Did Babe Ruth really get a candy bar?
May 15, 2007
When the Curtiss Candy Company introduced the Baby Ruth bar in 1921, they claimed it was named after President Cleveland’s daughter, who was indeed named Ruth. However, Ruth Cleveland died of diphtheria at age 12 in 1904, and it seems unlikely that Curtiss would have named their candy for the deceased daughter of a former president. Coincidentally, a baseball player nicknamed “Babe” Ruth had just skyrocketed to fame at this time. Conventional wisdom is that the company attributed the name of their candy bar to Ruth Cleveland so the baseball star wouldn’t sue them for using his name.
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