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Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped Mints and fruit-flavored Hard Candy . The candy is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in Aluminum Foil rolls of eleven pieces. Life Savers was a Subsidiary of Kraft Foods before being purchased by the Wrigley Company in 2004 . In recent years, the brand has expanded to include Gummi Savers, '''Life Saver Minis''', '''Life Saver Fusions''', '''Creme Savers''', and '''Breath Savers'''. Discontinued brands include '''Fruit Juicers''', '''Holes''', '''Life Saver Lollipop s''' and '''Squeezit'''. HISTORY Life Savers candy was first created in 1912 by Clarence Arthur Crane , a Cleveland Chocolatier and father of the famed poet Hart Crane . Crane was looking for a new "summer candy" to supplement his chocolate business, which slumped in hot weather. Crane developed a line of hard mints but didn't have the space or machinery to make them. He contracted with a pill manufacturer to press the mints into shape. The pill manufacturer, whose machinery was malfunctioning, found that the pressing process worked much better when the mints were stamped with a hole in the middle. Crane called the new candy "Crane's Peppermint Life Savers," because they looked like miniature Throwable Life Preservers . The ring-shaped devices were just beginning to come into use after the ''Titanic'' Disaster . In 1913, Crane sold the formula for his Life Savers candy to Edward Noble for only $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 Tinfoil to prevent them from going stale. This process was done by hand until 1919 when machinery was developed. By 1919, five other mint flavors (Wint-O-Green, Cl-O-ve, Lic-O-Rice, Cinn-O-Mon and Vi-O-let) had been developed, and these remained the standard flavors until the late 1920s. In 1925, the tinfoil was replaced with Aluminum Foil . 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. Noble soon began to create and sell many other flavors. In 1929, more fruit-flavored hard candy Life Savers were introduced. These were introduced as "fruit drop" and came in three flavors, namely, 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. In 1930, rolls of Grape fruit drops were introduced. In 1931, rolls of Pineapple and Cherry fruit drops were introduced. As the public response proved positive, 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 in each roll. This flavor lineup was unchanged for nearly 70 years, until 2003, when three of the flavors were replaced. |
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