The Original 3 Musketeers Candy Bars Were Way Different

Frank C. Mars was the founder of Mars, Incorporated, and the creator of popular candy bars Milky Way, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, M&M's, Maltesers, Skittles, and more, per Mars. Mars first learned how to make candy from his mother when he was a young boy, and in 1911, he created his first original product, butter cream candies. In 1922, he called his candy business The MAR-O-BAR Company and invented the Milky Way candy bar just a year later in 1923.

The next candy bar Mars created was the ever-popular Snickers bar in 1930, with the 3 Musketeers candy bar being added to the lineup two years later in 1932. The 3 Musketeers is made up of nougat and chocolate, and according to Pennsylvania State University, the nougat consists of whipped egg whites that are sweetened, flavored, shaped into rectangles, and dipped in chocolate. Interestingly, nougat candy bars were commonly eaten frozen because nougat has a similar texture and flavor to ice cream. The 3 Musketeers bar is still made the same way today, but it wasn't always one big candy bar.

According to Pennsylvania State University, the original 3 Musketeers candy bars actually consisted of three smaller pieces of candy that were each a different flavor of nougat. One was chocolate, one was vanilla, and one was strawberry, hence the meaning behind the name 3 Musketeers. Back in the 1930s, one package of 3 Musketeers, with all three flavors, was just five cents. However, the three flavors weren't around for long. Because of the sugar ration in the United States during World War II, it became too expensive for Mars to continue producing all three flavors. From 1945 on, the 3 Musketeers bar was produced as one large candy bar with just the most popular nougat flavor, chocolate.

However, Mars sometimes introduces new 3 Musketeers flavors. For example, Mars created a mint 3 Musketeers flavor in 2007 in honor of the 75th anniversary of the candy bar's creation. Per Candy Retailer, 3 Musketeers also came in several other limited edition flavors, such as French vanilla, mocha cappuccino, strawberry, orange, cherry, and raspberry. In a press release from Mars, Incorporated, the most recent special flavor was released in 2019 and was a birthday cake flavor.