Sen-Sen facts for kids
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| Type | Breath mints |
|---|---|
| Owner | T. B. Dunn Company |
| Markets | Worldwide |
Sen-Sen was a small, special candy that helped make your breath smell fresh. It was first sold a long time ago, in the late 1800s, by a company called T. B. Dunn Company. Later, F&F Foods made it until they stopped in July 2013. Sen-Sen was a lot like another candy called Vigroids, which was a liquorice sweet.
Sen-Sen candies came in tiny boxes or small packets. The boxes were clever, like a matchbox. You could slide an inner part out of a sleeve. This showed a small hole. When you shook the box, the tiny square candies would fall out.
Sen-Sen was made from a few different things. Its main ingredients were liquorice and anise. It also had gum arabic, maltodextrin, sugar, and both natural and artificial flavors.
Sen-Sen in Pop Culture
Sen-Sen had a very strong and unique smell. It was also popular for many years, especially from the 1930s to the 1960s. People often used it to cover up certain strong smells on their breath. Because of this, Sen-Sen appeared in many books, movies, and TV shows.
Books and Novels
- In The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon mentions Sen-Sen in a desk drawer.
- John D. Fitzgerald wrote about it in his children's book The Great Brain. It was used to hide the smell of certain drinks.
- Stephen King mentioned Sen-Sen in his book Four Past Midnight, in a story called "The Library Policeman".
- In The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck, there is a short mention of Sen-Sen in Chapter 7.
- IRS Agent Reginald Lawrence eats Sen-Sens in Walter Mosley's novel A Red Death.
- W. Somerset Maugham included a character in his 1915 novel Of Human Bondage who chewed Sen-Sens.
- Robert Asprin created a character called "The Sen-Sen Ante Kid" in his novel Little Myth Marker. This character always added a Sen-Sen to the start of a game.
- Robert Penn Warren wrote about a character named Sen-Sen Puckett who chewed Sen-Sen to keep his breath sweet.
- In Chuck Palahniuk's novel Damned, Sen-Sen candies are found in a strange place.
- In Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, a character uses Sen-Sen to pretend he had a certain breath smell.
- In Betty Smith's classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a friend of Francie's mom chewed Sen-Sen.
- In Gwendolyn Brooks's classic Maud Martha, a stranger smelled of many things, including Sen-Sen.
- Stephen King's book 11/22/63 mentions Sen-Sen on a character's breath.
- In Margaret Laurence's novel A Bird in the House, a character buys a packet of Sen-Sen.
- In The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Sen-Sen is part of a character's unique smell.
Movies and TV Shows
- Billy Joel's 1984 song "Keeping the Faith" mentions "a fresh pack of Luckies and a mint called Sen-Sen." This song is about growing up in the 1960s.
- In the 2004 movie The Aviator, a cigarette girl asks, "Cigar, cigarettes, Sen-Sen?"
- Robert Culp mentioned Sen-Sen in the 1959 TV show "Trackdown."
- The song "Ya Got Trouble" from the 1957 musical The Music Man talks about using Sen-Sen to cover up the smell of cigarettes.
- Zippy the Pinhead often mentions Sen-Sen in his comic strips.
- In The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a jazz musician mentions Sen-Sen after smoking.
- In the TV series M*A*S*H, a patient says he chokes on Sen-Sen.
- In a Laverne & Shirley episode, Laverne says, "I saw Lenny buying Sen-Sen."
- In the 1973 movie Paper Moon, a character buys a pack of Sen-Sen.
- In King of Queens, a character asks for a packet of Sen-Sen.
- In the movie Uncle Buck, a pack of Sen-Sen can be seen on the dashboard of a car.
