Hi my name is William Cornwill. I work for Microsoft Australia and have another blog called CodeJedi.NET. I have been collecting M&M chocolate dispensers and other M&M related items for the past seven years. I have decided to create this new blog to share my collection with others who might also collect similar items.

Do you know what M&M stands for? Mars & Murrie.

M&M (Mars & Murrie)
William F.R. Murrie worked for Milton Hershey as a Salesman for the Hershey Chocolate company. Forrest Mars teamed up with Bill Murrie’s son, Bruce to assure a supply of scarse chocolate for their new product: M&M (for Mars and Murrie) during the war years. After wartime quotas ended in 1948, Forrest Mars maneuvered Bruce out of the partnership and went on to become Hershey’s largest competitor.

“Who would have guessed that the idea for “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies was born in the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War? Legend has it that on a trip to Spain, Forrest Mars Sr. encountered soldiers who were eating pellets of chocolate that were encased in a hard sugary coating to prevent them from melting. Inspired by this idea, Mr. Mars went back to his kitchen and invented the recipe for “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies.

First sold to the public in 1941, “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies became a favorite of American GIs serving in World War II. Packaged in cardboard tubes, “M&M’s”® Plain Chocolate Candies were sold to the military as a convenient snack that traveled well in any climate. By the late 1940’s, they became widely available to the public, who gave them an excellent reception. In 1948, the packaging changed from a tube form to the characteristic brown pouch known today.”, History of M&Ms