The Goo Goo Cluster is an American candy bar created in 1912 by Howell Campbell and the Standard Candy Company in Nashville, Tennessee. The disk-shaped candy bar contains marshmallow nougat, caramel, and roasted peanuts covered in milk chocolate. Variations include Goo Goo Supreme (pecans replace the peanuts) which was renamed the Pecan in 2019, and Peanut Butter Goo Goo (peanut butter replaces marshmallow nougat and caramel).
History
Goo Goo Cluster is considered the first combination candy bar, meaning it contained several types of candy rather than an all-chocolate bar.
The name is thought to refer to the sound a baby makes. The company uses the phrase, "So good, they'll ask for it from birth," in retelling the Goo Goo story.
Originally, the candy was sold, unpackaged, from glass jars only in the factory's local area. At the time of the Goo Goo Cluster's invention, there was no automated packaging machinery, so packaging required costly hand work. As a result, packaging was unusual unless the candy (like caramels) required wrapping to keep pieces separate. During the 1920s, after increased public attention to hygiene, the company began wrapping it, and it was sold all over the United States.