Oh Henry! Explained

Oh Henry!
Type:Candy bar
Country:United States
Creator:George Williamson
Year:1920
Main Ingredient:Peanuts, caramel, and fudge
Minor Ingredient:Chocolate
Serving Size:100 g
No Recipes:false

Oh Henry! was an American candy bar containing peanuts, caramel, and fudge coated in chocolate,[1] sold in the U.S. until 2019. [2] A slightly different version of it is still manufactured and sold in Canada.[3] This version is sold in the U.S. by Hershey, under the name Rally Bars.[4]

History

There are multiple versions of the Oh Henry! bar origin story. The manufacturer Nestlé says that the bar was introduced by George Williamson and his Williamson Candy Company of Chicago in 1920 in the United States. The most popular alternate story, aside from the Canadian origin claimed by chocolatier Wilson McCutchan, is that Thomas Henry, manager of the Peerless Candy Co. in Arkansas City, Kansas, invented a bar he called the "Tom Henry Bar" in the late 1910s, and sold the recipe to George Williamson in 1920. There is no credible documentation of this story.[5]

There are other alternate accounts of the origin of the name of the bar. One theory is that of a boy named Henry who frequented George Williamson's second candy shop. He became a favorite of the young girls who worked there, who would say "Oh Henry" when speaking to or about him, and Williamson used this phrase to name his new confection. The other story is that the name is based on the pen name of William Sydney Porter, O. Henry. Williamson was thought by some to have been a fan of O. Henry stories, and an O. Henry story about peanuts might have been read by Williamson.[6] The Williamson Company was sold to Warner-Lambert in 1965, which soon sold Oh Henry! to Terson, Inc. Nestlé acquired the U.S. rights to the brand from Terson in 1984.[7] In 2018, Nestlé sold the rights to its U.S. confectionery products to Ferrero SpA.[8] Ferrero still produces an Oh Henry! branded bar in small production runs.

Differences between Ferrara and Hershey versions

In Canada, the bar is currently sold by the Hershey Company and was manufactured at their Smiths Falls, Ontario facilities prior to their closure. The bars are different in appearance: the Canadian version is one bar with the fudge in the center, the fudge surrounded with a thin layer of caramel, and the nuts surrounding that layer before it is surrounded in the coating.[9] Hershey sells Oh Henry! bars made in Canada on a very limited basis in the United States as Rally bars, using the trademark of a Hershey product introduced in the 1970s and later discontinued.[10]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Oh Henry! . Nestlé . November 12, 2018 . November 13, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181113025609/https://www.nestleusa.com/brands/Chocolate/Oh-Henry?hc_location=ufi . live .
  2. Web site: Do They Still Make Oh Henry Candy Bars?. 1 March 2023. 1 March 2023. 1 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230301095110/https://sugarstand.com/do-they-still-make-oh-henry-candy-bars/. live.
  3. Web site: The Oh Henry!s – Candy Blog . Cybele . Candy Blog . June 4, 2008 . November 16, 2018 . November 17, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181117063223/http://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/the_oh_henrys . live .
  4. Web site: Rally Bar – Candy Blog . Cybele . Candy Blog . November 13, 2008 . July 19, 2018 . June 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142028/http://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/rally_bar . live .
  5. Web site: Clayman . Andrew . Oh Henry! Candy Bar Box by Williamson Candy Co., c. 1950s. Oh Henry! came before Snickers . Made in Chicago Museum . November 12, 2018 . November 13, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170149/https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/williamson-candy-co . live .
  6. Book: Smith, Andrew F. . Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea . 2002 . University of Illinois Press . 978-0-252-02553-2 . 82 . en . 2023-01-06 . 2023-01-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230106174929/https://books.google.com/books?id=JbOsI9RG8fYC&pg=PA82 . live . "All he lacked was a catchy name for his potential star candy bar. Several stories subsequently circulated as to how he chose the name. One was that the candy was named after a suitor of a young woman who worked in Williamson's shop. Every time the man came in to the candy shop to flirt, the girls would squeal, "Oh, Henry" – or so the story goes. The other story was that Williamson liked the short stories of William Sydney Porter, whose pen name was O. Henry. In fact, Porter under his pen name had written about peanuts in an article, which Williamson might have read."
  7. Web site: Prokop . Jessica . Candy History: Oh Henry . Candyfavorites.com . November 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190830161518/https://www.candyfavorites.com/blog/candy-history-oh-henry/ . August 30, 2019 . dead.
  8. Web site: Ferrero Completes Acquisition of Nestlé USA's Confectionary Business . March 31, 2018 . Business Wire . July 28, 2019 . June 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190607112820/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180331005008/en/Ferrero-Completes-Acquisition-Nestl%25C3%25A9-USA%25E2%2580%2599s-Confectionary-Business . live .
  9. Web site: The Oh Henry!s – Candy Blog . Cybele . Candy Blog . June 4, 2008 . November 16, 2018 . November 17, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181117063223/http://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/the_oh_henrys . live .
  10. Web site: Rally Bar – Candy Blog . Cybele . Candy Blog . November 13, 2008 . July 19, 2018 . June 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142028/http://www.candyblog.net/blog/item/rally_bar . live .

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