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March is Women's History Month!

Butterfinger Celebrates 90ish Birthday

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And our last word in business might make you hungry. It's crispity, crunchity Butterfinger, as in the peanut butter and chocolate candy bar, which designated the year 2013 as its 90-ish birthday.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

That's 90-ish because, while there is a trademark document that dates back to 1928, the company believes the candy bar was first promoted in 1923. So, you know, 85, 90, 90-ish is what the people at Nestle settled on as Butterfinger's official age.

GREENE: Now, the name comes from old sports slang from the '20s to describe ballplayers who couldn't quite hold onto baseballs or footballs, you know, they're butterfingers.

The Curtiss Candy Company, which was based in Chicago, made Butterfinger and also the Baby Ruth candy bar.

INSKEEP: They're both made now by Nestle.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUTTERFINGER COMMERCIAL)

NANCY CARTWRIGHT: (as Bart Simpson) Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger.

GREENE: And that is Bart Simpson, Butterfinger's most famous spokesman. But that sweetness didn't last forever. After Butterfinger ended its contract with "The Simpsons," the candy became fair game for the show's writers. In one episode, Springfield is named the world's fattest town. In response, Marge Simpson takes on the Motherloving Sugar Company and gets sugar banned forever. All of Springfield's sugary treats end up in a bonfire.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SIMPSONS")

HANK AZARIA: (as Chief Clancy Wiggum) All right, time to throw in the Butterfingers.

HARRY SHEARER: (as Eddie Burns) Hmm, it's not even singed.

AZARIA: (as Chief Wiggum) Even the fire doesn't want them.

(LAUGHTER)

INSKEEP: But somebody must, because the candy is still for sale, having survived its ribbing from "The Simpsons."

That's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

GREENE: And I'm David Greene. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.