Life Savers
It's from 1912, before you were born.
- Maker
- Mars Wrigley
- Type
- Ring-shaped hard candy
- Debuted
- 1912
- Note
- shaped like a life preserver
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About
As of 2026, it's 114 years old.
Life Savers committed to a bit in 1912 and never let go: a hard candy shaped like a tiny life preserver, hole and all, because a candymaker thought the resemblance was funny enough to build a brand on. He was right.
The rolls became a pocket and checkout-lane staple, and the five-flavor fruit roll launched a thousand debates about which one you eat last. Candy lore even insists you can spark the wintergreen ones in the dark, which is either physics or a great way to look strange at a sleepover.
Compact, colorful, and shaped like a gentle pun, Life Savers remain one of the most quietly enduring candies ever made.
Life Savers through the years
Invented by Clarence Crane
Mints pressed into a ring shaped like a life preserver.
The five-flavor roll
The fruit roll becomes a pocket and checkout-lane staple.
