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While M&M’s, Snickers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, and Hershey Bars might register as the biggest names in the candy world, Frank Sinatra only had Ol’ Blue Eyes for another nostalgic, sweet, and chocolatey treat.
In case you missed it, we’ve been taking cues from the crooner at happy hour with a classic Rusty Nail, and as we seek out sweet snacks as he did with his weekly standing delivery for Entenmann’s Crumb Coffee Cake.
But among Sinatra's favorite goodies, the best was yet to come.
Frank Sinatra’s Favorite Candy
We unearthed this nugget thanks to an old concert rider with three pages of Frank Sinatra’s “Dressing Room Requirements.” Most performers curate a list of requests to share with each venue where they’ll be taking the stage so the hosts know how to prepare. Some of these speak to technical details, such as lighting and audio, and others dive into the personal preferences of the stars and their posse.
In addition to comfortable seating, a separate dressing room with a shower, a medical doctor on call (specifically an ear, nose, and throat specialist), a color TV, and an upright piano, Sinatra was particular about his food and drink. The singer requested an impressive bar lineup, plenty of sodas (75 percent diet, please), fruit and cheese platters, a selection of sandwiches (egg salad, chicken salad, and turkey), chilled seafood appetizers, and a few brand name items the rider notably and specifically calls out.
Luden’s Cough Drops, Lipton Tea Bags, Evian Spring Water, and Campbell’s Chicken and Rice Soup were a must, according to Sinatra’s team.
And no concert prep was complete without “1 Bag Miniature Tootsie Rolls,” the rider reveals.
Sinatra had quite a sweet spot for the small chewy chocolate candies far outside the bounds of his dressing room. In 1942, he appeared in a Tootsie Roll advertisement. Tootsie Roll Industries suggests on its website that the legendary musician “was even buried with them.”
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The History of Tootsie Rolls
Today, Tootsie Roll Industries pumps out a staggering 64 million Tootsie Rolls per day and is the top-selling chewy chocolate candy in America. The recipe has remained the same since Tootsie Rolls were invented in 1896, “when Leo Hirshfield, an Austrian immigrant, opened a small candy shop in New York City, producing the first individually wrapped penny candy from a recipe he brought from Europe,” the company explains on its website.
Its cocoa base is complemented with fruit-flavored undertones, and each batch apparently builds upon the last.
“Leo’s recipe required the incorporation of the previous day’s Tootsie Rolls into each newly cooked confection, a graining process that Tootsie continues to this day. As such, there’s (theoretically) a bit of Leo’s very first Tootsie Roll in every one of the sixty-four million Tootsie Rolls that Tootsie produces each day,” the brand adds.
What’s in a name, you might be asking? The candy is named after Leo’s daughter, whose nickname as a child was “Tootsie.”
In 1931, the company debuted Tootsie Pops as a variation on the theme. More than 125 years since Tootsie Rolls rolled onto the scene, “Industries” has ballooned to include dozens of other household names, including Andes Mints, Charms Blow Pops, Charleston Chew, Dots, Junior Mints, and Sugar Daddy.
While its sales are trumped by other candy bars and they’re only the most popular Halloween candy in just one of the 50 states (Oklahoma), there are many more Tootise loyalists besides Sinatra. If you count yourself among them, you have a lot of options: Tootsie Rolls are now available in bar form, smaller “Midgees,” and egg shapes for Easter. Flavor-wise, you can do it “My Way” like Frank and take your pick from chocolate, vanilla, harvest flavors (caramel apple, candy corn, pumpkin spice, and cinnamon), and fruit chews (cherry, lemon, lime, orange, vanilla).
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