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Junior Mints’ history stems from a far-right wing political founder to an unforgettable Seinfeld episode.
Junior Mints was invented by Charles Vaughan.
Vaughan was a pioneering food chemist who created not only Junior Mints but also Sugar Babies. To make these groundbreaking candies he is best known for developing pan chocolate techniques.
According to legend, the recipe took several months of trial and error to perfect the process.
Junior Mints was manufactured and distributed by James O. Welch Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Back in the early 1940s there was a popular broadway show called “Junior Miss”. The show was based on Sally Benons’s stories from The New Yorker. The show lasted on Broadway from 1941 to 1943.
Junior Mints actually was named after the hit show as the company was trying to link the candy to the entertainment of the time.
Junior Mints were initially sold for just a nickel.
It was pitched as a mint-flavored candy but also came in multiple flavors: raspberry and vanilla.
The box design was engineered for easy pouring in dark movie theaters. It’s still a favorite for movie goers in the modern age.
James O. Welch Company was founded by James O. Welch and his brother Robert W. Welch Jr. in 1927.
The Welch brothers are notorious for founding the John Birch Society later on. Which was and still is a far right political group.
The company is most known for producing Junior Mints and Sugar Babies. But they produced other candy brands as well.
This was a great time to start a candy business as there were advancements in candy making machinery and the steam engine was helping companies to distribute their product nationwide.
Ownership changed hands multiple times: Nabisco (1963) → Warner-Lambert (1988) → Tootsie Roll Industries (1993)
The factory that first manufactured Junior Mints was located in an area known as “Confectioner’s Row.”
It was an area of Cambridge, Massachusetts with over 65 candy companies/factories in the 1940s. The Candy hub included famous candies like NECCO wafers, Junior Mints and Charleston Chews.
Back in the 40s and 50s, the entire neighborhood smelled like mint and chocolate.
Today, the only factory left is owned by Tootsie Roll Industries where they still produce Junior Mints to this day.
In the modern day, Junior Mints gained additional fame from an unlikely source. Seinfeld.
In the 1993 Seinfeld episode, Cosmo Kramer accidentally drops a Junior Mint into an open cavity of a patient during surgery, while observing from the operating theater.
This Seinfeld episode led to a significant boost in Junior Mint sales.
Junior Mints is still manufactured in the same Cambridge location after 75 years of operation. Though owned by Tootsie Roll Industries.
Tootsie Roll produces over 15 million Junior Mints daily.
The factory is also known for still making sugar babies and Charleston Chews.
The candy is still recognized as one of Americas’ favorite treats for its chocolate minty flavor and nostalgic appeal.
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