I can remember my grandmother having a bowl of Circus Peanuts
on her dining room table whenever we came to her house. You’d reach into that
bowl and come up with a huge mass of semi-molten orange corn syrup. Circus
Peanuts aren’t so much a brand as a type of candy. Typically they are
peanut-shaped marshmallow candies that are colored orange and banana flavored.
Circus Peanuts first showed up in the 1800's, but there isn't much information on who created them or where they came into being. In fact, if you look at a bag of Circus Peanuts you'll notice that the name is not trademarked - that's because the history of this strange candy is so convoluted that nobody has even seriously tried to unravel the facts.
I guess I’m cheating by including Circus Peanuts in my trip
down trick-or-treat lane. I never got them in my bag, and I can’t help thinking
that’s a good thing! In my research I did glean one thing that the ubiquitous Circus Peanut can be credited with - the creation of a iconic breakfast cereal. The following is from the fantastic Candyblog:
"If there’s one thing to be celebrated about Circus Peanuts it’s that they led to the creation of Lucky Charms. A General Mills team was charged with creating a kids cereal in only six months. So they sat down with everything available to them, from Cheerios and Wheaties to a bunch of candy from the store shelves (apparently that’s what a kid’s cereal is made from). They put bits of stale Circus Peanuts (now called “marbits” in the industry for marshmallow bits) in a sugared Cheerios and everyone loved the idea. A cartoon mascot and bit of Americana was born. So if you find yourself stuck with some extra Circus Peanuts, perhaps chop them up and throw them in your breakfast bowl."So, maybe Circus Peanuts are magically delicious?
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