It’s National Chocolate Day.
Chocolatiers have some pretty creative and sophisticated ways to make their products tastier and more appealing.
But back during World War II, there was a chocolate bar that was not too sweet, and that’s exactly how it was supposed to be.
Officially it was called the “D-ration bar”; its unofficial nickname was the “Logan Bar,” and it was named after US Army quartermaster Captain Paul Logan.
He wanted to provide troops with a ration bar for emergencies, something they could eat in the field without having to cook or prepare anything.
Logan worked with the bar experts at Hershey, so it’s not a surprise that the ration turned out to be chocolate.
But Logan realized that if he’d just given regular chocolate bars to troops, there was a good chance they’d eat the candy once they got it.
Then they might end up in combat somewhere without their backup ration.
So he asked Hershey to make a bar that wasn’t that sweet.
The guidance was to make the bar “taste a little better than a boiled potato.”
Logan also needed the bar to be a certain size, give its eater a certain amount of energy, and keep from melting in high temperatures.
The final version included chocolate flavoring, oat flour and not much sugar.
The good news: troops did not snack on Logan’s bar outside of emergencies.
The less good news: troops didn’t want to eat the bars even in emergencies.
The bitter taste was a big turnoff, and it was so thick that you couldn’t take bites like regular candy bars.
The military had to recommend either dissolving it into a drink, or using a knife to slice off little bits.
There were a few cases of soldiers who used the D-ration bars for survival, but eventually the armed forces decided it was time to retool.
So in 1943, they turned to Hershey again to create the Tropical Chocolate Bar, which could still hold up in the heat but tasted a lot more like an actual candy bar.
Millions of people are dressing up for Halloween this year.
Millions more will hand out candy to trick or treaters.
And then, there are serious Halloween diehards, like a couple who got married at a bar in Little Rock, Arkansas back in the 2000s.
They had a zombie-themed wedding, in which the bride, groom and wedding party all dressed up as the undead.
They reportedly grunted their vows!
How Hershey’s Chocolate Helped Power Allied Troops During WWII (History.com)
Wild days at White Water Tavern (Arkansas Times)
