The 5th Avenue is a
candy bar
A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with othe ...
introduced in 1936, consisting of
peanut butter crunch layers enrobed in chocolate.
It is produced and marketed by
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...
.
The bar is similar to the
Clark Bar
The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core (originally with a caramel center) and coated in milk chocolate. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy ...
which was first produced in Pittsburgh in 1917 by the
D.L. Clark Company, now produced by the
Boyer Candy Company of Altoona, Pennsylvania.
It is also similar in composition to the
Butterfinger
Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by the Ferrero SpA, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a chocolatey coating. Invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923, the name ...
candy bar, first developed and manufactured by
Curtiss Candy Company, later manufactured by successors including
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
and
Ferrara.
History
The candy bar was introduced in 1936 by
Luden's
Luden's is an American brand of cough drop that is currently manufactured and sold in the US by Prestige Consumer Healthcare. Company headquarters are in Tarrytown, New York. Luden's products include Blue Raspberry, Honey Lemon, Honey Licorice, K ...
, at the time a subsidiary of Food Industries of Philadelphia.
The name was an attempt to associate the candy with fashionable
5th Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...
in New York City.
Hershey Foods Corporation acquired Luden's brands from the Dietrich Corporation, a successor to Food Industries of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, in 1986.
Despite not being advertised since 1993, the candy bar is still available in many smaller retailers. The originals were topped with whole almonds; the new ones are not.
The candy bar was a huge favorite of
H. Clay Earles
Henry Clay Earles (August 11, 1913 – November 16, 1999) was the founder and chairman of the board of Martinsville Speedway, a NASCAR stock car racing track that Earles built in 1947 in Ridgeway, Virginia that was one of the circuit's first pa ...
, founder of Virginia's
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in ...
, and it was the only candy sold as a concession at the track until his death in 1999.
In popular culture
This candy appeared in the 1994 sci-fi movie ''
Stargate'' and the ''
Seinfeld'' episodes "
The Switch" and "
The Dealership".
See also
*
Butterfinger
Butterfinger is a candy bar manufactured by the Ferrero SpA, a subsidiary of Ferrero. It consists of a layered crisp peanut butter core covered in a chocolatey coating. Invented by Otto Schnering of the Curtiss Candy Company in 1923, the name ...
*
Clark Bar
The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core (originally with a caramel center) and coated in milk chocolate. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy ...
*
List of chocolate bar brands
This is a list of chocolate bar brands, in alphabetical order. Flavour variants and discontinued chocolate bars are included. A chocolate bar, also known as a candy bar in American English, is a confection in an oblong or rectangular form ...
*
List of peanut dishes
This is a list of peanut dishes and foods that are prepared using peanuts or peanut butter as a primary ingredient. Peanuts are also referred to as groundnuts.
Dishes and foods
* Ants on a log – a snack made by spreading peanut butter, cr ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:5th Avenue (Candy)
Chocolate bars
The Hershey Company brands
Peanut butter confectionery
Products introduced in 1936
Brand name confectionery