One of America's most recognizable Halloween candies began life as something called “Chicken Feed.”

Candy corn was introduced in the 1880s, with its invention generally credited to George Renninger, a candymaker at Philadelphia's Wunderle Candy Company. At the time, America was still largely agricultural, and confectioners were producing sweets shaped like pumpkins, chestnuts, turnips, and other farm products.

In 1898, the Goelitz Confectionery Company, later known as Jelly Belly, began producing the three-colored candy and marketed it as “Chicken Feed.” The packaging featured a rooster, a fitting mascot for candy designed to resemble kernels of corn.

Making those tiny kernels was surprisingly labor-intensive. Workers poured a warm sugar mixture into molds, adding the white, orange, and yellow layers separately by hand.

Candy corn was originally sold throughout the year as an inexpensive sweet. Its association with Halloween developed much later, particularly during the 1950s, when trick-or-treating became increasingly popular and candy manufacturers began promoting their products for the holiday.

More than a century later, the familiar little kernels remain a Halloween staple, although their original name sounds considerably more appropriate for the barnyard than the candy bowl.