A
lollipop,
pop,
lolly,
sucker, or
sticky-pop is a type of
confectioneryConfectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
consisting mainly of hardened, flavored
sucroseSucrose is the organic compound commonly known as table sugar and sometimes called saccharose. A white, odorless, crystalline powder with a sweet taste, it is best known for its role in human nutrition. The molecule is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose with the molecular formula...
with
corn syrupCorn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...
mounted on a stick and intended for
suckingSuction is the flow of a fluid into a partial vacuum, or region of low pressure. The pressure gradient between this region and the ambient pressure will propel matter toward the low pressure area. Suction is popularly thought of as an attractive effect, which is incorrect since vacuums do not...
or
lickingLicking is the action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid onto the tongue for ingestion, or to provide pleasure. Many animals both groom themselves and drink by licking....
. They are available in many flavors and shapes.
Types
Lollipops are available in a number of colors and flavors, particularly fruit flavors. With numerous companies producing lollipops, the candy now comes in dozens of flavors and many different shapes. They range from small ones which can be bought by the hundred and are often given away for free at
bankA bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
s, barbershops, etc., to very large ones made out of
candy caneA candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint or cinnamon; however, it is also made in a variety of other flavors and may be decorated with stripes of different colors and thicknesses...
s twisted into a circle.
Some lollipops contain fillings, such as bubble gum or soft candy. Some novelty lollipops have more unusual items, such as
mealwormMealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult...
larvaA larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e, embedded in the candy.
Other novelty lollipops have non-edible centers, such a flashing light, embedded within the candy; there is also a trend of lollipops with sticks attached to a motorized device that makes the entire lollipop spin around in one's mouth.
Some lollipops have been marketed for use as diet aids, although their effectiveness is untested, and
anecdotal casesThe expression anecdotal evidence refers to evidence from anecdotes. Because of the small sample, there is a larger chance that it may be true but unreliable due to cherry-picked or otherwise unrepresentative of typical cases....
of weight loss may be due to the
power of suggestionPlacebo effect may refer to:* Placebo effect, the tendency of any medication or treatment, even an inert or ineffective one, to exhibit results simply because the recipient believes that it will work...
. Flavored lollipops made with children's medicine have also been created in order to effectively give kids medicine without fuss. Drugmakers have also developed lollipops containing
fentanyl, a powerful analgesic.
In the
Nordic countriesThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, lollipops
may be flavored with salmiak.
History
The idea of an edible candy on a stick is very simple, and it is probable that the lollipop has been invented and reinvented numerous times. The history of the first lollipops in America appears to have been distorted over time. There is some speculation that lollipops were invented during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Others believe some version of the lollipop has been around since the early 1800's. George Smith claimed to be the first to invent the modern style lollipop in 1908 and trademarked the lollipop name in 1931. He used the idea of putting candy on a stick to make it easier to eat and reportedly named the treats after a popular racing horse, Lolly Pop. The word "lolly pop" dates to 1784, but initially referred to soft, rather than hard candy. The term may have derived from the term "lolly" (tongue) and "pop" (slap). The first references to the lollipop in its modern context date to the 1920s. Alternatively, it may be a word of Romany origin being related to the Roma tradition of selling
toffee applesCandy apples, also known as toffee apples outside of North America, are whole apples covered in a hard sugar candy coating. While the topping varies from place to place, they are almost always served with a stick of sorts in the middle making them easier to eat...
sold on a stick.
Red apple in the Romany language is
loli phaba.
The first confectioneries that closely resemble what we call lollipops date to the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, when the nobility would often eat boiled sugar with the aid of sticks or handles. The invention of the modern lollipop is still something of a mystery but a number of American companies in the early 20th century have laid claim to it. According to the book
Food For Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World, they were invented by George Smith of New Haven,
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, who started making large boiled sweets mounted on sticks in 1908. He named them after a racehorse of the time, Lolly Pop.
See also
- Chupa Chups
Chupa Chups is a lollipop company founded by the Catalan Enric Bernat in 1958, and currently owned by the Dutch-Italian multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name of the brand comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck."- History :...
- Dum Dum Pop
Dum Dum Pop or Dum Dums is a sphere-shaped lollipop named by I.C. Bahr, a Sales Manager at the Akron Candy Company in Bellevue, Ohio, in 1924...
- Ice cream cone
An ice cream cone, poke or cornet is a dry, cone-shaped pastry, usually made of a wafer similar in texture to a waffle, allowing ice cream to be eaten without a bowl or spoon...
- Ice pop
An ice pop, also referred to in the United States as a popsicle, and in the United Kingdom as an ice lolly, lolly ice or ice lollipop, is a frozen, water-based dessert. It is made by freezing flavored liquid around a stick. Often, the juice is colored artificially...
- Popsicle
Popsicle is the most popular brand of ice pop in the United States and Canada. The first ice pop was created by accident in 1905 when 11-year-old Frank Epperson left a cup of soda on his porch in cold weather overnight. The next morning he went to go get the soda and it was frozen, so he put two...
- Stick candy
Stick candy is a long, cylindrical variety of hard candy, usually four to seven inches in length and 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, but in some extraordinary cases up to 14 inches in length and two inches in diameter...
- Tootsie Pops