We won’t say the Clark® Bar was created by accident, but it surely wasn’t created on purpose either. Before David Clark entered the candy business in 1886, he entered nearly every other business. He worked for paint manufacturers, rolling mills, frame factories, glass factories, fish markets, wholesalers and delivery wagons—all while going to business school.

Eventually Clark® landed a gig as a traveling salesman for a New York candy company. After three years on the road, he bought his entire inventory, settled down in Pittsburgh and went into the candy business himself, experimenting with ingredients never before used in candy. And it was in 1917 that his introduction of the 5 cents Clark® Bar turned out to be his most successful.