Junior Mints are a candy brand consisting of small rounds of mint filling inside a semi-sweet chocolate coating, with a dimple on one side. The mints are produced by Tootsie Roll Industries, and packaged in varying amounts from the so-called 'fun-size box' to the much larger 12 oz. box.
History
Junior Mints were introduced in 1949 by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based James O. Welch Company. The company also manufactured candies and candy bars such as Sugar Babies, Welch's Fudge, and Pom Poms. Charles Vaughan (1901–1995), a veteran food chemist and one of the pioneers of pan chocolate, invented both Junior Mints and Sugar Babies for the James O. Welch Company. James Welch asked Charles Vaughan to invent a small, chocolate-covered fondant peppermint.[1]
James O. Welch was born in Hertford, North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina, and then founded his Cambridge candy company in 1927. His partner in the company was his brother, Robert W. Welch, Jr.