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July 16, 2006
Sticky Business
By DEANNA DAHLSAD
July 15th, was Gummi Worm Day, as listed at the National Confectioners Association website. Just when you thought all holidays weren't commercial, we make such an announcement! However, we don't celebrate Gummi Worm Day for its crass consumerism -- no, there is ingenuity to admire here. (And who doesn't want a reason to eat Gummi Worms?!)
There likely wouldn't be a Gummi Worm Day if it weren't for Gummi Bears. The Gummi Bear, or Gummibärchen, is a German creation. Invented by Hans Riegel, a candy maker from Bonn, Germany, in 1922, the story goes that Riegel and his wife, Gertrud, noticed the popularity of a gelatin fruit candy that other candy companies were selling. Looking for a competitive edge to enter the market with their own fruity gelatin candy, they thought "What would children like?" And dancing bears was the answer.
So, HARIBO began to mold the fruit flavored gelatin into the form of a dancing bear. The original bears were taller and thinner than the little chubby bears of today (a 1950's update), and they became popular among the children of Bonn. So popular that only one year later the Riegels made a "risky" investment in a car so that Gertrud need no longer deliver the daily 200 pounds of dancing bear candy on her bicycle. The Riegels need not have worried, for the launch of Gummi Bears eventually lead to a family fortune. Such a fortune only occurred because the Riegels been correct that bear candy makes us happy!
Gummi Worms themselves were born of similar creativity. In 1981, another German candy company, Mederer Corporation, was looking for a new way to market gummy candies. Their idea was to create a candy that parents would find mildly shocking, but that kids would love. They hit upon the idea of Gummi Worms, and sold them under the Trolli name. These worms became quite popular, and even inspired other 'shocking' desserts.
In fact, the popularity of Gummi Worms, Bears and other animal shapes, lead to the 1985, Disney cartoon show, "The Adventures of the Gummi Bears." A first of its kind, "The Adventures of the Gummi Bears" was Disney's first foray into television animation and lasted 94 episodes (in 65 shows). At the time, very few cartoons had the production values the Gummi Bears did. The quality of production was so high, so unheard of, it even exceeded the quality of many Japanese animated TV shows being made at the time. Because of this, Gummi Bears is often credited by animators and animation historians as having jump started the television animation boom of the late 1980s (and continued through the 1990s).
While often listed as one of the worst shows, "The Adventures of the Gummi Bears" is also the 47th most desired unreleased show on Tvshowsondvd.com. Proof, that the Riegels were right: Children, and adults, do love Gummi Bears -- and worms, and sharks, and frogs, and even Gummi Ampelmännchen!
Strangely, while Gummi Bears and Gummi Worms are German confections, there is no German Gummi Holiday. Since there are no German holidays in July, I propose that Germans pick a day in the sticky heat of July, and celebrate Gummi Bear Day. Afterall, we do love our bears, and who doesn't want a reason to eat candy?
Posted by photocartoonist at July 16, 2006 8:58 PM