The History of Heath Bars

Heath bars were created in 1928 by Bayard and Everett Heath, who worked at their family’s confectionery business, L.S. Heath & Sons, Inc., in Robinson, Illinois. Until 1942, the candy bars were made by hand using a copper kettle, stirring paddle, marble slab, and a rolling knife. In the early days of the candy’s creation, local customers could actually have Heath bars delivered with their milk! The bars — made up of an English toffee core and a milk chocolate coating — steadily gained popularity. In 1989, the Heath family sold their creation to Leaf Inc. In 1996, The Hershey Company acquired Leaf Inc. and began manufacturing Heath bars, which are still made in the same city where they were invented (but are now manufactured at a plant owned by Hershey). Today, Heath bars remain a popular treat and are often used in dessert recipes or crumbled up and sprinkled on top of ice cream.