Sugar Babies are bite-sized, pan-coated, chewy milk caramel sweets which are relatively soft to chew. Tootsie describes them as “slow-cooked, candy-coated milk caramels” marketed as movie-theater candy.[1]

Sugar Babies
Bag of Sugar Babies.
Product typeChocolate caramel candy
OwnerTootsie Roll Industries
Produced byTootsie Roll Industries
CountryCambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Introduced1935; 89 years ago (1935)
Related brandsSugar Daddy (candy)
Sugar Mama (confectionery)
MarketsWorldwide
Previous ownersJames O. Welch Company
Nabisco
Warner–Lambert
Tagline“Let me be your sugar.”
Websitewww.tootsie.com/candy/sugar-babies/

History

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Sugar Babies are a confection originally developed in 1935 for the James O. Welch Co. by Charles Vaughan (1901-1995), a veteran food chemist and one of the pioneers of pan chocolate, who invented both Junior Mints and Sugar Babies for the James O. Welch Company.[2] Babies were produced in response to the success of the company’s previous Sugar Daddy caramel lollipop, and similar to Highlander Partners’ Milk Duds.[1] Sugar Babies were named after a song called "Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby".[3]

The company was purchased by Nabisco in 1963. The Welch family of products changed hands a few more times, going from Nabisco to Warner-Lambert (in 1988) then to Tootsie Roll in 1993. Presently, packages of Sugar Babies name Charms LLC of Covington, TN, a subsidiary of Tootsie Roll, as manufacturer.[4][5] Welch produced them along with the rest of the Sugar Family (Sugar Daddy and Sugar Mama).[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Tootsie Roll Inc". tootsie.com. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  2. ^ Gray, Paula (1984-10-18). "Candy creator spends retirement years sweetening his community". The Register. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2023-02-17. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  3. ^ Smith, Andrew (March 2007). The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 591. ISBN 978-0-19-530796-2.
  4. ^ "Sugar Babies". April 25, 2007. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Kimmerle, Beth (November 2003). Candy: The Sweet History. Collectors Press, Inc. p. 156. ISBN 1-888054-83-2.
  6. ^ "Sugar Babies". True Treats Historic Candy. Retrieved 2024-07-09.