Gumdrop Day
Feb 15
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Goody, goody gumdrops
My heart is doing flip flops
Gee what love can do!"
~ 1910 Fruitgum Company, "Goody Goody Gumdrops", 1967
Goody Goody Gumdrops! No, we are not referring to those pink chewing gum recycling drop off points which emerged in London and elsewhere, but the sugary chewy sweets known as Gumdrops, Jelly Babies, or Wine Gums, depending on which side of the pond you are indulging your sweet tooth! In 1915 a candy manufacturer named Percy Truesdell started producing a chewy candy gumdrop with an enhanced texture, using a formula he developed at Ohio State University. With just the right amount of chewiness, the "gumdrop" became wildly popular, making its way into candy history in the classic children's board game, Candy Land, as "Gumdrop Mountain"! And although today's gumdrops tend to be all fruit-flavoured, originally, gumdrops were flavored with spices: orange (clove), yellow (allspice), red (cinnamon), green (spearmint), purple (anise), white (wintergreen or peppermint), and black (licorice)! This deliciously-named strathspey evokes the figures of swirls and mixing of the candy maker. How sweet!❤️ 🍭 🧡 🍭 💛 🍭 💗
Sugar Candie
"Goody, goody, gumdrops!"
Gumdrops are fruit or spice flavored sugar coated gelatin candies, usually conical in shape, that became popular in the early 20th century after candy manufacturer Percy Truesdell, "the gumdrop king" created a new formula for a softer gumdrop.
But even prior to that time, "gumdrop" was already a slang term for sweetness or a sweetheart.
The candy continued to be an American standard for decades, even recognized in the classic 1945 board game "Candy Land" as Gumdrop Mountains.
The NASA Apollo Command modules were even nicknamed “Gumdrops” because of their conical shape.
Originally, gumdrops were flavored and color coded with the following spices: orange (clove), yellow (allspice), red (cinnamon), green (spearmint), purple (anise), white (wintergreen or peppermint), and black (licorice).
See below for The Johnsonville SCD Club performing Sugar Candie in 2014.
And for a gumdrop cocktail recipe, click the cocktails.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
