• An accidental bungle in the Hershey chocolate factory created this masterpiece combination

• of a rich milk chocolate cup filled with creamy peanut butter!

• Unit Price : $7.90/lb.

• Bag contains 5 pounds of Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups.

In the 1920s, from a factory located down the street from that of Hershey, Reese began selling his peanut butter cups in 5 lb. boxes to be used in candy assortments. In the 1930s he added the cups, which were originally sold for a penny each. During World War II Reese discontinued all his other products and just made the peanut butter cups, which were distributed through wholesale jobbers, vending machine operators and syndicated stores. After World War II the peanut butter cups, now in their familiar orange, yellow and brown wrapping, continued to gain national popularity. In 1963 the H.B. Reese Candy Company, Inc., was sold for $23.5 million to the Hershey Chocolate Company, and in 1976 the first variation in the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was made with the introduction of Reese's Crunchy Peanut Butter Cup.

In 1992 Reese's started selling its own peanut butter in a jar, in 1994 it offered Reese's bits for baking, and in 1998 the company launched ReeseSticks to go along with the Fastbreak, Nutrageous, and Bites, not to mention peanut butter Christmas trees, pumpkins, eggs, and all the other seasonal products. Now even have White Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which pretty much defines heaven on earth for me in terms of candy making. But behind this growing array of candy products there remains the original Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. There is something to be said for the simple combination of peanut butter and chocolate, as immortalized in the "you got chocolate in my peanut butter/you got peanut butter in my chocolate" ad campaign that inspired many Americans to walk around eating peanut butter out of a jar.

However, these are Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups (XXL Bag), which are smaller (I have never figure out how many minis it takes to make up for one regular), which are fine for quickie snacks at work if you can stop yourself at just one. Because they are smaller I am convinced that the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter is different (more chocolate) but I could not prove this in a scientific laboratory or court of law. So these are a nice variation but not quite as good as the original. But hang on, because later in 2004 Reese's will be producing "BIG CUP" version of the not only the original Peanut Butter Cup but also the White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. However, these are going to be limited editions, so be prepared to get hooked and then go into massive withdrawal.