The Other M in M&M's Is Actually Hershey's CEO's Son's Last Name
Forrest Mars observed soldiers in the Spanish Civil War carrying heat-proof sugar-coated chocolate, returned to America, partnered with Hershey's CEO's son, and turned this insight into M&M's.
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A child's paralysis became the unlikely origin of a candy dynasty
Frank Mars was born to a Minnesota farm family and contracted polio as a child. The disease left him unable to do the physical work of farm life like other children, so he spent his time indoors. His mother seized the opportunity to teach him to make handmade chocolates and candy during these years—an experience often cited as the spark for his lifelong interest in confectionery.
A wife's car was the distribution edge that made early candy sales scalable
Frank started making cream candy in his kitchen in Tacoma and sold it locally, but it was his wife Ethel who truly accelerated growth. She bought a car and drove it around the region selling candy. In 1911, when only about 0.66% of Americans owned registered vehicles, having an automobile represented an enormous advantage in distribution. Yet Frank himself lacked business sense, and the company eventually went bankrupt.
A malted milk idea at a drugstore counter created a blockbuster candy bar
In 1923, Frank and his son Forrest were drinking malted milk at a drugstore counter when Forrest suggested turning the malted drink into a candy bar form. Frank acted on the idea and created Milky Way. The bar became a runaway success, generating $800,000 in sales its first year and forcing the company to hire an entire dedicated sales team to field retailer orders.
A possibly-dead horse gave Snickers both its name and Depression-era bestseller status
Snickers was allegedly named after the Mars family's favorite horse, though even the official website hedges with ‘allegedly’ and the animal may have already died before the candy was introduced, leaving the full story unverifiable. Yet in 1930, during the depths of the Great Depression, the five-cent Snickers with its peanuts defied economic collapse and became a runaway hit, generating $26 million in first-year sales.
Denied partnership equity, Forrest left with $50,000 to build Mars bar in Europe
After completing his industrial engineering degree at Yale, Forrest saw his father's chaotic management and weak finances. When he pushed through reforms without permission, he infuriated Frank. Forrest demanded one-third of the company to develop overseas markets—Frank refused. In 1932, Forrest left with $50,000 and the foreign rights to Milky Way. He first apprenticed at Nestlé in Switzerland to learn the trade, then relocated to Slough, England, where he created a richer, more meticulously formulated candy bar that became the Mars bar.
Spanish Civil War soldiers' heat-proof chocolate inspired M&M's original design
While traveling during the Spanish Civil War, Forrest observed soldiers carrying sugar-coated chocolate beans that would not melt in heat. This observation inspired his vision for M&M's. His business partner was R. Bruce Murray, whose father was the CEO of their rival Hershey, which is why the two M's in M&M's represent Mars and Murray respectively. Like Snickers before it, M&M's initially supplied military rations before entering the civilian consumer market.
He closed the executive dining room and worked twelve-hour days with factory staff
After his father died, Forrest and his stepmother feuded over ownership for 30 years before he finally convinced her to sell. When the two companies merged, Forrest made his mark immediately: he shuttered the executive dining room and ate in the same cafeteria as factory workers. He also sharply raised wages and distributed profits to all employees—but he demanded they match his own twelve-hour workdays. By summer 2026, the Mars family's wealth reached $129 billion, making them America's third-richest family according to Forbes.
WWII sugar rationing accidentally preserved Reese's while eliminating all other candies
During World War II, sugar was placed under strict rationing. The H.B. Reese company had produced several candy varieties, but rationing meant only Reese's Cups could continue production—peanuts faced no restrictions, required less sugar than other candies, and the wartime labor shortage allowed the factory to automate. When H.B. Reese died in 1956, the new factory was incomplete; his sons disagreed about whether to sell the company. In 1963, they sold to Hershey for $24 million in Hershey stock.
In their own words · checked verbatim
While he was inside with polio, his mother taught him to make candy, specifically hand-dipped chocolate, but also other confections.
there were an estimated... 93,863,000 people in the U.S. in 1911, and only 619,500 of them had registered vehicles.
why don't you put a chocolate-malted drink in a candy bar?
But that's just such a huge number during a depression for a five-cent candy bar. But people really love Snickers, apparently.
he developed a candy bar that was based on the Milky Way, but a little bit sweeter.
Those soldiers were carrying small pellets of chocolate with a candy coating so that the chocolate would not melt in the heat.
He was like, we don't need this, we'll eat in the cafeteria with everybody else, which I just think is kind of interesting.
the sugar rationing that happened during the war made only one candy still viable for manufacture, and that was the peanut butter-filled Reese's cup.
Figures
| 1911 US vehicle registration rate | ~0.66% | 4:07 |
| Snickers' first-year sales (1930) | $26 million | 7:13 |
| Mars family net worth (summer 2026, Forbes) | $129 billion | 18:31 |
| H.B. Reese's children who survived to adulthood | 13 of 16 | 20:42 |
| Reese's new factory annual revenue | >$15 million | 32:00 |
| Hershey's acquisition of Reese (stock value) | $24 million | 32:00 |
Glossary
- eponymous food
- A food named after a person or entity closely associated with it, typically the founder or a related figure.
- malted milk
- A sweet drink made by mixing malted barley powder with milk, popular in early-to-mid twentieth-century America.
- buttercream candy
- A confection with a soft, butter-and-sugar-based center filling, similar in texture to nougat.
How to listen
People interested in American consumer brand history, family business succession and dissolution, and the origins of Snickers, M&M's, and Reese's names.
Listener letters near the end discussing world's fairs and Michelangelo's sculpture—unrelated to candy, skip it.