It was during the Spanish Civil War that Mars purportedly encountered British volunteers eating small chocolate beads encased in a hard sugar shell, which prevented melting.
M&Ms used to be made with Hershey's chocolate, now one of Mars' biggest competitors.
In return, Murrie received a 20 percent stake in the M&M product, which was named to represent ‘Mars’ and ‘Murrie.’.
During World War II, M&Ms were exclusively sold to the U.S. military.
In March of 1941, Mars was granted a patent for his manufacturing process and production began in Newark, New Jersey.
Originally sold in cardboard tubes, M&Ms were covered with a brown, red, orange, yellow, green or violet coating.
After the U.S. entered the war, the candies were exclusively sold to the military, enabling the heat-resistant and easy-to-transport chocolate to be included in American soldiers’ rations. »