Product type Confectionery Country United States Markets United States | Introduced 1936 | |
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The 5th Avenue is a candy bar invented by William H. Luden in 1936 which is a combination of peanut butter crunch layers coated with chocolate. It is produced and marketed by The Hershey Company.
The bar consists of a crunchy peanut butter center covered in chocolate. It is similar to a Butterfinger candy bar, which (according to its wikipedia article) "consists of a crispy core of creamy peanut butter blended with sugar candy in chocolatey coating." The bar was topped with two chocolate-covered almonds until the mid-1990s, when the almonds were removed.
History
The candy bar was introduced in 1936 by William H. Luden, the cough drop maker and founder of Luden's, at the time a subsidiary of Food Industries of Philadelphia. Hershey Foods Corporation acquired Luden's brands from the Dietrich Corporation, a successor to Food Industries of Philadelphia, in 1986. Despite not being advertised since 1993, the candy bar is still available in many smaller retailers. The originals had almonds, the new ones do not. The origin of the name seems to be lost to history. Our speculation is that the Mr. Luden was attempting to associate his elegant candy bar with that of fashionable 5th Avenue in New York City.
