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February 15th National Gumdrop Day.
Gumdrops are a chewy, brightly-colored, fruit-flavored confection, usually shaped like a truncated cone, and coated in granulated sugar.
It’s a compound noun: gumdrop, not gum drop.
When they’re flavored with spices (allspice, cinnamon, clove, licorice, peppermint, and wintergreen, for example) they’re called spice drops.
Outside the U.S., according to Wikipedia, the candy is known as American hard gums or hard gum candy.
> Below: Make gumdrops at home with these recipes.
GUMDROPS HISTORY
Gumdrops are believed to be an American invention, but the date and the inventor are not clear (along with the origin of the phrase, “goody goody gumdrops”*).
Yet we do have a name and a date: Percy Truesdell (sometimes spelled Trusdale), in 1801. But there’s a problem with this reference:
The name “gumdrop” didn’t appear in print until 1859, in an advertisement in the Decatur, Illinois “Illinois State Chronicle.” The ad was for a candy shop owned by a George Julier. Julier advertised “Fresh GumDrops, assorted flavor wholesale or retail.”
So if Truesdell invented them in 1801, they weren’t called “gumdrops” for another 58 years.
Invention can predate reference by decades or much longer. The earlier in history, the less printed material survives. The actual origin dates of recipes (and anything else) of could be hundreds of years earlier.
The Gumdrop King
In fact, according to other sources, Percy S. Truesdell, “the gumdrop king,” is credited with formulating the modern gumdrop in 1915, one with a softer texture that used a formula he developed after years of experimentation while a member of the chemistry department Ohio State University [source].
The original gumdrop was more of a hard “jawbreaker.” Truesdell reduced the starch content to make it soft and chewy.
(The original inventor? Alas, he or she is lost to history, like so many innovations.)
In 1916, Truesdell (1882-1948) founded the P.S. Truesdell Candy Manufacturing Company and became known as the Gumdrop King.
And although today’s gumdrops tend to be fruit-flavored, originally, gumdrops were flavored with spices: orange (clove), yellow (allspice), red (cinnamon), green (spearmint), purple (anise), white (wintergreen or peppermint), and black (licorice).
The Candy Land board game, invented in 1945, features both a Gumdrop Pass and a Gumdrop Mountain as enticing topography.
Gumdrops are progenitors of the pectin- or gelatin-based group of candies that includes Dots, jelly beans, Jujubes, and gummy candies.
Although gumdrops and their siblings, spearmint leaves and orange slices, have fallen out of fashion in favor of gummy candies, they are still popular with bakers (for garnishing cakes and cupcakes) and crafters.
Check out these flower cupcakes with gumdrops.
And where would gingerbread houses be without that gumdrop decor?
We think it’s time to get gummy with it, gumdrop-style. So track down some gumdrops and celebrate National Gumdrop Day. You may just find yourself asking, “Why don’t I enjoy these more often?”
Epilogue: In 1983, an ice cream flavor that included pieces of gum drops was invented by the general director of a New Zealand ice cream manufacturer, Tip Top (photo #3).
It was certainly an act of love, since it’s difficult to have large inclusions in the ice cream production process achieve an even distribution throughout the pint or quart.
According to Murray Taylor, the inventor, “Very few ice-cream makers in the world would have attempted it.” Here’s more about it.
“Goody Goody Gumdrops” History
The phrases “Goody gumdrops” and “Goody, goody gumdrops” were popularized in Carl Ed’s 1930s Harold Teen cartoon strip, although whether Ed originated the phrases is unclear.
The earliest reference is a cartoon printed in The Oakland Tribune in November 1936.
The phrase “goody, goody” has been used in the U.S. to express pleasure since at least the late 18th century.
Thus, “Goody, goody, gumdrops!” is an expression of delight at receiving gumdrops.
In the late 1960s, a British band called the 1910 Fruitgum Company had a hit song called “Goody Goody Gumdrops.”It reached number 37 on the Billboard charts. Here it is.
[6] It’s easy to make gumdrops at home. If you don’t have round candy molds, cut them into cubes (photo © Taste Of Home).
HOMEMADE GUMDROPS
If you want to make your own, start here. Note that unless you have round candy molds, you’ll make the gumdrops in a sheet and cut them into squares.
Anise Gumdrops (a.k.a. Spice Drops)
Orange Gumdrops
Raspberry Gumdrops
Red & Green Peppermint Gumdrops For The Holidays
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