Vicki Batman and the History of M&Ms!!!
I’m thrilled to have Vicki Batman here, talking about, one of my favorite things EVER, M&Ms. Here’s some fun music to enjoy while you read through. And now, here’s Vicki!
Hi, everybody! Usually, Lani invites guests to talk about something historic. I’m like…hmm. What can I do? I walked around and then it hit me—write about M&Ms.
You see, my heroine from Temporarily Employed, Hattie Cooks, loves M&Ms, specifically M&Ms. And the hero, Det. Allan Wellborn, gives them to her when he finds out that is her favorite treat.
Here’s what I found on Wikipedia: Forrest Mars, Sr., son of the founder of the Mars Company Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating chocolate pellets called Smarties, with a hard shell of tempered chocolate surrounding the inside, preventing the candies from melting. Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941. Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey. The two “M’s” represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate’s president William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product. The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.
Peanut M&M’s were introduced in 1954, but first appeared only in the color tan. They were debuted at the same time as the tagline “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” In 1960, M&M’s added the yellow, red, and green colors. Varieties have included these fillings: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, crisped rice, mint chocolate, peanuts, almonds, orange chocolate, coconut, pretzel, wild cherry, cinnamon, raspberry, birthday cake, pumpkin spice, candy corn, cherry cordial, strawberry peanut butter, peppermint, gingerbread, peanut butter, red velvet, carrot cake, dark chocolate peanut, pineapple and vanilla shake.
So I was curious and wondered which varieties I’d tried: Milk, dark, white, crispy rice, mint, peanuts, almonds, pretzel (!!!), wild cherry, birthday cake (eh), dark chocolate peanut. Some of the varieties I’d never heard of. Here’s where you can find out more about M&Ms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%26M’s
Like I said, my hero gifts my heroine with the treat. Here’s an excerpt:
Plop! A brown paper bag tied with a balloon tipped inside the open doorway. With a hand pressing on my aching back, I bent over and examined the bag, inscribed with Hattie in black 
marker.
“What’s takin’ so long? What are you doin’?” Jenny asked.
“Check this out.”
She joined me. “Wow, a gift! I haven’t seen one of those since the passin’ of dinosaurs. Who gave it to you?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“Girlfriend—” she nudged me in the side, “—I do believe you have a secret admirer.”
My insides were shouting woohoo. “Who could it be?”
We marveled the floating Mylar flower pot filled with colorful daisies. My finger plucked the string tying the balloon to the bag, causing it to bob and weave. Rare novelties like this should be savored. “I like the balloon. It’s colorful and happy.”
“Why a Get Well balloon? Are you sick with somethin’ I don’t know about?” Her voice dropped to a concerned level. “Do you have some kind of sex disease?”
“No! I’m not sick. You have to fornicate in order to get those diseases and how would I get any if I’m in Nundom?” I nudged my toe against the bag. “It’s cute.”
“Maybe I should shoot a photo for posterity.” She dug her cellphone out of her pocket and captured the Kodak moment. “Smile.”
“Since this hasn’t happened to either of us recently, I think I’ll remember.” I shoved her arm. “And don’t go posting that picture to Facebook.”
“Remember the pot of red tulips last Valentine’s Day?”
As if I needed reminding. What a horrible blind date. I needed to settle a score with my friend Maggie for the huge mistake, undoubtedly one of her rejects. Despite popular belief, not every man looked good in a tuxedo. Most did, but this one hadn’t. “Yeah, but we burned the note ‘cause the guy was creepy.”
“He really was.” She tilted her head. “What are you waitin’ for? If you don’t hurry and open it, I will.”
I picked up the sack and untied the balloon which she took from me. Then, very cautiously, I opened the bag and took a peek. Thank God, no bombs. Crammed inside was a one-pounder package of Peanut M&Ms, my favorite chocolate. Buried underneath, I found a white note card, decorated with a gay, pink heart. I extracted the card and unfolded it with care.
“Hurry up!” she said. “Who’s it from?”
“Hold your horses. I don’t want any more surprises.”
The card read:
Hattie, I’m sorry things were difficult for you yesterday. I would like to try pizza again. Call me. I hope the chocolate’s “restorative and curative powers” will help me.
—Allan
Jenny took the note card and scanned it. “Thoughtful.”
“Yep.”
“Nice.”
“That’s what everyone says.”
“Goin’ to call?”
I grinned. Chocolate and a dinner invite were the ultimate combination. I’d come to the conclusion A. Wellborn was a pretty decent guy and found I’d suffered no serious—only dramatic—side effects from being with him.
My favorite used to be peanut ones then when pretzel appeared-whoa, mama! What’s your favorite variety?
Find this romantic comedy mystery, Temporarily Employed, at:
The Wild Rose Press: http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5829
Find Vicki at: http://vickibatman.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1ipdLkv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VickiBatman
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/vickibatman
Thank you so much, Lani, for having me!!
Aw, thanks so much for being here, Vicki!
