Gilliam Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer established in Paducah, Kentucky by Cleve Gilliam in 1927. They are known for making candy sticks. Gilliam also made Kentucky Blue Grass nickel candy bars in its early years. In the 1930s the company expanded with Bacon Slice, Tummy Full, and Cello Sally lines.
The company expanded its candy lines in recent decades after James Lacy purchased the company including Kits (miniature square taffy candy with flavors including banana, peanut butter, chocolate and strawberry wrapped with a machine used to package bouillon cubes), BB Bats (taffy lollipops in strawberry, chocolate, banana and molasses peanut flavors), Slo Pokes (caramel on a stick) and Sophie Mae Candies (which date to 1884).
The company has been producing one of its most popular products, BB bats, since the 1920s. The primary difference between Gilliam's Kit toffee and BB Bats is mainly that BB bats have a stick at the bottom, forming a type of lollipop. Most of the primary flavoring of BB Bats are artificial in nature, such its vanilla or banana favors.