Presidential Jelly Beans Intro

Presidential preferences for particular favorites among America’s cornucopia* of products and services can often affect consumer attitudes and buying preferences. None before today have ever tried to make a serious profit from their bully pulpit to influence product purchases or endorsement. Just another way Trump is different.

The first main sugar laced experience most Americans had with Presidential snacking tastes likely resulted from Ronald Reagan’s distinct preference for jelly beans of the Jelly Belly** species variety.

This specific multi-flavored confection had a long standing connection with Reagan before his White House years. He began using them exclusively when he served as Governor of California. When Reagan ascended to the White House, he brought his favorite candy along for the ride. In short order the company created a Presidential gift jar. Reagan famously and proudly distributed the colorful, flavorful beans as Presidential gifts and keepsakes during his entire White House stint.

RONALD REAGAN — Ronald Reagan (Photo by NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

But Reagan never tried to sell them for his own individual profit while in office, or to hurt other candy makers. He just had a personal snacking preference.

Trump is a Snacker Supremo. Just look at his expanding waistline. His main favorite caloric pleasure seems to reside in the salty environs of Frito-Lay’s chips.*** Perhaps Trump is channeling his Burt Lahr “Betcha can’t eat just one,”**** commercial vibe from the 1960’s to go with the Big Mac, KFC, and Diet coke staples of his hurry up diet preference, along with the cherry vanilla ice-cream he prefers for dessert.

No surprise honestly that Trump’s favorite food is meatloaf, prepared according to his mother’s recipe, which he insists that wife Melania serve frequently at home. Regular Americans understand comfort food from Mama.

While we know an excruciatingly amount of detail about so many things Trump, there is relatively little direct information regarding his specific candy preferences. Perhaps the leading candy candidate for his favor is the boxed chocolate assortments of See’s Candies***** out of San Francisco. See’s Candies have shops around the country, but do their biggest business today on line.

One thread of connection with Trump may be that their somewhat old fashioned advertising presence emphasized the quality ingredients only, no preservatives ever used, of recipes from Mary’s home kitchen (company co-founder Mary See with her son Charles See in 1921). Mary Anne, as Trump fans will remember, is Trump’s mother’s name. Our president could not be so subconsciously persuaded by an advertising meme, could he?

In any case, other men of quality and wealth share his developed taste in chocolates. To be precise, the small candy company was bought lock, stock, and recipe barrel over 40 years ago (1972) by one of America’s wealthiest men. Warren Buffett, through his Berkshire Hathaway Company, owns 100% of the company. Buffett and Trump are not bosom buddies after last fall’s hyper campaign rhetoric, and Buffett has even signed on to do a celebrity cameo (April 2017) and product sponsorship of this season’s Celebrity Apprentice, starring failing movie star and lousy TV host Arnold. This must be rather to Trump.45’s personal annoyance, as Buffet doesn’t do all that many personal appearances. Trump would obviously prefer that a genuine Trump event be the beneficiary of a public Buffett sighting.

Oh well. So it is rather unlikely that Trump will ever be graced with a celebrity collection of his favorite chocolates by his preferred personal brand. Which makes Trump less presidential candy worthy and honored than Reagan. And there is no way Trump will ever own the brand.

Another of God’s little blocking ironies. There are lots of things branded Trump, but a popular candy isn’t one of them.

Based in San Francisco, See’s Candies was for many years a heavy regional favorite, with their boxes especially valued as gifts from young men who wanted a love connection. An old saw in California was that if you gave a girl Russell Stover chocolates, she might slap you in the face. Give her a gift of See’s instead, and you might get a warm hug and a kiss for starters.

That’s the kind of brand recognition so meaningful to Trump. To sense such public candy acceptance permanently out of his reach, despite his billions in assets to deploy in the alternative, must sting deep inside.

No serious royalty dollars, no national named candy brand for Trump. Even Babe Ruth has a candy bar named for him, and he is only a dead baseball player.******

As for Trump’s product ego, his gold-foil enveloped signature chocolate lumps peddled at Trump venues are a bust in spades. Around for five years or longer, packaged to look like mini gold ingots (how very original and chic, nes’t-ce pas?), and sold for about $4 for a 1.4 oz. bar.

Unless you order it off the Trump Café menu at Trump Tower, where it will set you back $4.75, since it serves as the first place lead in for the dessert menu. One might wonder why a pedestrian chunk of chocolate (milk, dark, or almond) is the leading dessert entry for a high end New York restaurant. But, this is Trumpville don’t forget. Never miss a chance to hawk your wares, ever, wherever, whenever.

So, not all Trump branded goods benefit from the high glitz over-the-top treatment. When you get too pig greedy, you may just lose out.

How much better to be a beloved brand, still sold worldwide almost 30 years after you leave office, and 13 years after you’re dead. Reagan’s Jelly Belly Presidential Jar and gift box (18 oz. of the true beans) are currently offered for just $36.95, with a deep blue-black gift box decorated with the Presidential seal. Trump’s fondest commercial status dream unfulfilled.

Still for the immediate future. Jelly beans remain a treasured American association as the Presidential candy. Trump is temporarily our only President. Jelly beans give you a sugar rush. Their sweetness is concentrated. Trump is in a hurry. Trump speaks in 140 character bursts. He is concentrated too.

There is no near term nationally recognized Trump inspired candy connection on the horizon. So we will have to make do with virtual Trump’s Premium Jelly Beans for now.

The real Jelly Bellys come in a bewildering array of flavors, more than 50 standard varieties. Including the bluest blueberry introduced in 1981 as an homage to the new President, so there would be red (very cherry), white (coconut) and blue (blueberry) patriotic elements for his inaugural celebration in the jelly bean zone (3.5 tons worth). There are for real tracker sites for old and discontinued Jelly Belly flavors on the internet. It will not surprise you to learn that Bubblegum is one active flavor. It will perhaps be a modest surprise that both bacon and sausage have been flavors in the past.

To honor Trump with a slight revision of flavors to justify tour intended re-apportionment of Presidential candy loyalty for the months to come, we introduce a new twin pack of bursting flavors in honor of Trump’s daring political moves: Bubblegum and Baloney, henceforth to be better known shorthand as B&B, or more formally, Trump’s B&B.

Now, truth be told this abbreviated mini-slogan commentary for Trump’s activities was originally coined and internally tested here sometime in December after his preliminary Presidential transition moves. That abbreviated slogan was also B&B. But it was an R-rated, NSFW adult version of B&B: to wit. Bombast & Bullshit.

That slogan was an homage (in two letters with a connector, courtesy of ex-Roman Slave Tiro and his shorthand writing system) to Trump’s earlier attempt (2005) to take the entire EtOH (ethanol) consuming world by storm with his brilliantly monikered T&T, Trump’s imitation of the classic alcoholic beverage, a vodka and tonic. When only the very best will do, no well drinks or bar brands please, that famous concoction in all the best joints in all the world was thereafter best made with Trump’s eponymous Vodka and whatever tonic turns a drinker on. Hence the T&T. That went exactly nowhere.

In fact, unless you are either a serious drinker, or a besotted Trump aficionado you most likely have never even heard of the T&T vodka cocktail. Not to mention the intellectual thievery involved in a crude attempt to appropriate the name from the way earlier introduced T&T nickname for a lovely gin & tonic libation made with branded Tanqueray gin, which has been around only since 1830 and is the 4th best selling gin in the entire world. Unlike Trump’s flopped attempt to penetrate the distilled spirits market here and abroad, which is now marked distribution discontinued.

To return to the older new Trump two letter with a connector abbreviated slogan. This pungent phrase encapsulates the same message as the PG-rated SFW B&B, with a bit more tartness to it. Having described the origins of the proposed new motto slogan, henceforth prepare for more discussion of Trump’s various B&B moves unloaded on the nation. Take it in whatever flavor mode you like. This is after all still America and we believe, constitutionally deep to our bones, in freedom of choice, speech, press, religion, and association.

Amen.

Just for the Record

Just for the record. There are occasionally long term ripples of Presidential associative marketing. There is a portrait of Reagan in Jelly Bellys******* hanging in the Reagan Presidential Library in California (10,000 plus beans, mosaic over oils). Nobody protests its inclusion there. A little campy American Kitsch never hurt anyone.

Have you seen a Trump Presidential portrait anywhere yet made from bottles of Trump branded water or preserved Trump steaks, or Trump cufflinks., or Trump MAGA hat bills? I may have missed it, but I haven’t found one so far.

I know it is still early in his term, and the time is ripening, and perhaps not in a good way. Sooner or later, some hater or loser will concoct such a so-called piece of art intended to frustrate our Dear Leader, and not pay honor to his self-evident greatness. Of course, Trump will take it all in with a calmly measured stride, just as he has treated all previous artistic criticism directed his way. In true blue, All-American fashion, fully recognizing that as President he is so far above the quotidian fray and puny verbal assaults by little people as not even to take note of them.

Trump’s Jelly Beans make the wider social case for and against Trump’s uniquely signature B&B.



*The cornucopia in history:

The cornucopia (from Latin cornu copiae) or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers or nuts. The horn originates from classical antiquity, it has continued as a symbol in Western art, and it is particularly associated with the Thanksgiving holiday in North America.

Mythology offers multiple explanations of the origin of the cornucopia. One of the best-known involves the birth and nurturance of the infant Zeus, who had to be hidden from his devouring father Kronus. In a cave on Mount Ida on the island of Crete, baby Zeus was cared for and protected by a number of divine attendants, including the goat Amalthea (“Nourishing Goddess”), who fed him with her milk. The suckling future king of the gods had unusual abilities and strength, and in playing with his nursemaid accidentally broke off one of her horns, which then had the divine power to provide unending nourishment, as the foster mother had to the god.

In another myth, the cornucopia was created when Heracles (Roman Hercules) wrestled with the river god Achelous and wrenched off one of his horns; river gods were sometimes depicted as horned. This version is represented in the Achelous and Hercules mural painting by the American Regionalist artist Thomas Hart Benton.

The cornucopia became the attribute of several Greek and Roman deities, particularly those associated with the harvest, prosperity, or spiritual abundance, such as personifications of Earth (Gaia or Terra); the child Plutus, god of riches and son of the grain goddess Demeter; the nymph Maia; and Fortuna, the goddess of luck, who had the power to grant prosperity. In Roman Imperial cult, abstract Roman deities who fostered peace (pax Romana) and prosperity were also depicted with a cornucopia, including Abundantia, “Abundance” personified, and Annona, goddess of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Pluto, the classical ruler of the underworld in the mystery religions, was a giver of agricultural, mineral and spiritual wealth, and in art often holds a cornucopia to distinguish him from the gloomier Hades, who holds a drinking horn instead.

In America we honor the natural bounty our entire country has been graced with, particularly as we remember our blessings at Thanksgiving. Our nation’s natural bounty is not just food and land, fresh air and clean water, but includes all our variegated people and cultures, gathered and prospering as one together, not apart. That is a lesson too much forgotten and ignored recently, particularly by relative newcomers to America like Donald Trump’s entire immigrant family, whose first American children were only born here just over 100 years ago. Trump’s father was born in New York I 1905, and his immigrant mother arrived at age 18 on a boat from Europe in May, 1930.

Here is an impressionistic abstract cornucopia by Mario Villareal (2011)

**From the Wikipedia entry for the Jelly Belly Candy Company:

Jelly Belly Candy Company, formerly known as Herman Goelitz Candy Company and Goelitz Confectionery Company, manufactures Jelly Belly jelly beans and other candy. The company is based in Fairfield, California, with a second manufacturing facility in North Chicago, Illinois and a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. In October 2008 the company opened a 50,000 sq. ft (4,645 m2) manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand where it produces confectionery for the international market.

Marinus van Dam, product developer and plant manager for the company, oversaw the development of the Jelly Belly jelly beans. By the 1980s many flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans had been developed. “In 1980, David Klein sold the Jelly Belly trademark to Rowland for $4.8 million, paid in monthly installments over 20 years, which Klein split with a partner.” The Jelly Belly jelly bean trademark was registered August 3, 1982. The Mr. Jelly Belly character was developed in 1983. Prior to the development of the character David Klein called himself “Mr. Jelly Belly.”

In 1980, the public became aware of Ronald Reagan’s preference for Jelly Belly jelly beans. The company supplied President Ronald Reagan with Jelly Belly jelly beans during his eight years of presidency. “We were thrilled by press reports that President Reagan gave jars of Jelly Belly jelly beans to visiting dignitaries.” “Reagan started to favour M&M’s as the official White House candy during his eighth and final year in office.” Reagan made them the first jelly beans in space, sending them on the Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS-7 mission in 1983, surprising the astronauts.

There are over 58 flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans including:

7 Up, A&W Cream Soda, A&W Root Beer, Berry Blue, Blueberry, Bubble Gum, Buttered Popcorn, Cantaloupe, Cappuccino, Caramel Corn, Champagne, Chili Mango, Chocolate Pudding, Cinnamon, Coconut, Cotton Candy, Crushed Pineapple, Draft Beer, Dr Pepper, French Vanilla, Grape Crush, Green Apple, Island Punch, Juicy Pear, Kiwi, Lemon, Lemon Drop, Lemon Lime, Licorice, Lime, Mango, Margarita, Mixed Berry Smoothie, Orange, Orange Crush, Orange Sherbet, Pancakes & Maple Syrup, Peach, Piña Colada, Pink Grapefruit, Plum, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Red Apple, Sizzling Cinnamon, Sour Cherry, Strawberry Banana Smoothie, Strawberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Daiquiri, Strawberry Jam, Tabasco, Tangerine, Toasted Marshmallow, Top Banana, Tutti-Fruitti, Very Cherry, Watermelon, and Wild Blackberry.

Sugar-Free Jelly Belly jelly beans: the flavors are Buttered Popcorn, Cherry, Green Apple, Juicy Pear, Lemon, Licorice, Pineapple, Sizzling Cinnamon, Strawberry, and Tangerine.

Jelly Belly Candy Company creates specialized Jelly Belly jelly bean flavours for the international market:

Chili Mango: inspired by Southeast Asia and Latin America, made with cayenne pepper, paprika and mango juice.

Green Tea: inspired by the Japanese and Chinese cultures.

Lychee: inspired by the Pacific Islands and Asia.

Introduced on National Jelly Bean Day, April 22, 2013, the Jelly Belly Jewel Collection features jelly beans with an iridescent sheen. Flavors include: Berry Blue, Blueberry, Bubble Gum, Cream Soda, Ginger Ale, Grape Soda, Orange, Sour Apple, Sour Lemon, and Very Cherry.

Since 2008, BeanBoozled jelly beans have flavors that mimic the color of normal Jelly Belly jelly beans. Lance Jensen invented this product for Jelly Belly after working for the company for only a year. Here are the weird flavors, and associated regular flavor whose color they imitate: Barf (Peach), Booger (Juicy Pear), Canned Dog Food (Chocolate Pudding), Dead Fish (Strawberry Banana Smoothie), Lawn Clippings (Lime), Moldy Cheese (Caramel Corn), Rotten Egg (Buttered Popcorn), Spoiled Milk (Coconut), Stinky Socks (Tutti-Frutti), and Toothpaste (Berry Blue).

The seasonal holiday flavors include Pumpkin Pie, Egg Nog, Cranberry Sauce, Hot Chocolate and Candy Cane.

Sport Beans are formulated jelly beans for sports performance. They provide carbohydrates for fuel, electrolytes for fluid balance, and vitamins to protect muscles. “Juicy Pear and Green Apple join Sport Beans flavors of Lemon Lime, Orange, Berry and Fruit Punch and the Extreme Sport Beans, a caffeinated variety, available in Pomegranate, Watermelon, and Cherry.”

The company’s first line of organic jelly beans and fruit snacks was introduced the winter of 2015. The product is USDA certified with non-GMO ingredients. The flavors and colors are from natural sources. The organic jelly beans come in 10 assorted flavors: apple, berry, blueberry, cherry, coconut, lemon, orange, pear, peach, and strawberry. The five sour organic jelly bean flavors include apple, cherry, lemon, orange, and berry. The organic fruit snacks featuring rainforest animals includes six flavors: apple, berry, cherry, lemon, orange, and strawberry.

The company began making candy corn around 1898. “The company has the longest history of making candy corn of any in the industry.” Candy corn is a type of mellocreme candy. Jelly Belly Candy Company creates seasonal candy corns: Cupid Corn, Giant Corn, Reindeer Corn, and Bunny Corn.

There have been many discontinued Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors over the years including: Apricot, Blackberry Brandy, Café Latte, Chocolate Banana, Chocolate Mint, Caramel Apple, Cinnamon Apple, Garlic, Ice Blue Mint, Irish Creme, Jalapeño, Mandarin Chocolate, Papaya, Peanut Butter, Guava, Passion Fruit, and Sakura. Discontinued BeanBoozled Flavors:Black Pepper, Centipede, Earwax, Pencil Shavings, and Skunk Spray.

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans were based on a product featured in the Harry Potter book series. They consist of a mixture of the original Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors, as well as some unique, less pleasant ones. The brand is sold under license from Warner Brothers Consumer Products. The Harry Potter series also produced other candy products like chocolate frogs and jelly slugs.

According to Harry Potter Lexicon, flavors may include sardine, black pepper, grass, horseradish, vomit, booger, earwax, dirt, earthworm, spaghetti, spinach, soap, sausage, pickle, bacon, and rotten egg. The current weird flavors of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans include black pepper, booger, dirt, earthworm, earwax, grass, rotten egg, sausage, soap, and vomit.

Cold Stone Creamery Signature Creation Jelly Belly jelly beans include: Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Our Strawberry Blonde, Apple Pie A La Mode, Chocolate Devolution, and Birthday Cake Remix.

Disney: the Disney line features Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse, Anna, Queen Elsa, Olaf, Lightning McQueen, Dory, and Star Wars characters.

Soda Pop Shoppe: the six flavors include 7UP, A&W Cream Soda, A&W Root Beer, Dr. Pepper, Grape Crush, and Orange Crush.

Jelly Belly Candy Company makes Sunkist licensed candy products. The Sunkist Fruit Gems include five flavors: pink grapefruit, raspberry, orange, lemon, and lime flavor (blueberry flavor was retired). Sunkist Orange Slices are an orange-flavored pectin candy. Sunkist Jelly Belly jelly beans citrus flavors include lemon, orange, pink grapefruit, lime, and tangerine.

Tabasco jelly beans produced under license from the McIlhenny Company are flavored using the hot sauce itself, packaged in bags or bottles shaped like the classic Tabasco bottle.

The manufacturers of Jelly Bellys are sufficiently confident in the day after day quality of their product that they offer public tours of their factory.

Jelly Belly Factory Tours

Join us for a free factory tour!

Factory tours are free to the public, and offered daily.

1 Jelly Belly Lane, Fairfield, CA

We are located halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento off I-80 and Highway 12.

Daily Hours

  • Visitor Center: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Factory Tours: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
  • Closed on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day

Free self-guided tours allow you to explore the ¼ mile journey above the factory at your own pace, enjoying the all-new look at our candy making.

Interactive exhibits and games along the tour lane

  • Free samples
  • Browse the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Art Gallery
  • Shop the Jelly Belly Candy Store
  • Dine at the Jelly Belly Café
  • Shop the Jelly Belly Chocolate Shoppe and Fudge Counter
  • Sample your way through the Chocolate & Wine Experience
  • Jelly Belly University guided floor tours are available by appointment only. See pricing and additional information here.

See the Reagan Jelly Belly Jar and Gift Box offered at the Reagan Presidential Library:

The history of Reagan and his favorite jelly brands confection:

Residents of Pleasant Prairie, Wisc., were sounding a dirge Wednesday for the Jelly Belly Candy Co. warehouse, which company officials announced will be sold as operations relocate to Tennessee. By now the news of changes to the company have probably reached the candy’s number one fan somewhere in the great beyond.

Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans like pre-vegan Bill Clinton loved jalapeño cheeseburgers and FDR loved acronyms. And the 4oth president’s fondness for the bite-sized sugar capsules rubbed off on the American public. As TIME reported in 1981: “Now, with Ronald Reagan in the White House, they seem fated to achieve the luster that the praline of sugar and nuts enjoyed in the court of France’s Louis XIV.”

Reagan was not down with any old generic brand beans, however. As TIME explained:

The type most esteemed by the President is brand-named Jelly Belly, which—addicts vow—is to the ordinary jelly bean what foie gras is to liverwurst. About one-fourth the size of the Easter-basket staple and three times as expensive (up to $4 per lb.), Bellys come in an array of 36 flavors. Their manufacturer, Herman Goelitz Co. of Oakland, maintains that the flavors are so delicate that the beans should be eaten one at a time, not by the vulgar handful. How else to appreciate the richness of the coffee mocha, the tang of the piña colada, the bouquet of the strawberry daiquiri?

Goelitz began supplying Reagan when he was governor of California, during which time he and his visitors plowed through two dozen 1-lb bags monthly, amounting to approximately 10,200 beans. As president, Reagan placed a standing order of 720 bags per month (306,070 beans), to be distributed among the White House, Capitol Hill and other federal buildings.

It’s probably time for the Jelly Belly Candy Co. to start lobbying presidential hopefuls to get their product back in the Oval Office.

So, according to Time’s intrepid reporters, Reagan ordered 720 bags per month of Jelly Nelly for White House Presidential souvenirs and edible keepsakes, more than 300,000 of the flavorful critters. Extrapolating, we can estimate that Reagan was personally responsible for Johnny Appleseeding more than 29 million pieces of his favorite snack here and abroad, to kings and commoners. Now that’s a lot of beans. Trump would be apple green with envy if he ever hears about that record held by another President, one he doesn’t respect all that much.

***Frito-Lay Snack Foods:

Lay’s is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in the U.S. in 1932. Lay’s has been owned by PepsiCo since 1965. Lay’s is the company’s primary brand with the exception of limited markets where other brands are utilized (Walkers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Smith’s in Australia, Chipsy in Egypt, Poca in Vietnam, Tapuchips in Israel, Margarita in Colombia, Sabritas in Mexico and, formerly, Hostess in Canada).

In 1932, salesman Herman Lay opened a snack food operation in Dorset, Ohio; and, in 1938, he purchased the Atlanta, Georgia, potato chip manufacturer “Barrett Food Company”, renaming it “H.W. Lay Lingo & Company.” Lay criss-crossed the southern United States, selling the product from the trunk of his car.

The business shortened its name to “the Lay’s Lay Lingo Company” in 1944 and became the first snack food manufacturer to purchase television commercials, with Bert Lahr as a celebrity spokesman.

In 1961, the Frito Company founded by Derrick Lothert and Lay’s merged to form Frito-Lay Inc., a snack food giant with combined sales of over $127 million annually, the largest of any manufacturer. Shortly thereafter, Lays introduced its best-known slogan “betcha can’t eat just one.” Sales of the chips became international, with marketing assisted by a number of celebrity endorsers.

In 1965, Frito-Lay merged with the Pepsi-Cola Company to form PepsiCo, Inc. A new formulation of chip was introduced in 1991 that was crisper and kept fresher longer. Shortly thereafter, the company introduced the “Wavy Lays” products to grocery shelves. In the mid to late 1990s, Lay’s introduced a lower calorie baked version and a variety that was completely fat-free (Lay’s WOW chips containing the fat substitute olestra).

In the 2000s, kettle-cooked brands appeared as did a processed version called Lay’s Stax that was intended to compete with Pringles, and the company began introducing a variety of additional flavor variations.

Frito-Lay products currently control 59% of the United States savory snack-food market.

Lay’s Barbecue-flavored potato chips, which appeared in 1958, was the only flavor available in the United States other than the conventional salted chip until the introduction of Sour Cream & Onion in the late 1970s.

In the United States, Lay’s offers a number of flavor combinations, in addition to the classic chips. Flavored products in the traditional fried varieties include Sour Cream & Onion, Barbecue, Cheddar & Sour Cream, Hidden Valley Ranch, Salt & Pepper, Flamin’ Hot, Limón, and a thicker “Deli style” chip. The WOW! brand was rebranded in 2004 as Lay’s Light after the olestra formula was altered and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed removal of warnings about various health consequences of the fat substitute. Other potato chip flavors offered by Lay’s are Garden Tomato and Basil, Honey Barbecue, Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue, Tapatio Limon, Simply Sea Salt Thick Cut, and Dill Pickle Brand (Only found in Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, and Minnesota). Lay’s has occasionally solicited new flavor ideas through its ‘Do Us a Flavor’ promotions.

As with most snack foods, the Lay’s brands contain very few vitamins and minerals in any variety. At ten percent of the daily requirement per serving, vitamin C is the highest. Salt content is particularly high, with a serving containing as much as 380 mg of sodium.

A one-ounce (28 gram) serving of Lay’s regular potato chips has 160 Calories, and contains ten grams of fat, with one gram of saturated fat. Kettle-cooked brands have seven to eight grams of fat and one gram of saturated fat, and are 140 Calories. Lays Natural has nine grams of fat, two grams of saturated fat and 150 Calories. Stax chips typically contain ten grams of fat, 2.5 grams saturated fat and are 160 calories per serving. Wavy Lays are identical to the regular brand, except for a half-gram less of saturated fat in some combinations. The various brands do not contain any trans fats.

A 50 gram serving of Lay’s BarBQ chips contains 270 calories, and 17 grams of fat. It also contains 270 mg of sodium, and 15% Vitamin C.

The baked variety, introduced in the mid 90s, feature 1.5 grams of fat per one ounce serving, and have no saturated fat. Each serving has 110 to 120 Calories. Lay’s Light servings are 75 Calories per ounce and have no fat.

Lay’s Classic Potato chips were cooked in hydrogenated oil until 2003. Currently, the chips are made with sunflower, corn and/or canola oil.

Baked Lays are produced in cheddar, barbecue, sour cream and onion, and original flavors.

Compared to Reagan’s Jelly Belly exemplar with more than 50 standard flavors (something for all states and tastes), Trump’s candidate salty snack only comes in about 14 active flavors, showing about a 3.5 to 1 flavor combination deficit.

Much to my shame and adverse to my healthy cholesterol and body weight parameters, I must confess I am a fan of the snack choices of both Reagan and Trump., though I personally prefer a somewhat larger default individual jelly bean size, though I admire their deep flavorosity. As for the Frito-Lay stable of snack food sirens, my particular favorite was Fritos for the eating, but Lay’s for the commercials.

****Most Americans will recognize Bert Lahr as the classic character the Cowardly Lion from the original movie version of “The Wizard of Oz”. Americans of my generation will also fondly recall his iconic TV ads from the 60’s when he introduced us all to the compulsion of “Betcha can’t eat just one”, which quickly became a catch phrase faster than a trending Twitter storm.

From the Wikipedia entry for Bert Lahr:

Bert Lahr (born Irving Lahrheim, August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), was an American actor, particularly of stage and film, and comedian. Lahr is principally known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker Zeke, in The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was well known for his explosive humor, but also adapted well to dramatic roles and his work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.

Lahr was born in New York City, the son of Augusta (1871-1932) and Jacob Lahrheim (1870-1947). His parents were German Jewish immigrants. Lahr grew up in the Yorkville section of Manhattan. Dropping out of school at 15 to join a juvenile vaudeville act, Lahr worked up to top billing on the Columbia Burlesque Circuit. In 1927 he debuted on Broadway in Delmar’s Revels. He played to packed houses, performing classic routines such as “The Song of the Woodman” (which he reprised in the film Merry-Go-Round of 1938). Lahr had his first major success in a stage musical playing the prize fighter hero of Hold Everything! (1928–29). Other musicals followed, notably Flying High (1930), Florenz Ziegfeld’s Hot-Cha! (1932) and The Show is On (1936) in which he co-starred with Beatrice Lillie. In 1939, he co-starred as Louis Blore alongside Ethel Merman in the Broadway production of DuBarry Was a Lady.

I feel a special affinity for Lahr. My beloved maternal Grandmother was also born in Manhattan to two German immigrant parents in the 1890’s, though she started her life journey a couple years earlier than he did. She and Lahr shared a close geographical, ethnic, and temporal space and time connection. It was a time of great hope and promise and success for new Americans in New York.

One of few times I declined my Grandmother’s advice to me was with respect to Fritos snacks. I was quite fond of the greasy, salty wonderfulness of these crunchy chips as a teenager. She wouldn’t allow them in the house. Even though I was her favored and only grandson, when we were in public and she caught me munching on a bag of their deep fried seduction, she would scrunch up her face and ask me with sadness and loving disappointment if I was enjoying my overdose of monkey grease for the harm it would do my constitution later. We always laughed, but she was serious.

Her gentle aversion tactic didn’t work very well then, as like most teenage boys I felt rather bullet -proof and immune, and I was fully confident in her good opinion of me in general. Later, in my twenties, Grandma’s call was taken up by my wife, and the stereo effect of her memory and the active repetition by a second loved one substantially reduced my appetite for and consumption of this most tasty and unhealthy snack. Today I consider myself nearly Frito compulsion free, with only the rare slipup I excuse for old times sake. And every chip I eat reminds me directly of my Grandmother’s monkey grease putdown of almost 60 years ago.

Here is the video from one of the classic Bert Lahr Lay’s ads from 1966. Bert Lahr plays both roles as Columbus discovering America and getting over on the native American who tries to limit the explorer to just one chip.

This is an appreciation of his father written by John Lahr for the New Yorker magazine:

Here is an article from Texas Monthly about the ad campaigns for Frito-Lay products.

*****From the See’s Candies entry in Wikipedia:

See’s Candies is an American manufacturer and distributor of candy, particularly chocolates. It was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California, in 1921. The company is now headquartered in South San Francisco, California. See’s kitchens are at its headquarters and at a second location in Los Angeles, where there are also retail shops. It also has an office in Carson, California.

The company largely markets its products in its own stores, those of fellow Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Nebraska Furniture Mart, and via mail order catalog. See’s candies are also available in some airports in the United States. See’s Candies operates over 200 stores in the following U.S. states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. There are also stores outside the U.S. in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Macau. Seasonally — primarily during the year-end holiday shopping season — See’s also offers its product in select markets in kiosks at malls and other shopping centers. See’s also has an online store.

The company was purchased by Warren Buffett (via Blue Chip Stamps) for his Berkshire Hathaway Corporation in 1972. At a 1996 luncheon in San Francisco, Charlie Munger revealed that See’s was the first high quality business that Berkshire ever bought. Previous to that point, Berkshire had focused on undervalued assets that could be bought cheaply. The See’s acquisition influenced their commitment to buying businesses with a strong reputation and brand recognition.

According to the corporate website, Charles Alexander See II (1882–1949) arrived in the United States from Canada in 1921 with his wife Florence MacLean Wilson See (1885–1956), and his widowed mother Mary Wiseman See (1854–1939). Mary See had developed the recipes that became the foundation of the See’s candy business while helping run her husband’s hotel on Tremont Island in Ontario. The family opened the first See’s Candies shop and kitchen at 135 North Western Avenue in Los Angeles in November 1921. They leased the shop from the French Canadian pioneer of Los Angeles, Amable Lamer. They had twelve shops by the mid-1920s and thirty shops during the Great Depression. In 1936 See’s opened a shop in San Francisco. See’s first white “all porcelain” store was opened in Bakersfield, California on May 1, 1941. In 1972 the See family sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway.

Warren Buffett has called See’s “the prototype of a dream business.” (2007)

On June 20, 2012, See’s Candies made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s largest lollipop, weighing 7,003 pounds (3,177 kg) and a length of 4 feet (1.2 m) and 8.75 inches (22.2 cm). The previous largest lollipop record stood at a hefty 6,514 pounds (2,955 kg). This giant chocolate lollipop represented 145,000 regular-size lollipops.

In a final piercing wound for Trump’s ego, it emerges that Mother Mary See’s candy recipes ,that were the foundation for the highly successful American candy company that still bears her family name, were crested for the clientele at an Ontario Canada hotel she ran with her husband. So hotel candy can be a 100-year business winner when the product is properly developed and nurtured by a careful business proprietress entrepreneur. Unlike Trump’s stale chocolate efforts, exiled to age in select Trump branded locations. Maybe he’s also got it embedded now in his Scottish and international club and hotel locations, though critics opine the quality of his product is not much competition for the Belgian world class wizards of chocolate operating in Europe.

******Babe Ruth and the candy bar named for him, despite unconvincing denials by royalty evading grubby businessmen trying to cheap out. Grover Cleveland, what a laugher! Claim the fame, skip the check. Step right up to the plate, Curtiss Candy Company, you have a living spiritual heir in the house.

Today I found out Baby Ruth candy bars really were named after Babe Ruth.

The rumor that they were not was actually started by the company who made them originally, the Curtiss Candy Company founded by Otto Schnering. They claimed it was named after Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Ruth Cleveland supposedly visited their plant and, while there, inspired the name for the candy bar.

There are a quite a few problems with the official line, but the main problem is that Ruth Cleveland died in 1904 at the age of 12 years old, some 17 years before the Baby Ruth candy bar was created and about 15 years before the Curtiss Candy Company was created. Further, Grover Cleveland hadn’t been President for 24 years and had been dead for 13 years when the candy bar was named, so there doesn’t seem to be a good reason they’d have randomly picked his daughter to name a candy bar after.

In addition to the above stated bits in the company’s official story, the Curtiss Candy Company also went on to discuss the fact that Babe Ruth wasn’t even famous in 1921 when the candy bar was named, so why would they name it after some random baseball player? Here’s another problem with the official story, Babe Ruth was incredibly famous by 1921.

In that year, Babe Ruth hit 59 home runs, had a .378 batting average, and a .512 on base percentage. The year before that, he had his breakout year with the Yankees hitting 54 home runs with a .376 batting average and a .533 on base percentage. From 1919-1921, he hit an astounding 142 home runs and was well on his way to revolutionizing the game of baseball. This all resulted in Babe Ruth’s fame skyrocketing from what it had been only a few years before serving primarily as a pitcher and pinch hitter for the Red Sox. Babe Ruth was a national celebrity in 1921.

Further, the original version of the “Baby Ruth” candy bar was actually called the “Kandy Kake” and was coincidentally renamed to “Baby Ruth” directly after Babe Ruth had become a national celebrity. The Curtiss Candy Company also tried to get Babe Ruth to endorse their product after its launch, which he refused to do. Not only that, but the Curtiss Candy Company was headquartered very close to Wrigley Field and, in 1932, they setup a giant lit advertising sign near the spot where Babe Ruth’s supposed “called shot” landed, advertising Baby Ruth candy bars, fully visible from Wrigley Field. This sign remained there for four years.

Over and over again they attempted to associate their candy bar with Babe Ruth. The cover story told by the company was simply a way to get around having to pay Babe Ruth royalties for the use of his nickname and last name in their marketing efforts. The Curtiss Candy Company even had to use this story in actual legal proceedings when the manufacturer of the Babe Ruth Home Run Bar challenged the Baby Ruth name in court, claiming the Curtiss Candy Company were using the name without Babe Ruth’s permission, something the makers of the Babe Ruth Home Run Bar had managed to get from Ruth. The Curtiss Candy Company then successfully defended their candy bar’s name using the above “daughter of Grover Cleveland” story, which is full of inaccuracies and strains credibility.

Bonus Facts:

Seventy four years after the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Ruth, Nestle, who now owns the rights to the Baby Ruth candy bar, finally officially acquired the rights to use Ruth’s name and likeness in Baby Ruth marketing campaigns.

Nestle has since played this up even more when in 2007 they claimed the Baby Ruth candy bar is “the official candy bar of major league baseball”.

In 1923, Otto Schnering, the founder of the Curtiss Candy Company, hired a pilot to fly his plane over Pittsburgh and drop several thousand Baby Ruth candy bars over the city. Each candy bar was equipped with a parachute, to avoid injuring people

I do have to say that dropping thousands of Baby Ruth candy bars over the city of Pittsburgh, each equipped with a miniature parachute to ensure a soft landing is a once in a lifetime stunt worthy of a Trump. I’d sure like to see a color picture of the candy bombing of Pittsburgh.

*******Ronald Reagan’s portrait in Jelly Bellys by artist Peter Rocha.

Artist Peter Rocha passed away at age 65 in 2004 from Lou Gehrig’s Disease but his work lives on at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Rocha was famous for creating portraits out of jelly beans, including this amazing portrait of Ronald Reagan made out of approximately 10,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans.

Ronald Reagan once said, “You can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.” explaining why he liked to have a jar of jelly beans on hand for important meetings. His love for jelly beans makes this quite a wonderful tribute to the down to earth Reagan.

Here’s a close up of a portion of his face, including Reagan’s right eye. Looking at this up close one might think, hey, I could do this! But the positioning and coloring required to get those jelly beans to look so much like Ronald Reagan was a skill unique to Mr. Rocha!

Artist Rocha has inspired a whole genre of jelly bean portrait pop art. See some examples here of Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Lady Liberty, Marilyn Monroe. Martin Luther King, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Amelia Earhart, Queen Elizabeth, George Clooney, and for good measure Laurel and Hardy. But no Donald Trump, as of February 6, 2017.