<P> Forrest Mars , Sr. , son of the Mars Company founder , Frank C. Mars , copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating British made Smarties , chocolate pellets with a colored shell of what confectioners call hard panning ( essentially hardened sugar syrup ) surrounding the outside , preventing the candies from melting . Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3 , 1941 . Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill , Newark , New Jersey . When the company was founded it was M&M Limited . The two `` Ms '' represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr. , the founder of Newark Company , and Bruce Murrie , son of Hershey Chocolate 's president William F.R. Murrie , who had a 20 percent share in the product . The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate , as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time . </P>
<P> Forrest Mars , Sr. , son of the Mars Company founder , Frank C. Mars , copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating British made Smarties , chocolate pellets with a colored shell of what confectioners call hard panning ( essentially hardened sugar syrup ) surrounding the outside , preventing the candies from melting . Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3 , 1941 . Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill , Newark , New Jersey . When the company was founded it was M&M Limited . The two `` Ms '' represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr. , the founder of Newark Company , and Bruce Murrie , son of Hershey Chocolate 's president William F.R. Murrie , who had a 20 percent share in the product . The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate , as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time . </P>
what does the m&m stand for on the candy
what does the m&m stand for on the candy
Forrest E. Mars Sr. Bruce Murrie
Forrest E. Mars Sr. Bruce Murrie