Fascinating Facts About Illinois' 5 Favorite Halloween Candies

Halloween is almost here, and if you really want to impress the trick-or-treaters who come to your door, here are the candies you should buy and some fun facts to go with them.

Illinois' Favorite Halloween Candies

Some people like making trick-or-treaters happy and encouraging more to come to their door, while others turn off their lights and hide on Halloween night. I happen to be one of the come-get-the-good-candy-at-my-house kind of people, and NEVER want to be known as "the house with the crappy candy". (Despite the fact that the cost of Halloween candy is downright ridiculous!).

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If you're on a mission to find what candy is the favorite for trick-or-treaters in Illinois, you will likely get a different answer everywhere you look, BUT many sources do agree that Sour Patch Kids is the #1 candy kids crave each Halloween in Illinois. If you want to give out a few different options of favorite candies, here are the 5 candies Instacart says people are buying the most in 2023:

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
M&M's
Tootsie Pops
Twizzlers
Hershey's Milk Chocolate

(What the heck? Where are the Snickers, Butterfingers, and Milky Ways?!?)

Fun Facts About America's Favorite Candies

I always like knowing the stories behind how things are made, and candy is no exception. Here are some fascinating facts I found in a Ranker article about some of America's favorite candies;

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Reese's via Facebook

This delicious mix of peanut butter and chocolate used to be sold individually for 1 penny each. So, when they were first introduced they were called Penny Cups. (don't you wish they were still 1 cent each?!?)

M&M's

M&M's USA via Facebook

In the 1930s, Forrest E. Mars, Sr. witnessed a lot of troops eating small, candy-coated pieces of chocolate during the Spanish Civil War, so when he returned home he called upon the son of the Hershey Corporation's Executive named Bruce Murrie to bring the delicious melt-in-your-mouth treat to America too. Basically, M&M's were named after the two creators, Mars & Murrie.

KitKats

KitKat via Facebook

This 4-layer chocolate wafer candy was created in the early part of the 20th century by an English man named Rowntree who named the candy after the 1600s book club that called themselves Kit Kat club.

Tootsie Rolls

Tootsie Roll via Facebook

Tootsie Rolls were invented by a candy shop in Brooklyn, New York in 1836 as a chocolate alternative that wouldn't melt. The owner of the shop's daughter was named Clara, but her nickname was Tootsie, so her Dad named his creation after her. (Clara Roll would have just sounded weird).

Milk Duds

Milk Duds via Facebook

When Milk Duds were first created back in 1928 by a Chicago company, they were supposed to be ROUND pieces of caramel coated with milk chocolate, but they came out too flat and were considered "duds"...and the name stuck. (just like the "duds" do to your teeth).

What's YOUR favorite candy to buy each Halloween? Send us a message on the app and let us know!

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KEEP READING: Do You Know About IL's Weird Way of Taxing Halloween Candy?

LOOK: How Halloween has changed in the past 100 years

Stacker compiled a list of ways that Halloween has changed over the last 100 years, from how we celebrate it on the day to the costumes we wear trick-or-treating. We’ve included events, inventions, and trends that changed the ways that Halloween was celebrated over time. Many of these traditions were phased out over time. But just like fake blood in a carpet, every bit of Halloween’s history left an impression we can see traces of today.

Gallery Credit: Brit McGinnis