Hershey's Kisses facts for kids
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Hershey's Kisses in foil wrappers. The paper strip coming out the top identifies each flavor.
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| Owner | The Hershey Company |
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| Country | Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Introduced | 1907 |
| Related brands | Hershey bar Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Ambassador(s) | Milton Hershey |
| Tagline | Say it with a Kiss |
Hershey's Kisses are small, bite-sized chocolates made by The Hershey Company. They were first created in 1907. These chocolates have a special cone shape, which looks a bit like a flat-bottomed teardrop. Each Hershey's Kiss is wrapped in shiny, lightweight aluminum foil. A narrow paper strip, called a plume, sticks out from the top of the wrapper.
The paper plume was added in 1921. It helped people know that the candy was a "Hershey's" brand product. This made Hershey's Kisses different from other similar chocolates.
Contents
History of Hershey's Kisses
When Hershey's Kisses were first made in 1907, people wrapped them by hand. In 1921, machines started wrapping the Kisses automatically. These machines also added the paper plume to the foil wrapper. This plume helped identify Hershey's Kisses. Before this, a small piece of printed tissue was inside the wrapper.
In 1924, Milton S. Hershey, the company's founder, received a special trademark for the "foil wrapped conical configuration with plume." This meant that the unique shape and the paper plume were officially recognized as belonging to Hershey's. Later, in 1976, Hershey also got a trademark for the foil wrapper itself.
During World War II in 1942, Hershey's Kisses production stopped for a short time. This was because aluminum foil was being saved for the war effort. The machines were used instead to make special chocolate bars for soldiers. By the end of the war, Hershey's had made over three billion of these military chocolate bars.
Why Kisses are Popular
Hershey's Kisses are one of the most popular candy brands in the United States. In 1989, they were the fifth most popular chocolate brand. They sold over $400 million worth of Kisses that year. Today, the company makes more than 70 million Hershey's Kisses chocolates every day. These chocolates still use Hershey's original milk chocolate recipe.
Different Kisses Flavors
At first, Hershey's Kisses were only made of milk chocolate. But over time, many different flavors have been created. Hershey's often adds new flavors and sometimes stops making others. This happens especially around holidays.
Besides the classic milk chocolate, you can find flavors like:
- caramel
- Special Dark chocolate
- hazelnut (in deluxe Kisses)
- birthday cake
- cookies 'n' cream
- Milk chocolate with almonds
- white chocolate (called Hugs)
For holidays, you might see special flavors such as:
- cherry cordial
- hot cocoa
- Mint truffle
- sugar cookie
- candy cane
- lava cake
- "Vampire" milk chocolate with strawberry creme (for Halloween)
Kisses That Are No Longer Made
Over the years, Hershey's has made many different Kisses flavors that are now discontinued. Here are a few examples:
Hershey's Kissables
These were mini candy-coated milk chocolate Kisses, like M&Ms. They came out in late 2005. They had colors like red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Special pastel colors were made for Easter, and pink, red, and white for Valentine's Day. There were even Special Dark Kissables.
In 2008, Hershey's tried to save money by changing the recipe. They used vegetable oils instead of cocoa butter. Customers did not like this change, and Kissables were stopped in July 2009.
Candy Corn Kisses
These special candy corn flavored Kisses came out for Halloween in 2007. They had three layers of white chocolate candy: yellow on the bottom, orange in the middle, and a white tip. They were stopped in 2011 because they didn't sell very well.
Strawberry Ice Cream Cone Kisses
This flavor was only available for a few months around Easter in 2021.
Pumpkin Spice Kisses
Released in the fall of 2008, these limited-edition Kisses were very popular. They smelled like pumpkin spice, similar to snickerdoodles or ginger snaps. The orange Kiss had a white pumpkin-flavored creme inside. It was wrapped in a special gold and brown foil.
Wrapper History and Colors
When Hershey's Kisses first came out in 1907, they were wrapped by hand. The machines that wrapped them automatically started in 1921.
The first wrapper was always silver foil. Kisses were only available in this color for many years. In 1962, Hershey's was one of the first companies to change its wrappers for different seasons. That year, Kisses were made with red, green, and silver wrappers for the Christmas season. This idea came from John Figi, who owned a company that sold food gifts.
In 1968, light blue, pink, and green wrappers were made for Easter. In 1986, red and silver wrappers were introduced for Valentine's Day. For Valentine's Day, some wrappers also had Xs and Os, or small red hearts. "Fall Harvest" colors came out in 1991. For Independence Day, there are silver wrappers with red stripes and blue stars. Pink wrappers with "ribbons" have also appeared to support breast cancer research. You can also find camouflage wrappers, often on military bases. Kisses Dark Chocolates come in a deep purple wrapper.
For Halloween, the Candy Corn Kisses had wrappers with yellow, white, and orange stripes, just like a candy corn. In 2016, four special holiday wrapper designs were released: Santa hats, "Kissmas sweaters," "Kissmas Trees" (with "Fa La La" on the plume), and "Kissmas Presents" (with "from me to you" on the plume). The Christmas themed Candy Cane Kisses have red and white striped wrappers. The original silver (for regular milk chocolate) and gold (for almonds) wrappers are available all year.
The Paper Plume
Every Hershey's Kiss wrapper has a small paper strip called a plume sticking out from the top. This plume helps identify the candy. When it was first added in 1921, it was a flag for the "Hershey's" brand. It helped people tell Hershey's Kisses apart from other candies.
A few years later, in 1924, Hershey's got a special US trademark for its wrapper design, which included the cone-shaped foil wrapper and the paper plume.
Later, the word "KISSES" was printed on the paper plume. Other Kisses flavors also have their names printed on the plume. Sometimes, special messages are printed on the plumes for different occasions, like "Happy Halloween," "Get Spooky," "Gobble Gobble," "Lucky You," and "Love is in the air."
Advertising Kisses
The "Christmas Bells" commercial is a famous advertisement for Hershey's Kisses. In this ad, Hershey's Kisses act like a handbell choir and play the Christmas song "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". This commercial first aired in 1989 and has been shown every holiday season in the United States since then. It is the longest-running TV commercial for the Hershey brand.
In 2020, Hershey's made a new version called "Bells to Blossoms." In this ad, one of the Kisses leaves the choir to be used in making cookies. Some people didn't like this new version because they loved the original ad so much. Hershey's decided to show both the classic and the new versions during the holiday season.
What's in Hershey's Kisses
In 2015, Hershey's started using something called "SmartLabel." This lets you scan the package with your phone to get more information about the product.
The main ingredients in Hershey's Kisses are:
- cane sugar
- milk
- chocolate
- cocoa butter
- milk fat
- lecithin
- natural flavor
A serving of Hershey's Kisses is about seven pieces. Here is some nutrition information for one serving:
- 200 Calories
- Total fat: 12g
- Saturated fat: 7g
- Trans fat: 0g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
- Sodium: 35 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 25g
- Dietary fiber: 1g
- Total sugars: 23g
- Protein: 3g
- Vitamin D: 25.8 iu
- Calcium: 80.8 mg
- Iron: 1.4 mg
- Potassium: 147.7 mg
Special Ingredients
Some Hershey's products, like Hershey's Hugs and Hershey's Kisses Cookies 'N' Creme, use an ingredient called PGPR (Polyglycerol polyricinoleate, E476). This ingredient is sometimes used instead of cocoa butter.
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See also
In Spanish: Hershey's Kisses para niños
