HISTORY OF NATIONAL CANDY DAY
Candy's origins can be traced back to India. The Persians and Greeks discovered that the people of India possessed reeds that made honey without bees between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. Sugarcane, a Southeast Asian native, was used to make these reeds. Sugarcane juice was boiled and turned into individual bits of sugar known as "khanda" by ancient Indians.
Honey was used to cover fruits and flowers in ancient China, the Middle East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome to preserve them and transform them into a type of sweet before sugarcane was domesticated outside of Asia. Candy was used as medication before the Industrial Revolution to either soothe the digestive system or cool the throat. Candy was largely used by the wealthy in the Middle Ages, and it was made of sugar and spices to help with digestion problems, which were widespread because food was not fresh or balanced.
Candy was first brought to America from France and the United Kingdom in the 18th century. Because few colonists were proficient in sugar production, these new delights were exclusively available to the wealthy. In the 1830s, when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, technological advancements made sweets available to people other than the wealthy, including a new market devoted solely to children. Candy stores were becoming an American fixture, especially in the lives of youngsters across the country, but some artisan sugar workers persisted. Candy became the first thing a child would buy with their money, and candy store owners relied heavily on the patronage of children and families to stay in business.