The Goo Goo Cluster is an American

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 ...

created in 1912 by Howell Campbell and the Standard Candy Company in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. The disk-shaped candy bar contains

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...

nougat Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. ...

, caramel, and roasted

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

s covered in milk chocolate. Variations include Goo Goo Supreme (

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

s replace the peanuts) which was renamed the Pecan in 2019, and Peanut Butter Goo Goo ( peanut butter replaces marshmallow nougat and caramel).

History

Goo Goo Cluster is considered the first combination candy bar, meaning it contained several types of candy rather than an all-chocolate bar. The name is thought to refer to the sound a baby makes. The company uses the phrase, "So good, they'll ask for it from birth," in retelling the Goo Goo story. Originally, the candy was sold, unpackaged, from glass jars only in the factory's local area. At the time of the Goo Goo Cluster's invention, there was no automated packaging machinery, so packaging required costly hand work. As a result, packaging was unusual unless the candy (like caramels) required wrapping to keep pieces separate. During the 1920s, after increased public attention to hygiene, the company began wrapping it, and it was sold all over the United States.

Marketing

The candy was sold at the Grand Ole Opry (GOO), which was established in 1925, 13 years after the candy's debut. However, Standard Candy (with particular emphasis on the Goo Goo Cluster) was a long-time sponsor of the program. During the 1920s and 1930s, the company advertised Goo Goo Clusters as "a nourishing lunch for a

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow ...

". At this time, the primary nutritional concern was caloric undernourishment, especially for working-class people, and high-calorie candies were promoted as valuable and inexpensive sources of food energy. Goo Goo Clusters were given out as parting gifts on the children's television variety show ''

Wonderama ''Wonderama'' is a children's television program that originally appeared on the Metromedia-owned stations from 1955 to 1977. The show was revived from 1980 to 1987, and again in 2016. Hosts *Al Hodge (as Captain Video 1955–1956) *Jon Gnagy ...

'' during the 1970s.

References

External links

* {{Official site, http://www.googoo.com/ Peanut dishes Products introduced in 1912 Culture of Nashville, Tennessee