Life Savers

LifeSavers is a traditional American brand of hard candy. The ring shaped candies are packaged in rolls of 14 pieces. LifeSavers was a subsidiary of Kraft Foods before being purchased by the Wrigley Company in 2004. more...

LifeSavers were first created in 1912 by Clarence Crane, a Cleveland chocolatier. Crane was looking for a new 'summer candy' to supplement his chocolate business that slumped in hot weather. He developed a line of hard mints but didn't have the space or machinery to make them. Therefore, Crane contracted with a pill manufacturer to press the mints into shape.

The pill manufacturer, whose machinery was malfunctioning, found that the pressing process worked much better when the mints were stamped with a hole in the middle. Crane called the new candy "Crane's Peppermint Life Savers" because they looked like miniature life preservers.

In 1913, Crane sold the formula for his Life Savers candy to Edward Noble for only $2,900.

Noble started his own candy company and began producing and selling the mints known as Pep-O-Mint Life Savers. He also began to package the mints into rolls wrapped in tin foil to prevent them from going stale. This process was done by hand until 1919 when machinery was developed. In 1925, tin foil was changed to aluminum foil.

Noble promoted the candy at the cash registers of saloons, cigar stores, drug stores, barber shops, and restaurants. He had the candy placed, with a five-cents price, near the cash register.

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