The American Licorice Company recently celebrated its 100th birthday, a century in which it produced tons upon tons of licorice in addition to iconic moments. Did you know that the shoe that Charlie Chaplain famously ate in his film The Gold Rush was in fact made of black licorice? American Licorice Company made that for him. While the company added Snaps, black licorice with a candy coating, in the 1930s, it scaled back all production during World War II, offering just a single line of hard candies, Lic-Ris-Ets, which proved quite popular even after the war. Also after the war, ALC moved into red licorice, which isn't really licorice at all. But since it is close in flavor and texture, the public dubbed it red licorice all the same. Red Vines remains a brand to today. In the 1990s ALC made another big addition to its brands, Sour Punch, which kicked off a line of sour straw and gummy candies.
