaped chocolates, which consist of a candy shell and various fillings have been on supermarket shelves since 1941.

The original candy has a semi-sweet chocolate filling, however now there are tons of variations, including peanut butter, almond, pretzel, crispy, dark chocolate, and caramel.

And although many of us may eat the sweet treat on the regular, a lot of us don't know the background behind the product.

Where did M&M's come from?

M&M's are the flagship product of the Mars Wrigley Confectionery division of Mars, Incorporated and they originated over in the US.

The candy-coated chocolate concept was reportedly inspired by a method used to allow soldiers in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)[3] to carry chocolate in warm climates without it melting.

This inspired its longest-lasting slogan – 'Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.'

What does M&M's actually stand for?

Although M&M's are a household name and many people have been eating them for years, some are only just finding out what M&M actually stands for.

As you probably know, M&M's are made by Mars, Inc., which most people probably think of as Mars Candy Company or just Mars.

So you'd be right in thinking that one of the 'M's'' stands for Mars.

But what is the other one for?

It actually stands for Murrie, meaning that the full name of M&Ms means Mars and Murrie.

So who is Murrie?

Well, he is the guy who helped develop the iconic candy-coated chocolate pieces with Mars.

In this case, the Mars was not Frank Mars, but his son Forrest Mars.

Frank Mars, who was the founder of Mars,married Ethel G. Kissack in 1902, while running his first wholesale candy business.

Forrest Mars, their son, was born in 1904.

Frank and Ethel's money situation was not good, and when they ran out of cash in 1910, Ethel wanted a divorce, and the two went their separate ways. This caused Frank to be estranged from his son.

He married a second time, to a woman also called Ethel, and moved to Tacoma and began making nougat, however he still failed to make a go of it.

He left Tacoma in 1920 and returned to Minnesota, where he founded another candy company, called the Mar-O-Bar Company, named after the candy bar of the same name, which had caramel, nuts, and chocolate.

During this time, he reunited with his son, and Forrest entered his father’s business. The two changed the name of the company to Mars, Inc.

Forrest decided to enlist the help of competitor Hershey for help with M&Ms, and went to the office of William Murrie, who had taken over the day-to-day operations of the company from Milton Hershey.

He pitched the idea of sweets and Murrie reportedly couldn’t help but be impressed.

Forest ended up entering into partnership with Murrie’s son, which resulted in the origin of the M&M's name.

The first 'M' stands for Mars, and the second 'M' stands for Murrie, meaning Bruce Murrie. The two called the new company, which began operation in 1940, M&M Ltd.

You learn something new everyday, eh?

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