There's nothing more sweet and fun than a pocketful of jelly beans to brighten up your day! Did you know that this little sweet is the most popular and colourful in the world? No wonder it puts a smile on your face every time you eat one. Jelly beans are very old! Have you ever wondered where they come from? It is thought they were first made in Turkey from Turkish delight because of the chewy centre. But the hard candy shell was made in the same way as Jordan Almonds, a product of the 17th century. It was made from a process in France called panning. It involved rocking raw almonds in a bowl filled with sugar and syrup until the almonds are coated with a candy shell. William Schrafft was a sweet maker who lived in Boston, in the US, in 1861. He made jelly beans and asked people to send them to the soldiers fighting in the American civil war. If anyone needed cheering up, they did. What's your favourite? Well, there are many to choose from. Until 1976, there was only one type. But then Jelly Belly started making special jelly beans. These were flavoured on the inside and outside - unlike the usual jelly bean which was flavoured only on the shell. They were also smaller and softer, and today Jelly Belly makes 50 different types of special jelly beans. The next time you pop a jelly bean into your mouth, you'll know a lot more about it! 'We can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing around the jar of jelly beans.' That is what former United States president Ronald Reagan said because jelly beans were his favourite treat. He also started eating them to help him stop smoking his pipe. But after his remark, jelly beans became famous in America. The famous jelly bean maker Jelly Belly Candy Company made one especially for him called the Blueberry. In 1983, jelly beans went into space! President Reagan sent jelly beans to the astronauts on the space shuttle Challenger. It's been a Hard Day's Night American fans used to throw jelly beans at the famous British pop stars The Beatles because they thought they liked them. But actually what The Beatles really liked were jelly babies - a sweet made from uncoated jelly. The jelly beans, of course, were hard and The Beatles had to dodge them while playing their music on stage. To get the fans to stop, George Harrison, who played lead guitar, had to tell them that The Beatles didn't like either jelly beans or jelly babies. He said it was very difficult to play music and sing while trying to dodge jelly beans.
