Trivia Today - Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Today I have some fun facts for you about the German confectionary company Harbio, maker of gummy bears. The company has been around for almost a century now, and still make 100 million candies a day! That's a lot of gummy bears!

Enjoy!
Melissa

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Questions? Comments? Email Melissa


WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "Sweets grown common lose their dear delight."

HINT: (1564-1616), English dramatist, playwright and poet.


RANDOM TIDBITS
Haribo has been run by a Hans Riegel for almost a century. It was founded by Hans Riegel Sr. in the '20s, and passed down to Hans Riegel Jr. after WWII. He stayed the (very active) head of the company until his death late last year at 90 years old.

Gummy bears are actually called Gold-Bears, and they're not actually gold, they come in five different colors. As it turns out, "gummibar" in German means "rubber bear", and after 1967 they decided to rename them something slightly more appetizing.

Riegel Sr. started a tradition in the '30s whereby children could swap acorns (used to feed animals at a local wildlife sanctuary) for Gold-Bears at the factory every year in late October, and the tradition persists today.

The slogans & commercials were all written by Riegel. Riegel Jr. notoriously didn't believe in ad agencies, and wrote the slogans ("Kids and grown-ups love it so -- the happy world of Haribo") and TV commercials himself.

In the '30s, they produced a line of "Teddy Bear" gummies named for Roosevelt, presumably because of his habit of eating actual bears.

Originally, all Gold-Bears had a frown (presumably because they knew what was coming), and it wasn't until 2007 that Haribo slapped a smile on their faces.

(www.thrillist.com)


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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "Sweets grown common lose their dear delight."

ANSWER: William Shakespeare.

***
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