June 18, 2021 • 38 mins
This chocolatey, chewy candy is at the center of more than just lollipops – there’s a lot of mystery surrounding it, too. Anney and Lauren bite into the history of the Tootsie Roll.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Saber Production for I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we
have an episode for you about tutsie rolls, Yes, which,
in my opinion, a surprising number of you ever quested.
I turned out the history is fascinating and the science
is fascinating. I just have never put much thought into one.
(00:29):
Shame on me, um, and I'm sorry to say. Titsi
roll was always a letdown in the Halloween candy hall.
It wasn't like the bottom of the barrel. Yeah, but
that was when I was ready to trade pretty quickly.
I was never excited to see a tutsi roll, And
even back then before I had my m false tooth,
(00:53):
I just felt like it was so difficult to chew
and like my teeth were gonna actually fall out from
So I never had that kind of fear surrounding it.
I am back before they were packaged in like sealed rappers.
I was never allowed to eat the Tutsi rolls that
(01:14):
I got in my Halloween candy because someone could have
tampered with them, because it was just the little wax
paper twist and so so it was disappointing in that. Wow.
But yeah, I I never I never got excited about
a chocolate tittsie role particularly, but those fruit flavored chooes
and the vanilla ones. Super into those, super into them,
(01:36):
love them. I'm not sure I ever tried. I think
I was like, you know what, I'm not a big
fan of this chocolate one. That's enough for me. I
ever ventured out. And I didn't even know that was
a thing. I knew like the titsy roll pops had
the different flavors, but yeah, yeah, no, no, that the
chooes themselves do come in different flavors, and yeah, I
(01:57):
was psyched about those. But but I've always been a
taffy fan, like anything cheery is some of my favorite candy.
So yeah, yeah, And actually that was one of the
when someone wrote in and requested this topic. They asked,
because we had just done the Saltwater Taffy episode, what
is the difference between tit cere roles and taffy. I
(02:18):
was like, let's do an episode. Well, we have indeed
gotten to the bottom of that, or rather other humans have,
and you know, we we read about it on the internet,
we report on it. Yeah, the best we can I
suppose this brings us to our question. Yeah, tits cere
(02:40):
roles what are they? Well, titsy Rolls are a brand
of candy that's a sort of chocolate flavored taffy chew,
kind of like if Plato were more edible and flavor
qualifier of more more. Well, you know, that's one of
(03:01):
the things about Plato is that it's it's it's you know,
meant for children of an age that if they put
it in their mouths and eat it, then it's fine.
It's not gonna hurt you. I don't know why. I
feel like you're being very diplomatic. And I will say though,
most Plato is not flavored with cocoa, which tutsi rolls are,
(03:24):
so that's probably for the best. Yeah. Absolutely. Um roles
come in various sizes, from kind of like a little
like finger joint sized pieces called Midge's piggies Midge's I guess, yeah,
And and those come in yeah, that twist of wax
paper two longer choose and wax paper to a thicker
(03:44):
bars that come in wrappers. And yes, they also come
in vanilla and fruit varieties, um cherry, lemon, orange, and lime,
and the candy is also manufactured into the center of
hard lollipops and a bunch of flavors grape raspberry, blue raspberry, caramel, cherry, chocolate, orange, strawberry, vanilla,
and green apple. And there are varieties with fruit shoes
(04:06):
in the middle as well. Uh blue ras and cherry,
strawberry and lemon, wild appleberry, wild BlackBerry, wild blueberry, wild cherryberry,
and wild mango berry. And I do have to admit
that I am unsure what makes all of them so wild.
(04:28):
I have my suspicions. I'm like, do they just mean
slightly sour? I can't and I haven't had them. I
can't tell you. Um. Uh. The base candy though, UM.
The the the toud sea roll is made from sugar,
corn syrup, skim milk, uh, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and
(04:51):
cocoa and other flavorings. And apparently one of those other
flavorings is a hint of orange. Huh yeah. Anyway, Uh,
you cook all that stuff down until the sugar hits
the right sticky consistency. Um. Then uh pull it to
incorporate tiny air bubbles that that make it fluffy like
(05:11):
a taffy. Um. Then cook it again, like bake it
at a low temperature for a couple hours to firm
it up and make it chewier. Um, give it that,
give it that slightly firmer texture. Then yeah, you roll
it out, trim it to size, wrap them up, and
you got tutsi rolls. There you go. The company that
makes them, Tutsie Roll Industries, has this factory in Cambridge,
(05:35):
Massachusetts that's apparently like famously closed off in secretive, Like
its windows are all blacked out. The only indication of
what the building holds are these like small signs at
the doors that look like tutsie roll rappers, I mean,
and and the scent I guess is another tip off.
But the company in general is apparently known in the
(05:56):
industry for being super closed off, Like despite it being
publicly traded, they don't do quarterly earnings calls. They issue
their earnings reports only via crookedly scanned PDFs. Who's running
this outfit? Market analysts stopped covering them in because they
(06:18):
couldn't get any dang information about the company. Oh my gosh.
They will not talk to journalists and they do not
do tours. Do you think there's like a big owl
up in there. I think is somebody an owl. Mr
Owl is actually behind the mr Awl twitter. I you know,
(06:40):
I literally could not tell you this is no one can.
Mr Owl is the Willy Wonka of the real world.
That's true, and they don't have some mysterious secret ingredient.
This feels very like that Twilight Zone episode where they're
like to serve man and that they think it's like,
(07:01):
you know, to help out, but then it turned out
it's a cookbook like that going on. See just your
oal Industries, your secretiveness is only fueling my horror movie
fueled mind. So so you better let us take a
tour of your to roll factors or else you're gonna
(07:22):
have savor on your case. And you don't want that.
I don't want that. We will write confusing stories. Puns
will haunt your dreams. Puns already haunt my dreams. It's
too late for us. But Industries, you have a chance.
(07:45):
I'm sure nothing to farious is going on. I think
they just are trying to make candy. Um. They do
also own brands like Charleston Shoes, Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies, Dots,
Junior Mints, and These Mints. Nickel nip, double bubble and
charms blow pops. Interesting. Okay, all right, well what about
(08:10):
the nutrition TUTSI rolls are low and fat compared with chocolate. Um,
but you know they're still they're mostly sugar. Treat Treats
are nice. Treats are nice, um, and you can make
them at home. Um. Copycat recipes abound, but generally involve yeah,
cooking up chocolate corns or powdered sugar, powdered milk, butter
(08:32):
and vanilla than a yeah, needing it, rolling it out,
and cutting it into pieces. It sounds like a lot
of work. It does sound like a lot of work.
I mean, I feel like it's would probably be something
that would be good to help keep kids occupied. If
you have experience with this, right in and let us know,
especially if it was a hilarious failure. Yes, we love
(08:57):
hilarious failures and then reading about them on the show
and laughing your demise. Um. No, no, no, no, I
have plenty of hilarious failures of my own. Oh yes, yes,
I have made Reese's cups before. Yeah, it wasn't hard necessarily,
but it was kind of Um. I don't know what
to worry it was just tedious. I guess it didn't.
(09:19):
It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I once made a red velvet cake totally from scratch
that took me all day and came out exactly as
fine as a cake from Publix, and I was like,
that's that's the last time I'm ever doing never again.
(09:42):
We do have some numbers for you. We do. According
to Roll Industries, they turned out sixty four million miniature
to see rolls a day. That's forty four thousand per minute,
seven forty per second, and the company does about five
million dollars a year and say else, and I loved this.
(10:03):
The website has an entire section on how many licks
does it take to get to the center of a pop,
which probably allows you remember from those commercials um with
facts like it depends on a variety of factors such
as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva,
et cetera. Basically, the world may never know or Since
nineteen seventy we have received more than twenty thousand letters
(10:25):
from children around the world who believe they have solved
the mystery behind how many licks it takes to get
to the center or estimates from children. It seemed to
run from a low of one hundred licks to a
high of five thousand, eight hundred licks, with most of
them ranging from six hundred to eight hundred licks. Now
that I know, they're so secretive, Lauren, I don't know
(10:45):
about all this. They have been a little kg and
some academics noticed and try to get to the bottom
of it. Two and so the website has featured a
handful of these scientific studies that tried to get to
the bottom of this question. One from Perdue where researchers
created a quote licking machine modeled after the human tongue
(11:10):
that took three hundred sixty four licks to get to
the center of a tipsy pop. Twenty volunteers undertook the
challenge with an average of two two licks, so they
had like the human kind of component average and in
this licking machine average um. Another study from the University
of Michigan used a licking machine and found that it
(11:30):
took four hundred and eleven licks. Bellarmine University or beller
mine Um collected findings from one hundred and thirty participants,
categorizing them by gender, time, and tipsy pop color, grape
averaged the most and took the longest for instance. Uh.
All in all, they found the average was one hundred
and seventy five licks in a little over fourteen minutes,
(11:52):
which is lower than the rest. H Yeah, some mathematicians
put the number much higher at one thousand licks. Though
the formula they used for the candy because it wasn't
titsy roll, I think it was unspecified and they didn't
share a formula for their findings, so they're kind of
like a footnote. Yeah. Yeah, I don't want to call
(12:15):
you out or give up a shade. I don't know.
I'm just saying what I saw. Um, these are just
so the studies. There are more, Yeah, a shocking to
me number of scientifically rigorous looks into the roll pop
So m h. However, I will say that, um, some
(12:41):
of the disparate numbers that we're seeing here might be
because the company has reduced the thickness of the lollipop
layer over the years due to consumer feedback about wanting
wanting to get to the TUTSI roll center faster. Just
like Mr OL, Just like Mr L maybe he was
right all along. One too three, I could do a
(13:07):
mic drop. I would shall not no, super producer. Andrew
would be very mad. He would, but we're in the
virtual studio right now. I guess he has a lot
of black mail material. Yeah, okay, moving on. We do
have a lot of history for you, we do. But
(13:28):
first we've got a quick break forward from our sponsor.
We're back, Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. So the
story of the tissy roll most often begins with Austrian
candy maker Leo hirsch Field or hirsch Feld, opening a
(13:52):
candy shop in New York City in eight. Hirsch Field
or felt that there's confusion about the name. It's listed
to really in different places, but most people say hers Field,
even though I believe it was Hirshfield, but I don't know.
Um arrived in New York in four with little money
(14:12):
to his name. He was part of a wave of
immigration of Jewish people from Eastern Europe and Russia who
had been experiencing poverty and persecution in their homelands. Um,
if you've seen the movie An American Tale, you know
with a fible, Yeah, yeah, that that that's about this.
I mean, not this guy. But it's like, I don't
(14:33):
remember Tis year roles in that movie. That's very scared
me very much as a child. Oh yeah, those cats
were terrifying. Um. Yeah, yeah, it was about this wave
of immigration. Yes. Uh. Some of those immigrants who were
not mice, who were human people, had worked in sugar
beet farming and sugar processing back home and thus entered
(14:54):
the candy industry when they came to America. And Hirschfeld
came from a family of candy makers in Austria. He
was able to open a candy shop in Brooklyn and
he started selling candy around the neighborhood. It was while
at this store he allegedly invented a log of chocolate
candy wrapped in wax paper called a Tutsie roll, for
(15:14):
the price of one penny um. The exact date of
this is debated pretty seriously actually, but sometime between eighteen
ninety six or nineteen o seven ish. The official website
says six, but some of the official documents don't really
back that up. Yeah, more on that in a minute. Yes, um,
but this candy was innovative in two main ways. While
(15:38):
it had chocolate flavor, it didn't melt, and these candies
were one of the first to be individually wrapped. This
was a big deal because prior to widespread access to
refrigeration or any access to refrigeration and a c systems,
candy makers struggled to keep chocolate from melting, necessitating them
to turn to other confections like marshmallows, especially in the summer.
(15:59):
So yeah, the Titsi Roll stood out as a summer
chocolate candy option. The N seven patent for the titsy
Roll describes how the quote peculiar mellow consistency is different
from most other pulled candies, and how it's achieved by
baking it at a lower temperature for two hours. This
(16:19):
process helped the candy keep shape and not melt. Once baked,
it would be molded and wrapped and there you go.
As far as the name story goes that Hirshfield arrived
at it pretty quickly. His five year old daughter Clara's
nickname was Tutsie. Hirshfield has several other patents for things
like bond bond dipping machine, a machine for putting confections
(16:41):
into molds, and a fork for dipping bond bonds, a
very specialized fork to name with you. This is when
the US was in the midst of a candy making boom.
That really depended on volume, which means that having the
right machine could really make or break a candy maker.
People seemed immediately to take to titsy rules, in part
(17:01):
because it was the only chocolate like option available in
the summer often and also because it was cheap. And
to meet this demand, Hirshfield merged with Stern and Saalberg Company,
a company that went public in nineteen twenty two as
the Sweets Company of America. The marketing push for titsi
rolls really took off in nineteen o nine. One of
(17:23):
these ads read the most inimitable but the most imitated
candy in years, and they were serious about that patent.
That same ad had at the bottom, quote, the process
for making chocolate tutsi rolls is patented. We have fifty
tho dollars laid aside to protect our rights. And for
(17:45):
the record, that's over easily over a million bucks in
today's money. So you think that was true? I mean,
didn't have to back that up. I don't know, but
I love it. Like what a good threat. I should
start having something like that. We asked fifty thousand dollars
(18:06):
laid aside to protect our rights. Okay, titsy roll, Yeah, alright,
um by Hirshfield was quite rich with seven hundred million
tutsie rolls sold. He was featured in an article about
the rags riches immigrant story of himself and three other
(18:27):
men who made it big, all of who met in
a steerage cabin on the steamship Neckar as it made
its way to New York. Um. So it's a whole
like piece on the four of them and what they
all got up to you. Um. Some research suggests that
Hirschfield had been working with Stern and Salberg Company prior
to the Titsy Roll on a Gelton based confection called
(18:49):
broman gel In or Romangelon, which apparently means angels food,
which is hilarious to me because that's not what it
sounds like. No, No, I really broke. Broman gell In
sounds like an insult that I would use mm hmm
for I don't know. It sounds to me like a
(19:12):
protein powder, which I guess is closes bro and man
in a word. I don't know anyway, Okay, Yeah, this
was a powdered flavored gelatine like jello and came in
lemon orange raspberry, strawberry, cherry, and chocolate. Apparently it was
nationally distributed and pretty well known. Yeah. Um. This also
(19:34):
suggests that he may have been working with this company
before this Tittsie Rule thing, and that the merging story
that we said we told you earlier isn't exactly correct,
even though it is the one that the company officially lists. Yeah.
There's even evidence that he moved to Manhattan specifically to
work for them back in the nineties and never even
owned a candy shop in Brooklyn, though he did live
(19:55):
there briefly, and rather than merge with their company. Um,
it seems he may have worked his way up through
the ranks there. And to add to the confusion, the
powdered gelatin was advertised with the mischievous little girl called
Tattling Tutsie. Yeah. There was a booklet that came out
promoting the stuff and featuring this character sometime after, and
(20:18):
it included the following poem, Um, I never tell lies,
said mother's child. But the other night my pa was
wild for dinner was late, and he scolded like fun,
but he smiled when mob brought him broom and Jellen.
It's been a long time since I've been that nervous
(20:38):
for as a poem was unfolding, I really didn't know
where I was going, right, Yeah, Yeah, poems about I
guess uh, angry dad's and potential domestic abuse. That turned
out okay because of a jello competitor. There's a lot
(20:59):
going on, there's a lot to unpack, unsettling. Put me
on edge, and I'll turned out okay, he scolded, like fun,
I'm not sure what that means. Yeah, m hmmm. Well.
Hirshfield the left or perhaps was forced out of the
Sweets Company of America in nineteen twenty to start them
(21:20):
Mills Candy Corporation was an extremely difficult year for him.
His wife was ill and in a sanatorium, and he
himself was dealing with a stomach disease. He shot and
killed himself at the beginning of ninety two. He left
a note for his attorney that read, I'm sorry, I
couldn't help it. Mells went bankrupt in Yeah. Um. Hirschfeld
(21:44):
never rose above the rank of vice president of the
Sweets Company of America, and the theory goes that maybe
he wasn't nearly as good at business as he was
at inventing stuff. And so he got pushed out after
his original bosses retired. Um, there are a couple of
food his story ends who have dug all up into this. UM.
Shout out to the blog Candy Professor. Really good, really
(22:06):
good research and information there. Yes, such great sleething And
I love how there was like interaction where someone else
who was looking in the girl voted yeah, highly recommended,
very much informed a lot of this episode. Yeah yeah. Meanwhile,
a family by the name of Reuben became majority shareholders
in the Sweets Company of America in the nineteen thirties,
(22:28):
and then the family patriarch became the president of the company.
By the nineteen seventies, his daughter Ellen and her husband
Marvin Gordon, took over. Ellen was the second ever woman
president of a publicly traded company. Oh. In one the
Titsie pop debuted and it was a popular candy choice
for Americans struggling during the Great Depression. A Captain Titsie
(22:51):
comic ship ran from nineteen forty three to nineteen fifty three,
and it involves a buffer Captured America type can fellow
beating up a bear, among other things. Sure fears right,
real dangered Tittsie rolls. I hear um and like so
(23:13):
many foods we talked about. World War two was a
major turning point for the tittsie role. The company making
the candy essentially received a government contract to keep making them,
while many other candy manufacturers were forced to shut down.
This is because they were seen as quick energy, as
a quick energy source, and they had that long shelf life,
to the point that they were included in army rations.
(23:35):
This helped really foster in American fondness for tittsie roles. Yeah, yeah,
and it helped that in the in the nineteen fifties,
they they hopped on the television marketing trend pretty early.
They were sponsoring kids programming by and Tessie Rolls were
(23:57):
integral for American marines fighting in the Korean War as
well soldiers stationed at chong Jin Mountain Reservoir. We're in
a dark spot, perhaps goes doesn't need to be said,
but facing cold weather, high number of enemies, and low
and dwindling levels of supplies, they were desperately waiting for
a supply drop of Tussie rolls, which was a code
(24:18):
name they used for supplies in general, or perhaps specifically
ammo um Yeah, to their shock, the supply job turned
out to actually beat tutsie rolls. Uh. The operator who
received the urgent call may not have had the code
name sheet which Okay, the tufty rolls froze, but the
(24:41):
soldiers figured out that by warming them up to make
them pliant, they could not only eat them, but they
could use them to repair their equipment. This made it
possible for them to escape their enemies and survive. Um. Yeah,
and there I believe you can read accounts from soldiers
like have such a fondness for these tipsy rolls, like
(25:02):
they got us out of there, man. Yeah. And they
got celebrities. They got some celebrities who were big fans
to Frank Sinatra reportedly required to see rolls to be
stocked backstage or in hotel rooms while touring. Um and
maybe was buried with some in his coffin. That's the rumor. Yeah,
(25:23):
he definitely did an ad for them in two And
Jackie Kennedy Onassis was also a fan, keeping a bowl
in her office during her time at Double Day, which
was a publishing company in New York, because they served
as a quote good icebreaker. And this, friends, is my
Siginfeld reference of the episode because I did never I
never understood that joke. There's a whole episode where Elaine
(25:47):
is trying to get a job at Double Day and
she's told like she has no grace or whatever. But
then she's like, I didn't get the interview. Whatever is
getting to leave, puts on a like kerchief and big sunglasses,
turns around and they're like JACKIEO Nassis and I didn't
get it. I'm really simplifying what happened here. But now
I understand she got the job, hey because they were
(26:14):
big Jackie nassas fans um. And then another big moment
in advertisement history in v the famous and iconic ad
featuring Mr Owl and the question how many likes does
it take to get to the center of a TITSI
Pop debuted and yes Mr Owl now has a Twitter account.
(26:39):
I don't understand that. I'm telling you might be real, Lauren,
until you prove otherwise to to your own industries, I
don't know. Uh. Starting in ninety two, the company began
acquiring other classic candy brands, starting with Dots and Crows.
(27:00):
They would continue buying up brands through the early two
thousands and um with their acquisition of charms and blow
pops in they became the largest producer of lollipops in
the world. Wow. Um, The sixty nine Boys released their
song roll in N and I tell you you really
(27:22):
never can say we're an episodes. Oh the song is
still well loved. Sure, yeah, classic. I'm not entirely sure
I've heard it, but oh, I promise you have. That
(27:43):
was the whole dance I understand. Yeah, mm hmmm, mhm
in n Tutsie Roll Industry CEO Melvin Gordon told Associated
Press nothing can happen to a tutsie role. We have
some that were made in night that we still eat.
If you can't bite it when it's that old, you
certainly can lick it. Apparently this was a favorite joke
(28:07):
of his about like having just these old ones around
and they're still good. Um and uh but yeah that
that was the hundredth anniversary of the candy, according to
company lore. Um and so I think that they were
making like there was a couple of interviews that came
out that year, and I think they were making like
a serious exception to their to their normal no interviews
(28:32):
things right right right right? Um, that does feel like
a very grandfather or grandmother thing to do, Like I've
had this candy since whatever year, It's still good. Okay,
um leo. Hershield was inducted into the Candy Hall of
Fame in two thousand seven. Oh to zero Industry sued
(28:53):
Roll Issue in two thousand and eleven over their foot
see Roll rolla ble shoes fut se role. That's delightful,
I mean copyright infringement perhaps, but delightful copyright infringement, yes,
uh yeah, very interesting story that again I was not
(29:16):
expecting to encounter. A class action lawsuit filed in twenty
nineteen claimed that Titsi Roll Industries have been using trans
fats in their products and not being honest about it.
And just this year, during that whole stock market hedge
fund game stop, Reddit day trading madness, which is a
(29:38):
chain of nouns that I never thought I would have
reason to say and to have makes sense. Um, but yeah,
during all of that, Tittsy Role Industries stock got wrapped
up in the whole thing, and um it doubled basically
overnight from its steady like thirty bucks to share to
a record high of fifty eight dollars and cents, and
(29:59):
that aced the company and a net worth of some
four billion dollars UM and made it's CEO, the aforementioned
Ellen Gordon, a multi billionaire. Um. She is eighty nine
years old and still running the company. Wow. Can you imagine? No, No,
I I cannot. Somebody comes in. It's like, well, there's
(30:23):
something strange happening on the internet and now our stock
is double. It's kind of a meme thing, you know. Uh,
he's just telling me I have a lot more money now. Yeah. Yeah,
and it's because of something called Reddit. Okay, sure, Yeah,
(30:46):
this has been an interesting one. Yeah. Yes, next time
you have a t's er old listeners take a minute. Yeah,
I appreciate it. M. It's really and bizarre and mysterious history. Yes,
all wrapped up to this very mysterious candy to see
(31:09):
role industries. Anyway, I think that's what we have to
say on Tipsy Rules for now. It is. We do
have some listener mail for you, though, we do, but
first we have one more up break for word from
our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you,
(31:35):
And we're back with listeners. M. I don't know the songs,
so I can't do it. It's probably for the best,
probably for the best. Yes, I sorry, but absolutely no
(31:58):
offense taken. Um okay, So so many of you have
written in about fallout and thank you. Yes, yes, so
Josh wrote. As a Scout master for a Scouts BSA
troupe in Michigan, we face some pretty big challenges. At
the beginning of COVID, the national and regional Boy Scouts
of America organizations halted all in person meetings and outdoor activities.
(32:20):
Working with our Scouts, we pivoted our programming to weekly
Zoom WebEx meetings featuring games are covering outdoor and leadership skills.
Both parents and Scouts quickly got Zoom fatigue as they
were spending school working Scouting time on the computer. Reaching
into our bag of programming tricks, I modified our cast
Iron Chef ire Elevant plan into a remote program similar
(32:43):
to the Iron Chef program. The in person version gave
Scout patrols a mystery ingredient during camp out, using cooking
tools in their patrol box and selecting items from a
pantry of common kitchen ingredients the adults brought the Scouts
would have to make a dish. Are dishes highlighting the
mystery ingredients My objectives for the mote mission were create
a joint experience that Scouts could share and enjoy as
(33:03):
a group remotely, continue to build important skills like cooking,
promote creativity, make scouts siblings and parents laugh. Trying to
make the best of the situation. I created an apocalypse
theme for the event. I gathered the mystery ingredient and
generated a pamphlet providing the backstory and rules for the competition.
I incorporated most of my references from Fall Hell and
(33:24):
Mad Max, but also included several other movies, games, TV shows,
and pop culture references. I also went in three D
printed Pit Boy themed trophies for the winners of the
different categories. Using my amateur cosplay skills, I scavenged or
created end of the world akutumal for my Scout Master
uniform and set up a table at the foot of
my driveway to hand off the packages. While setting up,
(33:47):
I received a few quizzical looks from neighbors driving by.
I got a double take from one of our small
towns police officers as they made one of their periodic
neighborhood drive throughs. Another officer drove by a few minutes
later to check out the spectacle, probably broadcast on their radio.
The Scouts and parents were delighted to see the mystery
ingredient from the end Times Twinkies. The Scouts made their
(34:11):
creations over the weekend and then presented to the troop
at the weekly Zoom meeting. We saw a wide variety
of creations made from this versatile ingredient. Creations included a
tower of Twinkies with a fruit jam drizzle, strawberry and
cream cake, a pudding it named toxic waste, a tweaky
breakfast sandwich, a savory stew made with Twinkies, a road
(34:32):
kill themed dessert, Twinkie s'mores, and a hot dog Twinkie.
Several Scouts took it up a notch by writing elaborate backstories,
including a tragic tale of Twinkie the Kid in his demise.
The result was a banana and Twinkie cake. Another scout
created a video showing how they hunted, killed, and cleaned
and roasted a wild Twinkie. Everyone had a great time
(34:55):
and lots of laughs from the event. Oh that's so fun.
It's wonderful, so fun, so creative. Uh yeah, I wrote
back and said I would have loved this as a kid,
but who am my kidding? I would love this now. Um,
this is a fantastic event. And I bet that a
lot of listeners listening, I'm gonna get some ideas. Oh yes, yes,
(35:19):
do something similar, And that he's in pictures in the PDF.
And also like the adult had kind of running jokes
going on for their own Twinkie creations and they were
all excellent. It looks like such a fun time. Yes, yes,
Jesse wrote. When I was in college in Idaho, Fallout
two was due to be released and they were having
(35:40):
a release party in California. A friend and I liked
the first game so much that we drove to California
to go to the release party. At the release party,
they gave away a bunch of swag, and among that
was an iguana in a can, which was basically a
Campbell soup can sized aluminum can with a pop top
with a stuffed iguana inside. Who we picked the came
up and played the entire drive back, taking turns driving
(36:03):
on a laptop that was hooked up to the car charger.
Fast forward to maybe twenty plus years later, and I
noticed it on a shelf in my office, unopened on
a lark. I decided to see if I could sell
it and listed it on eBay. A thousand dollars later,
it was shipping out. So if anyone else happened to
have gone to that party and has an unopened can,
(36:24):
there's quite a bit of potential to make some money
on that thing. I love the podcast. My cousin wrote
in about Philadelphia cheese on pizza in Albania that was
in your Ginger episode. So if you can give a
shout out to Jolene, shout out jo Line, Hi, thank you.
(36:45):
Yes uh. Fellow person with this popular song has their
name in it. So I love this. I I this
is such a blast from the past for me because
I totally forgot about like going to police parties for games.
And yeah, I too had a friend. I didn't have
this set up, but she had a setup where could
play games in the car um. And I also have
(37:09):
a bunch of nerds stuff that I've accumulated that I
don't think I would ever part ways with, but I
do occasionally look at it and I'm like, I wonder
if these light up Lord of the Rings goblets actually
are worth anything. I got four of them. They light
up blue and red was that? Was that? What? Did
(37:31):
we have one of those in a promotional photo? At
some point I like, did you bring it into work?
I don't know anyway, Yeah, I bought it to G
and D once. I don't know that we actually use them,
but I did. Um. Yes, So thanks to both of
those listeners for writing in. If you would like to
write to us, we would love to hear from you.
Our email is hello at savor pod dot com. We're
(37:53):
also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at savor pod, and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of I Heart Radio.
For more podcasts my Heart Radio, you can visit the
I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super
producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
and we hope that lots market things are coming your
(38:13):
way
Hello, and welcome to Saber Production for I Heart Radio.
I'm Annie Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we
have an episode for you about tutsie rolls, Yes, which,
in my opinion, a surprising number of you ever quested.
I turned out the history is fascinating and the science
is fascinating. I just have never put much thought into one.
(00:29):
Shame on me, um, and I'm sorry to say. Titsi
roll was always a letdown in the Halloween candy hall.
It wasn't like the bottom of the barrel. Yeah, but
that was when I was ready to trade pretty quickly.
I was never excited to see a tutsi roll, And
even back then before I had my m false tooth,
(00:53):
I just felt like it was so difficult to chew
and like my teeth were gonna actually fall out from
So I never had that kind of fear surrounding it.
I am back before they were packaged in like sealed rappers.
I was never allowed to eat the Tutsi rolls that
(01:14):
I got in my Halloween candy because someone could have
tampered with them, because it was just the little wax
paper twist and so so it was disappointing in that. Wow.
But yeah, I I never I never got excited about
a chocolate tittsie role particularly, but those fruit flavored chooes
and the vanilla ones. Super into those, super into them,
(01:36):
love them. I'm not sure I ever tried. I think
I was like, you know what, I'm not a big
fan of this chocolate one. That's enough for me. I
ever ventured out. And I didn't even know that was
a thing. I knew like the titsy roll pops had
the different flavors, but yeah, yeah, no, no, that the
chooes themselves do come in different flavors, and yeah, I
(01:57):
was psyched about those. But but I've always been a
taffy fan, like anything cheery is some of my favorite candy.
So yeah, yeah, And actually that was one of the
when someone wrote in and requested this topic. They asked,
because we had just done the Saltwater Taffy episode, what
is the difference between tit cere roles and taffy. I
(02:18):
was like, let's do an episode. Well, we have indeed
gotten to the bottom of that, or rather other humans have,
and you know, we we read about it on the internet,
we report on it. Yeah, the best we can I
suppose this brings us to our question. Yeah, tits cere
(02:40):
roles what are they? Well, titsy Rolls are a brand
of candy that's a sort of chocolate flavored taffy chew,
kind of like if Plato were more edible and flavor
qualifier of more more. Well, you know, that's one of
(03:01):
the things about Plato is that it's it's it's you know,
meant for children of an age that if they put
it in their mouths and eat it, then it's fine.
It's not gonna hurt you. I don't know why. I
feel like you're being very diplomatic. And I will say though,
most Plato is not flavored with cocoa, which tutsi rolls are,
(03:24):
so that's probably for the best. Yeah. Absolutely. Um roles
come in various sizes, from kind of like a little
like finger joint sized pieces called Midge's piggies Midge's I guess, yeah,
And and those come in yeah, that twist of wax
paper two longer choose and wax paper to a thicker
(03:44):
bars that come in wrappers. And yes, they also come
in vanilla and fruit varieties, um cherry, lemon, orange, and lime,
and the candy is also manufactured into the center of
hard lollipops and a bunch of flavors grape raspberry, blue raspberry, caramel, cherry, chocolate, orange, strawberry, vanilla,
and green apple. And there are varieties with fruit shoes
(04:06):
in the middle as well. Uh blue ras and cherry,
strawberry and lemon, wild appleberry, wild BlackBerry, wild blueberry, wild cherryberry,
and wild mango berry. And I do have to admit
that I am unsure what makes all of them so wild.
(04:28):
I have my suspicions. I'm like, do they just mean
slightly sour? I can't and I haven't had them. I
can't tell you. Um. Uh. The base candy though, UM.
The the the toud sea roll is made from sugar,
corn syrup, skim milk, uh, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and
(04:51):
cocoa and other flavorings. And apparently one of those other
flavorings is a hint of orange. Huh yeah. Anyway, Uh,
you cook all that stuff down until the sugar hits
the right sticky consistency. Um. Then uh pull it to
incorporate tiny air bubbles that that make it fluffy like
(05:11):
a taffy. Um. Then cook it again, like bake it
at a low temperature for a couple hours to firm
it up and make it chewier. Um, give it that,
give it that slightly firmer texture. Then yeah, you roll
it out, trim it to size, wrap them up, and
you got tutsi rolls. There you go. The company that
makes them, Tutsie Roll Industries, has this factory in Cambridge,
(05:35):
Massachusetts that's apparently like famously closed off in secretive, Like
its windows are all blacked out. The only indication of
what the building holds are these like small signs at
the doors that look like tutsie roll rappers, I mean,
and and the scent I guess is another tip off.
But the company in general is apparently known in the
(05:56):
industry for being super closed off, Like despite it being
publicly traded, they don't do quarterly earnings calls. They issue
their earnings reports only via crookedly scanned PDFs. Who's running
this outfit? Market analysts stopped covering them in because they
(06:18):
couldn't get any dang information about the company. Oh my gosh.
They will not talk to journalists and they do not
do tours. Do you think there's like a big owl
up in there. I think is somebody an owl. Mr
Owl is actually behind the mr Awl twitter. I you know,
(06:40):
I literally could not tell you this is no one can.
Mr Owl is the Willy Wonka of the real world.
That's true, and they don't have some mysterious secret ingredient.
This feels very like that Twilight Zone episode where they're
like to serve man and that they think it's like,
(07:01):
you know, to help out, but then it turned out
it's a cookbook like that going on. See just your
oal Industries, your secretiveness is only fueling my horror movie
fueled mind. So so you better let us take a
tour of your to roll factors or else you're gonna
(07:22):
have savor on your case. And you don't want that.
I don't want that. We will write confusing stories. Puns
will haunt your dreams. Puns already haunt my dreams. It's
too late for us. But Industries, you have a chance.
(07:45):
I'm sure nothing to farious is going on. I think
they just are trying to make candy. Um. They do
also own brands like Charleston Shoes, Sugar Babies and Sugar Daddies, Dots,
Junior Mints, and These Mints. Nickel nip, double bubble and
charms blow pops. Interesting. Okay, all right, well what about
(08:10):
the nutrition TUTSI rolls are low and fat compared with chocolate. Um,
but you know they're still they're mostly sugar. Treat Treats
are nice. Treats are nice, um, and you can make
them at home. Um. Copycat recipes abound, but generally involve yeah,
cooking up chocolate corns or powdered sugar, powdered milk, butter
(08:32):
and vanilla than a yeah, needing it, rolling it out,
and cutting it into pieces. It sounds like a lot
of work. It does sound like a lot of work.
I mean, I feel like it's would probably be something
that would be good to help keep kids occupied. If
you have experience with this, right in and let us know,
especially if it was a hilarious failure. Yes, we love
(08:57):
hilarious failures and then reading about them on the show
and laughing your demise. Um. No, no, no, no, I
have plenty of hilarious failures of my own. Oh yes, yes,
I have made Reese's cups before. Yeah, it wasn't hard necessarily,
but it was kind of Um. I don't know what
to worry it was just tedious. I guess it didn't.
(09:19):
It wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I once made a red velvet cake totally from scratch
that took me all day and came out exactly as
fine as a cake from Publix, and I was like,
that's that's the last time I'm ever doing never again.
(09:42):
We do have some numbers for you. We do. According
to Roll Industries, they turned out sixty four million miniature
to see rolls a day. That's forty four thousand per minute,
seven forty per second, and the company does about five
million dollars a year and say else, and I loved this.
(10:03):
The website has an entire section on how many licks
does it take to get to the center of a pop,
which probably allows you remember from those commercials um with
facts like it depends on a variety of factors such
as the size of your mouth, the amount of saliva,
et cetera. Basically, the world may never know or Since
nineteen seventy we have received more than twenty thousand letters
(10:25):
from children around the world who believe they have solved
the mystery behind how many licks it takes to get
to the center or estimates from children. It seemed to
run from a low of one hundred licks to a
high of five thousand, eight hundred licks, with most of
them ranging from six hundred to eight hundred licks. Now
that I know, they're so secretive, Lauren, I don't know
(10:45):
about all this. They have been a little kg and
some academics noticed and try to get to the bottom
of it. Two and so the website has featured a
handful of these scientific studies that tried to get to
the bottom of this question. One from Perdue where researchers
created a quote licking machine modeled after the human tongue
(11:10):
that took three hundred sixty four licks to get to
the center of a tipsy pop. Twenty volunteers undertook the
challenge with an average of two two licks, so they
had like the human kind of component average and in
this licking machine average um. Another study from the University
of Michigan used a licking machine and found that it
(11:30):
took four hundred and eleven licks. Bellarmine University or beller
mine Um collected findings from one hundred and thirty participants,
categorizing them by gender, time, and tipsy pop color, grape
averaged the most and took the longest for instance. Uh.
All in all, they found the average was one hundred
and seventy five licks in a little over fourteen minutes,
(11:52):
which is lower than the rest. H Yeah, some mathematicians
put the number much higher at one thousand licks. Though
the formula they used for the candy because it wasn't
titsy roll, I think it was unspecified and they didn't
share a formula for their findings, so they're kind of
like a footnote. Yeah. Yeah, I don't want to call
(12:15):
you out or give up a shade. I don't know.
I'm just saying what I saw. Um, these are just
so the studies. There are more, Yeah, a shocking to
me number of scientifically rigorous looks into the roll pop
So m h. However, I will say that, um, some
(12:41):
of the disparate numbers that we're seeing here might be
because the company has reduced the thickness of the lollipop
layer over the years due to consumer feedback about wanting
wanting to get to the TUTSI roll center faster. Just
like Mr OL, Just like Mr L maybe he was
right all along. One too three, I could do a
(13:07):
mic drop. I would shall not no, super producer. Andrew
would be very mad. He would, but we're in the
virtual studio right now. I guess he has a lot
of black mail material. Yeah, okay, moving on. We do
have a lot of history for you, we do. But
(13:28):
first we've got a quick break forward from our sponsor.
We're back, Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. So the
story of the tissy roll most often begins with Austrian
candy maker Leo hirsch Field or hirsch Feld, opening a
(13:52):
candy shop in New York City in eight. Hirsch Field
or felt that there's confusion about the name. It's listed
to really in different places, but most people say hers Field,
even though I believe it was Hirshfield, but I don't know.
Um arrived in New York in four with little money
(14:12):
to his name. He was part of a wave of
immigration of Jewish people from Eastern Europe and Russia who
had been experiencing poverty and persecution in their homelands. Um,
if you've seen the movie An American Tale, you know
with a fible, Yeah, yeah, that that that's about this.
I mean, not this guy. But it's like, I don't
(14:33):
remember Tis year roles in that movie. That's very scared
me very much as a child. Oh yeah, those cats
were terrifying. Um. Yeah, yeah, it was about this wave
of immigration. Yes. Uh. Some of those immigrants who were
not mice, who were human people, had worked in sugar
beet farming and sugar processing back home and thus entered
(14:54):
the candy industry when they came to America. And Hirschfeld
came from a family of candy makers in Austria. He
was able to open a candy shop in Brooklyn and
he started selling candy around the neighborhood. It was while
at this store he allegedly invented a log of chocolate
candy wrapped in wax paper called a Tutsie roll, for
(15:14):
the price of one penny um. The exact date of
this is debated pretty seriously actually, but sometime between eighteen
ninety six or nineteen o seven ish. The official website
says six, but some of the official documents don't really
back that up. Yeah, more on that in a minute. Yes, um,
but this candy was innovative in two main ways. While
(15:38):
it had chocolate flavor, it didn't melt, and these candies
were one of the first to be individually wrapped. This
was a big deal because prior to widespread access to
refrigeration or any access to refrigeration and a c systems,
candy makers struggled to keep chocolate from melting, necessitating them
to turn to other confections like marshmallows, especially in the summer.
(15:59):
So yeah, the Titsi Roll stood out as a summer
chocolate candy option. The N seven patent for the titsy
Roll describes how the quote peculiar mellow consistency is different
from most other pulled candies, and how it's achieved by
baking it at a lower temperature for two hours. This
(16:19):
process helped the candy keep shape and not melt. Once baked,
it would be molded and wrapped and there you go.
As far as the name story goes that Hirshfield arrived
at it pretty quickly. His five year old daughter Clara's
nickname was Tutsie. Hirshfield has several other patents for things
like bond bond dipping machine, a machine for putting confections
(16:41):
into molds, and a fork for dipping bond bonds, a
very specialized fork to name with you. This is when
the US was in the midst of a candy making boom.
That really depended on volume, which means that having the
right machine could really make or break a candy maker.
People seemed immediately to take to titsy rules, in part
(17:01):
because it was the only chocolate like option available in
the summer often and also because it was cheap. And
to meet this demand, Hirshfield merged with Stern and Saalberg Company,
a company that went public in nineteen twenty two as
the Sweets Company of America. The marketing push for titsi
rolls really took off in nineteen o nine. One of
(17:23):
these ads read the most inimitable but the most imitated
candy in years, and they were serious about that patent.
That same ad had at the bottom, quote, the process
for making chocolate tutsi rolls is patented. We have fifty
tho dollars laid aside to protect our rights. And for
(17:45):
the record, that's over easily over a million bucks in
today's money. So you think that was true? I mean,
didn't have to back that up. I don't know, but
I love it. Like what a good threat. I should
start having something like that. We asked fifty thousand dollars
(18:06):
laid aside to protect our rights. Okay, titsy roll, Yeah, alright,
um by Hirshfield was quite rich with seven hundred million
tutsie rolls sold. He was featured in an article about
the rags riches immigrant story of himself and three other
(18:27):
men who made it big, all of who met in
a steerage cabin on the steamship Neckar as it made
its way to New York. Um. So it's a whole
like piece on the four of them and what they
all got up to you. Um. Some research suggests that
Hirschfield had been working with Stern and Salberg Company prior
to the Titsy Roll on a Gelton based confection called
(18:49):
broman gel In or Romangelon, which apparently means angels food,
which is hilarious to me because that's not what it
sounds like. No, No, I really broke. Broman gell In
sounds like an insult that I would use mm hmm
for I don't know. It sounds to me like a
(19:12):
protein powder, which I guess is closes bro and man
in a word. I don't know anyway, Okay, Yeah, this
was a powdered flavored gelatine like jello and came in
lemon orange raspberry, strawberry, cherry, and chocolate. Apparently it was
nationally distributed and pretty well known. Yeah. Um. This also
(19:34):
suggests that he may have been working with this company
before this Tittsie Rule thing, and that the merging story
that we said we told you earlier isn't exactly correct,
even though it is the one that the company officially lists. Yeah.
There's even evidence that he moved to Manhattan specifically to
work for them back in the nineties and never even
owned a candy shop in Brooklyn, though he did live
(19:55):
there briefly, and rather than merge with their company. Um,
it seems he may have worked his way up through
the ranks there. And to add to the confusion, the
powdered gelatin was advertised with the mischievous little girl called
Tattling Tutsie. Yeah. There was a booklet that came out
promoting the stuff and featuring this character sometime after, and
(20:18):
it included the following poem, Um, I never tell lies,
said mother's child. But the other night my pa was
wild for dinner was late, and he scolded like fun,
but he smiled when mob brought him broom and Jellen.
It's been a long time since I've been that nervous
(20:38):
for as a poem was unfolding, I really didn't know
where I was going, right, Yeah, Yeah, poems about I
guess uh, angry dad's and potential domestic abuse. That turned
out okay because of a jello competitor. There's a lot
(20:59):
going on, there's a lot to unpack, unsettling. Put me
on edge, and I'll turned out okay, he scolded, like fun,
I'm not sure what that means. Yeah, m hmmm. Well.
Hirshfield the left or perhaps was forced out of the
Sweets Company of America in nineteen twenty to start them
(21:20):
Mills Candy Corporation was an extremely difficult year for him.
His wife was ill and in a sanatorium, and he
himself was dealing with a stomach disease. He shot and
killed himself at the beginning of ninety two. He left
a note for his attorney that read, I'm sorry, I
couldn't help it. Mells went bankrupt in Yeah. Um. Hirschfeld
(21:44):
never rose above the rank of vice president of the
Sweets Company of America, and the theory goes that maybe
he wasn't nearly as good at business as he was
at inventing stuff. And so he got pushed out after
his original bosses retired. Um, there are a couple of
food his story ends who have dug all up into this. UM.
Shout out to the blog Candy Professor. Really good, really
(22:06):
good research and information there. Yes, such great sleething And
I love how there was like interaction where someone else
who was looking in the girl voted yeah, highly recommended,
very much informed a lot of this episode. Yeah yeah. Meanwhile,
a family by the name of Reuben became majority shareholders
in the Sweets Company of America in the nineteen thirties,
(22:28):
and then the family patriarch became the president of the company.
By the nineteen seventies, his daughter Ellen and her husband
Marvin Gordon, took over. Ellen was the second ever woman
president of a publicly traded company. Oh. In one the
Titsie pop debuted and it was a popular candy choice
for Americans struggling during the Great Depression. A Captain Titsie
(22:51):
comic ship ran from nineteen forty three to nineteen fifty three,
and it involves a buffer Captured America type can fellow
beating up a bear, among other things. Sure fears right,
real dangered Tittsie rolls. I hear um and like so
(23:13):
many foods we talked about. World War two was a
major turning point for the tittsie role. The company making
the candy essentially received a government contract to keep making them,
while many other candy manufacturers were forced to shut down.
This is because they were seen as quick energy, as
a quick energy source, and they had that long shelf life,
to the point that they were included in army rations.
(23:35):
This helped really foster in American fondness for tittsie roles. Yeah, yeah,
and it helped that in the in the nineteen fifties,
they they hopped on the television marketing trend pretty early.
They were sponsoring kids programming by and Tessie Rolls were
(23:57):
integral for American marines fighting in the Korean War as
well soldiers stationed at chong Jin Mountain Reservoir. We're in
a dark spot, perhaps goes doesn't need to be said,
but facing cold weather, high number of enemies, and low
and dwindling levels of supplies, they were desperately waiting for
a supply drop of Tussie rolls, which was a code
(24:18):
name they used for supplies in general, or perhaps specifically
ammo um Yeah, to their shock, the supply job turned
out to actually beat tutsie rolls. Uh. The operator who
received the urgent call may not have had the code
name sheet which Okay, the tufty rolls froze, but the
(24:41):
soldiers figured out that by warming them up to make
them pliant, they could not only eat them, but they
could use them to repair their equipment. This made it
possible for them to escape their enemies and survive. Um. Yeah,
and there I believe you can read accounts from soldiers
like have such a fondness for these tipsy rolls, like
(25:02):
they got us out of there, man. Yeah. And they
got celebrities. They got some celebrities who were big fans
to Frank Sinatra reportedly required to see rolls to be
stocked backstage or in hotel rooms while touring. Um and
maybe was buried with some in his coffin. That's the rumor. Yeah,
(25:23):
he definitely did an ad for them in two And
Jackie Kennedy Onassis was also a fan, keeping a bowl
in her office during her time at Double Day, which
was a publishing company in New York, because they served
as a quote good icebreaker. And this, friends, is my
Siginfeld reference of the episode because I did never I
never understood that joke. There's a whole episode where Elaine
(25:47):
is trying to get a job at Double Day and
she's told like she has no grace or whatever. But
then she's like, I didn't get the interview. Whatever is
getting to leave, puts on a like kerchief and big sunglasses,
turns around and they're like JACKIEO Nassis and I didn't
get it. I'm really simplifying what happened here. But now
I understand she got the job, hey because they were
(26:14):
big Jackie nassas fans um. And then another big moment
in advertisement history in v the famous and iconic ad
featuring Mr Owl and the question how many likes does
it take to get to the center of a TITSI
Pop debuted and yes Mr Owl now has a Twitter account.
(26:39):
I don't understand that. I'm telling you might be real, Lauren,
until you prove otherwise to to your own industries, I
don't know. Uh. Starting in ninety two, the company began
acquiring other classic candy brands, starting with Dots and Crows.
(27:00):
They would continue buying up brands through the early two
thousands and um with their acquisition of charms and blow
pops in they became the largest producer of lollipops in
the world. Wow. Um, The sixty nine Boys released their
song roll in N and I tell you you really
(27:22):
never can say we're an episodes. Oh the song is
still well loved. Sure, yeah, classic. I'm not entirely sure
I've heard it, but oh, I promise you have. That
(27:43):
was the whole dance I understand. Yeah, mm hmmm, mhm
in n Tutsie Roll Industry CEO Melvin Gordon told Associated
Press nothing can happen to a tutsie role. We have
some that were made in night that we still eat.
If you can't bite it when it's that old, you
certainly can lick it. Apparently this was a favorite joke
(28:07):
of his about like having just these old ones around
and they're still good. Um and uh but yeah that
that was the hundredth anniversary of the candy, according to
company lore. Um and so I think that they were
making like there was a couple of interviews that came
out that year, and I think they were making like
a serious exception to their to their normal no interviews
(28:32):
things right right right right? Um, that does feel like
a very grandfather or grandmother thing to do, Like I've
had this candy since whatever year, It's still good. Okay,
um leo. Hershield was inducted into the Candy Hall of
Fame in two thousand seven. Oh to zero Industry sued
(28:53):
Roll Issue in two thousand and eleven over their foot
see Roll rolla ble shoes fut se role. That's delightful,
I mean copyright infringement perhaps, but delightful copyright infringement, yes,
uh yeah, very interesting story that again I was not
(29:16):
expecting to encounter. A class action lawsuit filed in twenty
nineteen claimed that Titsi Roll Industries have been using trans
fats in their products and not being honest about it.
And just this year, during that whole stock market hedge
fund game stop, Reddit day trading madness, which is a
(29:38):
chain of nouns that I never thought I would have
reason to say and to have makes sense. Um, but yeah,
during all of that, Tittsy Role Industries stock got wrapped
up in the whole thing, and um it doubled basically
overnight from its steady like thirty bucks to share to
a record high of fifty eight dollars and cents, and
(29:59):
that aced the company and a net worth of some
four billion dollars UM and made it's CEO, the aforementioned
Ellen Gordon, a multi billionaire. Um. She is eighty nine
years old and still running the company. Wow. Can you imagine? No, No,
I I cannot. Somebody comes in. It's like, well, there's
(30:23):
something strange happening on the internet and now our stock
is double. It's kind of a meme thing, you know. Uh,
he's just telling me I have a lot more money now. Yeah. Yeah,
and it's because of something called Reddit. Okay, sure, Yeah,
(30:46):
this has been an interesting one. Yeah. Yes, next time
you have a t's er old listeners take a minute. Yeah,
I appreciate it. M. It's really and bizarre and mysterious history. Yes,
all wrapped up to this very mysterious candy to see
(31:09):
role industries. Anyway, I think that's what we have to
say on Tipsy Rules for now. It is. We do
have some listener mail for you, though, we do, but
first we have one more up break for word from
our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you,
(31:35):
And we're back with listeners. M. I don't know the songs,
so I can't do it. It's probably for the best,
probably for the best. Yes, I sorry, but absolutely no
(31:58):
offense taken. Um okay, So so many of you have
written in about fallout and thank you. Yes, yes, so
Josh wrote. As a Scout master for a Scouts BSA
troupe in Michigan, we face some pretty big challenges. At
the beginning of COVID, the national and regional Boy Scouts
of America organizations halted all in person meetings and outdoor activities.
(32:20):
Working with our Scouts, we pivoted our programming to weekly
Zoom WebEx meetings featuring games are covering outdoor and leadership skills.
Both parents and Scouts quickly got Zoom fatigue as they
were spending school working Scouting time on the computer. Reaching
into our bag of programming tricks, I modified our cast
Iron Chef ire Elevant plan into a remote program similar
(32:43):
to the Iron Chef program. The in person version gave
Scout patrols a mystery ingredient during camp out, using cooking
tools in their patrol box and selecting items from a
pantry of common kitchen ingredients the adults brought the Scouts
would have to make a dish. Are dishes highlighting the
mystery ingredients My objectives for the mote mission were create
a joint experience that Scouts could share and enjoy as
(33:03):
a group remotely, continue to build important skills like cooking,
promote creativity, make scouts siblings and parents laugh. Trying to
make the best of the situation. I created an apocalypse
theme for the event. I gathered the mystery ingredient and
generated a pamphlet providing the backstory and rules for the competition.
I incorporated most of my references from Fall Hell and
(33:24):
Mad Max, but also included several other movies, games, TV shows,
and pop culture references. I also went in three D
printed Pit Boy themed trophies for the winners of the
different categories. Using my amateur cosplay skills, I scavenged or
created end of the world akutumal for my Scout Master
uniform and set up a table at the foot of
my driveway to hand off the packages. While setting up,
(33:47):
I received a few quizzical looks from neighbors driving by.
I got a double take from one of our small
towns police officers as they made one of their periodic
neighborhood drive throughs. Another officer drove by a few minutes
later to check out the spectacle, probably broadcast on their radio.
The Scouts and parents were delighted to see the mystery
ingredient from the end Times Twinkies. The Scouts made their
(34:11):
creations over the weekend and then presented to the troop
at the weekly Zoom meeting. We saw a wide variety
of creations made from this versatile ingredient. Creations included a
tower of Twinkies with a fruit jam drizzle, strawberry and
cream cake, a pudding it named toxic waste, a tweaky
breakfast sandwich, a savory stew made with Twinkies, a road
(34:32):
kill themed dessert, Twinkie s'mores, and a hot dog Twinkie.
Several Scouts took it up a notch by writing elaborate backstories,
including a tragic tale of Twinkie the Kid in his demise.
The result was a banana and Twinkie cake. Another scout
created a video showing how they hunted, killed, and cleaned
and roasted a wild Twinkie. Everyone had a great time
(34:55):
and lots of laughs from the event. Oh that's so fun.
It's wonderful, so fun, so creative. Uh yeah, I wrote
back and said I would have loved this as a kid,
but who am my kidding? I would love this now. Um,
this is a fantastic event. And I bet that a
lot of listeners listening, I'm gonna get some ideas. Oh yes, yes,
(35:19):
do something similar, And that he's in pictures in the PDF.
And also like the adult had kind of running jokes
going on for their own Twinkie creations and they were
all excellent. It looks like such a fun time. Yes, yes,
Jesse wrote. When I was in college in Idaho, Fallout
two was due to be released and they were having
(35:40):
a release party in California. A friend and I liked
the first game so much that we drove to California
to go to the release party. At the release party,
they gave away a bunch of swag, and among that
was an iguana in a can, which was basically a
Campbell soup can sized aluminum can with a pop top
with a stuffed iguana inside. Who we picked the came
up and played the entire drive back, taking turns driving
(36:03):
on a laptop that was hooked up to the car charger.
Fast forward to maybe twenty plus years later, and I
noticed it on a shelf in my office, unopened on
a lark. I decided to see if I could sell
it and listed it on eBay. A thousand dollars later,
it was shipping out. So if anyone else happened to
have gone to that party and has an unopened can,
(36:24):
there's quite a bit of potential to make some money
on that thing. I love the podcast. My cousin wrote
in about Philadelphia cheese on pizza in Albania that was
in your Ginger episode. So if you can give a
shout out to Jolene, shout out jo Line, Hi, thank you.
(36:45):
Yes uh. Fellow person with this popular song has their
name in it. So I love this. I I this
is such a blast from the past for me because
I totally forgot about like going to police parties for games.
And yeah, I too had a friend. I didn't have
this set up, but she had a setup where could
play games in the car um. And I also have
(37:09):
a bunch of nerds stuff that I've accumulated that I
don't think I would ever part ways with, but I
do occasionally look at it and I'm like, I wonder
if these light up Lord of the Rings goblets actually
are worth anything. I got four of them. They light
up blue and red was that? Was that? What? Did
(37:31):
we have one of those in a promotional photo? At
some point I like, did you bring it into work?
I don't know anyway, Yeah, I bought it to G
and D once. I don't know that we actually use them,
but I did. Um. Yes, So thanks to both of
those listeners for writing in. If you would like to
write to us, we would love to hear from you.
Our email is hello at savor pod dot com. We're
(37:53):
also on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at savor pod, and we do hope to
hear from you. Savor is production of I Heart Radio.
For more podcasts my Heart Radio, you can visit the
I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super
producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening,
and we hope that lots market things are coming your
(38:13):
way
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