The beginnings of the candy types of candy bars list can be traced back to 1847, when Joseph Fry created the first proper chocolate bar. Soon after, other candy and chocolate manufacturers, including Cadbury, developed their own versions. In the following decades, several familiar names in the chocolate industry, such as Henri Nestlé, developed processes and ingredients that would revolutionize how candy bars were made. Most of the world’s most iconic candy bars were created in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Nearly all of the candy bars on this list are still popular today and are sold around the world. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup are probably the most well-loved and iconic candy bars in America. Peanut Butter Cups were created in 1922 by H. Reese and today the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is classically American. Reese, who had 16 children, worked several jobs to support his family. In 1917, he began working on a dairy farm owned by Milton Hershey. Reese worked on the farm for many years and eventually started working in the chocolate factory.
He was so inspired by Milton Hershey, that he started making his own chocolates. In 1928, Reese began selling peanut butter filled chocolates he called peanut butter cups. In the early 1960s, The Hershey Company acquired Reese’s company, along with the peanut butter cups. 2 billion in annual sales for The Hershey Company. Williamson Candy Company in Chicago, Illinois in 1920. It is made of peanuts, caramel, and fudge that is coated in milk chocolate. According to legend, the candy bar was named after a young man, named Henry, who often came to the Williamson factory to flirt with the female workers.
The women began asking Henry for favors and often exclaimed Oh Henry, will you do this? Williamson needed a name for a new candy bar, he thought of Henry. While this story is widely told, a more believable theory says that the bar was named after Tom Henry, the candy’s original inventor, who sold the original recipe to the Williamson Company in 1920. For several decades, the Oh Henry! Nestlé sold the rights to Oh Henry! In 2018 to Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero SpA, which discontinued the candy bar in 2019 without notice.
Canada, where the candy bar is manufactured by the Hershey Company. The Canadian version of Oh Henry! American version and features 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. The Clark Bar was one of the earliest candy bars produced in the United States. The bar is similar to the more well-known Butterfinger, and has a crunchy peanut butter center surrounded by milk chocolate. It was created by David L. Clark, an Irish-born candy salesman, in 1917.
Clark went on to found the D. Clark Company to create and manufacture his own candy bars. In addition to the Clark Bar, the company created the Zagnut bar, another retro American favorite. The Clark Company remained family owned until 1955.
After that, it was passed around to several different companies before finally being acquired by NECCO in 1999, which continued to produce the Clark Bar until the company went bankrupt in 2018. The rights to the Clark Bar were sold to the Boyer Candy Company, the makers of the regional candy Mallo Cup, which started producing the Clark Bar in 2020. Initially, the Clark Bar was sold in Pennsylvania, followed by a nationwide release. The process for making the Clark Bar is pretty intense and takes about 90 minutes. Fry’s Turkish Delight is a unique candy bar created by J. Sons in 1919, the company has continued to call the bar Fry’s Turkish Delight due to the already established name recognition.
In some international markets, such as Australia and New Zealand, there is a range of Turkish delight products including mini Easter eggs, ice cream, and bite sized versions of the candy used in boxed chocolates. In 2010, Cadbury began producing the Turkish Delight bar without artificial colors, except for in New Zealand. In Ireland, Cadbury produces a slightly different version of the Fry’s Turkish Delight, called Dairy Milk Turkish, which is made with dairy milk chocolate and a different Turkish delight center. The Goo Goo Cluster, may not be the oldest candy bar around, but it is the oldest combination candy bar, which means it contains several different types of candy. The unique sweet treat contains a roundish mound of caramel, marshmallow nougat, fresh roasted peanuts, and real milk chocolate. The American South staple was invented in 1912 by Howell Campbell and the Standard Candy Company. Since then, the Goo Goo Cluster recipe has remained the same, but additional flavors like pecan and peanut butter have been added to the line up.
According to the Standard Candy Company’s history, the Goo Goo Cluster got its name from the sound a baby makes. Campbell had told other passengers on a streetcar about his new candy, but could not come up with a name. It’s so good, people will ask for it from birth. Opry was formed 13 years after the Goo Goo Cluster was introduced. The first Toblerone bar was created by Theodore Tobler in 1908, who had inherited the family’s chocolate company in 1900.