Life Savers (stylized as LifeSavers) is an American brand of ring-shaped hard and soft candy. Its range of
mints
A mint or breath mint is a food item often consumed as an after-meal refreshment or before business and social engagements to improve breath odor. Mints are commonly believed to soothe the stomach given their association with natural byproducts ...
and fruit-flavored candies is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in paper-wrapped
aluminum foil
Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. Standard household foil is typ ...
rolls.
Candy manufacturer Clarence Crane of
Garrettsville, Ohio
Garrettsville is a village in northeastern Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. The village was formed from portions of Hiram, Nelson, and Freedom townshi ...
(father of the poet
Hart Crane
Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, '' The Brid ...
) invented the brand in 1912 as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. The candy's name is due to the fact that its shape resembles that of a traditional
ring-style life preserver also known as a "life saver".
After registering the trademark, Crane sold the rights to his Pep-O-Mint peppermint candy to
Edward John Noble for $2,900. Instead of using cardboard rolls, which were not very successful, Noble created
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
-foil wrappers to keep the mints fresh. Noble founded the Life Savers and Candy Company in 1913 and significantly expanded the market for the product by installing Life Savers displays next to the cash registers of restaurants and grocery stores. He also encouraged the owners of the establishments to always give customers a nickel in their change to encourage sales of the 5¢ Life Savers. The slogan "Still only 5 cents" helped Life Savers to become a favorite treat for children with a tight allowance. Since then, many different flavors of Life Savers have been produced. The five-flavor roll first appeared in 1935.
A series of mergers and acquisitions by larger companies began in 1956. Life Savers is currently a property of
Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021.
Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest priva ...
. In recent decades, the brand expanded to include Gummi Savers in 1992, Life Saver Minis in 1996, Creme Savers in 1998, and Life Saver Fusions in 2001. Discontinued varieties include Fruit Juicers, Holes, Life Saver
Lollipop
A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are availa ...
s, and
Squeezit.
In 1995, a Life Savers drink was introduced to compete with
Snapple
Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and based in Plano, Texas, United States. The company (and brand), which was originally known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved som ...
and
Fruitopia
Fruitopia is a fruit-flavored drink introduced by the Coca-Cola Company's successful Minute Maid brand in 1994 and targeted at teens and young adults. According to ''New York Times'' business reports, it was invented as part of a push by Minute ...
, but it was quickly discontinued.
History
Life Savers was first created in 1912 by Clarence Crane, a
Garrettsville
Garrettsville is a village in northeastern Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. The village was formed from portions of Hiram, Nelson, and Freedom townshi ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
candy maker (and father of the famed poet
Hart Crane
Harold Hart Crane (July 21, 1899 – April 27, 1932) was an American poet. Provoked and inspired by T. S. Eliot, Crane wrote modernist poetry that was difficult, highly stylized, and ambitious in its scope. In his most ambitious work, '' The Brid ...
). Clarence had switched from the maple sugar business to chocolates the year before, but found that they sold poorly in the summer, because air conditioning was rare and they melted. He saw a machine pharmacies used to make pills that were round and wafer-shaped, and thought he'd use those to make mints, which at the time were made square (because they were pressed in sheets and then sliced into squares). The machinery could also punch a hole in the center, and Crane named the candy after its resulting life preserver shape.
In 1913, Crane sold the formula for his Life Savers candy to
Edward Noble
Edward John Noble (August 8, 1882 – December 28, 1958) was an American broadcasting and candy industrialist originally from Gouverneur, New York, Gouverneur, New York (state), New York. He co-founded the Life Savers Corporation in 1913. He foun ...
of
Gouverneur, New York for $2,900. Noble started his own candy company and began producing and selling the mints known as Pep-O-Mint Life Savers. He also began to package the mints into rolls wrapped in
tin foil
Tin foil, also spelled tinfoil, is a thin foil made of tin. Tin foil was superseded after World War II by cheaper and more durable aluminium foil, which is still referred to as "tin foil" in many regions (an example of a misnomer).
History
...
to keep them from going stale. This process was done by hand until 1919 when machinery was developed by Edward Noble's brother, Robert Peckham Noble, to streamline the process.
![1917 Life Savers ad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/1917_Life_Savers_ad.png)
Robert was a
Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
-educated engineer. He took his younger brother's entrepreneurial vision and designed and built the manufacturing facilities needed to expand the company. The primary manufacturing plant for Life Savers was located in
Port Chester, New York
Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populat ...
, a local landmark replete with a Life Savers motif cast into the cornice. Robert led the company as its
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and primary shareholder for more than 40 years, until selling the company in the late 1950s.
By 1919, six other flavors (Wint-O-Green, Cl-O-Ve, Lic-O-Rice, Cinn-O-Mon, Vi-O-Let and Choc-O-Late) had been developed, and these remained the standard flavors until the late 1920s. In 1920, a new flavor called Malt-O-Milk was introduced. This flavor was received so poorly that it was discontinued after only a few years. In 1925, the tinfoil was replaced with
aluminum foil
Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. Standard household foil is typ ...
.
Noble promoted the candy at the cash registers of saloons, cigar stores, drug stores, barber shops, and restaurants. He had the candy placed, with a five-cent price, near the cash register.
In 1921, the company began to produce solid fruit drops. In 1925, technology improved to allow a hole in the center of the fruit candies. These were introduced as the "fruit drop with the hole" and came in Orange, Lemon and Lime, each of which were packaged in their own separate rolls. In contrast to the opaque white mints previously produced by the company, these new candies were crystal-like in appearance. These new flavors quickly became popular with the public. Four new flavors were quickly introduced, namely,
anise
Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia.
The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and ta ...
, butter rum, cola and root beer, which were made in the clear fruit drop style. Other than butter rum, which remains in the brand's lineup of flavors, these did not prove to be as popular as the three original fruit drop flavors.
In 1931, the Life Savers "Cough Drop" was introduced with
menthol
Menthol is an organic compound, more specifically a monoterpenoid, made synthetically or obtained from the oils of corn mint, peppermint, or other mints. It is a waxy, clear or white crystalline substance, which is solid at room temperature and ...
, but it was not successful. In 1931, rolls of pineapple and cherry fruit drops were also introduced. As the public response proved positive for these, a new variety of mint called Cryst-O-Mint, made in this same crystal-like style, was introduced in 1932. In 1935, the classic "Five Flavor" rolls were introduced, offering a selection of five different flavors (pineapple, lime, orange, cherry, and lemon) in each roll.
This flavor lineup was unchanged for nearly 70 years, until 2003, when three of the flavors were replaced in the United States, making the rolls pineapple, cherry, raspberry, watermelon, and blackberry.
[
] However, orange was subsequently reintroduced and blackberry was dropped. The original five flavor lineup is still sold in Canada. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, four new mint flavors were introduced: Molas-O-Mint, Spear-O-Mint, Choc-O-Mint and Stik-O-Pep.
During the Second World War, other candy manufacturers donated their sugar rations to keep Life Savers in production so that the little candies could be shared with Armed Forces as a tasty reminder of life at home. Soon after the war ended, the manufacturing license was withdrawn. In 1947, U.K.-based
Rowntree's
Rowntree's is a British confectionery brand and former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881), Smarties (introduced in 1937) brands, ...
—which formerly had been licensed to make Life Savers—started to manufacture a similar product called the
Polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
mint.
In 1981,
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
Brands Inc. acquired Life Savers from the E.R. Squibb Corporation. A number of early mint flavors, including Cl-O-Ve, Vi-O-Let, Lic-O-Rice and Cinn-O-Mon were discontinued due to poor sales. Nabisco introduced a new Cinnamon flavor ("Hot Cin-O-Mon") as a clear fruit drop-type candy. This replaced the white mint flavor Cinn-O-Mon, which had recently been discontinued. The other original mint flavors were retired. A number of other flavors were also quickly discontinued, after Nabisco took over, in order to make the business more profitable. In 2004, the U.S. Life Savers business was acquired by
Wrigley's
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, known as the Wrigley Company, is an American multinational chewing gum (Wrigley's gum) company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois.
Wrigley's is wholly owned by Mars, In ...
. Wrigley's introduced two new mint flavors (for the first time in over 60 years) in 2006: Orange Mint and Sweet Mint. They also revived some of the early mint flavors (such as Wint-O-Green).
Life Savers production was based in
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
, Michigan, until 2002 when it was moved to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Québec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
, Canada due to significantly lower sugar prices in the new location.
The company's headquarters in Port Chester, New York, where Life Savers were made from 1920 until 1984, was distinctive. Although it has been converted to apartments, it still retains some Lifesavers signage. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1985.
Timeline
![Lifesaves fruit-candies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Lifesaves_fruit-candies.JPG)
*1912: Crane's Peppermint Life Savers created by Clarence Crane in Garrettsville, Ohio.
*1913: Edward Noble bought the Life Saver formula,
renamed Pep-O-Mint Life Savers, and started Mint Products Company in New York City.
*1921: The first fruit flavors were produced as solid candies.
*1925: Technology improved to allow a hole in the center of the fruit candies.
*1927: Cherry flavor is invented and added to regular flavors.
*1935: The original Five Flavor roll of Life Savers debuted.
*1956: Life Savers Limited merged with
Beech-Nut
Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation is a baby food company owned by the Swiss branded consumer-goods firm Hero Group.
History
Beech-Nut's roots go back to 1891, to the Mohawk Valley town of Canajoharie, New York. Raymond P. Lipe, along with his ...
.
*1968: Beech-Nut Life Savers merged with
Squibb.
*1981:
Nabisco Brands Inc. acquired Life Savers from the E.R. Squibb Corporation.
*1987: Canadian Life Savers business acquired by
Hershey Canada.
*1992: Life Savers Gummies launches in three varieties: Grape, Five Flavor, and Mixed Berry.
*1996: Canadian Life Savers business acquired by Beta Brands Limited.
*2000:
Kraft acquires Nabisco.
*2001: Kraft acquires Canadian Life Savers business from Beta Brands.
*2004: Life Savers business acquired by
Wrigley's
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, known as the Wrigley Company, is an American multinational chewing gum (Wrigley's gum) company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois.
Wrigley's is wholly owned by Mars, In ...
.
[
]
*2008:
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
acquires Wrigley.
See also
*
Fruit Tingles
Fruit Tingles is a brand of confectionery originating in Australia. They are a chalky-textured, multicoloured, disc-shaped, fruit flavoured Confectionery, lolly.
Standard packages are 34g foil wrapped sleeves with an outer multicoloured paper wr ...
*
Polo mints
Polo is a brand of breath mint whose defining feature is the hole in the middle. The peppermint flavoured Polo was first manufactured in the United Kingdom in 1948, by employee John Bargewell at the Rowntree's Factory, York, and a range of flavour ...
– A similar European confection by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, 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 me ...
, which had a trademark battle with Life Savers over the ring-shaped form.
*
Triboluminescence
Triboluminescence is a phenomenon in which light is generated when a material is mechanically pulled apart, ripped, scratched, crushed, or rubbed (see tribology). The phenomenon is not fully understood, but appears to be caused by the separation a ...
– An optical phenomenon in which light is generated when material is subject to mechanical breaking, especially noticeable when crushing Wint-O-Green Life Savers in the dark.
References
External links
*
{{Nestlé
Brand name confectionery
Wrigley Company brands
Products introduced in 1912
Breath mints
Candy
American confectionery
Defunct companies based in Cleveland