Good & Plenty
Encyclopedia
Good & Plenty is an American brand of licorice candy. The candy is a narrow cylinder of sweet black licorice coated in a hard candy shell to form a capsule shape. They come in an assortment of bright pink and white, presented in a purple box or bag.
Good & Plenty was first produced by the Quaker City Confectionery Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, in 1893 and is the oldest branded candy in the United States
. Warner-Lambert
purchased Quaker City in 1973, and sold it to Leaf Candy Company
(owned by Beatrice Foods) in 1982. It is now produced by Hershey Foods, which purchased Leaf in 1996.
Starting in 1950, a juvenile cartoon character named Choo-Choo Charlie was used in Good & Plenty television advertisements. Playing at being a railroad engineer
, Charlie would shake a box of the candy in a circular motion imitating that of a train's pushrods, the candy making a sound similar to that of a train.
The pink candies are colored with a red dye called K-Carmine
that is produced from the crushed bodies of the female cochineal
insect. However, the current packaging lists the red dye as "Artificial Color (K-Carmine and Red 40)".
According to writer Judy Dutton and scientist David Sugarman from the Ontario Science Centre
, the scent that women find most attractive is cucumber
and Good & Plenty candy.
Good & Plenty was first produced by the Quaker City Confectionery Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, in 1893 and is the oldest branded candy in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Warner-Lambert
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
purchased Quaker City in 1973, and sold it to Leaf Candy Company
Leaf Candy Company
Leaf International BV is a market leader in candy, chewing gum and pastilles in Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Belgium and has a number two position in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Italy. In total Leaf products are sold in more than 50 countries worldwide...
(owned by Beatrice Foods) in 1982. It is now produced by Hershey Foods, which purchased Leaf in 1996.
Starting in 1950, a juvenile cartoon character named Choo-Choo Charlie was used in Good & Plenty television advertisements. Playing at being a railroad engineer
Railroad engineer
A railroad engineer, locomotive engineer, train operator, train driver or engine driver is a person who drives a train on a railroad...
, Charlie would shake a box of the candy in a circular motion imitating that of a train's pushrods, the candy making a sound similar to that of a train.
The pink candies are colored with a red dye called K-Carmine
Carmine
Carmine , also called Crimson Lake, Cochineal, Natural Red #4, C.I. 75470, or E120, is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminum salt of carminic acid, which is produced by some scale insects, such as the cochineal beetle and the Polish cochineal, and is used as a general term for...
that is produced from the crushed bodies of the female cochineal
Cochineal
The cochineal is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-colour dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico, this insect lives on cacti from the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant moisture and...
insect. However, the current packaging lists the red dye as "Artificial Color (K-Carmine and Red 40)".
According to writer Judy Dutton and scientist David Sugarman from the Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eglinton Avenue East...
, the scent that women find most attractive is cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
and Good & Plenty candy.
In popular culture
- In Everybody Loves RaymondEverybody Loves RaymondEverybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
episode, "Snow DaySnow DaySnow Day is a 2000 American comedy film by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.-Plot:The film focuses on a group of elementary students in Syracuse, New York, led by Natalie Brandston , who get a snow day, and try to keep their school snowed-in and closed by stopping a snow plow driver known...
", it is mentioned that Robert separates the candies into "Goods" (pink) and "Plenties" (white). His reasoning is that there are more white candies, but they are not as good as the pink candies. Robert also has a third category for the odd shaped shorter Good & Plenty bits. Those he called "Cuties." - In The SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
episode, "Watching Too Much Television", Paulie GualtieriPaulie GualtieriPeter Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri played by Tony Sirico, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He is a caporegime and later underboss in the Soprano crime family.-Plot details:...
tells Johnny SackJohnny SackJohn "Johnny Sack" Sacramoni, played by Vince Curatola, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was the longtime underboss and later the boss of the powerful Brooklyn-based New York City Lupertazzi crime family...
he yearned for Good & Plenty candy while in prison. - In the opening credits for Gene SiskelGene SiskelEugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
and Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
's show, Sneak PreviewsSneak PreviewsSneak Previews was an American film review show, running for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service . It was created by WTTW, a PBS affiliate in Chicago, Illinois. It premiered on September 4, 1975 as a monthly local-only show called Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, and was renamed in...
, Ebert's name appears on a tub of popcorn, while Siskel's name appears on a Good & Plenty box.