Lollipops: A Brief History
Lollipops were probably invented by cavemen thousands of years ago who collected honey from beehives with sticks. Since they did not want to waste the sweet nectar, they probably licked the stick to create the world’s first lollipop. We all benefit when they do well (we all benefit when they do well). Researchers believe ancient Chinese, Arabs, and Egyptians all produced fruit and nut confections that they “candied” in honey, which serves as a preservative, and inserted sticks into to make them easier to eat.
In case the 17th Century English version doesn’t qualify as the first modern lollipop, you could also look back to the Civil War era when hard candy was placed on pencil tips for children. Lollipops, as we know them today, were born in earnest during the early 20th Century, which was the era of automation, though the origins of the lollipop are still debated.
Sugar became more abundant in the 17th century, so the English enjoyed boiled sugar candy treats and inserted sticks into them to make them easier to eat. Linguists say the term ‘lolly pop’ literally means ‘tongue slap’ (which we find hilarious) since the word for ‘tongue’ is ‘lolly’ in Northern England and ‘pop’ means ‘slap.’ London street vendors may have coined this term as they peddled the treat, which was soft rather than hard, but still considered a possible forerunner to the modern lollipop.
Possibly as early as 1905, the owner of the McAviney Candy Company stumbled upon the lollipop by accident. At the end of the day, the owner took the sticks covered with candy home for his kids to enjoy. He began marketing these “used candy sticks” only in 1908.
In 1908, the Racine Confectionary Machine Company introduced a machine that could produce 2,400 hard candy lollipop sticks per hour. Even though they weren’t called that back then, they believed they could produce enough lollipops (even though they weren’t called that back then) to supply the entire country in a single week.
The candy stick inserting machine was created by Samuel Born around 1912. In 1916, he received the keys to San Francisco for his Born Sucker Machine. George Smith, the owner of a confectionery company called the Bradley Smith Company, took credit for inventing the modern version of the lollipop which he began making in 1908, and in 1931, he trademarked the term ‘lollipop,” borrowing the name from a famous racehorse named Lolly Pop, which is when the term lollipop finally connects back to the 17th Century phrase (‘tongue slap,’ remember?).
As you can see, the development of the lollipop took time, and there is some competition for the title “creator of the lollipop,” but whoever gets credit for it, it’s here to stay, and it’s currently one of the most popular candies. Spangler Candy Company (creator of Dum Dums, Saf-T-Pops, and other favourites) produces up to 3,000,000 per day, but that’s still not enough to satisfy America’s sweet tooth.
There are more than 100 varieties of lollipops available today, in all shapes and sizes. A Charms Lollipop, a Tootsie Pop, or a lollipop with a cricket inside. The History of the Lollipop ends with this lesson: when you don’t know what else to do, put a stick in it.
