Jelly Bean

Jelly Beans

Jelly beans or jelly eggs are a type of confectionary (candy) that comes in many different (primarily fruit) flavors. They are small, the size of a kidney bean and usually have a harder shell and gummy interior. The entire confection is made of sugar.

The interior jelly traces its origin back thousands of years to the candy called Turkish Delight while the shell is essentially the same as developed in the late 19th century for the Jordan almond candy. The two were brought together around the beginning of the 20th century. It was not until 1930 or so that jelly beans became an Easter candy, presumably from their resemblance to eggs.

One prominent maker was the Herman Goelitz Candy Company, also the inventor of candy corn and now renamed the Jelly Belly Candy Company (Fairfield California) making many naturally flavored beans, including pear, watermelon, root beer, and (their most popular flavor) buttered popcorn. The success of their brand led to a jelly-bean renaissance, particularly when Ronald Reagan began keeping them on his desk in the White House.

Another product of note which is manufactured by Jelly Belly Candy Company is Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean which is named after a product featured in the Harry Potter series of children's books. As in the books, the jelly beans are in many unlikely flavors, including sardine, spinach, earwax, black pepper, horseradish, vomit, dirt, grass, and "booger" as well as more conventional flavors like green apple, chocolate, and watermelon. Additional flavors of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean mix have included soap, earthworm, and spaghetti.