Humanities › History & Culture Forest Mars and the History of M & Ms Candies A Legacy of the Spanish Civil War Share Flipboard Email Print Karla Boyer/EyeEm/Getty Images History & Culture Inventions Famous Inventions Famous Inventors Patents & Trademarks Invention Timelines Computers & The Internet American History African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Mary Bellis Mary Bellis Inventions Expert Mary Bellis covered inventions and inventors for ThoughtCo for 18 years. She is known for her independent films and documentaries, including one about Alexander Graham Bell. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on January 27, 2019 M & Ms chocolate candies are one of the most famous treats in the world, the most popular movie treat next to popcorn, and the most consumed Halloween treat in America. The well-known slogan by which M & Ms are marketed — "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand" — is very likely a key to the candy's success, and its origins date back to the 1930s and the Spanish Civil War. Forest Mars Sees an Opportunity Forest Mars, Sr. was already part of a family-owned candy company in conjunction with his father, having introduced the Milky Way candy bar in 1923. However, father and son disagreed on plans to expand to Europe, and in the early 1930s, estranged from his father, Forest moved to Europe, where he saw British soldiers fighting in the Spanish Civil War eating Smarties candies — chocolate candies with a hard shell, which were popular with soldiers because they were less messy that pure chocolate candies. M & M Candies Are Born Upon returning to the United States, Forest Mars began his own company, Food Products Manufacturing, where he developed, among other things, Uncle Ben's Rice and Pedigree Pet Foods. In 1940 he began a partnership with Bruce Murrie (the other "M") and in 1941 the two men patented M & M candies. The treats were initially sold in cardboard tubes, but by 1948 the packaging changed to the plastic pouch we know today. The enterprise was a rousing success, and in 1954, peanut M & Ms were developed — an ironic innovation, since Forest Mars was deathly allergic to peanuts. In this same year, the company trademarked the familiar "Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand" slogan. Forest Mars Later Life Although Murrie soon left the company, Forest Mars continue to thrive as a businessman, and when his father died, he took over the family business, Mars, Inc, and merged it with his own company. He continued to run the company until 1973 when he retired and turned the company over to his children. In retirement, he started yet another company, Ethel M. Chocolates, named after his mother. That company continues to thrive today as a maker of premier chocolates. Upon his death at age 95 in Miami, Florida, Forest Mars was one of the wealthiest men in the country, having compiled a fortune estimated at $4 billion. Mars, Inc. Continues to Thrive The company begun by the Mars family continues to be a premier food manufacturing corporation, with dozens of manufacturing plants in the U.S. and overseas. A great many name-recognized brands are part of its portfolio, not only candy brands, but also pet foods, chewing gum, and other consumables. Among the brands you may not have realized were related to M & M candies and that live under the Mars umbrella include: Three Musketeers Snickers Starburst Skittles Bounty Dove Uncle Ben's Seeds of Change Kudos Big Red Doublemint Freemint Altoid Hubba Bubba Juicy Fruit Lifesavers Wrigley's Iams Cesar My Dog Whiskas Pedigree Eukanuba Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Bellis, Mary. "Forest Mars and the History of M & Ms Candies." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/history-of-m-and-ms-chocolate-1992159. Bellis, Mary. (2020, August 26). Forest Mars and the History of M & Ms Candies. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-m-and-ms-chocolate-1992159 Bellis, Mary. "Forest Mars and the History of M & Ms Candies." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-m-and-ms-chocolate-1992159 (accessed May 28, 2023). copy citation Featured Video