Tootsie Roll

:"For the 1994 hip-hop single by the 69 Boyz, see Tootsee Roll"

Tootsie Rolls are chewy chocolate-flavoured candies that have been manufactured in the United States for more than 100 years. The cylindrical cocoa-flavored candies come individually wrapped, and are an American cultural icon. They are one of the best-selling candies in North America. [http://www.tootsie.com/comp_financial.php] The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Industries, is based in Chicago, Illinois.

History

The Tootsie Roll story began in 1896, when Austrian-born Leo Hirshfield opened a tiny candy shop in New York City. Taking full advantage of his confectioner’s background, Hirshfield hand-crafted a variety of products, including an individually wrapped, oblong, chewy, chocolate candy that quickly became a customer favorite. Sold at a penny apiece and affectionately named after Hirshfield’s five-year old daughter, Clara, whose nickname was “Tootsie,” Tootsie Rolls propelled Hirshfield’s modest corner store into burgeoning candy enterprise that has evolved in little more than a century into the multinational corporation, Tootsie Roll Industries.

Strongly adhering to Hirshfield’s original recipe, Tootsie Roll Industries today produces more than 62 million Tootsie Roll candies each day, the majority from its Chicago headquarters. Building on the success of Tootsie Roll and its early offspring (the company launched Tootsie Pops, the world’s number one-selling lollipop, in 1931), the company has expanded over the years and now includes 22 of the world’s favorite candy brands within its confectionery lineup.

With annual sales approaching nearly half-a-billion dollars, Tootsie Roll Industries is recognized as one of the world’s largest candy producers. Its 100-plus years of unprecedented growth and expansion is a direct result of a keen focus on the basic fundamentals that launched Tootsie Roll into a worldwide success among every age group, culture, and demographic: relentless hard work; an unyielding commitment to quality; and a humble, socially responsible, family-run corporate culture.

In 1994 the Tootsie Roll was referenced in the double platinum single by the 69 Boyz, named "Tootsee Roll".

Jingle

Commercials containing this jingle continue to be shown on TV today, making them (along with the Tootsie Pop commercial) the longest running commercials on American television.

This commercial still plays occasionally and was part of a recent special on the Food Network.

This jingle was recorded in 1976 in NYC by a girl and boy, both the children of jazz musicians and friends of the jingle writer. In the original concept the boy was to sing the solo "whatever it is I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll to me." But at 13 his voice was changing and cracked on the high notes. The girl, 9, was then given that part, which took an entire day to record at Blank Tape Studios in Manhattan. Both children were paid $50 each in cash for their work, and never received residuals. Thirty years later, the jingle can still be seen on television and millions of people, young and old, can sing the tune. The girl, now a lawyer, still has the original reel-to-reel recording of the jingle. Fact|date=March 2008

Ingredients

The ingredients of the traditional Tootsie Roll are sugar, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil (trans fat), condensed skim milk, cocoa, whey, soy lecithin, orange extract, and artificial and condensed flavors.

Modern Marvels describe Tootsie Rolls as not quite caramels, not quite fudge, but something like both.

Alternate flavors

Along with the cocoa-flavored Tootsie Rolls are the Tootsie Fruit Rolls, whose flavors include cherry, orange, vanilla, lemon and lime. These chewy candies are commonly wrapped in red, orange, blue, yellow and green wrappers, respectively.There are also a variety of Tootsie Pop (Tootsie Roll-filled lolipops) flavors.

External links

* [http://www.tootsie.com Official website]