Baby Ruth

Candy bar Baby Ruth is a thick, peanut-based nougat, covered in chocolate. It was originally titled "Kandy Kake" and was renamed Baby Ruth in 1921.

Fast Facts

1. Created by candymaker Otto Schnering
2. Marketed originally by Curtiss Candy Company
3. Currently marketed by Nestle
4. A Baby Ruth shows up in the famous pool scene in Caddyshack
5. Nestle also markets a Baby Ruth Ice Cream Bar

Naming Controversy

There is no verified story about the origin of the name "Baby Ruth", though the most obvious and likely explanation was that the Curtiss Candy Company named the candy after the popular baseball player Babe Ruth.

The official answer from the company has always been that the candy bar was named after Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of Grover Cleveland. However, Snopes.com finds this claim dubious as the former president's daughter had died of diptheria in 1904, some 17 years before the product was named "Baby Ruth." The Curtiss Candy Company also claimed that Ruth Cleveland visited the candy factory in its early years, though she was already dead when the candy facotry opened in the mid-1910s. The Ruth Cleveland explanation was likely invented to deflect any possible lawsuits brought against the company from Babe Ruth and his representatives.

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