National Caramel Apple Day is observed annually on October 31. A fun memory from many people’s childhoods is eating caramel apples in the fall. It may have been at a fair, carnival, Halloween party or just at home with family and friends, but the memory is a good one and part of the fun was making them.
- 6500 BC – According to some historians, apple trees were the first trees to be cultivated by humans. Experts argue the origin of all modern-day varieties of apples was in Anatolia (near present-day Turkey).
- 1000 BC – There’s no consensus as to the origins of caramel, but some experts say a hard, crunchy version of caramel was first concocted by Arabs.
- 1625 – Rev. William Blaxton, one the first colonists to settle in Boston, planted an apple orchard in 1625 — the first one on the North American continent.
- 1800s – Halloween became a bonafide holiday celebration due to the influence of Irish and Scottish immigrants. By 1900, many Americans celebrated the spooky holiday, which ultimately grew into a cultural phenomenon — from sea to “The Shining” sea.
- 1908 – Newark, New Jersey candy-maker William W. Kolb is said to have invented the red candy apple in 1908. The first candy apple was meant for display only. The candy apple was created quite by accident. Kolb the candy maker was looking for ways to expand sales of his red cinnamon candy during the Christmas season and used an apple on a stick as a way to display the brightly colored candy in the shop window.
- 1914 – Soldiers in World War I slanged them “toffee apples.” Candy Apples are popular all over the world.
- 1950s – Caramel apples were invented in the 1950s. The creator, Dan Walker, was a sales representative working for Kraft Foods. Kraft Foods, who also sold small individually wrapped caramels, continues to print the recipe for caramel apples on the backs of their caramel bags.
- 1960 – Vito Raimondi, with the help of his uncle William Raimondi, invented and patented the first caramel apple machine.
- 1970s – Kraft Foods introduced “Wrapples” (with commercials featuring “Johnny Wrappleseed”). These were small slices of caramel that could be wrapped over apples to make quick-and-easy caramel apples at home.
- 2015 – Cosmos Creations of Junction City, Kansas, made the world’s largest caramel cornball. It weighed 6,780 pounds.
- Caramel apples go by many names – taffy apples or even candy apples. They’re made by skewering apples on a stick and then dipping them in hot caramel. We make them extra delicious by rolling them in nuts, chocolate, or other candies.
- Caramel apples are sometimes sprinkled with nuts, chocolate or other confections.
- The most commonly preferred apples used in making caramel apples are tart, crisp apples such as Granny Smith or Fuji apples.
- Candy Apples were first introduced in Arabian cuisine. The reason was that the fruit was candied to preserve it.
- England celebrates Guy Fawkes Day with caramel apples on November 5.
- The only apple native to North America is the crabapple, which most people find sour and unpleasant to eat.
- John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, introduced apple trees to many parts of the American Midwest.
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