American Legion Post 168, Thurmont
Another fun fact brought to you by our Commander Debra Middendorff: Smarties, as we know them today, got their start back in the 1940s, when British engineer and bona fide candy connoisseur Edward Dee moved to New Jersey with his family and set up Ce De Candy. The company would eventually adopt the name of its most popular product and become the Smarties Candy Company. This all sounds like an unsurprising origin story, save for one thing: the original candies were made using old wartime pellet machines designed to compress gunpowder into ammunition. That’s right! Instead of making bullets, Dee made candy.
While sources differ on whether the machinery came from World War I or World War II, a CBC interview with Dee’s granddaughter, Liz, stated that not only did the pellet machines come from World War I, but the first prototypes of the candy were made in England. Either way, Dee didn’t use the machinery until after World War II to make the sugary tablets known as Smarties. In another interview with Inc., Liz said that her grandfather first began selling the candies out of his New Jersey garage after having grown up in England in a family of candy makers. He eventually set up his own factory in Bloomfield, New Jersey, followed by another in Toronto, Canada, paving the way for Smarties to become a staple of Halloween bags and kids’ parties for decades to come. Thanks, Deb, for this interesting information!
November 11, 2025, Veterans Day: What is the purpose of Veterans Day, and why is it celebrated on the 11th? The purpose serves to honor and thank all those who have served in the United States Armed Forces and to acknowledge their courage, sacrifices, and contributions in protecting the nation’s freedoms. Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th because it marks the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” in 1918, when the armistice was signed, ending World War I.
We will be thanking our Veterans with a free lunch on Saturday, November 15. More information will be available on our Facebook page. The menu will be Pork and Sauerkraut!
Remember to follow us on Facebook for weekly and upcoming events like Pop-up Shops, Veterans Luncheon, and Breakfast with Santa.
