Chrysti The Wordsmith: Baby Ruth

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. Americans have been carrying on a love affair with the candy bar for over a century. In one thousand or three Milton Hershey introduced the all chocolate Hershey bar and sold it for a nickel. The Google cluster came next in one thousand twelve followed in one thousand twenty by the O'Henry the Milky Way and the Butterfingers showed up in one thousand twenty three. Another perennial confectionery favorite is the Baby Ruth bar introduced by the Curtis Candy Company in 1920. Was there a real baby ruth who inspired the name of this sweet treat. Well possibly in 1891 Frances Cleveland wife of President Grover Cleveland gave birth to their daughter Ruth who is affectionately known to the American public as Baby Ruth. She died of diptheria at age 12 in 1904 but the Curtis company maintained that their candy bar was named in baby Ruth's honor even though she was 16 years in the grave when it was introduced in 1920. Skeptics however claim that the name was

taken from baseball legend Babe Ruth that the candy was named to Baby Ruth when the home run king was at the height of his fame does seem to be more than coincidence. Some say that the Curtis candy company unfairly exploited Ruth's celebrity since they paid him no royalties for the use of his name. I'm Christie the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman FM. But Dave herbivores. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.