A candy pumpkin is a small, pumpkin

Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...

-shaped, mellowcreme confection

Confectionery

Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...

 primarily made from corn syrup

Corn syrup

Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...

, honey, and sugar. Traditionally colored with an orange base and topped with a green stem to make candy pumpkins largely identifiable with Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

, a candy pumpkin is considered a mellow creme by confectioners since the candy has virtually no oils or fats in it but has a marshmallow

Marshmallow

The marshmallow is a confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, corn syrup, water, gelatin that has been softened in hot water, dextrose, vanilla flavourings, and sometimes colouring, whipped to a spongy consistency. Some marshmallow recipes call for egg whites...

 flavor. Sometimes called candy corn's

Candy corn

Candy corn is a confection in the United States and Canada, popular primarily in autumn around Halloween . Candy corn was created in the 1880s by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company; the three colors of the candy mimic the appearance of kernels of corn...

 first cousin, candy pumpkins are made through a starch casting process similar to that for candy corn. Brach's

Brach's

Brach's Confections is a candy and sweets company which produces and invented many modern icons of the sugary world; it is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. In November 2007, Brach's Confections was sold to Farley's & Sathers Candy Company and the corporate office moved to Round Lake,...

 candy pumpkin, known by the trademarked

United States trademark law

Trademarks were traditionally protected in the United States only under State common law, growing out of the tort of unfair competition. As early as 1791, Thomas Jefferson proposed that the marks of sailcloth makers could be protected under the Commerce Clause, but it was not until 1870 that...

 name "," is the most popular candy pumpkin. Brach's Confections is now owned by Farley's & Sathers Candy Company.

History

Candy pumpkins are made using the same process to make candy corn

Candy corn

Candy corn is a confection in the United States and Canada, popular primarily in autumn around Halloween . Candy corn was created in the 1880s by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company; the three colors of the candy mimic the appearance of kernels of corn...

. The candy corn process and product were created by George Renninger of the Wunderlee Candy Co. in the 1880s and became popular as a treat in the 1920s. Candy pumpkins first were produced in mid 20th century using a process similar to that of candy corn. Corn syrup, food coloring, honey, and sugar are beat and heated in large kettles to produce an ultra-sweet syrup. This slurry generically is called "mellowcreme" by confectioners, since the resulting candy has a mellow, creamy texture. The mellowcreme slurry then was divided into two uneven amounts, with the large amount receiving orange food coloring and the smaller receiving green food coloring. A mogul machine brings the two colored mixtures together into a mold made of cornstarch, and the assembly is sent to a separate drying room to dry for 24 to 36 hours. Once dry, the candy is shaken violently to remove excess cornstarch and a final glaze is added to give the candy pumpkin a sheen. Candy pumpkins, acorns and other shapes that are derived from the mellowcreme slurry are often sold with candy corn under the name "harvest mix."

Impact

Candy pumpkins are popular in part because the mellowcreme gives them "an interesting texture." The fact that candy pumpkins are fat free adds to their popularity. As of 1988, most big confectionery companies, including Mars Inc.

Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2010, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately held company in the United States by Forbes. Headquartered in McLean, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia,...

, did not market special Halloween candies. The one exception was Brach's Confections, which made candy pumpkins among other seasonal products. Their "Mellowcreme Pumpkin" was made to look like an autumnal vegetable; each pumpkin contained 25 calories and 5 grams sugar. In 1992, Brach's Confections expected to sell more than 30 million pounds of mellowcreme candy during the fall season, which included its seasonal mellowcreme pumpkins.

By the late 1990s, competitors of Brach's realized that the market for the special Halloween candy pumpkin was expanding. For example, in 1997, candy pumpkins and other mellowcreme candies helped push annual spending on Halloween candy in the United States to an estimated $950 million a year. In response, Mars, Inc. came out with Snickers Creme Pumpkin in 1998. The milk chocolate-covered peanut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

 and caramel

Caramel

Caramel is a beige to dark-brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, and as a topping for ice cream, custard and coffee....

 candy was packaged in a 1.20 oz. size with a plastic wrapper featuring a jack-o-lantern on the package. At the time, the Snickers Creme Pumpkin retailed for 50 U.S. cents. Two years later, in 2000, Frankford Candy & Chocolate Company

Frankford Candy & Chocolate Company

Frankford Candy & Chocolate Company is an American candy manufacturer, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1947 by Sam Himmelstein. The current CEO is Stuart Selarnick. In recent years, Frankford Candy & Chocolate Company has become a very successful candy manufacturer. It is one of...

 cross-licensed with ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods, Inc. is an American packaged foods company. ConAgra's products are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments. Its headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska...

 to produce Peter Pan Peanut Butter Pumpkins. Peter Pan Peanut Butter Pumpkins included a "rich and creamy" Peter Pan

Peter Pan (peanut butter)

Peter Pan is a brand of peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods and named after the J.M. Barrie character. The product was introduced by Swift & Company in 1920 under the name "E. K. Pond". The product was renamed in 1928...

 peanut butter center pressed into a detailed pumpkin mold. At that time, the Peter Pan pumpkin candy was sold in 14 oz. bags. Also in 2000, Zachary Confections expanded its product line to include candy pumpkins.

In addition to helping characterize Halloween, candy pumpkins played a role in the current U.S. implementation of daylight saving time

Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time —also summer time in several countries including in British English and European official terminology —is the practice of temporarily advancing clocks during the summertime so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less...

. Since the 1960s, candy makers had wanted to get the trick-or-treat

Trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating or "Guising", is a customary practice for children on Halloween in many countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy with the question "Trick or treat?"...

 period covered by Daylight Saving, reasoning that if children have an extra hour of daylight, they would collect more candy. During the 1985 U.S Congressional hearings on Daylight Saving, the industry went so far as to put candy pumpkins on the seat of every senator, hoping to win a little favor. On July 8, 1986, President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

signed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1986 into law; it contained a daylight saving rider which continued daylight saving time until the early morning of last Sunday in October; this did not include Halloween night. In 2005, daylight saving time was extended to the first Sunday in November—just long enough to include Halloween.