Jelly beans have been around for a century-plus
Just as everyone has an annual birthday, many products have their own day, too. Friday is National Jelly Bean Day, a time to mark the history — and taste — of the fruity confection.
The history of the jelly bean dates to the Civil War, although the first reference might be more of a legend than fact: Boston-area confectioner William Shrafft urged people to send jelly beans to Union soldiers during the war. The account can be found on many websites, but the origin appears unconfirmed. Even his name is spelled differently in the historical accounts.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America makes a reference to jelly beans in 1886, when it was a Christmas treat. Another early confirmed reference to jelly beans appears in a 1905 Chicago Daily News advertisement, in which the beans were sold for nine cents a pound.
Jelly Belly, based in Fairfield, California, and The Jelly Bean Factory, based in Dublin, Ireland, are well-known gourmet jelly bean manufacturers, with 50 and 36 flavors, respectively, in their basic beans. Jelly Belly has additional flavor lines with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Sunkist and Snapple, for instance. Each small bean contains four calories, and 25 beans weigh one ounce. Basic ingredients in jelly beans are sugar/corn syrup, starch and natural and artificial flavorings.
Jelly beans became associated with Easter in the 1930s when the colorful beans were added to the coloring of eggs for the religious celebration.
On National Jelly Bean Day in 2018, Jungle Jim’s in Fairfield, Ohio, unveiled a jelly bean portrait of founder Jim Bonaminio.
Jelly Belly, founded by Gustav Goelitz in 1869 in Belleville, Illinois, began as a small candy business and started making Goelitz Mini Jelly Beans in the 1960s. It infused flavor in the jelly bean middle in 1965. In 1976, the company’s first gourmet-flavored jelly beans, now called Jelly Belly, were made in eight flavors: Cream Soda, Grape, Green Apple, Lemon, Licorice, Root Beer, Tangerine and Very Cherry.
President Reagan, as governor of California in 1966, took a liking to the company’s jelly beans after he quit smoking. Jelly Belly shipped 3½ tons to Washington, D.C., for his 1981 Presidential Inauguration.
So Friday, head out to your favorite local candy store and enjoy a bag of jelly beans to celebrate the day.
