National M&M Day

History of National M&M Day

Invented in 1941, these tiny little bits of candy coated chocolate have made a huge impact on American history throughout their more than 80 years of life!

The inspiration behind M&Ms started during the Spanish Civil War when Forrest Mars Sr. (of the Mars Candy Company), who lived in England at the time, began making small bits of chocolate with a candy shell coating that would keep them from melting as easily.

Following this inspiration, M&Ms were created by the Mars Candy Company and these little candies have brought joy to millions of people over the years.

During World War II, M&Ms were made exclusively available to the United States military who provided them to their soldiers. Packed in cardboard tubes, these heat resistant and easily transported candies became part of the US soldiers’ rations during the war.

But it wasn’t until 1950, after the war, that M&Ms finally got their now iconic little “m” stamp. After copycat companies came about, M&Ms customers were encouraged with a marketing program to “look for the ‘m’ on every piece”.

In 1981, M&Ms became the first candy to ever go up into space! The very same reasons that these little candies were handy for wartime rations also made them perfect for travel into space. NASA’s first space shuttle, Columbia, took the little candies out of the earth’s orbit and into space.

Now, National M&M Day is here to pay honor to this candy that has been so much a part of American culture and is certainly beloved all over the world!