Franklin Clarence Mars

Infobox Celebrity
name = Franklin Clarence Mars


imagesize =
caption =
birth_date = September 24, 1883
birth_place = Newport, Minnesota or Hancock, Minnesota
death_date = death date and age|1934|4|8|1883|9|24
death_place = Chester Springs, Pennsylvania or Baltimore, Maryland
occupation = Founder of Mars, Inc.
salary =
networth =
spouse = Ethel G. Kissack
Ethel V. Healy
children = Forrest Edward Mars, Sr.
Patricia Mars
website =
footnotes =

Franklin Clarence Mars (September 24, 1883 – April 8, 1934), sometimes known as Frank C. Mars, was the founder of the American company Mars, Incorporated, which makes mostly chocolate candy. Mars and his son Forrest Edward Mars developed M&M's.

Family

He was born in 1883 in Newport, Minnesotacite web|title= Franklin Mars|url=http://www.oprf.com/oprfhist/marsf.htm|publisher=The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest|accessdate=2008-02-25] or Hancock, Minnesota.cite web|title=History|url=http://www.mars.com/global/Who+We+Are/History.htm|publisher=Mars, Incorporated|accessdate=2008-10-06] Frank Mars learned how to hand dip chocolate candy as a child from his mother Alva, who hoped to entertain him as he had a mild case of polio. He began to sell Molasses chips at age 19. Mars and Ethel G. Kissack, a schoolteacher, married in 1902. Their son, Forrest Mars, Sr. was born in 1904 in Wadena, Minnesota. Mars and Ethel V. Healy married in 1910 and that year he began to sell candy wholesale in Tacoma, Washington.

Mars, Incorporated

In 1920, they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Mars founded Mar-O-Bar Co. and began to manufacture chocolate candy bars. The company later incorporated as Mars, Incorporated. In 1923 he introduced his son Forrest's idea, the Milky Way, which became the best-selling candy bar Mars moved to Chicago in 1929 and settled in River Forest, Illinois. He became an honorary captain of the Oak Park, Illinois police department.

In 1930, Mars developed the Snickers Bar.cite news|author=El-Hai, Jack|title=Candy Bar Combat|url=http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/March-2007/Candy-Bar-Combat/|date=March 2007|work=Minnesota Monthly|publisher=Greenspring Media Group|accessdate=2008-10-07] In 1930, his son Forrest Mars, Sr., with the help of Hershey's president William Murries, began producing M&M Candies (with the "M&M" being "Mars and Murrie").Fact|date=October 2008 Forrest Mars, Sr. went on to grow the company through the addition of such products as Uncle Ben's. Forrest Mars, Sr. died in 1999 and left the company to his children who still own it today.Fact|date=October 2008

Mars died of kidney and heart problems in 1934 at age 50.

Horse racing

In the late-1920s, in Pulaski, Tennessee, Mars bought a number of local farms and constructed a large estate called Milky Way Farms. During its construction, Mars employed more than 935 men from Giles County to build a 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) clubhouse, more than 30 barns, a horse racing track, and a show horse track.Fact|date=October 2008 Gallahadion won the Kentucky Derby in 1940 after Mars died. Recently, Milky Way Farms was sold.Fact|date=October 2008 The current owner is totally renovating the estate to its original glory. In addition, a gated community is being established along with an 18 hole golf course, a polo field, and many other amenities.Fact|date=October 2008

Mars lived the remainder of his life on the 2,800 acre (11 km²) farm and was buried there upon his death in 1934.Fact|date=October 2008 Ethel V. Mars,Fact|date=October 2008 his wife, had his body and the mausoleum moved to Minneapolis a few years after his death.Fact|date=February 2007 Mars is buried in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. [cite web|title=Burial Search|url=http://www.lakewoodcemetery.com/lcaclass/BurialQuery?fname=frank&lname=mars&year=1934|publisher=Lakewood Cemetery|accessdate=2008-10-07]

ee also

* Mars family

References

*cite web|accessdate=2007-11-11
url=http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/encyclopaedia!openframeset&frame=Right&Src=/edible.nsf/pages/marsfamily!opendocument
title=Mars Family
work=Practically Edible