THE UNKNOWN HISTORY OF SUGAR BABIES (CANDY)

Before Sugar Babies were launched, the precursor to the popular candy can be traced to The Sugar Daddy candy, launched in 1925 by The James O. Welch Company (famous for Junior Mints) under the name “Papa Sucker.”

It was America’s first milk caramel lollipop.

In 1932, the name was changed to “Sugar Daddy” where the branding team attributed the lollipop to “a wealth of sweetness,”—Sugar Daddy was a huge hit and spawned an entire family of sugar family candies including Sugar Babies.

‍

ORIGINS OF SUGAR BABIES

‍

Sugar Babies candy was invented by Charles Vaughan, a food chemist for The James O. Welch Company, in 1935.

The company took inspiration from the popular song “Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby” and it was the perfect followup to the Sugar Daddy caramel lollipop.

‍

NABISCO ACQUISITION

‍

In 1963, Nabisco acquired The James O. Welch Company, gaining their popular lineup of candies, including Junior Mints, Sugar Daddies, and Sugar Babies.

The deal included James O. Welch joining Nabisco’s board of directors, where he stayed till 1978.

‍

SUGAR MAMA

‍

Sugar Mama, introduced in 1965—a chocolate-covered version of the Sugar Daddy that was marketed as part of a candy “family” alongside Sugar Daddy and Sugar Babies.

However, Sugar Mama didn’t last long compared to its siblings, being discontinued in the 1980s by Nabisco before the brand was sold to Warner-Lambert.

Its simple two-ingredient composition failed to compete with all the other candies on the market at the time.

‍

WARNER-LAMBERT

‍

In 1988, Warner-Lambert purchased the Welch portfolio of products from Nabisco.

‍

TOOTSIE ROLL INDUSTRIES

‍

Tootsie Roll Industries, looking for candies to diversify and complement its own candy portfolio like Tootsie Roll and Tootsie Pop decided that Sugar Babies and other Welch brands would work perfectly.

So, they purchased the lineup from Warner-Lambert in 1993.

‍

A RETRO CANDY THAT IS STILL LOVED TODAY

‍

Today, Sugar Babies are manufactured by Charms LLC of Covington, TN, a subsidiary of Tootsie Roll Industries.

They remain as popular as ever and are a huge hit at concession stands as the perfect movie-theater candy to share with family and friends.

The candy has maintained its original recipe as pan-coated milk caramels and is marketed as “slow-cooked candy-coated milk caramels.”

While Sugar Mama was discontinued in the 1980s, Sugar Babies survived all ownership changes and continues to be a hit.