Did you hear about the guy who invented Lifesavers? He made a mint.
Doh! He made a mint.
While that is funny, it is only half-true.
The guy really did make a mint candy.
But he didn’t make a mint in cash.
Here is how it went.
The Life Savers candy was invented in 1912 by Clarence Crane. He was a chocolate manufacturer from Garrettsville, Ohio. He is often associated with nearby Cleveland because he later worked there, but he started out in Garrettsville.
Anyway. He wanted to create a candy that wouldn’t melt during the summer like chocolate did. And he came up with that classic round mint with the hole in the middle.
The ring-shaped mint looked like a life preserver, so he named it Life Savers.
But only about a year later, in 1913, he sold the formula and trademark to Edward John Noble for $2,900. Yep. Less than $3,000.
And then Edward John Noble took the ball and ran with it. Noble was the one who really built the brand into a national success.
First of all, he wrapped the candies in foil to keep them fresh. Then he marketed them aggressively and started selling millions of rolls.
The very first flavor was Pep-O-Mint back there in 1912. No melty chocolate from inventor Crane.
Fruit flavors came later. They weren’t introduced until 1921 with lemon, lime, and orange. The famous Five Flavors roll didn’t appear until 1935, adding cherry and pineapple to complete the classic roll of Lifesavers.
But I should tell you that the new owner, Edward Noble, wasn’t a candy maker.
He was actually an advertising kind of guy. He saw the potential in the little mint. And that move turned out to be one of the greatest bargains in candy history.
Also, an interesting note. Noble later founded ABC. Yes. He had a way of turning things to gold. Noble bought up NBC’s Blue Network in 1943 and turned it into the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which today is one of America’s largest television networks.
I haven’t had a Lifesaver in years. But the orange ones were my favorite. Today there are more than 40 different flavors. And they all suck. Or you do, depending on how you look at things.
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“An idea is worth nothing unless someone does something with it.” — Mary Kay Ash
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“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” — John F. Kennedy
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“A little sweetness goes a long way.” — Proverb
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