Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
LifeSavers®’ lore is sweet. According to Bellis (2025), the hard candy LifeSavers® were invented in 1912 as a heat-resistant, summer candy, an alternative to chocolate prone to melting. The first flavor was mint (Pep-O-mint). By 1919, six flavors were marketed (Wint-O-Green, Cl-O-ve, Lic-O-Rice, Cinn-O-Mon, Vi-O-Let, and Choc-O-Late). The five-fruit flavor packs (pineapple, lime, orange, cherry, and lemon) came in 1935 with flavor and formula variations to date. Most significantly, because the candies looked like little life preservers, they were called LifeSavers®.
LifeSavers® were initially packaged by hand in cardboard tubes. Tinfoil ply was introduced later to keep the candies fresher. Machinery to package the candies was developed in the 1930s. In 2004, Wrigley acquired the company, introducing a new flavor (Hot Cin-O-Mon) and reintroducing an old mint flavor (Wint-O-Green), among other innovations.
LifeSavers®’ two-ply, foil + wax, laminated packaging is a patented invention. The US utility patent US2926833, titled Life saver package, was awarded on March 1st, 1960, to Harry E. Engleson and Elmer D. Sramek. Specifically, the patent discloses both how the candies are wrapped and an improved way of opening the packages. An improvement for accessing the candies, comprising a strand or thread that is secured inside the wrapper, with a protruding end that the user can pull to tear off the end of the wrapper, thereby enabling access to the candies.
Below, the patent Figures 1 and 4, respectively depict perspective views of the stack of candies in position relative to the wrapper, and the opened package, using the opening strand. An image of an opened LifeSavers® five-flavor pack, currently marketed, is also included beneath the patent Figures 1 and 4.
Specifically, the patent Figure 1 shows a stack 11 of cylindrical candies 10, termed articles in the patent. The bottom of the stack 11 sits below the dotted fold line 22, and the top of the stack is just under the flexible opening strand or filament 19. The opening strand or filament 19, with its protruding end 20, is heat-sealed to the wrapping paper 12. The wrapping paper 12, is made of Rayseal, comprising an inner wax paper wall 18, and an outer aluminum paper wall 17. The flexible wrapping paper 12 has two parallel sides, 14 and 13, and two parallel top and bottom edges, 15 and 16. The top edge 15 will be folded and heat-sealed after the stack is tightly wrapped.
References
Bellis, M. (May 13. 2025). The History of LifeSavers® Candies.
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-life-savers-candy-4076664
LifeSavors® (official website)
