I’m a fan of black licorice and I’ve come to appreciate the
fact that not everyone is. It sets you apart and puts you into a special club,
kind of a candy klatch. Though I realized licorice has been around since
ancient times (included in Egyptian tombs, in fact), what I didn’t know about
is the close connection between licorice and tobacco.
Take this ad from the April 1914 issue of International Confection magazine. On
the surface it’s pretty plain, a wholesaler shilling different sorts of
licorice to candy stores and resellers, but take a look at the offerings and
you’ll see tobacco terms creeping in. There are licorice cigarettes, cigars,
pipes, and plugs and, as a matter of fact, chewing and smoking tobaccos often
include licorice as a flavoring agent.
So what gives? Why the connection? Well, to be honest, I’m
not sure. I’d speculate that it’s licorice’s long connection with soothing a
raspy throat, but the same connection doesn’t seem to exist for horehound which
is another herb used in candy which has throat-soothing properties. The best
guess (and it is a guess) I can come up with is that, like plug chewing
tobacco, licorice is black and that black licorice is sometimes considered an ‘adult’
candy. Whatever the case may be you can see the wide selection of licorice that
is available (including cool licorice pipes) at Licorice International’s website.
Oh, in case you're wondering, Red Vines aren’t licorice.
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