Pretzels - Supposedly, pretzel were invented by an Italian Monk sometime in the Middle Ages. He rolled dough into a long and rope and shaped it so it looked like arms folded in prayer. These salty treats were called "pretioles," Latin for "little gift." They were given to children who had memorized their prayers.
Cheez Whiz - Kraft laboratory technicians were looking for a cheese product that would not clump together or melt into oily wads of fat slop. Invented in 1951, somehow the technicians found 1,304 different uses for it. (What I want to know is exactly what those uses were.)
Macaroni & Cheese - One of my personal favorites, macaroni and cheese came about during the Great Depression. Apparently, Kraft had been trying to sell powdered cheese as a cheap alternative to the real stuff. No one bought it until one desperate salesman started tying boxes of macaroni to the cheese and labeled them "Kraft Dinners." Lucky for us, this scrumptious food is still around today.
Pez - Eduard Haas was an Austrian anti-smoking fanatic who originated Pez as a peppermint flavored cigarette substitute. He brought it to the United States in 1952 where it immediately bombed out. The wonderful idea of remarketing it as a children's toy with cartoon heads and yummy flavors was suggested. Interestingly enough, Pez is one of the most secretive companies in the U.S. It doesn't have a company archivist or historian and won't even disclose who currently owns the company.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - H.B. Reese was an employee of the Hershey Chocolate Company. He quit in 1923 and opened his own. Enough said.
Pop Rocks - This is a great story. Definite cocktail party conversation. In 1956, a General Foods chemist was looking for a way to make instant carbonated soda by trapping carbon dioxide in hard candy tablets. One terrific afternoon he felt the experimental nuggets pop in his mouth. No one at General Foods could think of a use for these crazy nuggets and they were promptly shelved . . . for twenty years. In 1975, they were pulled and introduced as Pop Rocks. They became the hottest selling candy in history. For the next five years, more than 500 million packets were sold. Pop Rocks were withdrawn from the market in 1980 because that strange yet untrue rumor that Mikey of Life cereal fame had washed down some pop rocks with soda and exploded. They were reintroduced in 1987.
Jujubes - No real story behind these candies except that they are named after the jujube berry. Not really sure why, considering that the jujube is not an ingredient in the candy.
Eskimo Pies - In 1920 one day a little boy wandered into a candy and ice cream store. First he ordered a candy bar and then changed his mind and asked for an ice cream sandwich and then changed his mind again and asked for a marshmallow nut bar. The owner of the store wondered why there wasn't a candy and ice cream bar to satisfy all the little boy's cravings. He then made one himself of a vanilla bar coated with chocolate.
There you have it. For any of you who enjoyed this little bit of completely random, useless bit of nonsense, I highly recommend The Bathroom Reader (Volumes 1 - 6). The above information is credited to Uncle John's Sixth Bathroom Reader, Bathroom Reader's Press, Berkeley, 1993.