Sen-Sen is a type of breath freshener originally marketed as a "breath perfume

Perfume

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...

" in the late nineteenth century by the T. B. Dunn Company

Thomas B. Dunn

Thomas Byrne Dunn was an American businessman and politician.-Life:...

, currently produced by F&F Foods. Sen-Sen bears a strong resemblance to Nigroids

Nigroids

Vigroids is the brand name of a liquorice sweet. The small black pellets are particularly marketed as an expectorant lozenge for singers, using the slogan "for clarity of voice"...

, a liquorice sweet made by Ernest Jackson & Company Ltd.

Sen-sen can be purchased today, usually in small packets. In the 1930's it was available in more convenient small cardboard boxes. Similar to a matchbox of the time, an inner box slid out from a cardboard sleeve revealing a small hole from which the tiny Sen-sen squares would fall when the box was shaken.

Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....

 references them in his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist, and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance...

 references them in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel and the best-known work by African American writer Zora Neale Hurston. Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel garnered attention and controversy at the time of its publication, and has come to be regarded as a seminal...

.

John D. Fitzgerald

John D. Fitzgerald

John Dennis Fitzgerald was an American author.Fitzgerald was born in Price, Utah, the son of an Irish Catholic father and a Scandinavian Mormon mother...

 references them in his novel The Great Brain

The Great Brain

The Great Brain is a series of children's books by American author John Dennis Fitzgerald . Set in the fictitious small town of Adenville, Utah, between 1896 and 1898, the stories are loosely based on Fitzgerald's childhood experiences. Although John D...

.

Lanford Wilson

Lanford Wilson

Lanford Wilson was an American playwright who helped to advance the Off-Off-Broadway theater movement. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1980, was elected in 2001 to the Theater Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters...

 references them in his play Talley's Folly

Talley's Folly

Talley's Folly is a 1979 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson, the second in his cycle, The Talley Trilogy between his plays Talley & Son and Fifth of July. Set in an old boathouse near rural Lebanon, Missouri in 1944, it is a romantic comedy following the characters Matt Friedman and Sally...

Robert Asprin

Robert Asprin

Robert Lynn Asprin was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, best known for his humorous MythAdventures and Phule's Company series.- Background :...

 has a character called "The Sen Sen Ante Kid" in his novel Little Myth Marker. The character plays Dragon Poker and always starts the game by adding a Sen Sen to the ante.

They are referenced in the songs "(Ya Got) Trouble" from the 1957 musical comedy The Music Man

The Music Man

The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...

as a way to cover up the smell of cigarettes. Also, the Billy Joel song "Keeping the Faith" - from his 1983 album "An Innocent Man".

Referenced in an episode of King of Queens. Arthur asks Carrie to pick up a pack, and she replies "OK, I have no idea what that is".