(NEXSTAR) – Why is it called a Hershey’s “Kiss” and not a Hershey’s Smooch or a Hershey’s Cone?
Even the people at The Hershey Company aren’t exactly sure.
The Hershey’s Kiss was first produced in 1907 by the Hershey Company (then the Hershey Chocolate Company) at its facility in Derry, Pennsylvania. The earliest iteration was foil-wrapped by hand, and contained a small piece of tissue paper — within the foil, under the chocolate — that identified the treat as one of “Hershey’s Milk Made Kisses.”
But the term “kiss” — when referring to a small candy — predates the Hershey’s “Kiss” altogether.
Candy “kisses” were already a somewhat popular concept at the turn of the 20th century, with brands such as Miller’s Violet Kisses or Blue Bell Kisses already on the market, as seen in newspapers from the early 1900s.
“So when Hershey’s came up with a little bite of chocolate, calling it a ‘chocolate kiss’ was sort of obvious,” Samira Kawash, a professor emerita at Rutgers University and the author of “Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure,” once explained on her Candy Professor blog.
The Hershey Company itself acknowledges the “possibility” that “kiss” was a common term for small candies before Milton Hershey started producing his Hershey’s Kiss. The company’s website, however, says there are “multiple versions” of the origin of the term, including one which suggests the name came from the sound made by “the machines that extrude” the candy.
Whatever its true origin, Milton Hershey ended up trademarking the name “Hershey’s Kiss” for his chocolate candy in the early 1920s. In 1921, the Hershey Company further differentiated their Kisses from competitors by extending a small strip of paper (or “plume”) outside the foil wrapping. This paper was first printed with the word “Hershey’s,” then “Hershey’s Kisses” and finally just “Kisses.” (In 1921, Hershey also stopped putting the paper foil underneath the chocolate, reasoning that it wasn’t useful as an identifier for consumers looking to buy the company’s candies.)
The M.S. Hershey Foundation, on its website, says additional trademarks were later filed to protect “the name, and unique conical shape of Kisses, both wrapped and unwrapped.” This, the organization said, is vital to make sure that Kisses are “only associated with Hershey” — even if the Hershey Company has no idea where the name came from.
“Like many success stories there are multiple versions of how HERSHEY’S KISSES Chocolate got its name, and no one knows for certain which one is the truth!” the Hershey website reads.
