US Life Savers™️ Flavors in Different Years

Details: Written by Karen Smith-Will; Parent Category: Research; Category: Life Savers: 100+ Years of Sweetness

By researching news articles, advertisements, and ordering cards available to companies purchasing them, one can start to get a sense of the start and end dates for flavors. This would have been so much easier if the companies that made Life Savers had kept meticulous records! If those records are out there somewhere, please let me know.

1912 - 1 flavor

Peppermint

16 November 1916 - 3 flavors were available,

according to a magazine ad, Pep⭕mint, Lic⭕rice, Wint⭕green, Cl⭕ve.

1917 - 4 flavors were available,

according to this article, Pep⭕mint, Wint⭕green, Cl⭕ve.

1925 - 9 flavors were available,

according to a Life Savers, Inc order form: Orange, Lemon, Lime, Pep⭕mint, Wint⭕green, Vi⭕let, Cl⭕ve, Cinn⭕mon, and Lic⭕rice.

1930 - 12 flavors were available

(Deanonian); they were Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grape, Anise, Cough Drops, Pep⭕mint, Wint⭕green, Vi⭕let, Cl⭕ve, Cinn⭕mon, and Lic⭕rice. It is very interesting to me that they had both Anise and Lic⭕Rice, given that they have such similar profiles.**

1935 - The June 1935 cover of Modern Packaging featured these flavors, in a classy 3-tiered, silver-colored display with subtle stripes:

Cryst ⭕Mint, Lemon, Orange, Pep ⭕Mint, Spear⭕Mint, Wild Cherry

1937 - 12 flavors were available

A 6 December 1927 ad included Molas⭕mint (Liebig). And also noted that there were 12 flavors. I wonder which previous flavor got the boot?

1951 - 12 flavors were available

(Modern); they were "Pep⭕mint (dark blue label), Spear⭕mint (gold label) Wint⭕green (green label) and Cl⭕ve (auburn label). The drops are Orange, Lemon, Lime and Wild Cherry (label colors match the names); also, Butter Rum (red, orange and yellow striped label), Stik⭕pep (red and white candy-cane stripes), Cryst⭕mint (foil-paper silver label) and Five Flavors (label with color bands of red. yellow, green and orange).**

1956 - 14 flavors were available (Corporations)

1964 - 20 flavors were available

they were "Pep⭕mint (dark blue label), Spear⭕mint (gold label) Wint⭕green (green label) and Cl⭕ve (auburn label). The drops are Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grape and Wild Cherry (label colors match the names); also, Butter Rum (red, orange and yellow striped label), Butterscotch, Stik⭕pep (red and white candy-cane stripes), Cryst⭕mint (foil-paper silver label), Five Flavors (label with color bands of red. yellow, green and orange), Cinn⭕Mon, Choco⭕Mint, and 4 Different boiled candy mint flavors in Assort⭕Mint

1981 - 26 flavors were available (Parker)

1989 - 17 flavors were available (LA Times)

1997 - at least 16 flavors were available (McCall)

Life Savers Five Flavor (5@), Butter Rum, Wild Sour Berries (4@) and Tropical Fruits (4@), as well as Pep-O-Mint and Wint-O-Green. Retrieved from https://www.mcall.com/1997/08/13/lucky-life-saver-roll-could-make-winner-instant-millionaire/

Sources

"Corporations: Time Magazine. Retrieved from https://time.com/archive/6799725/corporations-new-wrapper/

"Edward J. Noble: A Business Man Who Gave Back," The St. Lawrence County Chronicler. Vol. 21, No. 1. Fall 2005.

Liebig, Jason, Flickr. Retrieved from https://flic.kr/s/aHsiRWjTDC

"LifeSavers Hopes Buyers Want a Taste of Nostalgia," LA Times, 24 March 1989. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-24-fi-433-story.html

"Packaging's Hall of Fame: Life Savers," Modern Packaging 1951-12: Volume 25, Issue 4. Digitized from IA1643112-05. pp. 92-98, 180-185. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/sim_modern-packaging_1951-12_25_4/page/180/mode/1up?q=Life+savers+candy

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Life Savers™️ is a trademarked name currently owned in the US by Mars Wrigley Confectionery, having been owned and/or licensed by many previous companies, varying by country.