Just the Candy Corn Facts, Ma'am

• October 30th is National Candy Corn Day 

• One serving of candy corn contains only about 140 calories 

 

• Candy corn has 3.57 calories per kernel 

• More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces -- enough to circle the moon nearly four times if laid end-to-end. 

• Halloween accounts for 75% of the annual candy corn production 

• A cup of candy corn has fewer calories than a cup of raisins. 

• Candy Corn was invented by George Renninger and produced by the Wunderlee Candy Company in the  1880's. In 1900, the Goelitz Candy Company, now  Jelly Belly Candy Company, started mass producing the candy, but, due to the lack of machinery, it was only made available seasonally from March to November. Its recipe has remained unchanged. 

• Candy corn isn't just for Halloween there is also:
  • Reindeer corn for Christmas (red, green, and white)
  • Indian corn (it's chocolate and vanilla flavored)
  • Cupid corn for Valentine's Day (red, pink, and white)
  • Bunny corn for Easter (pastel-colored)
  
  
• 
  
  Candy corn bracelets and necklaces can be found in my eBay and etsy shops.
  
  

The Witchified Wunder of Candy Corn

October 30th is National Candy Corn Day and internet history tells us it was created in the 1800s by the Wunderlee Candy Company.  Later (say the various histories) it was made by the Goelitz Candy Company (who became Jelly Belly), and they have produced it ever since.

Nowhere but here can you learn the true history of candy corn.  You see, it was actually created by witches around the beginning of the 15th century.  Back then, witches were struggling with a lot of bad press and suffering a lot of persecution.  People feared them, distrusted them, and suspected them whenever anything went wrong.  Being the 15th century, of course, PLENTY went wrong on a daily basis.

So a coven of woodland witches west of Warsaw started brewing different concoctions in their cauldrons.  They wanted to create something tasty and utterly lacking in any meaning that could be interpreted in an anti-witch fashion.  Using mystical dyes and sugar imported by broomstick, they started making candies.  The shapes were problematic since most any shape they came up with could end up even more witch anti-witch connotations.

But one day a witch named Xochitl, who flew in from South America, brought some ears of corn.  The witches in question figured the shape of a corn kernel was safe, and they created a candy shaped like a very large kernel of corn.

Since red and green had more symbolic connotations, all of which could be used against witches, they made their candies orange, yellow, and white, with sucessive teams of witches creating each layer.

Just as they were about to premier their concoction in France, there was a new wave of witch-burnings.  The witches decided to keep the candy corn for themselves and find a nice quiet place to live until the uproar died down.  They found a serene little town in the south of France, disguised themselves as nuns, and pretended they had taken a vow of silence until life became safer for them.

The anti-witch uproar, of course, did not die down for centuries, and eventually the recipe was lost.

Finally, while searching for cave paintings, an explorer in the south of France came across the recipe.  He sent it to a maiden aunt in Wichita who the neighborhood children suspected of being a witch.  He thought it would cheer her up and perhaps, with it, she could allay the fears of the suspicious youths.  She made a batch but, while her candy corn was cooling, the recipe blew out the door, ending up at the Wunderlee Candy Company.

The Wunderlees never suspected it of being a witch recipe, and merely thought it to be a wonderful bit of good fortune.  And the rest is internet history.

This candy corn, by the way, is not edible.  The witches tested it to be sure.  Neither is this.

A Few More of My Favorite Halloweeny Things

Ghosts, bats, and candy corn,
Skulls, owls, and flowers,

 

Leaves, beads, and spiders
And witches with powers.

Owls in the moonlight
On silent wings,

These are a few of my favorite things...

Up for auction on ebay right now!

When Frankenstein Was Just a Kid

by Kenn Nesbitt

When Frankenstein was just a kid,
he ate his greens. It's true. He did!
He ate his spinach, salads, peas,
asparagus, and foods like these,
and with each leaf and lima bean
his skin became a bit more green. 

On chives and chard he loved to chew,
and Brussels sprouts and peppers too,
until he ate that fateful bean
that turned his skin completely green.
He turned all green, and stayed that way,
and now he frightens folks away. 

Poor Frankenstein, his tale is sad,
but things need not have been so bad.
It's fair to say, if only he
had eaten much less celery,
avoided cabbage, ate no kale,
why, then, we'd have a different tale. 

So, mom and dad, I'm here to say
please take these vegetables away
or my fate could be just as grim.
Yes, I could end up green like him.
So, mom and dad, before we dine,
please give a thought to Frankenstein.

A bracelet appropriate for wearing while all things green can be found here.

Zombies and Werewolves and Black Cats with Kittens

Zombies and werewolves and black cats with kittens,

Witches with cauldrons and potions unwritten,

Ghosts, ghouls and goblins on their ghastly flings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Spiders and critters in dry pumpkin patches,

Sweet candy apples on which your crowns catches,

Bats who eye hairdos they snatch with their wings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Up for auction this week only on ebay.

The Hitherto Story of Witchy Poo

by Cornerstoregoddess

Here is the story of poor Witchy Poo
Who lost her black cat and was feeling quite blue.

She mixed up a cauldron of herbies and goo
To make a familiar all shiny and new.

She added some toenail of ox and of of gnu,
Then stirred it all up with a lot of to-do,
She sprinkled in tongue of a ratty old shoe

And out of her cauldron a Pumpkin Head grew.

"Alas!" cried poor Witchy Poo, "This just won't do!"
So she got out her cookbook and started anew,

Stirring in twigs and some ash from her flue
Until she created a ghost named Babboo.

Babboo and Miss Witchy Poo picked up and threw
The cauldron's dark contents (which resembled glue),
Right out the window and in a bat flew

Who told Ghost and Witchy he knew what to do.

He dressed them all up, then he played his kazoo
While Witchy and Company danced in a queue,
And practiced some moves better used in kung-fu
Until Witchy's black cat and and owl joined the crew.

The five of them sat down to sup on some stew
That Witchy had thickened with a creamy roux.

They drank up some wine, a fine vintage brew
So glad to be done with all that bally-hoo.

 
Plenty of Halloween goodies to be had here and here.

Oh Candy Corn

by Cornerstoregoddess

Oh candy corn, oh candy corn,

To eat or not eat. I am torn.

In one year, or at least it's sworn,

9 billion pieces will be born.

And if you laid them end-to-end,

(A lot of work, so ask a friend)

Around the moon four times they'd wend

Forming a tasty lunar trend.

Candy corn earrings here and here.

Two Witches... or Which Witch Itches?

by Alexander Resnikoff

There once was a witch

The witch had an itch

The itch was so itchy it

Gave her a twitch.

Another witch

Admired the twitch

So she started twitching

Though she had no itch.

Now both of them twitch

So it's hard to tell which

Witch has the itch and

Which witch has the twitch.

Twitching itching witches and other which witchery here.