National Candy Corn Day
National Candy Corn Day is a non-official holiday that is celebrated in the United States every year on October 30th – the day before Halloween. This holiday was created for fans of this tri-color treat that is made out of sugar, corn syrup and confectioner’s wax.
While the word “national” is in the title of this holiday, it is not officially a national holiday, nor is its celebrated on a widespread basis by anyone other than true candy corn fans.
History
While the origin of National Candy Corn Day is a mystery, the origin of candy corn isn’t. Candy corn was invented by a candy-maker named George Renninger who worked at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the later 19th century.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, The Goelitz Confectionery Company began mass production of this candy. Today, candy corn is still made by this company (as well as many other imitators), but the name of the company has become the Jelly Belly Candy Co.
Facts About Candy Corn
Although many people will attest to the fact that they don’t like this treat (just try to find a person who claims they love it), this candy is extremely popular. How popular is it? Well, even though it is primarily sold only around Halloween, 35 million pounds of it are produced each year.
That is a lot of candy corn. While most people are familiar with the orange, yellow and white colored candy corn that is sold around Halloween, there are a few variants of this candy manufactured as well. For instance, a treat called Indian corn is sold around Thanksgiving and this treat looks like candy corn except it has a chocolate tipped end instead of the normal white end.
Around Christmas, there is a product made called reindeer corn. This candy corn variant is red and green. Around Easter, there is also what has been dubbed bunny corn. A product that is manufactured in several different pastel colors.
Customs, Traditions And Celebrations
There are really no known traditions associated with this holiday; other than perhaps eating candy corn on National Candy Corn Day. If any traditions exists, then they are probably attached to the Halloween holiday and its unique traditions.