With Halloween coming soon, that means only one thing really: candy.
Anyone who trick-or-treated as a child knows that there's always one or two houses that dish out some obscure candy. So, as we did last year, between now and October 31st, we'll take quick looks at obscure candies (and some popular ones as well), just so you know what exactly you're getting yourself into.
Today: Junior Mints
What it's made of: sugar, semi-sweet chocolate, corn syrup, confectioner's glaze, modified food starch, peppermint oil, invertase (an enzyme), and more pop culture references than it deserves.
Who owns it: Tootsie Roll Industries
Background: Created in 1949 by the now-defunct James O. Welch company in Cambridge, MA, the candy was following in the popular tradition of dark chocolate/mint combination candies, like the York Peppermint Pattie, only smaller.
When deciding upon a name, Welch chose to name his new candy after his favorite Broadway play, a 1941-1943 hit called Junior Miss--because go vague with your candy references, y'know?--which was later made into a movie and a radio series. IMDB gives the movie a 7.2 out of 10, so it's better than any Adam Sandler movie from the past decade.
Junior Mints have often been referred to in pop culture, maybe most famously for an episode of Seinfeld, appropriately named "The Junior Mint," where, while observing a surgery, Kramer accidentally lobs one of the candies into the patient.
Much like observing surgeries, today Junior Mints are staples of movie theaters, mainly purchased by parents who don't feel like losing a tooth on their kid's Twizzler.
What it tastes like: A York Peppermint Pattie with low expectations.
Halloween Trick-or-Treat Grade: B+
It's great for that nebbish bookworm of a kid who wants nothing to do with your Starbursts or Milky Ways.
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