National Lollipop Day

The story

A lollipop is a piece of hard candy fixed on the end of a stick, made by boiling sugar and corn syrup with flavoring and color and letting it set into a disc, ball, or swirl. People have enjoyed sweets on sticks for a very long time: ancient Chinese, Arab, and Egyptian cooks preserved fruits and nuts in honey and sometimes skewered them, and in 17th-century England, boiled sweets were sold on sticks for easy eating.

The modern lollipop took shape in the United States in the early 20th century. George Smith of the Bradley Smith Company in New Haven, Connecticut, began putting candy on sticks around 1908 and trademarked the name "Lolly Pop" in 1931, reportedly naming it after a popular racehorse. In 1916, Samuel Born invented a machine that inserted sticks automatically, and companies soon turned out millions of pops a day. Brands such as Dum Dums, Tootsie Pops, Blow Pops, and Chupa Chups, created in Spain in 1958 with a logo designed by Salvador Dalí, became favorites around the world.

Lollipops have long been a reward at barbershops, banks, and doctors' offices, and they come in every size from tiny drops to giant rainbow swirls.

On National Lollipop Day, treat yourself to a favorite flavor, share a handful with friends, or try making your own at home.