Dum Dums have been around since 1953, encouraging kids across the nation to exercise better behavior in bank lines and in the classroom ever since.  Like its sweet and cautious cousin, the Safe-T Pop, Dum Dums are great for kids due to their small size and wide variety of flavors, and what a variety there has been through the years.

Dum Dums are called Dum Dums for a simple reason.  A sales manager in the company wanted a name that would be easy for children to remember and pronounce, and Dum Dum fit the bill.  In the beginning there were eight: Lemon, Lime, Orange, Coconut-Pineapple, Cherry, Grape, Butter Scotch and Root Beer.  Soon other flavors would enter the picture, crowd favorites like Strawberry in 1954 and Banana in 1960.  The 1980s found a hit with Watermelon, which has not left the bag since its introduction in 1982.  Like Jelly Belly, Dum Dums even had a Buttered Popcorn flavor in 2001.  Today, many of the classics are kept in baskets alongside newcomers like Cotton Candy, Blue Raspberry, Cherry Cola and Pink Lemonade. 

Kids of all ages (even some of us big kids) often get stuck when figuring out what the “Mystery Flavor” is.  (Of course, that is if one is not a part of the distinct group of individuals that refuse to pop a Mystery Flavor into their mouth.)  The Mystery Flavor varies each and every time, since it’s actually combination of two of the flavors in the bag.  The cause of the Mystery flavor is tied directly in with the Dum Dum production process.  Dum Dums are made continuously, with no stop between flavors, giving us an interesting surprise whenever we peel off the mystery wrapper.  Spangler, the company that produces the famous little lollies has a long tradition of wasting as little as possible.  Ingenious!

Every day, Spangler produces  a whopping 8 million Dum Dums, ensuring that kids will be good in lines and at their seats for years and years to come, proving perhaps, that little things can go a long way.