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In 1941, Forrest Mars developed a hard-shelled candy with chocolate at the center and named the product M&M’S. M&M’S, Ltd. set up headquarters in Newark, NJ, having secured a patent for its product on March 3, 1941. The M&M’S Plain Chocolate Candies, as they were called, hit the consumer market that same year, in colors that included brown, yellow, orange, red, green, and violet. Within months, though, the U.S. entered World War II, and M&M’S became reserved for military use. Since the sugar coating prevented the candy from melting in warm climates like the Pacific, M&M’S were issued as part of soldiers’ C-Rations. Tubes were also sold in post exchanges and ships’ service stores. The Newark factory — located at 200 North 12th Street — produced 200,000 pounds of M&M’S® per week, most of it going to the military. As the advertisements of the period maintained, M&M’S were “100% at War.”
