Oh Henry!

History

There are multiple versions of the Oh Henry! bar origin story. The manufacturer Nestlé says that the bar was introduced by George Williamson and his Williamson Candy Company of Chicago in 1920 in the United States.

There are other alternate accounts of the origin of the name of the bar. One theory is that of a boy named Henry who frequented George Williamson's second candy shop. He became a favorite of the young girls who worked there, who would say "Oh Henry!" when speaking to or about him, and Williamson used this phrase to name his new confection. The other story is that the name is based on the pen name of William Sydney Porter, O. Henry. Williamson was thought by some to have been a fan of O. Henry stories, and an O. Henry story about peanuts might have been read by Williamson.

In 1926, Williamson released a booklet titled Sixty Ways to Serve a Famous Candy, which featured recipes and serving instructions that used the Oh Henry! bar. More than 8,000 recipes were submitted.

The Williamson Company was sold to Warner-Lambert in 1965, which soon sold Oh Henry! to Terson, Inc. Nestlé acquired the U.S. rights to the brand from Terson in 1984. In 2018, Nestlé sold the rights to its U.S. confectionery products to Ferrero SpA. Ferrero still produces an Oh Henry! branded bar in small production runs.

Differences between Ferrero and Hershey versions

In Canada, the bar is currently sold by the Hershey Company and was manufactured at their Smiths Falls, Ontario facilities prior to their closure. The bars are different in appearance: the Canadian version is one bar with the fudge in the centre, the fudge surrounded with a thin layer of caramel, and the nuts surrounding that layer before it is surrounded in the coating. Hershey sells Oh Henry! bars made in Canada on a very limited basis in the United States as Rally bars, using the trademark of a Hershey product introduced in the 1970s and later discontinued.

Advertising

Television commercials showed the protagonist desperately searching for the Oh Henry! bar and finding it at the end, only to run into further trouble after eating it (e.g., while standing upon an unstable ladder; at a convenience store without cash).

In the 1980s, a series of commercials featuring comedian Gilbert Gottfried were produced. The commercials featured Gottfried trying to describe what made the Oh Henry! candy bar "so intense".

References

References

1. "Oh Henry!".
2. (1 March 2023). "Do They Still Make Oh Henry Candy Bars?".
3. Cybele. (June 4, 2008). "The Oh Henry!s – Candy Blog".
4. Cybele. (November 13, 2008). "Rally Bar – Candy Blog".
5. Clayman, Andrew. "Oh Henry! Candy Bar Box by Williamson Candy Co., c. 1950s. Oh Henry! came before Snickers".
6. Smith, Andrew F.. (2002). "Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea". University of Illinois Press.
7. Goddard, Leslie. (2012). "Chicago's Sweet Candy History". Arcadia Publishing.
8. Prokop, Jessica. "Candy History: Oh Henry".
9. (March 31, 2018). "Ferrero Completes Acquisition of Nestlé USA's Confectionary Business". Business Wire.
10. Cybele. (June 4, 2008). "The Oh Henry!s – Candy Blog".
11. Cybele. (November 13, 2008). "Rally Bar – Candy Blog".
12. Bobis, Diane. (2025-04-04). "Discontinued Chocolate Candy We'll Probably Never Eat Again".