Hey, Readers!

Today is Veterans Day. What are we celebrating when we honor Veterans Day? We’re showing our appreciation of those who have served their country in the armed services. We call those people veterans. Everything Summer Camp extends immense gratitude to those who have fought for our freedom.

Here’s something you might not have known about Veterans Day. This American holiday shares the same date as two other holidays that are recognized in other areas around the world. Those holidays are Armistice Day and Remembrance Day. What’s special about these three holidays? Why do they all share the same date?

November 11 marks the end of World War I (five years shy of a century ago) when a truce was made with Germany. Veterans Day is pretty much the American celebration of Armistice or Remembrance Day. Although, our intentions are to honor all veterans—not just those from the first World War.

The holiday started out as Armistice Day, proclaimed by Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Seven years later, the holiday was made official with appropriate ceremonies and dedicated to world peace. Nearly 20 years after that in 1945, Raymond Weeks, a veteran of World War II, thought to expand the celebration to include all veterans instead of only honoring those from World War I.

Veterans Day can sometimes be confused with Memorial Day. While they ARE similar to each other, Memorial Day restricts who is being honored. It is a day meant to remember those who have fought and died while serving their country. Veterans Day is meant to honor both those who have fallen and the ones who survived.

It’s taken a long time for the holiday to become what it has come to be. So appreciate those around you that you may know who have served in the armed services for your country and wish them a Happy Veterans Day.

Hey there, Sweet Tooths! (Or is it Sweet Teeth?)

Either way, there’s no getting around it. Candy is one tasty side of life! I love it. You love it. Everything Summer Camp loves it. And there’s no better day to celebrate your love for candy than today—National Candy Day!

When we saw that National Candy Day was coming up, everyone here at Everything Summer Camp started talking about our favorite kinds of candy. We all found that our favorites happened to be the old stuff, the stuff you don’t see in the corner convenient store anymore. I’m talking vintage.

Most candy is already pretty old. In fact, the majority of it is actually old enough to be considered “vintage.” See, the rules of how old something has to be in order to be considered a vintage piece are a little blurry. I’d say a fair age for something would be 50 years before you could safely call it vintage. By those rules, any candy that was made before 1954 counts as vintage candy.

That’s A LOT of candy!

M&Ms, for instance, started being manufactured by the Mars company in 1941. And the extremely popular Snickers bar is 11 years older than M&Ms—introduced in 1930. But that’s just the tip of the vintage candy iceberg.

Now don’t get me wrong. Snickers and M&Ms are definitely old candies. I’m just saying there’s other candy that’s REALLY old. One easy example would be the Tootsie Roll, manufactured by the company Tootsie Roll Industries. In 1896, this became the first penny candy (candy that cost only a penny) to be individually wrapped. Tootsie Rolls predate M&Ms by almost 60 years.

But if you think that’s old, get a load of (my personal favorite) Ribbon Candy! This stuff makes M&Ms look brand new! Ribbon Candy is ancient in the candy business. Nearly a hundred years older than M&Ms, this candy was being manufactured as early as 1856—maybe even earlier.

What’s your favorite candy and how old do you think it is?

Hey, Halloween Lovers!

The time of year has come again to celebrate Halloween, to dress up like scary creatures we’ve only seen in our wildest dreams, and to gorge ourselves on hard-earned candy! But aside from carving pumpkins and eating lots of good treats, what are we really celebrating on this spooky holiday?

It turns out that Halloween dates back over two thousand years ago and was originally a Celtic celebration called Samhain (pronounced sow-ain). It started on October 31 and lasted until November first, sort of like the modern day New Year’s Eve celebration.

In fact that’s exactly what it was for the Celts—it marked the end of the summer season and the beginning of winter, so they made it their New Year’s. They just didn’t have champagne, noisemakers, or Dick Clark. Their celebration looked a little more like what we call Halloween.

They lit bonfires, wore costumes, and carved out different types of gourds and pumpkins to set outside their doors as a welcome to friendly ghosts or to ward off the mean ones. Sound familiar?

Trick or treating isn’t really a new custom either. Back in the day, it was called guising—the phrase “trick or treat” wasn’t coined until sometime around the 1940’s. But little kids still dressed up in costumes to go door to door for coins and treats.

Records of people making this tradition date back all the way to 1895! They may not have been singing “Trick or treat, smell my feet,” but they still walked around collecting cakes, fruit, and money from neighbors.

I think one of the most interesting parts about Halloween is that any and all traditions that got their start before the 20th century are still being carried out today! Just think—the traditions we all know were being celebrated by folks from the late 1800’s! Cool, huh?

So from everybody at Everything Summer Camp, Happy Halloween! And thanks for reading!

Hey, Candy Cravers!

Certain holidays seem to have complimenting candies that go together like sidekicks hang around superheroes. Easter has Cadbury eggs for instance while Valentines offers candy hearts with suggestive messages printed on the side to say what secret admirers can’t say in person.

But this is the month of October when we celebrate All Hallows Eve. I think everyone knows that candy corn is Halloween’s candy sidekick. But other than that, not much is known about this popular, yet mysterious candy treat.

People say that candy corn was created in the 1880’s by someone named George Renninger who worked for a place called Wunderle Candy Company. But this really only refers to the candy once it was marketed and sold as candy corn. This stuff had been around for a much longer time than just 133 years.

Candy corn never had a patent in the beginning. It’s recipe was simply passed down from generation to generation. At first candy corn was made by hand—forming sugar, corn syrup, wax ,artificial coloring, and binders into multicolored, candy imitation of a corn kernel.

When the candy first hit the market, it belonged to a company called Goelitz. It wasn’t called candy corn at this point; it fact, it wasn’t really called anything. Goelitz gave it its first, official marketing name, christening it, “Chicken Feed.”

The name didn’t last long as it sounds absolutely revolting, but the recipe hasn’t really changed since the days before it was patented. Since this candy’s hit the market, it’s exploded (which is surprising since most people don’t even like candy corn).

Lots of people find the taste of candy corn to be too bland and waxy. Personally, I think they’re all crazy! I’ve loved this treat since my first Halloween!

So remember to get your Chicken—er, candy corn this year, Kids, and enjoy the age-old treat!

- John

P.S. Can you guess how many pieces are in here? Win our Candy Corn Contest with the right number! Submit your best guess here.  You could win a $100 Everything Summer Camp gift card!

Hey, Ball Fans!

Who can resist America’s favorite pastime—Baseball?! It’s come quite a long way from hitting a ball with a stick in an alley. Baseball today is far from your great-grandfather’s baseball. Instead of an unorganized activity for fun after school, it’s become the Major Leagues, Homeruns, Stadium Hot Dogs, and Bob Uecker. This is the story of the World Series and how it got be the way it is now.

Way back when—and when I say way back, I’m talking 1870’s—there was only one league: the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (who soon changed their name to the National League). They were the top dogs until 1882 when a second major league was formed—the American Association.

Up until that point the championship simply went to the team with the best record at the end of the season. But with the American Association now in the picture, the two leagues decided to face each other in a series of games to see who would win the championship.

These championship series are essentially what evolved into the World Series, however, they weren’t nearly as organized or official as the World Series we know today. Some series only lasted three games. Others lasted fifteen. And some even ended in ties!

The games were advertised as “The Championship of the United States” or the “World’s Championship Series,” which birthed the shorthand “World’s Series.” Up until 1930, people considered Baseball’s Championships to have started in 1884 near the rise of the American Association; however, nowadays the World Series isn’t considered to have started until 1903.

Last year, the San Francisco Giants took the World Series after defeating the Detroit Tigers. Who will take the Series this year is anyone’s guess. Keep watching and remember to root, root, root for the home team! Till next time, Ball Fans!