Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped hard candy. Its range of mints and artificial fruit-flavors is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in paper-wrapped aluminum foil rolls. Candy manufacturer Clarence Crane of Garrettsville, Ohio,[1] (father of the poet Hart Crane) invented the brand in 1912 as a summer candy that could withstand heat better than chocolate.

The candys name is derived from its similarity to the shape of life preservers used for saving people who have fallen from boats. Robert was a Purdue educated engineer. He took his younger brothers entrepreneurial vision and designed and built the manufacturing facilities needed to expand the company.

The primary manufacturing plant for Life Savers was located in Port Chester, New York. Robert led the company as its Chief Executive Officer and primary shareholder for more than 40 years, until selling the company in the late 1950s. By 1919, six other flavors (Wint-O-Green, Cl-O-ve, Lic-O-Rice, Cinn-O-Mon, Vi-O-Let and Choc-O-Late) had been developed, and these remained the standard flavors until the late 1920s.

In 1920, a new flavor called Malt-O-Milk was introduced. This flavor was received so poorly that it was discontinued after only a few years.[3] In 1925, the tinfoil was replaced with aluminum foil. Wrigley brands are well-known and loved worldwide. Three of these brands - Juicy Fruit, Wrigleys Spearmint and Altoids - have heritages stretching back more than a century.

Other well-loved brands include Orbit, Extra, Starburst, Doublemint, Skittles, Freedent, Airwaves, Life Savers, Eclipse, and Winterfresh. Wrigley sells its products in more than 180 countries around the world