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(More customer reviews)You have heard the story about how the Baby Ruth candy bear was not named for Babe Ruth but for Ruth Cleveland, daughter of President Grover Cleveland. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but that story is not true. The first Baby Ruth bars were made by the Curtiss Candy Company, which was founded in Chicago in 1916 by Otto Schnering, who used his mother's maiden name since it was much more American-sounding and would not cause the problems that a German surname would during World War I. The first confection made by Curtiss was the Kandy Kate, which featured a pastry center topped with nuts and coated with chocolate. Then in 1921 revised the product so that was now a log-shaped bar made of caramel and peanuts, covered in chocolate. Priced at only five cents, half the cost of competing candy bars, Schnering named it the Baby Ruth bar, which soon became one of the hottest selling candies on the market.
Now, the explanation that the candy bar was named for "Baby" Ruth Cleveland, the former President's first-born daughter, has been the official explanation proffered by the Curtiss Candy Company since the 1920's while the Babe Ruth legend has been the obvious explanation, especially since Ruth had joine the Yankees in 1920 and in 1921, the year the Baby Ruth debuted, he hit a then-record 59 home runs. However, the idea that the Baby Ruth bar was named after Ruth Cleveland is rather morbid given she died of diptheria at the age of 12 in 1904, seventeen years before the candy bar was named.
The more reasonable explanation seems that the Curtiss Candy Company did indeed find a way to link their product to the Yankee slugger who was becoming the most famous person in the country. Ironically, Curtiss had to fight off a challenge from a competitor who was attempting to market the Babe Ruth Home Run Bar, endorsed by the Babe himself. The Curtiss claim that the bar was named for Ruth Cleveland was enough to fight off the challenge, since the names were too close to one another to allow the new product to be marketed that way. The fact that Curtiss maintained for years that the Baby Ruth bar came out before years before Babe Ruth became famous is enough to pop the balloon since in 1920 Ruth had broken his single season home run record of 29 by hitting 54 round trippers.
Of course all that matters now is that this is still a classic American candy bar. Beneath the milk chocolate coating of Nestles popular 2.1 ounce candy bar is a chewy, peanut-covered center, wrapped in a nougat that is really more of a white or blonde fudge. In terms of caloric ration the Baby Ruth is 46% Carbs, 48% Fats, and 6% Protein. The candy bar is low in Sodium and very low in Cholesterol, which is good, but high in Saturated Fat, which is supposedly bad (where do people think the taste comes from?). A large portion of the calories come from the sugars, which is how nature intended it. If you want a candy bar with actual peanuts in it, the Baby Ruth is still a good choice.
Ironically, I did find a Champion Cocker Spaniel named Baby Ruth, whelped in 1892, who was in all probability actually named for President Cleveland's daughter, Ruth, who had been the first child to be born in the White House the previous year. She was bred by Joseph Smith of Canada and sold to Andrew Laidlaw and became the foundation on which Mepal built one of the strongest kennels in the United States. All three Best in Show Cocker Spaniels at the Westminster Dog Show could trace their pedigree back to this particular Baby Ruth.
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