Candy bar

A candy bar is a type of sugar confectionery that is in the shape of a bar. Many varieties of candy bars exist, and many are mass-produced.

A candy bar frequently, though not necessarily always, includes chocolate. A combination candy bar is one that contains chocolate plus other ingredients, such as nuts or nougat. The Goo Goo Cluster was the first mass-produced combination bar.

Between World War I and the middle of the 20th century, approximately 40,000 brands of candy bars were introduced.

The earliest recorded candy bar was made in 1847 by Joseph Fry, a Quaker from Bristol, England. During much of the nineteenth century, British Quakers could not join the military or attend Anglican universities, and many sought their fortune in business instead. Chocolate manufacturing expanded in England through the rest of the century, led by businessmen such as York's Joseph Rowntree and Joseph Terry, and Birmingham Quaker, John Cadbury.

Candy bars were originally made from only cocoa powder and sugar. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, confectioners began to experiment with other ingredients. Swiss confectioner, Henry Nestle, added milk to his chocolate recipe to reduce the bitterness of the cocoa. Rodolphe Lindt, a Swiss confectioner and inventor, began adding cocoa butter as an ingredient in 1879. The addition of cocoa butter allowed the chocolate bar to keep its shape and melt in the mouth. In the United States, immigrants who arrived with candy-making skills drove the development of new candy bars.Milton S. Hershey, a Pennsylvania caramel maker, saw a German-manufactured chocolate-making machinery at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. He immediately ordered one for his Lancaster factory and produced the first American-made milk chocolate bar.

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