History Buff Explains The Origin Of Controversial Halloween Candies

Lance Geiger of The History Guy is always providing us with awesome videos to watch.

He’s got a great way of discussing historical topics. The insights that he has to offer are wonderful and we highly recommend taking the time to watch them. This one is especially important, as it will give you more background on treats of the spooky season. There is lots of polarizing Halloween candy!

If you have spent any time on social media during the Halloween mania, you have probably seen some hilarious debates. Candy corn, black licorice, and circus peanuts are discussed. Candy corn might be the single most polarizing candy that we have seen in some time but we digress. That’s why Lance is here to discuss the ins and outs of each of them.

“Circus Peanuts, Black Licorice, and Candy Corn are possibly the most divisive Halloween treats. Each, however, has its own history that has allowed them to, perhaps surprisingly, have endured to show up in trick-or-treat bags and candy aisles for generations,” his explains on YouTube.

The last part is what made us laugh the loudest. We are not sure how some of these candies have endured for this long, either.

Licorice is the first candy that was discussed and we are not fans, to be honest. The appeal is lost on us completely. Geiger is a bit nicer about it, as he offers background information that some viewers may not be aware of. “Black licorice flavor comes from a plant, a legume, which is widely distributed in Central and Western Asia Europe, and North Africa. Specifically, it comes from the plant’s root, which has a sweetness 30 to 50 times greater than sucrose.

The word licorice comes from a corruption of the original Greek term and means sweet root. The root has been ingested in various forms for Millennia,” he shares.

From there, he starts to discuss the other treats, and we are going to be honest with you, we loved every minute of it. You don’t have to love these candies to enjoy this video:

The candy corn debate is only going to get more interesting after this one.