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A handful of colorful M&M’s may seem like an ordinary treat, but the tiny letters printed on each candy tell a story that began more than 80 years ago. Whether people enjoy them at the movies, bake them into cookies, or share them during  family gatherings, few stop to wonder where the familiar name came from. The candy first appeared in 1941, when portable snacks were especially useful and chocolate needed a way to survive warmer conditions. Its hard outer shell helped protect the chocolate from melting too quickly, making it practical to carry and easy to enjoy. What started as a simple idea eventually became one of the most recognizable candy brands in the world. But the meaning behind those two letters goes beyond a clever company name.

The initials M&M represent the surnames of two businessmen: Forrest Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie. Forrest was the son of the founder of the Mars candy company, while Bruce was the son of William Murrie, a senior executive at Hershey. Their partnership brought together Mars’s business ambitions and access to Hershey’s chocolate supplies. The inspiration for the candy reportedly came from chocolate covered in a hard sugar coating that soldiers had eaten during the Spanish Civil War. That protective layer offered a practical solution to a familiar problem, and the new candy soon found an audience among American military personnel during World War II. Yet the partnership that helped launch the product would not last forever—and its eventual ending would change who controlled the growing business.