“Indescribably delicious”
“Indescribably delicious” has described many things since at least the early 1800s. Chocolates and desserts have been described n advertising as “indescribably delicious” since at least the 1920s.
The Peter Paul Manufacturing Company (based for a long time in Naugatuck, CT) created candy bars called Mounds (since 1920) and Almond Joy (since 1946). The slogan for both has been “Indescribably Delicious,” with a trademark date of first use from June 15, 1956. However, “Indescribably Delicious” was used in a Mounds ad in the Naugatuck (CT) Daily News of March 7, 1955—over a year before the trademark date claimed.
Leon Weiss of Gary, Indiana, won a Mounds contest when he submitted the “Indescribably Delicious” slogan to the company. His prize was $10.
Wikipedia: Mounds (candy)
Mounds is a candy bar made by Hershey’s, and is the sister product of Almond Joy. Like Almond Joy, it consists of a coconut based center; however, it is enrobed with dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate and does not contain almonds. The original slogan, “Indescribably Delicious” was created when Mounds ran a contest to come up with the best two words to sell a candy. Leon Weiss, the person who came up with the slogan, won $10, while Mounds went on to use the slogan in advertising and on the wrappers, still continuing today.
Wikipedia: Almond Joy
An Almond Joy is a small candy bar manufactured by Hershey’s. It consists of a coconut-based center topped with an almond and coated in a layer of milk chocolate. The Mounds bar is Almond Joy’s “sister” product, essentially the same confection but without the almond and coated with dark chocolate; it also features similar packaging and logo design but in a red color scheme instead of Almond Joy’s blue.
History
Peter Paul Halajian was a candy retailer in the New Haven, Connecticut area in the early 20th century. Along with some other Armenian investors including Dutch candy manufacturer Cole Ebersole, he formed the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company in 1919. The company at first sold various brands of candies, but following sugar and coconut shortages in World War II, they dropped most brands and concentrated their efforts on the Mounds bar. The Almond Joy bar was introduced in 1946 as a replacement for the Dream Bar (created in 1936) that contained diced almonds with the coconut.
WASAW - Writers/Artists Snacking At Work
A Few Questions about Almond Joy, Mounds & Peter Paul
with Lisa Flaherty
great-granddaughter of one of Peter Paul’s founders
(...)
4) Where did the idea for the famous TV commercial “Almond Joy Got Nuts, Mounds Don’t” with the racehorse jockeys come from?
I hear the racehorse jockeys were an idea from Joe, an Almond Joy assembly-line worker. No, really, I have no clue who/what agency came up with the brainstorm. But I do know it’s not the first successful (Peter Paul) slogan. Mounds’ original slogan was, “What a bar of candy for 5 cents!” After the war, when all candy prices had to be raised due to the out-of-control prices of the raw materials needed to make candy, the 5 cents slogan had to be changed, because it now cost 10 cents. So they began using “Indescribably Delicious” and “Honest to Goodness Chocolate.”
Google Books
Calthorpe; or, Fallen fortunes:
a novel
Volume 2
By Thomas Gaspey
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown
1821
Pg. 238:
Feelings new, but indescribably delicious, came over him;...
Google Books
Reuben Apsley
By Horace Smith
London: Henry Coburn
1827
Pg. 374:
... a sudden sensation of lightness, of an indescribably delicious joy, of an ethereal ecstasy, seemed to impart to me all the freshness and elasticity of a new existence.
22 December 1920, The Morning Oregonian (Portland, OR), pg. 3, col. 1 ad:
Indescribably Delicious
Unquestionably Wholesome!
(Rue de la Paix Chocolates.—ed.)
8 March 1935, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, pg. 13, col. 1 ad:
McNALLY-DOYLE Chocolate Cream Marshmallow Dips
Surprise, surprise! A new confection, indescribably delicious.
28 February 1941, Dallas (TX) Morning News, sec. 3, pg. 6, col. 7 ad:
FUDGE-NUT ICE CREAM
Indescribably delicious!
7 March 1955, Naugatuck (CT) Daily News, pg. 6, col. 6 ad:
Peter Paul
Mounds
NAUGATUCK, CONN.
manufacturer of Nation’s Largest Selling
COCONUT CANDY BARS
“Indescribably Delicious”
15 February 1956, Ludington (MI) Daily News, pg. 10, col. 3 ad:
PETER PAUL
MOUNDS
MINIATURES
“INDESCRIBABLY DELICIOUS”
(Super Giant Market.—ed.)
OCLC WorldCat record
[Commercials. Peter Paul. Mounds and Almond Cluster. Indescribably delicious]
Author: Dancer, Fitzgerald, Sample, Inc.
Publisher: United States : Dancer, Fitzgerald, Sample, Inc., [196-].
Edition/Format: Film : Partial animation : Picture : English
TIme magazine
Candy: Mounds of Joy
Friday, Aug. 18, 1967
(...)
For Peter Paul, the future can be described by the company slogan: “Indescribably Delicious.”
OCLC WorldCat record
Indescribably delicious
Author: Marcia Evanick
Publisher: New York : Bantam Books, 1990.
Series: Loveswept, 404
Edition/Format: Book : Fiction : English
(Trademark)
Word Mark INDESCRIBABLY DELICIOUS
Goods and Services IC 030. US 046. G & S: CANDY. FIRST USE: 19560615. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19560615
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 72187143
Filing Date February 20, 1964
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Registration Number 0793718
Registration Date August 3, 1965
Owner (REGISTRANT) PETER PAUL, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE NAUGATUCK CONNECTICUT
(LAST LISTED OWNER) CADBURY IRELAND LIMITED LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY MALAHIDE ROAD, COOLOCK DUBLIN IRELAND 5
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record LOIS B. DUQUETTE
Prior Registrations 0400009
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL-2(F)
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECTION 8(10-YR) 20060423.
Renewal 2ND RENEWAL 20060423
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE