Licorice is an amiable plant that prefers sun but can handle shade and dies back in the fall so it’s not affected by frost. It was likely a native of the Mediterranean but grew in many parts of the world, as well. The story of licorice in North America starts with John Josselyn who brought the plant to Boston from England in the sixteenth century. He then gave the root to the Native Americans, introducing it as a fermented licorice drink that was a curative for colds and a good way to clean the teeth when chewed. The Blackfoot Indians later used licorice to cure earaches.

By the 1700s, the plant was widely used as tea, medicine, and an ingredient in tobacco. Yet, as a plant, it never became part of the American agricultural landscape. While post-Civil War plantation owners lobbied to create licorice plantations, the idea never took. But – the candy did!

Albeit imported, the licorice plant spawned an unimaginable variety of American licorice candies. A few that have endured are Good & Plenty, first made in 1893 by the Quaker City Confectionary Company of Philadelphia. The family who owned it weren’t Quakers, but the name sounded right and they were in the “Quaker State” after all.

An earlier candy was Twizzlers which most people today consider a 1950s retro creation. Their creator, Young & Smylie, opened the business in 1845 and became Y&S in 1870. The company, now owned by Hershey, made the iconic Twizzler in 1929. Another candy maker, their chief competitor, was the American Licorice Company which opened in 1914 in Chicago.

The American Licorice Company started making Black Licorice Twists then added licorice cigarettes and cigars during the Depression. At that time, licorice was vastly popular and was being manufactured in every metropolitan city aside from Southern states. The company invented Snaps in 1930 and a new, non-licorice licorice aka “red licorice,” which goes by the name of Red Vines and today sells more than black.

It's crazy to think how many licorice candies are still around. As many – maybe most – no longer have licorice, they go by names such as “Twists” but we call them “licorice” anyway.