Tootsie Pops: How Many Licks?

Delightful, wonderful Tootsie Roll Pop.

How I love thee!

Always have. Always will.

When I was a kid, I was a huge SUCKER for Tootsie Roll Pops...pun fully and whole-heartily intended.

I have fond memories of taking the trek from where I lived on top of a hill down to the small mom and pop town convenience store. This delightful little store had a whole wall full of hanging baskets; each basket lovingly cradled a different kind of candy.

I could often be found standing in front of said wall with money burning a hole in my pocket, and my mouth hanging open in sugar anticipation.

Nine times out of 10 several Tootsie Roll Pops were part of my purchased loot.

Before even leaving the store parking lot, one of my Tootsie Roll Pops, most likely my favorite the red (Cherry) one, would get unwrapped and popped in my mouth.

Walking home I would contemplate the question posed by a very wise commercial owl, "How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Pop?".

I always had very good intentions of finding out.

I would start licking and counting.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Then I would get tempted to just bite into my cherished Pop.

I would work through the temptation and keep licking.

Five. Six. Seven. Eight...

"CRUNCH!"

I just couldn't seem to resist getting to that chewy chocolaty center as quickly as possible. I mean I thoroughly loved the hard candy coating too, but man I just had to get to that chocolate center.

I still haven't grown out of Tootsie Pops. I still haven't licked my way to the center. Alas, I am not sure I ever will. I mean, that has got to be a LOT of licking, right?

A couple of studies were actually done to test How Many Licks it would take.

You wanna know what they found...

Um, well one found it to take 364 licks (Purdue University) and another found that it took 411 licks (University of Michigan).

I am WAY not patient enough for that. Are you?

I thought it would be fun to see if my Little Men were patient enough to lick their way to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

They already love Tootsie Pops, so it was not hard to convince them to give it a try.

While I had done a great job at teaching them about the delight of a Tootsie Pop, I had been remiss in asking them "How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Pop?".

We excitedly ripped open a bag of Tootsie Pops.

Little was delighted to find a new flavor in the bag.

BLUEBERRY! He was pretty excited.

Did you know that Tootsie Pops come in more than the traditional flavors of Chocolate, Cherry, Orange, Grape, and Raspberry?

I know, jump back, right?

In each bag you now get the originals plus a sixth flavor. The sixth flavor rotates per bag, but some favorites in this house our watermelon, green apple, pomegranate, and now BLUEBERRY.

With their Tootsie Pops in hand, they got ready to answer the age old question:

I watched them excitedly unwrap their Pops.

Middle got his open right away.

Little took a bit more time with his Pop.

After it was unwrapped, they were immediately popped into mouths.

Then they started licking.

Licking and counting.

Little quit licking his right away and decided he would much rather just keep it in his mouth for one mega lick.

Middle, however, kept on licking.

Four. Five.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Eleven was a mega long lick/suck and then he continued.

Twelve, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

Then I turned my back to check on Bean, who was crying. Before turning back toward Middle I heard a familiar, "CRUNCH".

He had fought a good fight, but that chocolaty center won again.

Oh no! Another generation of Tootsie Roll biters.

I am not gonna lie, it warmed my Tootsie-Roll-Pop-loving heart to watch two of my Little Men attempt what I attempted years ago. I love that they love Tootsie Pops as much as I did and still do.

In fact, when Little heard me talking about Tootsie Roll Pops he said, "TOOTSIE POPS! I love those!"

Me too. Me too.

Do you love yourself a Tootsie Roll Pop? Do you have yourself a favorite flavor?

What do you remember about Tootsie Pops from your childhood?

Do you remember asking yourself, How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of Tootsie Pop?

Have you ever licked your way to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?

Now is the time to give it a shot.

Tootsie Roll is holding a "How Many Licks?" video contest. You can win all kinds of prizes by submitting a video that simply answers the very question, "How Many Licks Does it Take to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Pop?"

You can enter by going to the Tootsie Roll or Tootsie Pop Facebook page , “Like” the Fan Page, click the “How Many Licks” Contest tab, and click “Submit Entry.” Then, follow the instructions to enter by uploading your “How Many Licks” video.

There will be weekly winners as well as a grand prize winner, a funniest video winner and a viewers’ choice winner.

The contest begins October 1, 2012 at 2:00 a.m. PST and ends on October 25, 2012 at 11:30 p.m. PST .

So get ta' lickin'. Get ta' videoin', and you might just get ta winnin'.

Good luck and go get yourself a Tootsie Pop or two or three.