Frank C. Mars

Frank C. Mars (September 24, 1883 – 1934) 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. Frank learned how to produce candy from his mother.

In 1902 he began making candy, but all his endeavors failed until 1923 when he made the Milky Way candy bar, the chocolate coating for which came from Hershey's brand chocolate. In the late 1920s, Frank C. Mars moved to Pulaski, Tennessee, where he bought a number of local farms and constructed a large farm called Milky Way. 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. Mars lived the remainder of his life on the 2,800 acre (11 km²) farm and was buried there upon his death in 1934. However, Mars's wife Ethel had the body and the mausoleum moved to Chicago only a few years after his death.

In 1930, Mars had developed the Snickers Bar. After his death, in 1940, his son Forrest, with the help of Hershey's president William Murries, began producing M&M Candies (with the "M&M" being "Mars and Murrie").