(PCM) Today we showcase the delicious mint and chocolate combo that’s been inspiring wintery-fresh sensations for generations of candy lovers.
Though variations on the dynamic choco-mint duo have long been available by commercial confectionaries, perhaps the most well-known is the York Peppermint Patty, first manufactured in 1940 in York, Pennsylvania.
It isn’t clear why February 11th is set aside to celebrate the candy, other than perhaps its proximity to a certain romantic, chocolate-friendly holiday.
Contrary to popular belief, comic strip artist Charles Schultz did not intend his character, Patricia “Peppermint Patty” (the beloved tomboy of the Peanuts’ gang) to be associated with the patty candy. Though Ms. Patty was socially refreshing (the pants-wearing, athletic girl from a single-parent family was created in response to the feminist movement of the late 1960s), Schultz claims it was a bowl of classic peppermints that inspired her name.
However, the Peppermint Patty has inspired various cocktails involving – you guessed it – combinations of mint- and chocolate-flavored liqueurs. Sounds delicious! Maybe we should all pour a glass tonight and toast to York, PA and Charles Schultz. Happy National Peppermint Patty Day!
