Jelly beans are small bean-shaped sugar candy with soft sugar panning and thick gel interiors (see gelatin and Gelatin dessert). The confection is primarily made of sugar and sold in a wide variety of colors. According to one common story, they existed as early as 1861, when Boston confectioner William Schrafft urged people to buy them as gifts for soldiers in the American Civil War.
Manufacture
The basic ingredients of jelly beans include
sugar, tapioca,
corn syrup, and
pectin or
starch. Relatively minor amounts of the emulsifying agent
lecithin, anti-foaming agents, an edible wax such as
carnauba wax or
beeswax,
salt, and confectioner's glaze are also included.
The ingredients that give each bean its character are also relatively small in proportion and may vary depending on the flavor.
Slang
In United States
slang during the 1910s and early 1920s, a "jellybean" or "jelly-bean" was a young man who dressed stylishly but had little else to recommend him, similar to the older terms
dandy and
fop. F. Scott Fitzgerald published a story,
The Jelly-Bean, about such a character in 1920.
While previously common, the slang word has fallen out of fashion as of 2025.
In popular culture
When
Beatlemania broke out in 1964, fans of
the Beatles in the US pelted the band with jelly beans (emulating fans in the UK who threw the British candy
Jelly Babies at
George Harrison, who reportedly liked eating them).
[ "George Harrison's 1963 plea: stop throwing jelly babies at Beatles" The Times 14 May 2009]
See also
External links
