A Look Into the Life of Franklin Clarence Mars
The life of Franklin Clarence Mars can get boiled down to one statement. Which is that “your past experiences do not define your future, but they certainly help shape it, whether knowingly or unknowingly.”
Franklin Clarence Mars, nicknamed Frank Mars, was an American entrepreneur who founded Mars Incorporated to make candy and confectionery products.
Frank Mars spent most of his childhood learning to make candies and chocolates. However, his motive to learn didn’t start from an innate interest or passion for cooking and baking.
It began because he suffered a mild polio case that left him immobile as a kid. His mother offered him confectionery culinary lessons as a form of entertainment. Little did she or Mars know that these informal lessons would one day pay off.
Birth and Childhood
Frank Mars was born on 24th September 1883 in Hancock, Minnesota. There isn’t much information about his parents besides that his father was a gristmill operator in Pennsylvania and his mother, Elva, taught him to make candy.
Frank Mars had a mild case of Polio as a kid. His condition left him immobile for a part of his childhood, and thus he couldn’t go to school like other kids.
Mars spent his days with his mother, who taught him how to hand-dip chocolate candy as a way to entertain him. It was during these moments in his mother’s kitchen when Mars’ passion for candy-making developed.
Mars got so good at making candy that he began creating his own candy recipes. At age 19, he started making buttercream candies (molasses chips) at home and selling them within his local community. This was arguably Mars’ first exposure to business, and his first sale occurred in 1902.
Adult Life
Frank Mars married Ethel G. Kissack, his first wife, in 1902. The couple got their first child in 1904 and named him Forrest Mars Sr. At the time, Frank Mars worked as a salesman in Wadena. He not only struggled to support his young family but also to grow his candy business.
Mars faced stiff competition from Hershey and other candy-making companies. He also didn’t have much experience running a business. His first business failed, and he relocated his family to Tacoma, Washington.
Mars’ first marriage was short-lived. The couple divorced in 1910, with Ethel getting full custody of young Forrest. This enabled Forrest to foster a good relationship with his mother but a stormy one with his father.
In the same year, Frank Mars married his second wife, who surprisingly was also called Ethel (Ethel Veronica Healy). Their union lasted until his death.
The Founding of the Mars Corporation
In 1911, Frank Mars established another wholesale candy business in Tacoma, Washington. Legend has it that this business was the foundation of The Mars Corporation. He later, in 1920, named his entity Mar-O-Bar Co.
Mars was determined to make his second business succeed but struggled to keep it afloat. The competition was fierce, with Hershey and other candy businesses dominating the market. Mars’ entity sunk three times in nine years to a point where creditors claimed his business and personal assets to pay off his debts.
Mars moved back to his home state, Minnesota, in 1920 and started yet another candy business. It isn’t clear whether this business was an entirely new entity or a continuation of his second business, but it was during this time when he named the entity Mar-O-Bar Co.
Mars then introduced two new products, one being the Milky Way bar. He designed this bar to taste like a milkshake, and customers loved it. Mars’ business was now in a good place to compete with other candy-making entities, but its market share did not come close to Hershey’s.
In 1924, sales in Mars’ business exceeded $700,000. His company was growing. So much so that he changed the name to Mars Candies in 1926.
Frank Mars later relocated his business to a larger facility in Suburban Chicago and called upon his son to help him manage operations.
Despite having a rocky relationship, Forrest joined his father to run Mars Candies but later moved to England to start his own candy and pet food entity. Forrest would later return to manage The Mars Corporation after his father’s death.
The Death of Franklin Clarence Mars
Frank Mars passed away on 8th April 1934 at 50 due to a heart-related condition. Ownership of his business went to his wife and then to his half-brother.
Forrest Mars took over The Mars Corporation in the late 1930s or early 1940s when he returned to the United States. Under his management, Mars Candies added new product lines to its repertoire, acquired other businesses, and attained a market share higher than Hershey’s.
Interesting Facts or Anecdotes
Franks Mars lived the last years of his life on his farm next to his favorite animal, horses.
After moving to Chicago, Mars bought several farms on which he built a large estate dubbed Milky Way Farm. He then constructed a horse-racing track, clubhouse, and 30 barns on the estate.
Franklin Clarence Mars was buried on this estate, but his remains were later moved to a private vault at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis after the sale of his estate. Another interesting fact about Frank Mars is that he named the Snickers bar after his favorite horse.
Successes
Mars’ most significant success was his business, Mars Candies, which we now know as Mars, Incorporated.
He started this business based on knowledge he learned from his mother as a kid. Frank Mars played a crucial role in making Mars Candies succeed. However, a big part of the corporation’s success occurred after his demise.
The Mars Corporation now owns over 50 world-popular brands and deals in confectionery, pet care products, main meals foods, and electronic payment systems.
The corporation has facilities in 60 countries and a market containing over 200 countries and territories.
Failures
Frank Mars experienced his fair share of failure in business. His first candy business was a failure. His second one was also hanged by a thread in its first nine years.
Mars lost his business assets to creditors but remained determined to make his candy business succeed.
Character Traits
These are the three character traits we can observe on Frank Mars;
Resilient
Most people would have given up when their first two businesses failed, but not Mars. He bounced from his failures and started yet another entity.
Failure was not a point of no return for him. He probably viewed it as just a setback. Frank Mars started selling confectionery in 1902 but saw his breakthrough in business almost two decades later in the 1920s. He is a true definition of resilience.
Passionate
Mars’ passion for making candy developed when he was young. It motivated him to create new recipes and start multiple confectionery businesses. Passion could have been one of the factors that drove him and kept him going despite the initial failures.
Go-getter
Mars was willing to go out and get what was his. He was willing to risk failure and chase his dream of starting and growing his candy business. This go-getter attitude is probably what motivated him to establish the Milky Way Farm estate since he loved horses.
Lessons Learned From Franklin Clarence Mars
There are many lessons that we can learn from the story of Franklin Clarence Mars. Here are the ones that stick out the most:
Things Happen for a Reason.
The fortunes or misfortunes that occur in our lives happen for a reason. That reason may not be clear in the beginning. But when you look back and connect the dots, you see that the thing that occurred was necessary for you to be where you are now.
Mars would probably not have learned how to make candy were it not for him being immobile as a kid. He would have attended school like other children and missed out on his mother’s confectionery culinary lessons. His life would most likely have turned out differently.
Be Persistent.
Don’t be quick to give up when things don’t go your way or when your entrepreneurial journey becomes difficult. Be persistent. Mars didn’t let the failure of his first candy business deter him from starting another.
His second business was also not an instant success. The first nine years were a struggle, so much so that he relocated to launch the business in his home state. He did not give up.
1883
Franklin Clarence Mars is born in Hancock, Minnesota.
1902
Frank Mars marries Ethel G. Kissack, his first wife. He also establishes his first candy business.
1904
Mars and Ethel have a son whom they name Forrest Mars.
1910
Mars and Ethel get divorced. Mars marries Ethel Veronica Healy, his second wife.
1911
Mars establishes his second candy business in Tacoma, Washington, after his first one fails.
1920
Mars moves to Minnesota, his home state, and relocates his business too. He names the entity Mar-O-Bar Co.
1926
Mars changes his business’s name to Mars Candies.
1928
Mars relocates his business to a larger plant in Chicago. He also brings in his son to help him run the business.
1930
Mars purchases several farms to form an estate, which he names Milky Way Farm
1934
Mars passes away at fifty due to a heart-related condition and is buried on his estate.
Quotes From Franklin Clarence Mars
“I’m not a candy maker, I’m empire-minded.” ~Forrest Mars
“If you want to get rich, you gotta know how to make a product. And you aren’t going to hire anybody to make a product for you to make you rich.” ~ Forrest Mars
“People walked up to the candy counter and they’d see this flat little Hershey bar for a nickel and right next to it, a giant Milky Way. Guess which one they’d pick?” Forrest Mars
“Do only what we can do best. ~ “Forrest Mars”