How Long Have Smarties Candies Been Around?

Wow.

You have no idea what kind of can of worms you've opened with this one.

The answer is....

IT DEPENDS.

You see, "Smarties" is actually the name attached to two very different candies, and feelings run strong about each.

The real Smarties are disc shaped, concave, and pastel. They come in clear cellophane rolls. The company that makes real Smarties was founded in 1932 and came to American in 1949.

Fake Smarties were introduced by Rowntree in 1937 and acquired by Nestle about fifteen years ago. They are chocolate, and bear a very close resemblance to M & Ms, except that they do not have "M" printed on them. In Canada, where the fake Smarties are considered the real Smarties, real Smarties are called Rockets.

Please note that the classification of Smarties in this post has been entirely objective.