Cute, chewy gummy candies have provided sweet, entertaining treats for adults and children alike for over a century. From snacking on the candies in a dark movie theater to chowing down on the treats for an afternoon snack, the gummy shapes have amassed a devoted following of candy lovers. Gummy candies have even made their way into cocktail glasses as garnishes for drinks.
These chewy candies can be traced back to Germany in the 1900s. Confectionary factory worker Hans Riegel started tinkering with ingredients and recipes and playedwith the ratio of gelatin in candies. At the time, soft candies had already found an audience, but Riegel decided to shape his treats into the form of small bears. It was his reference to the entertaining dancing bears that were then featured in circus acts. With his recipe finally perfected in 1922, Riegel’s culinary invention found nearly immediate success. Gummy bears captured palates until squiggly worms joined the candies on store shelves in 1981. Gummy Squiggles were made by another German candy company also well known for the development of the popular gummy candy peach rings.
A lasting legacy of chewy sweetness
Before gummy bears and worms delighted eaters with their tastes and shapes, other gummy treats like wine gum and gumdrops offered chewy morsels to tempt palates and curb a demanding sweet tooth. Turkish Delights also provided a sweet, gummy recipe to enjoy, but the form of Riegel’s miniature bears brought a sense of whimsy and delight to a sweet snack that was fun to eat.
The success of the gummy worms — which, admittedly were described as gross at the time — set the precedent for other unique forms of candies to follow, like gummies made in the shape of a rat and a seven-foot long gummy snake that was big enough to be placed upon your shoulders. If you’ve visited a candy shop, you probably have seen shelves of a variety of gummy candies in the shapes of various animals, fruits, and even tiny people (Sour Patch Kids). Regardless of your candy preferences, the enduring legacy of gummy bears and worms and their various revisions of shape and flavor remains a testament to the popularity of sweet, bite-sized fun.
