The Sometimes Christ's love for us is veiled behind what can seem to be pitiless and unduly harsh: Years ago, in the days before stage coaches had been superseded by railways, a mother and her infant were the only passengers in a coach in western Montana during a bitter winter. The woman had not provided against such intense cold, and although she could protect her baby, her own life became endangered. The driver quickened the pace of his team, hoping to reach warmth and refuge before her condition became serious, but the fatal drowsiness stole over her, and when no answers to his inquiries were returned, he stopped and got down from his box. The woman's head was swaying from side to side. He took the baby from her and bestowed it as comfortably as he could in a furry bundle under the shelter of the seat; then, seizing the mother roughly by the arm, he dragged her upon the frozen ground.

His violence partly awakened her; but when he banged the door and sprang on his box and drove on, leaving her in the road, she came fully to her senses and began to scream as she ran madly after him, calling, "My baby, oh, my baby." The horror of her loss and the violence of the exercise to which she was forced saved her. When her blood was in healthy circulation, the driver pulled up his horses, and allowed her to resume her place with her unharmed child.

– Methodist Recorder

Valentine's Day - Chocolate 4 - More Candy

The Hershey Bar was a first. Once the American candy bar entered the scene it became the focus of many a sweet success story. In 1896, two years after the creation of the Hershey Bar, Leonard Hirschfield entered the market with the first paper-wrapped candy. The young candy maker named his chewy confection after his daughter. Her nickname was Tootsie and the no mess candy was the Tootsy Roll. It too was an immense success and competition continued.

Peter Paul Halijian of New Haven, Connecticut took up the challenge. In 1921 he manufactured a delicious nickel bar of bittersweet chocolate and coconut. He called his creation Mounds. In 1947 he topped his Mounds success with an almond and milk chocolate and created a new bar, Almond Joy. (Sometimes you feel like a nut -- sometimes you don't)

By the time of the Mounds Bar, world wide candy production was well into the millions of pounds and still growing. Baseball and World War II boosted candy sales significantly. The Baby Ruth Bar was introduced in 1921. The creator of this nickel fudge-peanut-caramel candy was Otto Schnering. Though the confection was not named for the slugger, Babe Ruth, his popularity no doubt helped to boost the sales of this candy. The Baby Ruth was actually named in honor of President Grover Cleveland's daughter, Baby Ruth Cleveland. In 1923 Schnering introduced another delicious success, the Butterfinger.

A forty year old confectioner from Minnesota seemed to dominate the early candy bar market. In 1928, Franklin Mars, introduced the first of his candy creations -- the Milky Way. The candy bar was a blend of sweet milk chocolate, corn syrup, milk, sugar, cocoa, malt, butter, and frothy egg whites. It was a delicious success. After only 2 years Milky Way sales were totaled at $800,000.00 for a nickel candy bar. In 1930 Franklin Mars launched another great success -- the Snickers bar. Two years later he introduced his third nickel candy bar success, the 3 Musketeers. In 1940 Mars Incorporated introduced yet another timely success. The M & M was introduced. This colorful little candy would "melt in your mouth, not in your hand." This candy was marketed with the war bound GI in mind. The candy promised to give the soldier a quick energy boost without gumming up their trigger fingers.

The sales of American candy and candy bars continued to climb until the 1970's. About that time the public became somewhat concerned about cavities, waistlines and cardiac health.

Sources:
The Browser's Book of Beginnings and Origins of Everything under, and Including the Sun - Charles Panat | Encyclopaedia Britannica |

LOVE Quotation

Sometimes the loveliness of God’s presence comes in the midst of pain.

I wasn’t quite over a bad case of shingles when I went south to conduct a retreat. I felt miserable. The shingles blisters, which had managed to get even into my ear, had burst my eardrum. The weather was not cooperating. Instead of being warm and sunny (I had hoped to be able to sit on the beach and bask in the sun and heal) it was cold, rainy and raw.

When the rain finally stopped, I went for a silent walk on the beach with two caring friends. The ocean was smothered in fog, but occasionally the curtain lifted enough to reveal a fishing boat, and a glimpse of muted silver on sea. One of my companions found some lovely driftwood. The other picked up some tiny donax shells and put them in my palm. And there, in the silence, in the fog, in my pain, was a sensation of being surrounded by the almighty wings of God, right there, at that time, in that place, God with us.

– A Stone for a Pillow: Journeys with Jacob - Madeleine L’Engle