Astro Pops are transparent three-color cone-shaped lollipops sold by

Leaf Brands Leaf Brands, LLC is a candy company based in Newport Coast, Newport Beach, California. The original Leaf International (also known as the "Leaf Candy Company") started in the 1940s. Leaf International was once the fourth largest candy producer i ...

History

Astro Pops were first made in 1963 after two rocket scientists working on the space program in

El Segundo, California El Segundo ( , ; ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located on Santa Monica Bay, it was incorporated on January 18, 1917, and is part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments. The population was 16,731 as of th ...

decided to quit their jobs and create the Astro Pop, modelling the pop after a three-stage rocket. They hand-built equipment, including machines to speed up the production of the cone wrappers. Astro Pops are unusual because the cone wrapper becomes the mould for the candy. Hot candy is poured directly into the wrapper, then a paper stick is added and the pop is capped off with a layer of wax. Because Astro Pops were created in the 1960s, at the same time in history when the

Space Race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

was in full force, millions of Astro Pops were sold when the manufacturers capitalized on this craze. In 1987, Spangler Candy Company (the makers of Dum Dums, Circus Peanuts and Safe-T-Pops) acquired the Astro Pops brand from the Nellson Candy Company of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The original three flavours of the candy are cherry,

passionfruit ''Passiflora edulis,'' commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy f ...

, and pineapple. Spangler expanded the Astro Pop line of lollipops with flavours such as

banana split A banana split is an American ice cream-based dessert consisting of a peeled banana cut in half lengthwise, and served with ice-cream and sauce between the two pieces. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with three sc ...

and

caramel apple Caramel apples or toffee apples are whole apples covered in a layer of caramel. They are created by dipping or rolling apples-on-a-stick in hot caramel, sometimes then rolling them in nuts or other small savories or confections, and allowing ...

. In 1997, Spangler and the

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...

convenience store chain were sued by a couple in Skagit County, Washington, who alleged that their son was injured by an Astro Pop. At the beginning of 2000, Spangler decided to reverse the shape of the Astro Pop, placing the stick at the tip of the pop, rather than the base. They felt it would give the consumer more surface area to lick. In September 2004, Spangler discontinued the product line. In 2010, Ellia Kassoff purchased the brand. It is now part of Leaf Brands, LLC's portfolio of brands. Leaf has also expanded the Astro Pops franchise to include Astro Pop Asteroids (smaller bite-sized pieces), and Astro Pops Sodas. Kassoff paid Spangler cash for the recipes, global rights to the trademark, and three years of royalty payments. The original manufacturing equipment had been sold for scrap so Leaf had to reinvent the manufacturing process. Kassoff, with his company Strategic Marks, has become known as a "brand revivalist", who revived the Leaf brand that was once owned by his uncle before being acquired by Hershey in 1996. At that time Leaf made candy such as

Jolly Ranchers Jolly Rancher is an American brand of sweet hard candy, Gummi candy, gummies, jelly beans, lollipops, sour bites, and a line of Soft drink, soda put out by Elizabeth Beverage Company in 2004. It is currently manufactured by The Hershey Company. ...

Milk Duds Milk Duds are a brand of chocolate-coated caramel candies produced by The Hershey Company. The candy is a caramel ball covered with a confectionery chocolate coating made from cocoa and vegetable oil. Milk Duds are sold in a yellowish-orange box. ...

, and Whoppers.

References

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External links

Astro Pop
(official website) Products introduced in 1963 Brand name confectionery