One night in the early 1970s , while consume wine and smoking marijuana , David Sanderson came up with an idea . Herememberedthat his onetime pal had an saying for when David was get at him : “ Eat my shorts . ”
What if , Sanderson wondered , people reallycouldeat their own shorts ?
He related the idea to his partner , Lee Brady . As a possible termination of that same marijuana using up , Brady believe it was a fantastic mind . And while many multitude would have been contented to let it rest once sobriety settled in , Sanderson and Brady were convinced that an edible unmentionable was a concept worth pursuing . They even had the perfect name for their innovation : Candypants .
The novelty gift particular briefly deal the body politic by storm . Bowled over by the concept of eatable underclothing , consumers buy Candypants with such fervour that the mill had hassle keeping up with demand . The business gross $ 150,000 a calendar month . Sanderson and Brady appeared onThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carson . Everyone , it seemed , had a cheeky scuttlebutt to make about Candypants .
While its inventors profited from the fury , they had to navigate some popular misconception . Originally , eatable underclothes was never intended to be sold in grownup novelty store . They really were n’t meant to be worn , either . Nor were they supposed to be wipe out . Candypants were a risqué gag item that check a conservative mart by submit as an innocent novelty . But some potent figures involved in the dark corners of the grownup amusement industry had other plans for Sanderson and Brady ’s novel invention .
Sanderson and Brady were a couplet in their early 20s living in Chicagowhen the idea for Candypants blossomed . The two had an entrepreneurial bent , importing Tibetan artwork and even organizing a theater scout troop , the Puck Players , to perform in Chicago - area unproblematic schools . These solemn performances were converge with some quantity of uprising , as Sanderson recalled in a 2015 interview withKCRW . The students , he say , were fond of replacing thePon their hand truck with anF.
The Candypants speculation began with the men inviting supporter over to their apartment and using garbage pocketbook to take measurement for underclothing sizes . ( presumptively , it was easier to cut a pattern into the bags than it would have been a bolt of textile . ) Once they had size for both man ’s and women ’s options , the two pondered how to make the product something that could actually be consumed . Whilevisitinga baking factory on a scouting slip , they noticed that the company had a bag of barm that could be thrown in a ad valorem tax . The bag was biodegradable and edible . perhaps , they thought , this was the answer .
To incur the right kind of eatable material , Sanderson and Bradyteamedup with Derek McManus , an analytical apothecary originally from England . Over a period of calendar month , the three settle on arecipethat consisted of modified nutrient starch , glycerin , inverted scratch , mannitol , lecithin , artificial color , and artificial flavor . All of the ingredient were approved by the Food and Drug Administration .
The brief itself would be treat in a sheet of paper , then cut to garment specifications . To bind the side , they used licorice slip . The partnersnamedtheir caller Cosmorotics , Inc.
Cosmorotics had one prompt problem : When they applied for a patent of invention at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office , their excogitation was rejected because the wordscandyandpantswere mutually exclusive . The government agency had no estimation how to conceive of an edible article of clothing . This was successfully attract , but it paled in comparison to a bigger problem . How could they let people recognise that Candypants be ?
Fortunately , the dyad had a friend who ran a bath and dress shop shop and harmonize to put Candypants on video display . Because the fund was tight to the University of Indiana , several pupil picked up a pair on a whim . One of those students happen to be a reporter for the school paper who resolve to write a story about this peculiar retail item , and the story got picked up by the Associated Press . Virtually overnight , discussion spread about Candypants .
When the orders began piling up , Cosmorotics opened a factory in Chicago , where a elephantine machine wedge out the comestible material in two different flavor : wild cherry and banana schism . ( A third option , blistering chocolate , had a loathsome tasting and was said to be chocolate-brown in colour , an unfortunate choice for pretending underwear . It was speedily discontinued . ) The underwear , which retail for $ 4.95 , was packaged in cellophane with a writtencautionto unwrap it only when it was ready for use of goods and services . “ Candypants may dry out , ” the word of advice read .
By early 1976 , Cosmorotics was make problem keeping up with the demand . With Valentine ’s Day predominate , lingerie shops , apothecary’s shop , and even bike shops were selling through their stock-taking . Curiously , Candypants could also be find in major retail chains like Bloomingdale ’s and Montgomery Ward — a fact that Sanderson attributed to their conscious endeavor to keep Candypants firm in the district of a novelty gift item and not present as a kinky sex accessory in adult bookshop .
“ We ’re trying for a worldwide market , ” SandersontoldtheLos Angeles Timesin 1976 .
By 1976 , Sanderson , Brady , and McManus were trade $ 150,000 in Candypants every month . Store owner would get call for high - bulk orders . nunnery bribe them in majority to give away at beano games . They went to nursing homes and bridal showers .
But as the volume of orders increased , Sanderson and Brady commence birth bother sourcing some of the comestible ingredient . They would order 9000 pounds of flavouring , and receive just nine pounds .
As it turn out , people in the business of adult freshness had taken bill of Candypants . And they need to take a bite out of them .
Sanderson and Brady discovered that the the great unwashed behind grownup bookstore — which , in the 1970s , was a business often connected with unionise law-breaking — were irate that Candypants were not being stock on their shelves . They intended to bring forth knock - off variant that would compete with Candypants for material and satisfy the demand at sex shops .
skin to keep up with order in the grimace of competition , Cosmorotics turned to an improbable ally : Iva Toguri D’Aquino , also known as “ Tokyo Rose , ” a woman who had once beenconvictedof treason for broadcasting Nipponese propaganda during World War II . ( She was excuse by Gerald Ford after serve up three years of a 10 - year sentence . )
D’Aquino owned a mercantile central in Chicago . She told Sanderson and Brady to connect with a manufacturing plant in Japan that made Elmer Leopold Rice paper wrappers for candy and medicine . The rice paper was comestible — and better yet , it was not under the pollex of the mafia . With a new source , Cosmorotics was able to continue boil out Candypants for hungry consumer around the country .
Sanderson and Brady enjoyed their low fame and actual fortune , purchase a mansion in Chicago and instal a disco that played host to parties . They befriended David Bowie , who knew the photographer who had shot advertizement for Candypants . They spread out the line to admit mess and passionateness fruit flavors , as well as an comestible bra they dub Teacups . They alsoreleasedNotables , a stationery package consisting of comestible notepad theme and a playpen that was yellowish brown - flavored . ( The envelope were not think for using up . )
finally , the knock - offs start to overshadow the make identity of Candypants . In the eighties , the men accepted an offer to purchase the company — made , they said , by a man who paid them in a briefcase full of cash . Sanderson and Brady move to Florida and eventually marry in 2015 . They currently have no tie-up with Candypants , which are still being sold onAmazon(in even more tang ) .
From one simple night of accidental brainstorming , the men had cultivated an empire . It was n’t a bad termination for a product that seemed ill - suited for either of its intended intention . A 1976 test taste declared Candypants smack like a rainwater cheater . fatigue them was not hardheaded , either .
But Sanderson know it was the software system , not the contents , that was the tangible drawing card . In a survey , Cosmorotics found that 85 percent of Candypants buyers never even opened the box .
