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© History Oasis
What started as an innocent novelty candy became one of the most controversial confections in American history. This is the history of candy cigarettes. A debate about childhood, marketing, and public health that continues to this day.
1880s-1890s
It all started with Milton S. Hershey, the chocolate tycoon, with a simple idea. Why not mold chocolates into fun shapes—cigarettes, cigars, even bicycles and flowers?
It seemed harmless enough.
Other candy shops across Europe and America were already wrapping chocolate in paper, packaging it in boxes that looked remarkably like cigarettes. But nobody could have predicted the storm that would follow.
1900s-1920s
By 1915, the now defunct Victoria Sweets boldly declared themselves “the home of chocolate cigarettes” and “the original manufacturers of Kiddie cigarettes since 1915.”
Just in case you wanted to get your little toddler on the smoking habit early on.
But the real innovation came in the 1920s. Companies discovered they could make chalky white candies that produced little puffs of “smoke” — or candy dust — when kids blew on them.
Suddenly, children weren’t just eating candy. They were smoking.
The Hershey Corporation led the manufacturing of these chalky cigarettes, and demand surged across America.
1930s-1950s
This is where things get fascinating and troubling.
In 1939, real cigarette companies, such as Camel and Lucky Strike, began partnering with candy manufacturers to use their actual pack designs. One confectioner boasted about putting out “candy cigarette packs by the millions,” celebrating “the tremendous advertising factor” for “coming of age cigarette smokers.”
In the 1950s, Philadelphia Bubble Gum Corporation became the largest manufacturer of candy cigarettes. They controversially distributed candy cigarettes with eight nearly identical brand names to real cigarette brands:
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, two World War II veterans—Sam and Leon Cohen—built World Confections in 1952, creating what would become an even larger candy cigarette empire.
But in 1953, politicians started to take notice, and North Dakota became the first and only state to ban candy cigarettes.
Controversy was brewing.
1960s
Everything changed in 1964 when the Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health criticized candy cigarettes for “trying to lure youngsters into the smoking habit.”
The writing was on the wall.
And then, a few years later, in 1967, World Confections reported that children aged 4 to 8 were their primary consumers. That same year, Advertising Age revealed that some major tobacco companies denied ever granting permission for the candy mimicry. But others, like Brown & Williamson, had actually sent copies of their labels to candy companies.
The cozy relationship between Big Tobacco and candy manufacturers was coming into focus.
1970s-1990s
In 1970, the first serious attempt at a national ban on candy cigarettes failed in Congress.
But the pressure was mounting.
The word “cigarettes” quietly disappeared from packaging, replaced by “sticks” and later “stix.”
By the 1980s, organizations like DOC (Doctors Ought to Care) ramped up campaigns. Tobacco companies began aggressively protecting their trademarks—not to help candy companies, but to distance themselves from the scandal.
In 1990, a study found that sixth graders who ate candy cigarettes were twice as likely to smoke real ones.
And in 1991, another attempt to ban the candy failed nationally.
Pediatrics published research in 1992 suggesting the candies helped kids develop “favorable attitudes toward tobacco smoking.”
The evidence was starting to mount.
2000s
In 2000, The British Medical Journal published evidence that smoke-like candies promote tobacco habits.
In 2007, a bombshell study in Preventative Medicine surveyed over 25,800 adults. It found that 88% of current and former smokers had consumed candy cigarettes as children, and 78% of non-smokers had eaten them.
At this point, the dark correlation was undeniable.
2010s-Present
Today, the global response tells the story:
Countries with complete bans on candy cigarettes include: Brazil, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.
Candy Cigarettes are still legal in the US. They are primarily manufactured by World Confections in New Jersey.
The irony?
In 2010, people mistakenly thought the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act banned candy cigarettes.
It didn’t.
It only regulated actual tobacco products.
But today, most parents know better and don’t normally purchase candy for their kids.
The debate continues.
Candy cigarettes remain a fascinating relic—a dark reminder of our recent past.
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