April 22 is #NATIONALJELLYBEANDAY, the day we honor the favorite sweet treat of #RonaldReagan, #TheBiebs, #TheHoff & #LateShow host Stephen Colbert! Did you know that Boston confectioner William Schrafft is credited with inventing them during the Civil War? Because they had a firm shell and didn’t melt like chocolates, jelly beans traveled well, so Schrafft encouraged his customers to send them to Union soldiers… perhaps jelly beans were their secret weapon!
Fun Jelly Belly bean trivia:
- Very Cherry remained the most popular flavor of Jelly Belly beans for two decades until 1998, when Buttered Popcorn moved into first place. In 2003 Very Cherry moved back into top position by a mere 8 million beans.
- Blueberry flavor was created for Ronald Reagan’s presidential inauguration in 1981 when over three tons of Jelly Belly beans were consumed during the festivities.
- A portrait of President Ronald Reagan made from 10,000 Jelly Belly beans hangs in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
- During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Jelly Belly beans were served in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. A holder was designed for the plane so the jar of Jelly Belly beans would not spill during turbulence.
- It takes 7 to 21 days to make a single Jelly Belly jelly bean.
- Enough Jelly Belly beans were eaten in the last year to circle the earth more than five times.
- The original eight flavors of Jelly Belly beans introduced in 1976 were Very Cherry, Root Beer, Cream Soda, Tangerine, Green Apple, Lemon, Licorice and Grape.
- Jelly Belly beans were the first jelly beans in outer space when President Reagan sent them on the 1983 flight of the space shuttle Challenger.
- Jelly Belly donated 288,000 jelly beans in 47 different flavors for the world’s first jelly bean stop-motion animation music video “In Your Arms” by Kina Grannis; released November 2011.
(Source: http://www.jellybelly.com/fun-facts)
