Tootsie Pop

Tootsie Pops are hard candy lollipops filled with chocolate-flavored chewy Tootsie Roll. They were invented in 1931 by Lukas R. "Luke" Weisgram, an employee of The Sweets Company of America. The company changed its name to Tootsie Roll Industries in 1969.

The candy debuted to the public in 1931. In addition to chocolate (the original flavor), Tootsie Pops come in cherry, orange, caramel, grape, raspberry, strawberry, watermelon, blue raspberry, candy cane (seasonal), and now, pomegranate, banana, blueberry, and green apple flavors. Another release of Tootsie Roll Pops, named Tropical Stormz, features six swirl-textured flavors: orange pineapple, lemon lime, strawberry banana, apple blueberry, citrus punch, and berry berry punch.

In 2002, 60,000,000 Tootsie Rolls and twenty million Tootsie Pops were produced every day.

Development

At an office meeting employees were asked to share any ideas for new candies. Mr. Weisgram had been thinking beforehand. Just the other day, Clara, his daughter, had shared a lick of her lollipop, and at the same time, Weisgram had a Tootsie Roll in his mouth. He thought about how good it tasted and up popped an idea. The board loved his idea and began to plan for the creation of this new candy. Committees were formed and changes made until finally everything was ready. Tootsie Pops are produced up to this day and additional flavors are added once every while.