Candy of the Day - Tootsie Rolls

Tootsie Roll, the candy of choice for creepy grannies! Honestly, this is one of the most unintentionally Halloween-ish ads I’ve come across so far. Norman Bates could call this woman Mom. I’m sure the ad executives intended to get across an air of spunkiness, but something about the darkness of the photo and the bared teeth tell me she’s waiting to shove Hansel and Gretel into the oven. I don’t know, maybe I just have issues.

Tootsie Rolls and their descendants can trace their lineage to taffy maker Leo Hirshfield who bestowed his daughter’s name to his chocolate candy in 1896 (I’m assuming she was named Tootsie, not Roll). The up-side of the Tootsie Roll was it was impervious to high temperatures in pre-air conditioning Hoboken. In 1966 the Tootsie Roll factory relocated to Chicago where it remains to this day.

The ad comes from a 1943 issue of Life Magazine and it’s interesting to look at Tootsie’s other offerings. Tootsie Temptees were fudge bars similar to the fudgies I grew up with. Tootsie VM was a powdered milk additive in the line of Ovaltine.

Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops were a regular in my Halloween haul. Both fell to the ranks of candy chum, the stuff that would languish in the candy bowl until late November or until the choice candy had been eaten. Still, seeing those little brown wrappers brings back memories.