World War Candy Rations: Experience history through this 1900’s candy gift and historic candy timeline box

 

World War I and II

While the military was fighting in World War I and World War II, sugars and sweets were with them… but not for the reasons most people think. From Jelly Beans to Sour Balls, from Chocolate to Bubble Gum, these sweets were used as a medicine, morale booster, and food. Enjoy this historic candy collection of world war candy rations spanning the two great wars of the 20th century. Candies sent by family, provided by the government, purchased from traders, and foraged or found. This 1900s candy gift collection comes with a keepsake card telling the story of each sweet, showcasing the evolution of candy during wartime, and offering a unique glimpse into the candy timeline box history

Overview

While American men and women were fighting in the World Wars, sweets were with them. They appeared in rations, in packages from home, and through fund-raising efforts whether volunteer-operated canteens or high schools collecting candy funds for graduates fighting overseas.

 

Among the candies sent to Doughboys were chocolate-covered fruits and nuts, marshmallows, licorice pastels, Lifesavers, and other popular delights.    Whether the soldiers received them is anyone’s guess. One thing is certain – the War Department added a new invention called “candy bars” aka “energy bars” to rations, a favorite among the troops. This marks an early example of world war candy rations that became a staple in soldiers' daily lives.

 

In World War II, the War Department provided sweets in K-Rations, Bailout Rations, commissaries, and everywhere else for health and medicinal purposes. They sent tons of sour balls to troops in Europe which helped quench thirst and stave off hunger. Malted milk - sent in tablets - was considered nourishing. Chewing gum served numerous purposes: to clean teeth, protect against thirst, and relieve stress and boredom. Caramels provided fast energy as did Tootsie Rolls, also a code word for “ammunition.” Forrest Mars, of the Mars family, discovered a candy while in the Spanish Civil War, which he renamed “M&M’s,” made for the troops with investment money from Hershey.

 

Through it all, sugar was central to the supplies, as it had been for centuries before, used as a medicine, preservative, fermenting agent, and food the     military literally needed to survive. This collection of candies is an essential part of the candy timeline box, capturing the pivotal role sweets played in sustaining soldiers.   

 

Opening

The Great War was the beginning of warfare as never known: industrialized, chemical, deep in the trenches. Candy played an important part in the food lives of the fighters, bringing sustenance, medicinal value, and comfort, all packed into world war candy rations that soldiers would remember for years.