{"id":10071,"date":"2013-04-23T11:21:28","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T15:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/?p=10071"},"modified":"2013-04-23T11:21:28","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T15:21:28","slug":"maximum-marathon-part-1-the-wrappers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/?p=10071","title":{"rendered":"Maximum Marathon Part 1: The Wrappers!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CC_Maximum<\/p>\n

This week I’m returning to one of my favorite brands with a series of three posts dedicated to the topic of the 1970’s classic Mars Marathon bar.\u00a0 Today we’re going to take a look at the various evolutions of Marathon’s wrapper design that carried it from launch all the way through its eventual discontinuation.<\/p>\n

I first covered Marathon back in February of 2012 with my Mad About Marathon post<\/a>.\u00a0 Within that I discussed my love of the brand and how I came to track down the prized Marathon bar wrapper now in my collection.\u00a0\u00a0 That same month I would also investigate how Mars had originally introduced the Marathon bar in Europe<\/a> nearly two years before its USA debut, but under the 3-Musketiers brand name.<\/p>\n

As my research deepened, I discovered that the origins and history of Marathon were more serpentine than I could have ever guessed, but made all the more fascinating by the twists and turns the story took.<\/p>\n

During that initial coverage last year, I wasn’t sure what the very first version of the Marathon bar wrapper looked like.\u00a0 I knew I had an early example in my collection, but I couldn’t be sure it was the first design.\u00a0 Typically, launch wrappers or “rookies” as I like to call them include\u00a0 a “New!” call-out, but it turns out that was not the case with Marathon.<\/p>\n

Here is an early trade clipping that announces the introduction of Marathon – a “new bar for M&M\/Mars”:<\/p>\n

\"Mars

Marathon – New Bar for M&M-Mars – candy trade magazine clipping – November 1973<\/p><\/div>\n

That initial press release featured a Marathon wrapper with a 15-cent printed-on price.\u00a0 Here’s a closer look:<\/p>\n

\"Mars

Mars – Marathon – candy trade announcement clipping close-up<\/p><\/div>\n

The wrapper featured in that initial release is the same as the early example I happened to have in my collection.\u00a0 It’s nice to finally be able to verify that this example is, in fact, a “rookie wrapper” for the Marathon bar:<\/p>\n

\"Marathon

M&M\/Mars – Marathon – debut style – 1 3\/8 oz. chocolate candy bar wrapper –\u00a0 – 1973-1974<\/p><\/div>\n

By 1976, the Marathon wrapper had lost its printed-on price tag, but in exchange it gained a UPC code.\u00a0 Other notable changes included the color differentiation of inches and centimeters on the ruler, as well as the addition of the Marathon logo printed on the reverse.\u00a0 This mid-70’s Marathon wrapper design is also the one that lasted the longest:<\/p>\n

\"Mars

Mars – Marathon – 1 1\/4 oz. chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1976<\/p><\/div>\n

The next major evolution for Marathon’s wrapper design occurred in 1979, when distribution was handed to M&M\/Mars’ Snack-Master division.\u00a0 It was at this point that the “M” in Marathon became more prominent:<\/p>\n

\"Mars

Mars – Marathon – 1 3\/8 oz. chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1979<\/p><\/div>\n

The following year the iconic “color-wave” behind the logo was dropped in favor of the single, bright yellow color:<\/p>\n

\"

Mars – Marathon – 1.2 oz chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1980 – Image courtesy Jon Mankuta<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1981, another distinctive element of Marathon’s wrapper design was dropped when the printed ruler was removed from the package back, instead opting for a cleaner, streamlined look.\u00a0 This was almost certainly the wrapper design that graced the final Marathon bars that sold:<\/p>\n

\"Mars

Mars – Marathon – 1.1 oz chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1981<\/p><\/div>\n

And so after nearly a decade of deliciousness, the glorious run of the Marathon came to an end in the early 1980’s.\u00a0 During that period, the Marathon bar’s wrappers never received a major overhaul, just small tweaks along the way.\u00a0 Even so, I hope you can appreciate this closer look back at the incremental changes that subtly altered the look of this former candy isle star.<\/p>\n

Since writing about Marathon last year, not only did I learn of its origins, but I also found a specific wrapper I’d been hoping to uncover – one for a Fun-Size Marathon!<\/p>\n

Seeing as how part of the charm of the Marathon was the specific length and size of it, a Fun-Size offering might seem counter-intuitive, and it is.\u00a0 Even so, they became a big part of Marathon’s marketing.\u00a0\u00a0 Here’s the wrapper:<\/p>\n

\"Mars

Mars – Marathon – Fun-Size – chocolate candy bar wrapper – 1970’s<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s an image that shows how the Fun-Size wrapper looks next to a full-size.\u00a0 It also gives you an idea of the scale of it (as best I can tell, rather than a miniature Marathon, the Fun-Size appears to have simply been a sectioned piece of a full-width bar):<\/p>\n

\"Marathon

Marathon Fun-Size comparison<\/p><\/div>\n

The next Marathon piece I’d like to track down for my collection would be a Fun-Size multi-bag.\u00a0 I’ve never come across one, but I’m sure one is out there somewhere.\u00a0 Here’s a vintage newspaper ad showing what one would have looked like:<\/p>\n

\"Marathon-Fun-Size-Tuscon-Daily-Citizen-Wednesday-December-11-1974\"

Marathon -Fun-Size newspaper ad\/refund- Wednesday-December 11, 1974<\/p><\/div>\n

And that’s everything for today’s coverage and part one of our three-day Maximum Marathon coverage.<\/p>\n

We’ll be back tomorrow discussing the marketing of Marathon with an emphasis on Marathon John and the “Quick” character commercials.\u00a0 Along with that, we’ll be premiering a never-before-seen Marathon bar commercial spot – one that is sure to become a CollectingCandy.com Exclusive classic!<\/p>\n

See you next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I’m returning to one of my favorite brands with a series of three posts dedicated to the topic of the 1970’s classic Mars Marathon bar.\u00a0 Today we’re going to take a look at the various evolutions of Marathon’s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6,56,59],"tags":[1206,27,321,316,328,351,332,181,18,14,324,78,333,246,57,1209,21,15,348,11],"class_list":["post-10071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1970s","category-1980s","category-chocolate-2","category-mars","tag-1970s","tag-70s","tag-candy-collecting","tag-candy-collection","tag-candy-collector","tag-candy-wrapper-collection","tag-candy-wrapper-collector","tag-caramel","tag-chocolate","tag-collectible","tag-collecting-candy","tag-confectionery","tag-confections","tag-mmmars","tag-marathon","tag-mars","tag-packaging","tag-sweets","tag-vintage-candy-wrapper","tag-wrapper"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2aFGk-2Cr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10071"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10139,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10071\/revisions\/10139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/collectingcandy.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}