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It all started with a remark that
Reggie Jackson made while he was still
an Oakland Athletic. ''If I played in
New York,'' he said, ''they'd name a
candy bar for me.'' Just four months
after "Mr. October" hit three home runs
in game 6 of the 1977 World Series, in
his first season with the Yankees, The
Reggie Bar hit the market.
This "Reggie It's Here." pin-back button
was part of a press kit handed out at a
Press conference and luncheon held at
the Terrace Room of the Plazza Hotel in
NYC, February 22, 1978, to introduce
the Reggie Bar. The kit featured a
folder filled with press photos of
Reggie with the candy bar; a Yankees
team photo, bumper stickers, pens, a
variety of press releases, fact sheets
and a framed commemorative signed
Reggie Bar wrapper. The cover of the
folder reads, "Standard Brands and
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson
cordially invite you to attend a press
conference luncheon, Wednesday,
February 22, 1978 from noon to 2:30 pm
in The Terrace Room of the Plaza Hotel.
On April 13, 1978, Opening Day at
Yankee Stadium, the Bombers gave away
thousands of "Reggie!" bars to fans.
After Jackson
hit a first inning home run, thousands of "Reggie!"
bars rained onto the playing field,
causing a five-minute delay while the
grounds crew with some help from young
fans that ran onto the field, gathered up the goodies
The Reggie Bar is also the first
candy bar named after a baseball
player, although the Baby Ruth is a associated with Babe Ruth.
The Curtis Candy Company also the
makers of the Reggie Bar, approached
Ruth to endorse a candy bar. "The Babe"
wanted too much money so the company
decided to name the candy bar "Baby
Ruth," and consumers would still
associate the candy bar with Babe Ruth.
After Ruth launched a candy Bar of his own bearing the name "Babe Ruth,"
Curtis sued over the use of the name.
Curtis claimed that the name of the
Baby Ruth candy bar was inspired by
President Grover Cleveland's daughter
Ruth who died at the age of 12 from
diphtheria. The court ruled in favor of
Curtis, and Babe Ruth couldn't produce
candy bars with his name.
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